Structured Solutions Blog

Shipper 3.8 Help Updated

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 22:35:00 GMT

When you first install Shipper, 5 reports are created for you:

Name	Typical Use
Invoice	Printed and included with each package as a receipt.
Packing Slip	Printed and included with each package to show the customer what is included in the box.
Ship Confirmation	Emailed to the customer when the label is printed (and the package is scheduled for pickup) or when the package is uploaded (and recorded as shipped).
Shipping Charge vs Cost Chart	Printed or emailed to the shipping manager.
Shipping Cost Profit and Loss	Printed or emailed to the store owner.

Using the report designer embedded within Shipper, you can customize these reports and create your own. Shipper 3.8 includes an updated report designer which is easier to use, and Shipper > Help > Report Designer was just updated to reflect the updated designer. This blog post on the vendor's web site describes the new user interface. And there are several online videos that go over several features of the Report Designer.

Shipper 3.8 Release

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 22:36:00 GMT

Shipper 3.8 is now available with support for UPS WorldShip. Several people asked for integration with UPS WorldShip over on UserVoice. And now you can use Shipper to automatically export and import shipment information to and from UPS WorldShip. If you are trying to decide between using ShipRush for UPS or UPS WorldShip, see "Do I need ShipRush for UPS or UPS WorldShip?".

This release also addresses these suggestions on UserVoice:

Some other new features:

User defined filters
Real full text search
Support for AddressDoctor in both Gold and Platinum editions

Please see the Shipper Update page to read the complete release notes and download Shipper 3.8.

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Shipping Agent for Magento Updates

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 08:00:00 GMT

If you have used Magento for more than a few minutes, you know there are a lot of extensions available in the Magento Connect marketplace. One of the great features of Magento Connect is built-in installation. Once you find the community extension you want, just type if the extension key and Magento Connect will automatically download and install the extension.

I'm very happy to say Shipping Agent for Magento is now available as a community extension in Magento Connect:

Shipping Agent for Magento

Now installation and updates are much easier.

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Shipper 3.8 Beta 3

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 08:14:00 GMT

Lots of new stuff including custom filters.

As before, Shipper 3.8 beta 3 uses Shipping Agent 3.7, so you can install the beta on a separate computer for testing will using Shipper 3.7 in production.

Download Shipper 3.8 Beta 3
Release Notes

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Shipper Add-On Report: Package Errors

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 02:03:00 GMT

Someone recently asked me if there was a way to list all of the errors so he did not have to scan through 100's of packages. Now there is! The attached report lists all of the current packages that have an error, along with the error.

Installation Instructions

Download the report file and unzip the contents.
Select Reporting > Reports from the navigation pane in Shipper.
Create a new Report using Package data.
When the report designer appears, select File > Open from the menu and open the report file.

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Shipping Agent for BV Commerce updates customer address book

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 01:57:00 GMT

Shipping Agent for BV Commerce was updated today to update the customer address book.

When you upload a package, you can include the actual destination address that was printed on the label. If the destination address is different than the shipping address in the order, the shipping address in the order is updated to match.

The new build will scan the customer's address book for addresses that match the original order shipping address. All matches are also updated with the actual destination address. So if your customer orders from you again, they will be much more likely to use the new, corrected address.

http://shippingagent.codeplex.com

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Shipper 3.8 Beta 2

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 08:22:00 GMT

Shipper 3.8 beta 2 is now available. This beta adds support for user defined filters and overridding the ShipRush label printer.

As before, Shipper 3.8 beta 2 uses Shipping Agent 3.7, so you can install the beta on a separate computer for testing will using Shipper 3.7 in production.

Download Shipper 3.8 Beta 2
Release Notes

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Shipper 3.8 Compatible with UPS WorldShip 2010 Version 12

Tue, 05 Jan 2010 00:13:00 GMT

UPS released WorldShip 2010 version 12 today. Initial testing shows that Shipper 3.8 (which was designed to work with WorldShip 2009 version 11) is also compatible with WorldShip 12.

WorldShip version 11 officially only worked on 32 bit operating systems. We use 64 bit Windows 7 here and ran WorldShip version 11 in Windows Virtual PC XP Mode.

WorldShip version 12 officially works on both 32 bit and 64 bit Windows 7, which is very cool.

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Shipper 3.8 Beta Supports UPS WorldShip

Mon, 04 Jan 2010 08:49:00 GMT

The Shipper 3.8 beta is now available. The big new feature in this release is support for UPS WorldShip. Now you can use UPS WorldShip instead of ShipRush for UPS if you prefer. There are some differences--and for most people ShipRush for UPS will probably remain the better choice--but now you have a choice!

There are a few other changes described in the release notes.

This Shipper 3.8 Beta uses Shipping Agent 3.7. That means you can install Shipper 3.8 and check it out without touching your online store. If you don't like it (let me know), just uninstall 3.8 and re-install 3.7.

Download Shipper 3.8

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Shipper 3.7 Release

Wed, 30 Dec 2009 18:18:00 GMT

Shipper 3.7 is now available with support for eBay online stores. You can now use Shipper to process shipments for an unlimited number of eBay seller accounts in addition to all of the online stores supported by Shipping Agent:

Print FedEx, UPS, and USPS labels with or without postage
Print custom pick lists, packing slips, and invoices
Send branded emails to customers
Mark the order shipped and record the tracking information

Please see the Shipper Update page to read the complete release notes and download Shipper 3.7

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Shipping Agent 3.6 for AbleCommerce 7.0.4 Released

Tue, 29 Dec 2009 19:08:00 GMT

Shipping Agent version 3.6 for AbleCommerce version 7.0.4 is now available for download.

Shipping Agent 3.6 Downloads

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Adding support for UPS WorldShip to Shipper 3.8

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 18:44:00 GMT

Shipper 3.7 will be out next week, but we've already started on 3.8 which will have support for UPS WorldShip...one of the top suggestions on UserVoice.

The first Shipper 3.8 beta will probably be out next week or early in January, 2010.

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Shipper 3.7 Beta 2

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 09:43:00 GMT

Shipper 3.7 Beta 2 is now available. This is ready to "go live". The big change from 3.6 is support for eBay. To accomodate eBay support (and to get ready for future online store types), there has been some renaming:

Websites are now called Stores (or online stores in prose). Shipper 3.7 supports 2 kinds of stores: eBay Seller and Shipping Agent. Shipping Agent stores are online stores with the Shipping Agent script installed (i.e. AbleCommerce, BV Commerce, Commerce Server, Magento, StoreFront and Zen Cart).

The installer will take care of all the renaming. All of your package tasks and order tasks will upgrade without a hitch. You may need to tweak some of your reports after the upgrade, so be sure to print a copy for review.

To connect Shipper to eBay either run the New Store Wizard, or create a new eBay Seller store, give it a name, and then click on the Authorize button.

Remember there is no limit to the number of online stores you can manage from Shipper, so have a ball and let me know how it goes.

Download Shipper 3.7 beta
Download Shipping Agent 3.7 beta

Happy Holidays,

Andy

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Shipper 3.7 Beta

Sat, 19 Dec 2009 07:08:00 GMT

Right on the heals of 3.6 comes the 3.7 beta with support for eBay!

Now you can process shipments for an unlimited number of eBay seller accounts in addition to your existing online stores with Shipping Agent.

Note: This Shipper 3.7 beta will only connect to your eBay sandbox account.

Download Shipper 3.7 beta
Download Shipping Agent 3.7 beta

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Adding support for eBay to Shipper 3.7

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 23:41:00 GMT

Do you use multiple sales channels? Is one of them eBay? Would consolidating your shipment processing save you money? Then I have a deal for you!

Since the release of Shipper 3.6, I've been hard at work adding eBay support to Shipper. That means you can connect Shipper to an unlimited number of eBay accounts (in addition to an unlimited number of AbleCommerce, BV Commerce, Magento, Microsoft Commerce Server, StoreFront, and Zen Cart stores). With one click all of the new and updates orders are downloaded from all of the eBay and online store accounts.

Once the orders are downloaded you can print or email packing slips and invoices, email SMS messages to the warehouse, verify addresses, print labels, email a confirmation to your customer, and more. One more click and the tracking information is sent back to eBay or your online store.

No more tedious cut and paste. No more typos. No more "Undeliverable-Return to Sender".

Let me know if you would like access to the Shipper 3.7 beta with support for eBay.

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Shipper 3.6 Release

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 23:18:00 GMT

Shipper 3.6 is now available. This is primarily a maintenance release (see the release notes for details). But there is one breaking change. "Breaking change" is a phrase used in the software industry to describe a change that requires manual intervention.

Shipping Agent for Magento authentication

Starting with 3.6, Shipping Agent for Magento includes authentication. You must configure Shipper to send a Magento username and password that are authorized to access the Admin area.

Please see the article "How do I protect Shipping Agent from unauthorized access?" in Help > Frequently Asked Questions, for more information.

Please head over to the Shipper Update page to read the release notes and download Shipper 3.6.

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Shipper 3.6 Beta

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 05:59:00 GMT

The Shipper 3.6 beta is now available. All pre-release cautions apply.

This is primarily a maintenance release--there are few new features, but several changes that make the existing features better.

Faster downloads. This release is far less "chatty" than 3.5.
Better downloads #1. You can now select "New Orders Only" or "New and Updated Orders" to download. No need to configure the Shipping Agent, just select your preference in Shipper.
Better downloads #2. You can now select the order statuses and the payment statuses that you want included in the download. Again--no need to configure Shipping Agent, just select your preferences in Shipper.
Better downloads #3. You can also select the order and payment statuses to download on the fly with Download Orders by Range. Only want paid orders from yesterday? No problem!
Better support for ShipRush templates. Templates now work like any other package property. You can now assign a template to a package--manually or automatically--before you print the label.

There are also a few changes to the Shipping Agents.

Breaking change: Shipping Agent for Magento now requires a Magento username and password and the Magento user must be an admin.
Shipping Agent for Microsoft Commerce Server now supports New and Updated Orders.

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Shipper 3.5 Runs on Windows 7

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 00:10:00 GMT

Since Windows 7 ships in a couple of days, I thought you'd like to know that Shipper 3.5 works quite well on both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows 7.

It also works on XP with Service Pack 3 and Vista.

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Shipper 3.5 Release

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 17:32:00 GMT

Shipper 3.5 is now available. There are many new features, changes and bug fixes (see the release notes for details). But I'd like to call out three breaking changes. "Breaking changes" is a phrase used in the software industry to describes changes that require manual intervention.

Breaking Changes

1. Shipping Agent for AbleCommerce and Shipping Agent for BV Commerce authentication

Prior to 3.5 none of the Shipping Agents included code to authenticate requests for data. The installation instructions strongly encouraged you to implement HTTP Basic Authentication on the server. Unfortunately, this does not work well with sites that use ASP.NET Forms Authentication such as AbleCommerce.

