Table of Contents

  1. Requirements
  2. Summary
  3. Setting Up the Tables
  4. How the Tables Work
  5. Setting Up Geo Zones
  6. Appendix of Pre-built Geo Zones SQL Files

1. Requirements

osCommerce MS2.xx (November 2002 - MS1 should be ok, but I make no guarantees)

2. Summary

Allows shipping to multiple Geo Zones using multiple tables.

Geo Zones are defined in the osCommerce administration tool, so exactly what makes up each zone is left in the hands of the user. Geo Zones can be just specific zones of a country, a number of different countries, or any combination thereof.

This contribution officially renders my MultiRegion MultiTable module obsolete. No more update or support will be provided for the MultiRegion MultiTable module, as the MultiGeoZone MultiTable module represents the next generation of this shipping module line. Anyone currently using the MultiRegion and experiencing problems or wishing to have the new features will need to upgrade to the MultiGeoZone module.

3. Setting Up the Tables

You setup the number of zones and Tables per geo zone for the module to use from Admin -> Configuration -> MultiGeoZone MultiTable Shipping. If you decide to change either of these numbers after you have installed the shipping module from Admin -> Modules -> Shipping -> MultiGeoZone MultiTable, you must first uninstall the module, make the changes, and then re-install the module.

If you do more than 3 geo zones or more than 3 tables, you will need to add more language defines to the module's language file. These follow the pattern of:

MODULE_SHIPPING_MZMT_GEOZONE_$n_TEXT_TITLE
MODULE_SHIPPING_MZMT_GEOZONE_$n_ICON
MODULE_SHIPPING_MZMT_GEOZONE_$n_TABLE_$j_TEXT_WAY

where:

$n = geo zone number (in the shipping module) and
$j = table number

4. How the Tables Work

Each Geo Zone's tables may use either a weight, price, or count as the table method. This will be used for calculating the price.

Note:
Currently, each Geo Zone's tables must use the same method, but different Geo Zones may use different methods.
Note:
In all of the following explanations, the dollar sign ($) is just being used to indicate currency, and not to indicate US Dollars. The actual currency will be your store's currency. "lbs" is also just used to indicate a weight unit and not actually US pounds.

Tables are generically built as follows:

lower threshold (colon) shipping factor

Each block is then separated by a comma (,). You should list the blocks in the table from the lowest threshold to the highest:

.5:5.97,1:6.96,1.5:7.95,2:8.94,2.5:0
Using the weight method, this shipping table would be (the table breaks on commas):
Using the price method, this shipping table would be (the table breaks on commas):
Using the count method, this shipping table would be (the table breaks on commas):

Flat rate shipping can be built by a single entry to the table, i.e. by entering something like:

.5:14

or perhaps even better, like:

0:14

Percentage is allowed and is denoted with the percent symbol (%). Example:

.5:14,5:400%

To make reading table easier, the currency symbol ($) is also allowed. Example:

.5:14 can be written as .5:$14 and

.5:5.97,1:6.96,1.5:7.95,2:8.94,2.5:0 can be writtten as:
.5:$5.97,1:$6.96,1.5:$7.95,2:$8.94,2.5:$0

The symbols can be mixed within the table as well. Example:

.5:$14,5:400%

This concludes the basic overview of how tables work and how to write them.

5. Setting Up Geo Zones

You set up your Geo Zones in:  Admin -> Locations / Taxes -> Tax Zones

Do not worry, these will not be actual "tax zones", as the "tax zones" are really geo zones, but currently osCommerce just uses them for taxes. But we can certainly utilize this great functionality to build zones for shipping though :)

As not to confuse your shipping zones with your tax zones and to ensure the module functions properly, the name of your shipping geo zones must begin with the letters "shp" (case does not matter).

I recommend naming your shipping zones with "Shp: " at the beginning. The pre-built SQL files for the included zones name them this way.

6. Appendix of Pre-built Geo Zones SQL Files

Located in the `_geo_zones_sql` folder are some SQL files to import into your database for pre-built shipping zones. The following are the Geo Zones and their SQL file in this folder that you can just import into your osCommerce database (setting them up by hand can be painstaking if they have a lot of zones/countries):

If you have any geo zones SQL that you would like added to the contrib please email me.

More geo zones SQL files will be added in the future or as I get them.