Starting with 3.5, Shipping Agent for AbleCommerce and Shipping Agent for BV Commerce include authentication. You must configure Shipper to send a username and password that are authorized to access the Admin area of the underlying e-commerce platform.

Please see the article "How do I protect Shipping Agent from unauthorized access?" in Help > Frequently Asked Questions, for more information.

2. Automatic Download Removed

Automatic download was a feature that would automatically run Download New Orders every few minutes. Unfortunately, if you were printing a label at the same time, the order and package data could be corrupted. Until and unless we can figure out a way to prevent this, the Automatic Download feature will no longer be available. The workaround is to click on Download New Orders yourself.

3. ShipRush 7 Required

Shipper 3.5 requires ShipRush 7. You can download ShipRush 7 from the downloads page.

Please head over to the Shipper Update page to read the release notes and download Shipper 3.5.

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

How to fix a corrupt SQLite database

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 17:13:00 GMT

Shipper 3 will work with over 20 different types of databases. The default is SQLite 3,

SQLite is a software library that implements a self-contained, serverless, zero-configuration, transactional SQL database engine. SQLite is the most widely deployed SQL database engine in the world. The source code for SQLite is in the public domain.

Even though SQLite is reliable and fast, the database can be corrupted if your computer crashes at just the right time, or if your disk drive hiccups. One way to fix the database is to dump the data to SQL, then recreate the database using the SQL. Install SQLite and then execute these commands:

echo .dump | sqlite3.exe Shipper3.db3 > Shipper3.sql
ren Shipper3.db3 Shipper3.db3.bak
sqlite3.exe -init Shipper3.sql Shipper3.db3

The first command dumps the data as SQL to a file called Shipper3.sql. The second command renames the old, corrupted database file to Shipper3.db3.bak as a backup in case step 3 goes wrong. Step 3 recreates Shipper3.db3 using the SQL in Shipper3.sql.

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Shipper 3.5 Beta 4

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:44:00 GMT

The fourth Shipper 3.5 beta build is now available. All of the 3.5 Shipping Agents were also updated today.

These are release candidates. That means there are no known bugs and you are probably safe using them in production. You may run into minor bugs such as typos or minor inconsistencies between what you see and what is documented in the help.

See the original Shipper 3.5 Beta announcement for links to the download and release notes.

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Shipper 3.5 Beta 3

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 20:07:00 GMT

The third Shipper 3.5 beta build is now available. This is also a release candidate. If no one finds a bug, this will build will become the release build.

See the original Shipper 3.5 Beta announcement for links to the download and release notes.

Dev is now reviewing all the Shipping Agents.

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Shipper 3 Renewals Online

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 17:07:00 GMT

You can now order your Shipper 3 renewal online here:

Shipper 3 Renewals

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

First 3 Shipper 3 Videos

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 07:25:00 GMT

I just uploaded the first three Shipper 3 videos. The cover the three installation steps:

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Using Windows 7 for Development

Sun, 04 Oct 2009 18:52:00 GMT

Upgraded dev machine from Vista Ultimate 74-bit to Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit. So far, so good. Some notes:

Visual Studio 2008 could not start Shipper 3 in a debugger. Had to register dte80.dll, dte80a.dll, dte90.dll, and dte90a.dll (search web for "regsvr32 dte80.dll" for details).
Visual Studio 2008 would not build deployment project (setup) until I registered mergemod.dll (search web for "regsvr32 mergemod.dll" for details).
Virtual PC 2007 is not supported. Had to convert all of my virtual machines to Windows Virtual PC. Not hard, but tedious. Uninstalled Virtual Machine Additions and installed Integration Features on each VM. Shutdown no longer asks if I want to merge undo disk. I miss that.
IE8 would crash when I visited any of several different pages (techmeme, msdn, etc). I suspect something in the cache from Vista was causing the crash. After resettings IE and restarting Windows, the crashes went away.

Now testing Shipper 3.5 on Windows XP SP3 (32-bit only), Vista (32-bit only), and Windows 7 (32-bit and 64-bit).

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Shipper 3.5 Beta 2

Sun, 04 Oct 2009 18:44:00 GMT

Shipper 3.5 beta refresh is now available. See original post for links,

Shipper 3.5 Beta

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Shipping Rate Rule Providers for BVC 5.6

Sat, 03 Oct 2009 00:55:00 GMT

Shipper Rate Rule Providers 2.9 are now available. This version is compatible with BVC 5.6 on either IIS6 or IIS7.

download

Note: If you purchased Shipping Rate Rule Providers before October 2009, you will need to download and install a fresh copy of your license file. Your old license file will not work with version 2.9.

To download a fresh copy of your license file, open the original online order details and click on the Download button.

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Shipper 3.5 Beta

Fri, 04 Sep 2009 22:33:00 GMT

Beta versions of Shipper and Shipping Agent 3.5 are now available for testing. These are pre-release builds that you can use to experiment with the new features. I do not recommend upgrading from version 3.4 in a production unless you also have an alternative means of processing shipments.

download Shipper 3.5 beta
download Shipping Agent 3.5 beta

There are a lot of new features in version 3.5, which is why I am pre-releasing this beta build. If you get a chance to try it and find something that should change before the final release, please send an email to support@structured-solutions.net with "Shipper 3.5 Beta" in the subject line.

Some of the new features:

Support for ShipRush 7
Support for Address Doctor for international address verification
Ability to download new orders from a single site
New Assign Destination Address task so you can change the shipping address before printing the label. For example, you can copy the state to line 2 if the destination address is in Japan (because ShipRush does not print the state on the label if the address is in Japan).
Added "Record Tracking" button so you can quickly record tracking information and ship date for packages that are processed outside of Shipper.
Added support for printing a shipping label using a ShipRush template. This makes it very easy to print labels with complex choices such as COD, Delivery Options, or special material handling.

I'll describe these features and others in more detail when the final release is available. In the mean time, here are the release notes and a link to the updated help.

Release Notes
Online Help

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

ShipRush 7 is Out...please wait!

Tue, 25 Aug 2009 23:30:00 GMT

ShipRush 7 is now available from Z-Firm! Cool!

Shipper 3 has not been fully tested with ShipRush 7. Boo!

So far it appears that Shipper 3.4 Gold and Platinum Editions (and probably earlier builds) are compatible with ShipRush upgrades from 6 to 7.

But is also appears that Shipper 3.4 Platinum Edition is not compatible with new (not an upgrade) ShipRush 7 install.

Until we get this figured out, please do not install or upgrade to ShipRush 7 if Shipper 3 is on the same computer.

You can still download ShipRush 6 from http://structured-solutions.net/downloads.

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Shipper 3.4 Released

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 21:57:00 GMT

Shipper 3.4, build 3470 is now available. The changes in this release were primarily driven by feedback from customers at UserVoice. Your suggestions help make Shipper 3 the best shipment processing product available.

Update: The initial build (3457) included a bug in the installer which prevents Shipper from loading on some machines. Build 3470, released on 7/2 corrects the issue.

One new feature in particular will speed up order processing for many of you: Add a Recall by Order ID box was implemented as Print Order Label in Shipper 3.4. Enter or scan the order number and press enter to print the corresponding package label. If the order has more than one package, just repeat until all the labels are printed.

Other UserVoice suggestions that made it into Shipper 3.4 include: Highlight Express Orders, and Option to use Cost Value.

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Using Shipper 3 with Alternative Label Generators

Sat, 23 May 2009 01:14:00 GMT

This is a work in progress...as I learn more from customers and my own experiments, I will post it here.

Shipper 3 is designed to use ShipRush to generate labels for UPS, FedEx, USPS, and Endicia. Some customers have asked if they can use alternatives such as UPS WorldShip. The answer is a definite maybe. Shipper 3 does store the order and package information in a database. So it seems like you should be able to read and write to that database from UPS WorldShip.

To be honest, I don't even have UPS WorldShip installed right now. I did of course when I was working on Shipper 1, but now that Shipper 3 has replaced Shipper 1--I have abandoned UPS WorldShip and its ilk. The upshot is that this is all theoretical and completely un-supported. It may cause your computer to catch fire (not really).

Still here? Then here is what I would do:

First, make the data available to UPS WorldShip.

UPS WorldShip (and FedEx Ship Manager and Endicia Galaxy) all use ODBC to access external data. So the first step is to make the Shipper 3 database accessible via ODBC. There are 2 ways to do this:

Add an ODBC driver for SQLite (Shipper 3's native database format) and then define an ODBC Data Source Name.
Configure Shipper 3 to use one of the database formats that you already have an ODBC driver for, and then define an ODBC Data Source Name.

It looks like this site has an ODBC driver for SQLite. I have never, ever, used it and have nothing good or bad to say about it. If you try it, feel free to send me your impressions.

If you would prefer to use one of the ODBC drivers that come with Windows, then you will need to configure Shipper 3 to use the corresponding database. To do that that you will need to change the database connection string in a file called Shipper3.exe.config. The config file is in the directory where you installed Shipper 3. The file is XML which you can edit with Notepad. There are some comments in there with sample database connection strings for Microsoft SQL Server. Shipper 3 can use any one of about 20 different database file and server formats.

Once you have the ODBC driver, create a new Data Source Name using Control Panel > Adminstrative Tools > Data Sources. There are about 100,000 sites on the internet that describe how to create a Data Source Name. Please refer to one of those if you need help.

Second, Read the Unshipped Package Data

Shipper 3 stores Package data across several tables. You will need to join the data when you read the unshipped package data. For example, here is a sample SQL query that joins data from the Package, Order, Item, and Address tables (note that PackageStatus = 0 selects the Unshipped packages):


SELECT Package.Oid, 
       [Order].OrderNumber, 
       Address.City, 
       Address.Company, 
       Address.Country, 
       Address.Email, 
       Address.LastName, 
       Address.Line1,
       Address.Line2,
       Address.Phone,
       Address.PostalCode,
       Address.Region,
       Address.Residential,
       SUM(Item.Weight) AS Weight
FROM   Package INNER JOIN [Order] ON Package.[Order] = [Order].Oid
       INNER JOIN Address ON Package.Destination = Address.Oid
       INNER JOIN Item ON Package.Oid = Item.Package
WHERE  (PackageStatus = 0)

Third, Write the Ship Date and Tracking Number

After you have printed the labels, you should write the ship date and tracking number back into the Packages table, and set the PackageStatus = 1 (labeled). Refresh the Packages view in Shipper to see your changes and then send the tracking information back to your store.

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Shipping Rate Rule Providers for BVC5 Service Pack 5

Thu, 14 May 2009 22:45:00 GMT

The Shipping Rate Rule Providers for BVC5 Service Pack 4 are compatible with Service Pack 5. There are no special instructions for upgrading BVC5 related to the Shipping Rate Rule Providers.

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

ShipRush 6.2.3226 Available for Download

Fri, 08 May 2009 02:26:00 GMT

ShipRush 6.2.3226 is compatible with Shipper 3.3 and is now available for download.

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Shipper 3.3 Released

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 20:27:00 GMT

Shipper 3.3, build 3414 is now available. The changes in this release were primarily driven by feedback from customers at UserVoice. I'd love to hear your suggestions for version 3.4. What can Shipper do to help you reach your goals?

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Shipper 3 Documentation

Tue, 24 Feb 2009 19:37:00 GMT

I've started consolidating the Shipper 3 documentation,

Shipper 3 Documentation

I hope to spend at least a few minutes on it each day. Let me know if there is a particular topic you want covered by leaving a comment on UserVoice,

UserVoice Suggestion: Create Documentation

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Shipper 1 and UPS WorldShip 2009 Version 11.0

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 17:28:00 GMT

UPS has released UPS WorldShip 2009 Version 11.0 and you may be wondering if it is compatible with Shipper 1.4. I have heard mixed results. It works for some people and not for others.

Now that Shipper 3 is available, Shipper 1 is no longer being updated. Shipper 3 does not rely on UPS WorldShip (or any carrier software) and is a much better product.

http://structured-solutions.net/Shipper3Editions

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Running Shipper 3 on Vista

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 02:24:00 GMT

Several people testing Shipper 3 on Vista have reported trouble. I'm sorry it has been such a struggle. All the trouble seems to be caused by 2 issues:

Some of the features in Shipper 3 did not run in 64-bit Vista.
One of the features in Shipper 3 Gold Edition required Administrator permission.

I think I licked the first one with Shipper 3.2 by compiling everything in 32-bit mode (which runs fine in 64-bit Vista). In version 3.1 and before, I compiled some parts in 32-bit and some parts for "Any CPU". That seems to be the root cause of the problem. Let me know if you still cannot run Shipper 3.2 on 64-bit Vista.

The second issue is not a problem for most people on XP, but it is a big problem with the UAC on Vista. The good news is that I just pulled out the code that required Admin permission and replaced it with code that runs without requiring Admin permission. It seems to work great...and it may even be a little faster! The new code will be in version 3.3.

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

You can be a Hero

Mon, 09 Feb 2009 08:54:00 GMT

I want you to feel like a hero for your company and Shipper 3 can help. Shipper 3 is a high velocity shipment processing system for e-commerce websites. It helps you ship your orders quickly and keep your customers informed. But I know it can be better.

Please help me design the best damn program you've ever seen. Head on over to UserVoice (http://shipper3.uservoice.com) and make your voice heard. On UserVoice you can make suggestions and vote on the suggestions others have made.

Tell me what will make you a hero and that is what I will work on.

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Shipper 3.2 Final Release

Mon, 09 Feb 2009 04:23:00 GMT

Shipper 3.2 is now available. Enhancements include:

Huge UI speed improvements (switching between Packages and Orders now takes just 2 seconds with 65,000 orders).
Replace MS SQL Server Express with SQLite for the local database. This makes the install much easier without loosing performance.
Additional address verification festures (Platinum Edition only)
Support for Microsoft Commerce Server 2007
Support for Zen Cart 1.3.8

Read More

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Shipper 3.2 Release Candidate 3

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 03:50:00 GMT

The third release candidates of Shipper and Shipping Agent 3.2 are now available. Enhancements include:

Huge UI speed improvements (switching between Packages and Orders now takes just 2 seconds with 65,000 orders).
Replace MS SQL Server Express with SQLite for the local database. This makes the install much easier without loosing performance.
Additional address verification festures (Platinum Edition only)
Support for Microsoft Commerce Server 2007
Support for Zen Cart 1.3.8

Read More

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Shipper 3.2 Release Candidate 2

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 01:59:00 GMT

The second release candidates of Shipper and Shipping Agent 3.2 are now available. Enhancements include:

Additional address verification festures (Platinum Edition only)
Support for Microsoft Commerce Server 2007
Support for Zen Cart 1.3.8

Read More

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Shipper 3.2 Release Candidate 1

Sat, 03 Jan 2009 21:38:00 GMT

The first release candidates of Shipper and Shipping Agent 3.2 are now available. Enhancements include address verification and support for Microsoft Commerce Server 2007.

Read More

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Shipper 3.2.3283 Now Available for Testing

Sun, 28 Dec 2008 08:00:00 GMT

Shipper 3.2.3283 is now available for testing. This version includes both manual and automatic (via tasks) address verification. This can be used to verify and correct the shipping address--including the residential/business flag--before assigning the service or printing the label. It can also be used to verify the billing address before processing the shipment.

Read More

Requires Shipping Agent 3.2 if you want to download shipments from your store. Note that the address verification feature can be tested with existing data if you have an earlier release installed.

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Shipper 1 Enters Limited Maintenance Mode

Tue, 23 Dec 2008 18:37:00 GMT

Update October 6, 2009:

Shipper 1 is no longer being updated or supported. For ongoing support, please upgrade to Shipper 3.

Original post from December, 2008:

Now that Shipper 3 is available, Shipper 1 is in limited maintenance mode. Specifically,

You can download the Shipper 1.4 and Shipper Service 1.4 installers from the downloads page if you need to re-install the software.
Your current license files will continue to work.
New Shipper 1 and Shipper Service 1 licenses can not be purchased.
Shipper 1 and Shipper Service 1 will no longer be updated. For example, if a carrier changes their software in a way that makes it incompatible with Shipper 1, Shipper 1 will not be updated to accomodate the carrier changes. Similarly, if your e-commerce vendor changes to their software that makes it incompatible with Shipper Service 1, Shipper Service 1 will not be updated to accomodate the e-commerce changes.
You will still receive free email support, but problems due to incompatibility may no longer be resolvable.
You can still transfer your license to someone else, but we will insist on contacting the potential license owner to make sure they understand the current support status.

Shipper 1 will reach end-of-life on October 5, 2009. After that, you will no longer be able to download the software; and support will no longer be available.

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Shipper 3.1.3261 is Now Available

Fri, 05 Dec 2008 21:31:00 GMT

Shipper 3.1.3261 is now available. It includes a fix to prevent the ShipRush UI from appearing when you click on Quick Print Shipping Label.

More Details

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Shipper 3.1 is Now Available

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 00:23:00 GMT

Shipper 3.1.3257 is now available for download. This is a free update for all current license holders.

New and Improved

New data analysis feature - Analyze your orders using the intregrated pivot table or export the data to Excel for further analysis. Available in Gold and Platinum Editions.
New automation tasks - New tasks were added so you can automatically assign packaging, and text to any reference field. The text can use a simple template language if you want to a value from the current package or order. For example, "Order [Order.OrderNumber]" would insert the current order number.
Support for additional e-commerce platforms - Shipping Agents for StoreFront 6.8 and BV Commerce 5 SP4 are now available.

Please see the Shipper 3.1 Release Notes for a complete list of changes, including a breaking change. Shipper 3.1 is only compatible with Shipping Agent 3.1, so you must update both at the same time.

Shipping Agent 3.1 Install/Update Instructions

Before you install Shipping Agent 3.1, please delete Shipping Agent 3.0 files from your website. If you are not sure which files you installed for Shipping Agent 3.0, download the 3.0 installer and from CodePlex and reference the extracted files.

Download the appropriate Shipper Agent for your e-commerce platform from http://www.codeplex.com/ShippingAgent.
Run the installer to extract Shipping Agent 3.1 files to a directory on your computer.
Copy the extracted Shipping Agent 3.1 files to your website as described in readme.txt file.

Shipper 3.1 Install/Update Instructions

These instructions apply to both the Gold and Platinum Editions.

Download the Shipper 3.1 installation package.
Unzip the files to a clean directory on your computer.
Run setup.exe to install version 3.1.

Note that Shipper 3.1 uses a different database to store its configuration and local data. Shipper 3.0 data will not be updated to 3.1, so you will need to run the New Website Wizard to add your website(s) to Shipper 3.1. Please see the Shipper 3.1 Release Notes for details.

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Shipper 3.1 RC1

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 07:16:00 GMT

Shipper 3.1 Release Candidate 1 is now available download.

Please keep in mind that this is a pre-release version of Shipper. It includes a beta license that expires on December 1st (although, if you own a active license for Shipper 3, then this release candidate will continue to work after the 1st). I do not recommend replacing a production copy of Shipper 3.0 with this release candidate for testing.

New and Improved

New data analysis feature - Analyze your orders using the intregrated pivot table or export the data to Excel for further analysis. Available in Gold and Platinum Editions.
New automation tasks - New tasks were added so you can automatically assign packaging, and text to any reference field. The text can use a simple template language if you want to a value from the current package or order. For example, "Order [Order.OrderNumber]" would insert the current order number.
Support for additional e-commerce platforms - Shipping Agents for StoreFront 6.8 and BV Commerce 5 SP4 are now available.

Please see the Shipper 3.1 Release Notes for a complete list of changes, including a breaking change. Shipper 3.1 is only compatible with Shipping Agent 3.1, so you have to update both at the same time.

Shipping Agent 3.1 Install/Update Instructions

Download the appropriate Shipper Agent for your e-commerce platform from http://www.codeplex.com/ShippingAgent.
Run the installer to extract Shipping Agent 3.1 files to a directory on your computer.
Copy the extracted Shipping Agent 3.1 files to your website as described in readme.txt file.

Shipper 3.1 Install/Update Instructions

These instructions apply to both the Gold and Platinum Editions.

Download the Shipper 3.1 installation package.
Unzip the files to a clean directory on your computer.
Run setup.exe to install version 3.1.

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Google Base Feed Products Updated

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 21:28:00 GMT

New versions of Froogle Feed for StoreFront 6 and Google Feed for StoreFront 7 are available to follow the new policy for double quotes in the body of the text.

Froogle Feed for StoreFront 6 customers can download the new version from their online order details.

Google Feed for StoreFront 7 customers can download the new version from the downloads page.

These are free updates.

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Shipping Rate Rule Providers Updated for BVC5 SP4

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 20:08:00 GMT

Shipping Rate Rule Providers are now available for BV Commerce 5 SP4. Version 2.8 includes support for kits. This is a free update for current license holders.

download

If you are updating BVC5 to SP4, you should follow these steps to update your Shipping Rate Rule Providers.

Visit the BV Admin > Plug-ins page.
Select the Shipping Rate Provider Suite plugin.
Select Install or Remove shipping rate providers.
Remove all of the old providers.
Update BVC5 to SP4 and complete your update testing (note that none of the shipping methods using my Shipping Rate Rule Providers will work yet).
Download and install version 2.8 of the Shipping Rate Rule Providers.
Repeat steps 1-4, but install the new providers.
Repeat your testing from step 5 and verify that the shipping methods now work.

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Support for DHL Shipping Rate Rule Providers ends January 2009

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 00:20:00 GMT

Because Deutsche Post has decided to exit the domestic US market, support for the DHL Shipping Rate Rule Providers will end January 31, 2009.

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

$10 Off ShipRush Standalone License Through December 31, 2008

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 18:46:00 GMT

Just in time for the holidays—Get $10 off every ShipRush Standalone license through December 31, 2008.

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

BV Commerce version 5.4 is now available

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 21:00:00 GMT

BV Commerce version 5.4 is now available. You may be wondering if your current add-ons are compatible. Here's the scoop:

Shipping Rate Rule Providers
Version 2.8 (released 11/13/2008) is compatible with 5.4.

DHL Shipping Rate Providers for BVC5
The current build is not compatible with 5.4. Send an email to support if you plan on updating your store to 5.4.

Canada Post Shipping Rate Provider for BVC5
The current build is not compatible with 5.4. Send an email to support if you plan on updating your store to 5.4.

Shipper Service for BVC5 (part of the Shipper 1 solution)
The current build of Shipper Service for BVC5 SP2 appears to be compatible with 5.4, but does not recognize kits. Very little testing was done on the final release of SP4, so there may be other features that are not supported. No update is planned. Please consider upgrading to Shipper 3.

Shipping Agent for BVC5 (part of the Shipper 3 solution)
The current release is compatible with 5.4, but does not recognize kits. Version 3.1 will support 5.4 and is currently scheduled for release by Dec. 1, 2008.

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

What features would you like in Shipper 3.1?

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 20:40:00 GMT

Working on software is like juggling, there are always several balls in the air. One of those balls is deciding what should be in Shipper 3.1 and what should be pushed off to a later release. To resolve this question, I'd like to try an experiment. The list below has several potential features. Not all features are equal. Some will take longer to implement than others and some have a greater impact on your productivity than others. I'd like to optimize the feature list for 3.1 using the following criteria:

Include features with the highest return in productivity.
Include features that are critical, even if they can't be measured for productivity.
Keep the list short enough (as measured by the time required to implement) to release 3.1 by December.

With that in mind, would you send me an email with your top features? You can make the list as long or as short as you want. Please send your list to support@structured-solutions.net.

Add Send Email/Send Report - You could select a website, order, or package and then pick Send Email and/or Send Report to send an email or report to all customers (if you picked a website), one customer (if you picked an order), or recipient (if you picked a package).
Add a field reference guide to Send Email Task - There are several mail merge fields you can use in the send email task, but no documentation. This work item would add the documentation.
Add ShipRush Export Fields to the Print Shipping Label Task - Currently the Print Shipping Label Task will use the ShipRush Export Fields settings for the website. This work item would allow you to override those settings on specific Print Shipping Label Tasks.
Add Website Export Fields to the Upload Package Task - Currently the Upload Package Task will use the Webiste Export Fields settings for the website. This work item would allow you to override those settings on specific Upload Package Tasks.
Add the ability to specific a printer for reports - Currently all reports print on the default Windows printer. This work item would allow you to identify a specific printer to use. For example, you might pick a special printer for packing slips.
Add a track package button.
Add a void package button. Void should void the label and void the package in the website.
Add an address verify button.
Add reprint label button.
Add rate shopping button.
Implement a ribbon-style user interface (Office 2007 uses a ribbon UI).
Display order details on the order list below each order summary.
Display package details on the package list below each package summary.
Add ShipRush settings button (to display the ShipRush settings page).
Add ShipRush history button (to display the ShipRush history page).
Add a New Task Wizard (like the New Website Wizard).
Add custom packaging options with dimensions.
Add Assign Packaging Task.
Add support for multiple packages per shipment.
Add Assign Reference Field Task (which would allow you to fill in the label reference field with the order number, etc).
Add a Service guessing feature that builds Assign Server Tasks for each method used in the store based on the rate provider and method names.

Thank you!

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Shipper 3 Released

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 18:35:00 GMT

First I want to thank everyone that participated in the pre-release testing. Your participation helped make Shipper 3 the product it is today. And I am very happy to announce that Shipper 3 is now available.

Shipper 3 Products

Two editions are being released today: Shipper 3 Gold Edition and Shipper 3 Platinum Edition. Both editions print shipping labels and postage for UPS, FedEx, DHL, and USPS. Both editions initially support AbleCommerce 7, BV Commerce 5, and StoreFront 7; with more on the way. The Platinum Edition also includes batch and hands-off label printing.

Compare Shipper 3 Editions

For each Shipper 1 Starter Kit or a Shipper 1 License you purchased after May 10, 2008, you qualify for a 25% discount on either Shipper 3 edition. You will be receiving an email shortly with the discount coupon code, but if you can't wait or if you changed email addresses since placing the order; please send your order information to support@structured-solutions.net for expedited processing.

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Shipper 3.0 Release Candidate 4

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 20:35:00 GMT

Shipper 3.0 is a high velocity shipment processor for ecommerce platforms.

Today I am happy to announce the fourth release candidate (version 3.0.3187.18415) with support for StoreFront 7.2, BV Commerce 5.3, and AbleCommerce 7 on the back end; and UPS, USPS, FedEx, Endicia, and DHL on the front end.

Shipper 3.0 delivers...

Print labels directly from Shipper. Shipper 3.0 uses ShipRush by Z-Firm to print the labels. ShipRush is the same shipping component built into QuickBooks.
Support multiple carriers. All you need is ShipRush (which you may already have) to support UPS, USPS, FedEx, Endicia and DHL.
Support multiple websites. Each copy of Shipper can process shipments from multiple websites at the same time. You can easily setup filters to avoid processing the same shipment twice.
Print custom reports, packing slips, and emails. Shipper 3.0 includes a powerful drag-and-drop report writer so you can easily build custom reports and emails.
Automatically print reports or send emails. Shipper 3.0 performs the actions you define each time you download an order.
Support for more back-ends. Shipping Agents are available for AbleCommerce 7, BV Commerce 5, and StoreFront 7. Even better, the Shipping Agent source code is open source. That means you are free to modify the existing agents or create your own.

Changes in RC4

Change: Shipper is now available in 2 editions: Gold and Platinum. Both editions can do everything listed above. Platinum can also automatically print labels when packages are downloaded, and print several labels at once (batch printing). This change was made to solve the known issue with batch printing in RC3 and earlier. Shipper Gold Edition is perfect for small businesses shipping up to 25 packages a day, while Shipper Platinum Edition will be a better choice for medium sized businesses processing up to 100's or even 1000's of shipments each day.
Change: Shipments are now called Packages. This will make it easier to implement a feature in the future to ship several packages in one shipment (for carriers that support multi-parcel shipments). Note: this change requires that you delete Shipper data from previous release candidates. See the installation instructions below for details.
Change: The built-in reports are now called Invoice, Packing Slip, and Ship Confirmation. All built-in reports will now print in the same order they are displayed.
New: Added Packaging to Packages, Shipping Status to Orders, and moved Shipping Charge from Order Charges to Orders. The last will make shipping charge versus shipping cost analysis easier in a future release.

Known Issues

In trial mode, the Premium edition will change all shipping addresses to a test address. The test address fails USPS address validation, so you will not be able to print USPS shipping labels in trial mode.

Installation

The Shipper 3.0 system has 2 parts:

Shipper, a Windows desktop application to manage orders.
Shipping Agent, an open source web service for your website that connects Shipper 3.0 with your ecommerce system.

Installing Shipper 3.0

ShipRush 6 must be installed on the same computer with Shipper 3.0. If you do not already have ShipRush installed, I suggest ShipRush for USPS or ShipRush for DHL since both are free. See www.shiprush.com for more information.
Download Shipper 3.0 RC4
Unzip the download.
Run Setup.exe to to install Shipper 3.0 on your desktop computer.
Important: if you ran a previous release of Shipper 3.0, you need to delete the previous data. If you have Windows XP, delete the directory called "\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\Application Data\Structured Solutions\Shipper 3.0\". If you have Vista, delete the directory called "Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Structured Solutions\Shipper 3.0\".

Installing Shipping Agent 3.0

Download Shipping Agent 3.0 RC4 for your ecommerce platform. If you don't have a compatible ecommerce website, ShippingAgentMock.exe contains the files for a Mock Shipping Agent. The mock agent works with any .NET 2.0 web site.
Run the installer to extract the Shipping Agent files.
Copy the extracted Shipping Agent files to your website as described in the readme.txt file.

Getting Started

Launch Shipper 3.0. If this is a new install, the New Website Wizard will start.
When you are prompted for the Agent URL, enter the URL to ShippingAgent.asmx on your website. For example, http://company.com/agents/shippingagent.asmx.
After the wizard is finished (or if you cancel the wizard), Shipper 3.0 will appear.
To print a shipping label, select a shipment and then click on Print Shipping Label button.
After the label is printed, click on Upload Shipment button to send the tracking information back to your store.
By default, the release candidate will launch as the Premium Edition. You can test the Gold Edition by changing Tools > Shipper Settings > Trial Mode Edition.

Q&A

Q: When will Shipper 3.0 be released?
A: When no significant bugs are reported for at least 2 weeks.

Q: How much will Shipper 3.0 cost?
A: Shipper 3.0 Gold Edition will have a cost similar to the cost of Shipper 1.4. The cost for ShipRush depends on which carriers you want to support. At the top end, ShipRush for UPS Pro is about $400. At the other end, ShipRush for USPS is free.

Q: Will upgrade pricing be available?
A: Reduced pricing for Shipper 3.0 will be offered to anyone that purchased Shipper 1.4 since May 11, 2008 (90 days before the first release candidate).

Q: Will there be any recurring costs?
A: Yes. Both Shipper and ShipRush are licensed for one year. At the end of the year, there will be a renewal cost if you wish to continue using the software. In addition, ShipRush for USPS Powered by Endicia requires a special Endicia account with a monthly fee.

Q: Is the source code available?
A: The source code to Shipper is not available. The source code to the Shipping Agent is available for free on CodePlex.

Q: Is documentation available?
A: Not yet. I will produce both written documentation and short videos.

Stuff Might Change...If you want it to...

Although the feature set for 3.0 is fixed (new features will go in Shipper 3.1), there is still time to affect how the existing features are implemented. I am counting on you to tell me how to make Shipper 3.0 the best possible shipping tool for your business. Here are some suggestions for things to think about while you kick the tires:

The quick start above does not even touch on processing rules (which allow you to automatically assign services, print documents, and even upload completed orders). Can you find the rules? If not, what would help you discover them?
Right now ShipRush is a separate install because some (most?) people have some flavor of ShipRush already. Do you already have ShipRush? Would you like to download ShipRush and Shipper at the same time? Would you like the option of buying ShipRush at the same time with Shipper?
The integrated report writer has a lot of features. Is it overwhelming? I have included 2 sample reports. Do they help give you ideas of what is possible and how to do it? Will you use the report writer?
In this release candidate, the Shipping Agent is implemented as a SOAP service. If you are considering your own Shipping Agent, would a REST interface be easier to implement?

Feedback

Please send your feedback to support@structured-solutions.net. I will try to respond to each comment or question within a day. Thank you for taking a look.

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Shipper 3.0 Release Candidate 3

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 00:51:00 GMT

Shipper 3.0 is a high velocity shipment processor for ecommerce websites.

Today I am happy to announce the third release candidate (version 3.0.3174.30081) with support for StoreFront 7.2, BV Commerce 5.3, and AbleCommerce 7 on the back end; and UPS, USPS, FedEx, Endicia, and DHL on the front end.

Shipper 3.0 delivers...

Print labels directly from Shipper. Shipper 3.0 uses ShipRush by Z-Firm to print the labels. ShipRush is the same shipping component built into QuickBooks.
Support multiple carriers. All you need is ShipRush (which you may already have) to support UPS, USPS, FedEx, Endicia and DHL.
Support multiple websites. Each copy of Shipper can process shipments from multiple websites at the same time. You can easily setup filters to avoid processing the same shipment twice.
Print reports, packing slips, and emails. Shipper 3.0 includes a powerful drag-and-drop report writer so you can easily build custom reports and emails.
Automatically print reports or send emails. Shipper 3.0 performs the actions you define each time you download an order.
Support for more back-ends. Shipping Agents are available for AbleCommerce 7, BV Commerce 5, and StoreFront 7. Even better, the Shipping Agent source code is open source. That means you are free to modify the existing agents or create your own.

Changes in RC3

Bug fix: Destination country was not sent to ShipRush, so international shipments defaulted to United States.
Bug fix: Shipper 3.0 would not run on 64-bit Vista.
Bug fix: Multiple orders and multiple shipments would not print in the displayed order.
New feature: Automatic downloads. You can turn on a timer to download new orders automatically.
Change: Processing Rules renamed to Tasks.

Known Issues

Batch label printing does not work. They must be printed one at a time. This may not be fixed in 3.0.
The sample reports have an embedded sort that overrides the display sort order. These will be fixed in the next release.

Installation

The Shipper 3.0 system has 2 parts:

Shipper, a Windows desktop application to manage orders.
Shipping Agent, an open source web service for your website that connects Shipper 3.0 with your ecommerce system.

Installing Shipper 3.0

Download Shipper 3.0 RC3
Unzip the download.
You will also need any flavor of ShipRush 6 installed on the same computer. If you do not already have ShipRush installed, I suggest ShipRush for USPS or ShipRush for DHL since both are free. See www.shiprush.com for more information.
Run Setup.exe to to install Shipper 3.0 on your desktop computer.

Installing Shipping Agent 3.0

Download Shipping Agent 3.0 RC3 for your ecommerce platform. If you don't have a compatible ecommerce website, ShippingAgentMock.exe contains the files for a Mock Shipping Agent. The mock agent works with any .NET 2.0 web site.
Run the installer to extract the Shipping Agent files.
Copy the extracted Shipping Agent files to your website as described in the readme.txt file.

Getting Started

Launch Shipper 3.0. If this is a new install, the New Website Wizard will start.
When you are prompted for the Agent URL, enter the URL to ShippingAgent.asmx on your website. For example, http://company.com/agents/shippingagent.asmx.
When you are prompted for the Agent Serial Number, leave the field blank.
After the wizard is finished, Shipper 3.0 will appear.
To print a shipping label, select a shipment and then click on Print Shipping Label button.
After the label is printed, click on Upload Shipment button to send the tracking information back to your store.

Q&A

Q: When will Shipper 3.0 be released?
A: When no significant bugs are reported for at least 2 weeks.

Q: When will that be?
A: I don't know.

Q: How much will Shipper 3.0 cost?
A: Shipper 3.0 will have a cost similar to the cost of Shipper 1.4. The cost for ShipRush depends on which carriers you want to support. At the top end, ShipRush for UPS Pro is about $400. At the other end, ShipRush for USPS is free.

Q: Will upgrade pricing be available?
A: Reduced pricing for Shipper 3.0 will be offered to anyone that purchased Shipper 1.4 since May 11, 2008 (90 days before the first release candidate).

Q: Is the source code available?
A: The source code to Shipper is not available. The source code to the Shipping Agent is available for free on CodePlex.

Q: Is documentation available?
A: Not yet. I will produce both written documentation and short videos.

Stuff Might Change...If you want it to...

The quick start above does not even touch on processing rules (which allow you to automatically assign services, print documents, and even upload completed orders). Can you find the rules? If not, what would help you discover them?
Right now ShipRush is a separate install because some (most?) people have some flavor of ShipRush already. Do you already have ShipRush? Would you like to download ShipRush and Shipper at the same time? Would you like the option of buying ShipRush at the same time with Shipper?
The integrated report writer has a lot of features. Is it overwhelming? I have included 2 sample reports. Do they help give you ideas of what is possible and how to do it? Will you use the report writer?
In this release candidate, the Shipping Agent is implemented as a SOAP service. If you are considering your own Shipping Agent, would a REST interface be easier to implement?

Feedback

Please send your feedback to support@structured-solutions.net. I will try to respond to each comment or question within a day. Thank you for taking a look.

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Shipper 3.0 Release Candidate 2

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 17:40:00 GMT

Shipper 3.0 is a high velocity shipment processor for ecommerce websites.

Today I am happy to announce the second release candidate (version 3.0.3160.19301) with support for StoreFront 7.2, BV Commerce 5.3, and AbleCommerce 7 on the back end; and UPS, USPS, FedEx, Endicia, and DHL on the front end.

Shipper 3.0 delivers...

Print labels directly from Shipper. Shipper 3.0 uses ShipRush by Z-Firm to print the labels. ShipRush is the same shipping component built into QuickBooks.
Support multiple carriers. All you need is ShipRush (which you may already have) to support UPS, USPS, FedEx, Endicia and DHL.
Support multiple websites. Each copy of Shipper can process shipments from multiple websites at the same time. You can easily setup filters to avoid processing the same shipment twice.
Print reports, packing slips, and emails. Shipper 3.0 includes a powerful drag-and-drop report writer so you can easily build custom reports and emails.
Automatically print reports or send emails. Shipper 3.0 performs the actions you define each time you download an order.
Support for more back-ends. Shipping Agents are available for AbleCommerce 7, BV Commerce 5, and StoreFront 7. Even better, the Shipping Agent source code is open source. That means you are free to modify the existing agents or create your own.

Changes in RC2

Added support for ShipRush for Endicia.
Fixed a bug that did not send the country code to ShipRush (so ShipRush always defaulted to United States).
Added support for simple emails (i.e. no report selected).
Added a step to the New Website Wizard to download todays orders.

Installation

The Shipper 3.0 system has 2 parts:

Shipper, a Windows desktop application to manage orders.
Shipping Agent, an open source web service for your website to connect Shipper 3.0 with your ecommerce system.

Installing Shipper 3.0

Download Shipper 3.0 RC2
Unzip the download.
You will also need any flavor of ShipRush 6 installed on the same computer. If you do not already have ShipRush installed, I suggest ShipRush for USPS or ShipRush for DHL since both are free. See www.shiprush.com for more information.
Run Setup.exe to to install Shipper 3.0 on your desktop computer.

Installing Shipping Agent 3.0

Download Shipping Agent 3.0 RC2 for your platform. If you don't have a compatible ecommerce website, ShippingAgentMock.exe contains the files for a Mock Shipping Agent. The mock agent works with any .NET 2.0 web site.
Run the installer to extract the Shipping Agent files.
Copy the extracted Shipping Agent files to your website as described in the readme.txt file.

Getting Started

Launch Shipper 3.0. If this is a new install, the New Website Wizard will start.
When you are prompted for the Agent URL, enter the URL to ShippingAgent.asmx on your website. For example, http://company.com/agents/shippingagent.asmx.
When you are prompted for the Agent Serial Number, leave the field blank.
After the wizard is finished, Shipper 3.0 will appear.
To print a shipping label, select a shipment and then click on Print Shipping Label button.
After the label is printed, click on Upload Shipment button to send the tracking information back to your store.

Stuff Might Change...If you want it to...

The quick start above does not even touch on processing rules (which allow you to automatically assign services, print documents, and even upload completed orders). Can you find the rules? If not, what would help you discover them?
Right now ShipRush is a separate install because some (most?) people have some flavor of ShipRush already. Do you already have ShipRush? Would you like to download ShipRush and Shipper at the same time? Would you like the option of buying ShipRush at the same time with Shipper?
The integrated report writer has a lot of features. Is it overwhelming? I have included 2 sample reports. Do they help give you ideas of what is possible and how to do it? Will you use the report writer?
In this release candidate, the Shipping Agent is implemented as a SOAP service. If you are considering your own Shipping Agent, would a REST interface be easier to implement?

Feedback

Please send your feedback to support@structured-solutions.net. I will try to respond to each comment or question within a day. Thank you for taking a look.

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Shipping Agent 3.0 Open Source

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 19:14:00 GMT

The Shipper 3.0 system has 2 components:

Shipper - A desktop application which performs all the heavy lifting.
Shipping Agent - A web service which provides the interface between Shipper and your order collection system (such as your ecommerce website).

Here's the cool news...Shipping Agent is open sourced! That means you can modify the source code I wrote, or write your own and then do anything you want with it (including charging for it if you want).

You will find all of the source code and the actual open source license on CodePlex:

http://www.codeplex.com/ShippingAgent

That is also where I will be publishing the Shipping Agents that I write. Visit the project page on CodePlex and then click on the Downloads link to download the latest release for your store.

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Shipper 3.0 Release Candidate 1

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 20:20:00 GMT

Shipper 3.0 is a high velocity shipment processor for ecommerce websites.

Today I am happy to announce the first release candidate with support for StoreFront 7.2, BV Commerce 5.3, and AbleCommerce 7 on the back end; and UPS, USPS, FedEx, Endicia, and DHL on the front end.

Download

Shipper 3.0 delivers...

Print labels directly from Shipper. Shipper 3.0 uses ShipRush by Z-Firm to print the labels. ShipRush is the same shipping component built into QuickBooks.
Support multiple carriers. All you need is ShipRush (which you may already have) to support UPS, USPS, FedEx, Endicia and DHL.
Support multiple websites. Each copy of Shipper can process shipments from multiple websites at the same time. You can easily setup filters to avoid processing the same shipment twice.
Print reports, packing slips, and emails. Shipper 3.0 includes a powerful drag-and-drop report writer so you can easily build custom reports and emails.
Automatically print reports or send emails. Shipper 3.0 performs the actions you define each time you download an order.
Support for more back-ends. Shipping Agents are available for AbleCommerce 7, BV Commerce 5, and StoreFront 7. Even better, the Shipping Agent source code is open source. That means you are free to modify the existing agents or create your own.

Download

Installing Shipper 3.0

The Shipper 3.0 system has 2 components: Shipper 3.0, which is installed on your desktop computer; and a Shipping Agent, which is installed on your website. The download includes both components.

Unzip the download
You will also need any flavor of ShipRush 6 installed on the same computer. If you do not already have ShipRush installed, I suggest ShipRush for USPS or ShipRush for DHL since both are free. See www.shiprush.com for more information.
Run Setup.exe to to install Shipper 3.0 on your desktop computer.
Run the appropriate ShippingAgent.exe to extract the Shipping Agent files for your ecommerce software. If you don't have a compatible ecommerce website, ShippingAgentMock.exe contains the files for a Mock Shipping Agent. The mock agent works with any .NET 2.0 web site.
Copy the extracted Shipping Agent files to your website.

Getting Started

Launch Shipper 3.0. If this is a new install, the New Website Wizard will start.
When you are prompted for the Agent URL, enter the URL to agents/ShippingAgent.asmx on your website. For example, http://company.com/agents/shippingagent.asmx.
When you are prompted for the Agent Serial Number, leave the field blank.
After the wizard is finished, Shipper 3.0 will appear.
Click on the Download New Orders button to download all of the orders in your store that have pending shipments.
Select a shipment and then click on Print Shipping Label button.
After the label is printed, click on Upload Shipment button.

Stuff Might Change...If you want it to...

The quick start above does not even touch on processing rules (which allow you to automatically assign services, print documents, and even upload completed orders). Can you find the rules? If not, what would help you discover them?
Right now ShipRush is a separate install because some (most?) people have some flavor of ShipRush already. Do you already have ShipRush? Would you like to download ShipRush and Shipper at the same time? Would you like the option of buying ShipRush at the same time with Shipper?
The integrated report writer has a lot of features. Is it overwhelming? I have included 2 sample reports. Do they help give you ideas of what is possible and how to do it? Will you use the report writer?
In this release candidate, the Shipping Agent is implemented as a SOAP service. If you are considering your own Shipping Agent, would a REST interface be easier to implement?

Feedback

Please send your feedback to support@structured-solutions.net. I will try to respond to each comment or question within a day. Thank you for taking a look.

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Shipper 3.0 Beta 5

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 21:29:00 GMT

Shipper 3.0 beta 5 is now available for testing.

Download

Please see the beta 1 announcement for an overview of Shipper 3.0.

What's New in Beta 5

Added item manufacturer to information that is downloaded from store.
Added ability to download the current item inventory so you can check the inventory before you start picking a shipment.

Installing Shipper 3.0 and Shipper Agent

Unzip the download
You will also need any flavor of ShipRush 6 installed on the same computer. If you do not already have ShipRush installed, I suggest ShipRush for USPS or ShipRush for DHL since both are free. See www.shiprush.com for more information.
Run Setup.exe to to install the pre-requisites (.NET 2.0) and Shipper 3.0 on your desktop computer.
Run the appropriate ShipperAgent.exe to extract the Shipper Agent files for your ecommerce software. ShipperAgentMock.exe contains the files for a Mock Shipper Agent. The mock agent works with any .NET 2.0 web site (you don't even need an ecommerce backend). Shipper Agent is installed on the target website. Copy the files in the bin directory of the website. Then copy the agent directory to your website.

The Beta Phase

During the beta phase, I will publish a new build of Shipper 3.0 each week that bugs are identified and fixed. I will also add some new features during the beta phase. Once 2 weeks have passed without a bug being identified, I will freeze the features and publish a release candidate.

The Release Candidate Phase

During the release candidate phase, I will only publish a new release candidate if bugs are identified and fixed. No new features will be added. When 2 weeks have passed without a bug being identified, I will pubish the final build of release 3.0.

I expect to publish a new release (3.1, 3.2, etc) 3 or 4 times each year. Each release will go through a similar beta/release candidate/final build phase.

Thank you for taking the time to look at Shipper. If you have any comments or questions, please send them to support@structured-solutions.net. At the risk of sounding like a cliche, with your help we can create a better solution.

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Shipper 3.0 Beta 4

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 21:01:00 GMT

Shipper 3.0 beta 4 is now available for testing.

Download

Please see the beta 1 announcement for more details about Shipper 3.0.

What's New in Beta 3

New Shipper Agent for BV Commerce 5 SP3 or higher.
Removed Line 3 from addresses (ShipRush does not support Line 3).
Combined item Variant Name, Wrap Name, and Wrap Message into a single Description.

Installing Shipper 3.0 and Shipper Agent

Unzip the download
You will also need any flavor of ShipRush 6 installed on the same computer. If you do not already have ShipRush installed, I suggest ShipRush for USPS or ShipRush for DHL since both are free. See www.shiprush.com for more information.
Run Setup.exe to to install the pre-requisites (.NET 2.0) and Shipper 3.0 on your desktop computer.
Run the appropriate ShipperAgent.exe to extract the Shipper Agent files for your ecommerce software. ShipperAgentMock.exe contains the files for a Mock Shipper Agent. The mock agent works with any .NET 2.0 web site (you don't even need an ecommerce backend). Shipper Agent is installed on the target website. Copy the files in the bin directory of the website. Then copy the agent directory to your website.

Thank you for taking the time to look at Shipper 3.0. If you have any comments or questions, please send them to support@structured-solutions.net. At the risk of sounding like a cliche, with your help we can create a better solution.

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Shipper 3.0 Beta 3

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 20:29:00 GMT

Shipper 3.0 beta 3 is now available for testing.

Download

If you'd like to know more about Shipper 3.0, please see the beta 1 announcement.

What's New in Beta 3

The Shipper 3.0 client application is now digitially signed so that Vista users do not see "unknown publisher" messages.
Exposed the address and name summary formats as templates in Shipper Settings. See Tools > Shipper Settings. These affect how customer names and shipping addresses are displayed.
The order status in Shipper is now updated after a shipment is uploaded.
Added first and last name to the customer record.
Added vendors.

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Shipper 3.0 Beta 2

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 23:23:00 GMT

Shipper 3.0 beta 2 is now available for testing.

Download

If you'd like to know more about Shipper 3.0, please see the beta 1 announcement.

What's New in Beta 2

Changed the pre-requisite from .NET 3.5 to .NET 2.0. The .NET 2.0 installer is much smaller, so the initial install--even on a computer without any .NET installed--should be much faster.
Made changes to accomodate Vista.
Fixed a bug that prevented the tracking information from being recorded after printing the label.

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Shipper 3.0 Beta 1

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 20:30:00 GMT

Shipper 3.0 is a high velocity shipment processor for ecommerce websites.

To prepare for this post, I took a look back at the Shipper timeline:

Shipper for UPS 1.0 was released on July 7, 2004. As you might guess from the name, it only supported UPS and one backend.
Shipper 1.1 came out almost a year later on June 23, 2005. Most importantly, it was redesigned to support additional backends.
Shipper 1.2 came out later that same year on October 10, 2005 with support for both UPS and FedEx.
Shipper 1.3 was released just a month later on November 27, 2005 with support for Endicia.
There were several incremental versions of Shipper 1.3 adding various features such as support for DHL and more backends, until Shipper 1.4 was released on October 18, 2007.

You wanted more. Shipper 3.0 delivers it.

You wanted to print labels directly from Shipper. Now you can. Shipper 3.0 uses ShipRush by Z-Firm to print the labels. ShipRush is the same shipping component built into QuickBooks.
You wanted better support for multiple carriers. Shipper 3.0 no longer requires a separate program for each carrier. Now all you need is ShipRush (which you may already have). One program to learn instead of 4 and almost instant startup.
You wanted better reports, packing slips, and emails. Shipper 3.0 includes a powerful drag-and-drop report writer. Now you can easily build custom reports and emails.
You wanted faster performance with high volume websites. Shipper 3.0 downloads new orders almost instantly and uses block downloading to eliminate errors even if there are 1000's of orders.
You wanted better control over which carrier services to use. Shipper 3.0 allows you to define custom rules based on any shipment field.
You wanted to control which fields were updated in the store. Shipper 3.0 allows you to pick the fields that are updated.
You wanted to automatically print reports or send emails when you printed a label. Now you can. Shipper 3.0 allows you to define actions to perform when the shipment is first downloaded or when the label is printed.
You wanted support for more back-ends. The Shipper 3.0 Agent will be available for soon for AbleCommerce, BV Commerce, and StoreFront. But the really big news is that the source code for Shipper 3.0 Agent will be open sourced. That means you will be free to modify the existing implementations to work with your customized backend, or even create a compatible agent for any other backend.

Today I am happy to announce that the first public beta of Shipper 3.0 is available for testing.

Download

Installing Shipper 3.0 and Shipper Agent

Unzip the download to find 4 files:

Setup.exe and Shipper3.msi for for Shipper 3.0. Run setup .exe to install the pre-requisites (.NET 3.5) and Shipper 3.0 on your desktop computer. You will also need any flavor of ShipRush 6 installed on the same computer. If you do not already have ShipRush installed, I suggest ShipRush for USPS or ShipRush for DHL since both are free. See www.shiprush.com for more information.

ShipperAgentAbleCommerce.exe contains the files for Shipper Agent for AbleCommerce 7. They work with AbleCommerce 7 RC1 and above. ShipperAgentMock.exe contains the files for a Mock Shipper Agent. They work with any .NET 2.0 web site (you don't even need an ecommerce backend).

Shipper Agent is installed on the target website. Copy the files in the bin directory to the bin directory of the website. Then copy the agent directory to your website.

Note: Unlike Shipper Service 1.x, Shipper Agent does not include any built-in security. To protect Shipper Agent from unauthorized access you will need to protect the agent directory with basic authentication. Since basic authentication passes the username and password in clear text, you should also use https in the Shipper Agent URL to encrypt them.

Getting Started

Launch Shipper 3.0.
Click on Websites.
Click on New.
Enter the name of your website and the URL to Shipper Agent (i.e. https://www.company.com/agent).
If you have protected the agent directory with basic authentication, enter the server username and password.
Click on Save and Close.
Click on Shipments.
Click on Download New Orders.
Select a shipment and then click on Print Shipping Label.
After the label is printed, click on Upload Shipment.

Stuff Might Change...if you want them to

There is still plenty of time to many aspects of Shipper 3.0 and I am counting on you to tell me what you want. Here are some suggestions for things to think about while you kick the tires:

The quick start above does not even touch on processing rules (which allow you to automatically assign services, print documents, and even upload completed orders). Are the features in Shipper 3.0 discoverable? If not, what would help you discover them?
Right now ShipRush is a separate install because some (most?) people have some flavor of ShipRush already. Did you? Were you able to find the ShipRush downloads? What would make the ShipRush install easier?
The integrated report writer has a lot of features. Is it overwhelming? I have included 2 sample reports. Do they help give you ideas of what is possible and how to do it? Will you use the report writer?
In this beta, Shipper Agent is implemented as a SOAP service. I have been debating whether to switch to a more REST-like service. If you are considering your own Shipper Agent, would one or the other be easier?

Feedback

Please send your feedback to support@structured-solutions.net. I will try to respond to each comment or question within a day. Thank you for taking a look.

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Shipping Rate Rule Providers 2.7.2

Tue, 20 May 2008 18:50:00 GMT

Shipping Rate Rule Providers version 2.7.2 are now available for BVC5 SP3.2 and above. This new build includes 2 rule enhancements:

Support for Customer Inputs

You can now check customer inputs. For example put all of the items that require a monogram into a separate package using a rule like, "When Items Inputs is greater than 'Monogram='".

Support for all Type Properties including Multiple Choice

Earlier versions only examined Text and Currency Type Properties. This build supports all Type Properties, including Multiple Choice. For example you can select all the items with Choice A using a rule like, "When Items Custom Property 'My Choice' equals 'Choice A', ...".

The new builds are available on the downloads page. The DHL Providers for BVC5 SP3.2 and above have also been updated to include the new features.

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Shipper 1.4.9 with support for Galaxy Ship 5.3

Tue, 13 May 2008 00:03:00 GMT

Shipper 1.4.9 is now available to download. This version includes support for Endicia Galaxy Ship 5.3, which supports the USPS changes that went into effect today (May 12, 2008).

How do I install the update?

Download the installer and run it. The installer will update your copy of Shipper to version 1.4.9.

How do I import shipments into Galaxy Ship?

Select the Shipper profile, then enter the order number or shipment ID (whichever one you selected in Shipper), and then click on Retrieve Order.

Will I loose my configuration?

No. The installer will migrate your configuration to the new version.

Do I need to update Shipper Service on my website?

If your website has Shipper Service 1.4.7 or earlier, then you will also need to update Shipper Service. Please see the downloads page to download the most recent version of Shipper Service for your website.

Is there are charge for this update?

No. But this is the last free update for Shipper. After this there will be a charge.

If you have any other questions, please send them to support@structured-solutions.net.

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Zuckerberg is no Ballmer

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 08:36:00 GMT

Last week Guy Kawaski interviewed Steve Ballmer (Microsoft) at Mix08. On Saturday, Sarah Lacy interviewed Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook) at SXSW.

In both interviews the interviewer was chatty, spoke about their own relationship with the interviewee, rambled a few times, asked some easy questions, asked some hard questions, and generally did a good job. Both interviews were about 60 minutes long and both ended with a short Q&A from the audience.

Sarah was vilified (and here, here, and here). Guy was praised (and here).

Was the reaction to Sarah unfair? Undoubtably. Was it sexist? Probably...at least a bit. But it mostly comes from imaturity...Mark's.

Mark Zuckerberg did not treat it as an interview. He was the guest, but he was disrepectful to his host the entire time. He kept looking away from Sarah to address the audience directly for long periods of time (often spouting inane platitudes). Steve spoke to Guy answering his questions without sounding like he was giving a speach.

Mark gave Sarah blank stares and repeatedly made comments to undermine Sarah's role. Steve stayed 100% engaged and never said anything to undermine Guy.

After the show Sarah was supportive of Mark, and wrote off the audience reaction to an impedence mismatch between the technical nature of the SXSW conference and the high level nature of interviewing a CEO. That's kind of her, but the Guy/Ballmer interview was in exactly the same conditions.

I have 2 pieces of advice for Sarah:

Interview an adult next time.
Take a play from Guy's playbook and establish the host/guest relationship right away (about 2 minutes into the interview Guy tells Steve that if the interview goes well he will invite Steve back to the next Mix conference).

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

How to log errors to FogBugz using log4net

Sun, 09 Mar 2008 09:20:00 GMT

Here's how I using log4net and BugzScout to send logging events to FogBugz.

BugzScoutAppender for log4net

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

I wish I could think of bon mots like this

Thu, 28 Feb 2008 04:50:00 GMT

"Which also means when you're using Rails and OS X, you're using the platform of choice for douchebags."

- Jeff Atwood on Coding Horror

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Jakob Nielsen: Amazon No Longer the Role Model for E-Commerce Design

Tue, 26 Feb 2008 19:35:00 GMT

Because my products work with a variety of platforms, I participate in several e-commerce forums. Inevitably a post appears every few months with a lament that package X does not have some feature that Amazon has.

Since July 2005, well known researcher Jakob Nielsen has been advising against copying Amazon. Here's why...

Amazon: No Longer the Role Model for E-Commerce Design

Many design elements work for Amazon.com mainly because of its status as the world's largest and most established e-commerce site. Normal sites should not copy Amazon's design.

If you read the piece, you'll see that Mr. Nielsen does not through out the baby with the bath water. There are several Amazon features worth emulating, ranging from the easily used login system to their excellent fulfillment process.

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

CSI: .NET

Mon, 04 Feb 2008 16:03:00 GMT

Tess Ferrandez is an Escalation Engieer at Microsoft. Her blog is essentially CSI: .NET. If you enjoy the Jerry Bruckheimer series, you may like Tess' blog.

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Shipper 1.4 Compatible with UPS WorldShip 10

Sat, 02 Feb 2008 22:40:00 GMT

UPS released UPS WorldShip 2008 version 10 in January. I'm pleased to say that that Shipper 1.4 is compatible with UPS WorldShip 8.0, 9.0, and now 10.0. You can download UPS WorldShip 2008 Version 10.0 from here.

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Is Test Driven Development Effective

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 08:42:00 GMT

Yesterday Phil Haack and Jacob Proffitt reviewed "On the Effectivenes of Test-first Approach to Programming" by National Research Canada and published in the Proceedings of the IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, 31(1), January 2005.

The test-first approach is often called Test Driven Development, in that the tests are written first and then "drive" the development. This approach is often encouraged in agile programming environments.

Phil posted first. After explaining his own intuition that TDD is a beneficial approach, Pill cited various sections of the report, including the abstract, that support the benefits of the test-first or TDD method.

Jacob posted after reading Phil's analysis. After explaining his own scepticism with reports like this (including his suspicion of confirmation bias), Jacob cited several sections of the report that seemed to show the opposite of what Phil and even the report abtract claimed.

Jacob made some interesting observations:

The control group (non-TDD or "Test Last") had higher quality in every dimension—they had higher floor, ceiling, mean, and median quality.
The control group produced higher quality with consistently fewer tests.
Quality was better correlated to number of tests for the TDD group (an interesting point of differentiation that I'm not sure the authors caught).
The control group's productivity was highly predictable as a function of number of tests and had a stronger correlation than the TDD group.

I have experimented with "test first", but found it frustrating. I always ended up just "faking" some tests so I could get on with the programming (Git 'Er Done). Then writing tests after to confirm that I met the requirements. This seems to correlate with Jacob's experience.

Both Jacob and Phil end their analyses with a call for more research. Me too.

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

What Can You Do With FedEx Shipping?

Fri, 21 Dec 2007 08:48:00 GMT

What can you do with FedEx Shipper?

See a list of all the pending shipments in your store and create FedEx shipping labels for any one of them with 2 clicks.
Create a FedEx shipping label for a Christmas present unrelated to your store.
Create pre-filled customs forms for international and APO shipments.
Create and use a list of common box sizes.
Pick a future shipping date.
See a list of all the packages you have sent (including the Christmas presents).
Search the history using just about anything you remember--the order number, the recipient's name, street address, city name...
Display the tracking information with 1 click.
Reprint the label with 1 click.
Void the package with 1 click.
Print the End-Of-Day report with 1 click.
Display the label in your browser, or print it directly on your Windows printer, or both.
Print directly to your Zebra compatible label printer.
Give your customer service people view permission so they can see the shipped and unshipped packages, but cannot change them.
Give your shipping people edit permission so they can ship and void packages, but cannot access other parts of store's administration.

You can do all of this and more with just 2 simple web pages.

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

What Can You Do With USPS Shipping?

Fri, 21 Dec 2007 08:21:00 GMT

What can you do with USPS Shipper?

See a list of all the pending shipments in your store and create USPS mailing labels with postage for any one of them with 2 clicks.
Create a USPS mailing label with postage for a Christmas present unrelated to your store.
Create pre-filled customs forms for international and APO shipments.
Create and use a list of common box sizes.
Pick a future postmark date up to 90 days ahead.
See a list of all the packages you have sent (including the Christmas presents).
Search the history using just about anything you remember--the order number, the recipient's name, street address, city name...
Display the tracking information with 1 click.
Reprint the label with 1 click.
Void the package with 1 click (you will need to submit a refund form for the postage separately).
Display the label in your browser, or print it directly on your Windows printer, or both.
Print directly to your Zebra compatible label printer.
Give your customer service people view permission so they can see the shipped and unshipped packages, but cannot change them.
Give your shipping people edit permission so they can ship and void packages, but cannot access other parts of store's administration.

You can do all of this and more with just 2 simple web pages.

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

So what are USPS Shipping and FedEx Shipping?

Fri, 21 Dec 2007 04:20:00 GMT

So what are USPS Shipping and FedEx Shipping?

Boring names for 2 very useful products.
USPS Shipping creates USPS mailing labels with postage.
FedEx Shipping creates FedEx shipping labels.
Both are tightly integrated with your store data.
They are web-based.
You install them by copying some files to your website.

That's it! I swear...no files to backup, edit, or anything.

Just copy the files to your web site.

They are easy to use with all the shiny stuff you expect.
You can create a label with 2 clicks...don't blink!

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

USPS and FedEx Shipping Update

Fri, 21 Dec 2007 04:02:00 GMT

I completed a few more features this week for the integrated USPS and FedEx Shipping products. Both products now support ad hoc labels so you can ship packages that are not related to any order. The standalone packages and labels are tracked in the History in case you need to reprint a label or answer a customer service question.

A new label printer program for Windows is also complete. This is primarily so you can print your labels on Zebra compatible printers. But there are a few nice features for "normal" labels too. For example, you can tell it to print labels in landscape and make 2 copies.

The last big change (from my perspective) is the removal of the ShipOrders.aspx page. This page replaced the page with the same name written by BV Software. Even though I spent a lot of time on that page, I was always uneasy about including it. It was the only piece that could potentially break your website (if you removed my software from the site without replacing ShipOrder.aspx, the page would break and you would not be able to process any shipments in BVC5). By removing it from the package, I have a very clean line between my product and BVC5.

Besides...who needs it? The two pages that come with USPS and FedEx Shipping are more powerful and easier to use anyway!

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

USPS Shipping Beta 2

Tue, 11 Dec 2007 20:13:00 GMT

USPS Shipping for BVC5 has been updated to include history and a box editor, both of which you can see in the FedEx Shipping Beta screencasts.

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

FedEx Shipping Beta

Tue, 11 Dec 2007 19:30:00 GMT

This first public release of FedEx Shipping for BVC5 is now available. You can download it from here. If you don't want to install beta software (and who could blame you), here are some videos:

Walkthrough

Box Editor

Features Included

Completely integrated with the BVC5 order system.
History view with easy search.
Box editor so you can create and use a list of custom dimensions.

To be done

Add better security so History can be used by customer service reps without exposing shipping or account details
Add end-of-day
Incorporate feedback

Release Notes

This build only connects to the FedEx test servers (using my test account), so you can not use the resulting labels on actual packages.
This software will replace the ShipOrder page supplied by BV Software. Please make a backup copy before you install this software as described in the installation instructions.
This is beta software.
Do not install it on a production site.

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

SignIn Control for StoreFront 7 is now available

Tue, 11 Dec 2007 16:03:00 GMT

I just posted the new SignIn Control for StoreFront 7,

Product page

In addition to adding support for merchant bundles in the offline cart, I rewrote the 3 samples to integrate better with the new StoreFront 7 templates.

You can download the software from here (it will run in trial mode for 45 days or until you copy a license file to the web site),

Download

A copy of the documentation is online here,

Documentation

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

USPS Shipping Screencasts

Wed, 28 Nov 2007 06:18:00 GMT

I plan on making a few or more screencasts demonstrating various USPS Shipping features. They will be collected here.

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

USPS Shipping for BVC5 Beta 1

Wed, 28 Nov 2007 02:04:00 GMT

USPS Shipping adds integrated USPS postage printing to BVC5 SP2 or higher (works with SP3). Although this beta version should not break any existing BVC5 features, I do not recommend installing it on a production site.

Download | Screencasts

Installation Notes

Make sure you have a backup copy of BVAdmin\Orders\ShipOrder.aspx and ShipOrder.aspx.vb before you copy the USPS Shipping files to your web site.
Do not store the backup copies of ShipOrder.aspx and ShipOrder.aspx.vb on your web site...this will seriously confuse the server and you will not be able to ship any orders.
Copy the USPS Shipping files to your web site as described in the installation instructions in the download.
Load the USPS Shipping Plug-in page to enter your Account Number and Pass Phrase (see the Beta Release Notes below).

Beta Release Notes

During the beta test, you can use any 6 digit number as your account number and anything you like as your pass phrase.
During the beta test, you are connected to test postage server. You cannot use the postage to mail real stuff.
USPS Shipping will try to store label images and files in the /images/USPS/ directory of your site. Make sure that the identity running your web site has permission to create this directory (or create it yourself), and permission to Modify the files in the directory.
Only image formats are useful in this release. Although you can request the label printer formats (EPL2, etc), and they are saved correctly on the server, they are not sent to your label printer.

Getting Started

USPS Shipping basically consists of 2 pages. You should start on the USPS Shipping Plug-in page:

BV Admin > Plug-ins > USPS Shipping displays a list of all the pending shipments in your store. Use the filters to fine tune the list. Click on the box icon to display the Print Postage page for a shipment.

Print Postage does what it says and marks the package shipped. You can also reach the Print Postage page from BV Admin > Orders > Order > Shipping by selecting US Postal Service and then clicking on the Ship By Carrier button.

Feedback

I would especially like feedback on the following areas:

How useful was the list of pending shipments on the plug-in page? Did you use it to process shipments? Did it include the information you need?
Is the Print Postage page organized in a useful way? Did you need to visit the From / To or Customs tabs very often?
I rewrote the BV Admin > Orders > Order page so support USPS Shipping (and FedEx Shipping soon). Was the new format easier or harder to use?

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Shipper Service for StoreFront 7.0 Released

Wed, 07 Nov 2007 19:43:00 GMT

Shipper Service for StoreFront 7.0 is now available for production use. There is also a corresponding new build of Shipper that is aware of StoreFront 7.0.

Purchase a Shipper Starter Kit for StoreFront 7.0

Download Shipper and Shipper Service for StoreFront 7.0.

Release Notes

Use a StoreFront 7.0 Administrator account to login to the Shipper Service Configuration Page (to retrieve the serial number). The Administrator account must have a role with permission to access "Customers", "Orders", and "Manage Administrators".
Also use a StoreFront 7.0 Administrator account when you connect Shipper to Shipper Service. However, this administrator account only needs permission to access to "Customers" and "Orders".

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Shipper Service for StoreFront 7.0 Release Candidate

Fri, 02 Nov 2007 19:38:00 GMT

The first release candidate of Shipper Service for StoreFront 7.0 is now available for download. There is also a corresponding release candidate of Shipper that is aware of StoreFront 7.0.

Shipper Service for StoreFront 7.0
Shipper

Release Notes

Use a StoreFront 7.0 Administrator account to login to the Shipper Service Configuration Page (to retrieve the serial number). The Administrator account must have a role with permission to access "Customers", "Orders", and "Manage Administrators".
Also use a StoreFront 7.0 Administrator account when you connect Shipper to Shipper Service. However, this administrator account only needs access to "Customers" and "Orders".

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Shipper 1.4.8 RTW

Thu, 18 Oct 2007 18:31:00 GMT

Shipper and Shipper Service 1.4.8 have been released for download. Please see the Release Candidate announcement and the Release Notes for details.

Support for UPS WorldShip 9 for Vista.
Better communication between Shipper and Shipper Service (this release requires that you update both Shipper and Shipper Service).
Lots of bugs fixed.

If you are running an older version of Shipper and run into one of the bugs that are fixed in this release, you will see a message about downloading the latest release.

This is a free update (this marks 4 years of free updates!).

Downloads

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Amazon's "One-Click" Patent Rejected

Thu, 18 Oct 2007 08:21:00 GMT

igdmlgd's request to re-examine Amazon's "One-Click" patent resulted in USPTO rejecting most of the claims.

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Shipping Rate Provider Suite 2.6 RTW

Tue, 16 Oct 2007 00:01:00 GMT

The Shipping Rate Provider Suite 2.6 has been released for download. The product called "Shipping Rate Provider Suite" is now called "Shipping Rate Rule Providers" (because that is what it was). From now on I will use the word sutie to refer to all the shipping rate provider products that share common features like packaging rules and Google Checkout support.

All of these products are now available:

I am also making a new service available if you would like me to create shipping method for you using the providers in the suite. Please send an email to support@structured-solutions.net before you buy to make sure what you have in mind is possible.

New Canada Post Shipping Rate Provider

The new Canada Post provider supports every Canada Post Sell Online feature, including optimized packaging. If you choose to, you can let Canada Post determine the optimum way to pack the items in each order to minimum empty space in your boxes. The packages that Canada Post calculates are pulled back into BVC5 as suggested packages, for use by your shipping department.

To use the Canada Post provider, you will need a Retailer ID, which you can obtain from the Canada Post Sell Online group as described in, "How to setup a Canada Post shipping method for BVC5".

Rule Provider Enhancements

Both the Order Rule and Package Rule providers now have the ability to compare anything-to-anything. This means you can compare any property to any other property, including rates from other shipping methods. For example, you can create a shipping cost rule that picks the least expensive rate for an order like this:

If the rate from "USPS Priority Mail" is less than the rate from "USPS Parcel Post", cost = the rate from "USPS Priority Mail".
For all other orders, cost = the rate from "USPS Parcel Post".

Try it free for 45 days!

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

.NET Google Checkout API updated to support carrier calculated shipping

Fri, 05 Oct 2007 18:42:00 GMT

Today Google announced that all the features in the September 7, 2007 and September 20, 2007 schemas are now supported in the .NET Google Checkout API. One of the imported new features is carrier calculated shipping.

With carrier calculated shipping, Google will contact FedEx, UPS, and/or USPS directly instead of calling back to your store to retrieve those rates. You will need to change your code to use the new elements in the checkout request. The simple.aspx (use View Source to see the code) and private-data.aspx samples show how to use the new elements.

I noticed that their USPS support does not include international rates, so you will still need to callback to your store for those.

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Shipping Rate Providers 2.6 Release Candidate 2

Thu, 04 Oct 2007 15:50:00 GMT

The Shipping Rate Provider Suite is changing. The plug-in part, including postal codes support, is now free. The old suite is now called Rule Providers. Here are the new products for BVC5:

Free Shipping Rate Provider Plug-in (download)
Rule Providers (download)
DHL Providers (download)
Canada Post Provider (download)

If all you want is the postal code support, download the free plug-in. All of the add-on provider packages include the plug-in. The article, "Postal Code Validator for BVC5" demonstrates one way to use the postal code support.

A Release Candidate is nearly ready for production use. I am not aware of any bugs, but I might change wording or make minor tweaks before final release.

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

SpamBayes failed me but Cloudmark is working great

Wed, 19 Sep 2007 18:46:00 GMT

About 2 months ago I started using Cloudmark to control the amount of email spam I see. Before that I used SpamBayes (because it was free), but even after 2 years of training, I was still seeing about 200 spam messages every...single...day. I felt like I was loosing a battle.

Since I started using Cloudmark, I only see about 2-10 spam messages each day...yippee! I'm sure it is partly due to better algorithms, but the coolest feature is that when I flag those 2-10 messages as spam, the whole Cloudmark community benefits. We all help each other make Cloudmark better and better each day. I like that.

Here are my statistics for the last 2 months. I've only had to identify 323 emails as spam/phishing (a lot of the spam was actually phishing...but I was lazy and just clicked the Block button which defaults to spam).

All of the Cloudmark links include my referral code. I hope you don't mind...I really do like Cloudmark, and I would also like the free month of service if you like Cloudmark too. Thanks!

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Shipper 1.4.8 Release Candidate 1

Tue, 04 Sep 2007 19:08:00 GMT

New builds of both Shipper and Shipper Service are now available. These builds improve the reliability of communication between your shipping computer and your web site.

Once a month or so, I see a flurry 5-10 automated error reports that a message going from Shipper Service back to Shipper is corrupted. Normally Shipper will just try again. But in these cases, the error occurs over and over for several minutes. Although I have never been able to reproduce the problem in testing, I suspect it has to do with the way the messages are being compressed. So I have tweaked the compression scheme and I hope this spells the end of this particular message.

Change to Shipper Service for BVC5

The other significant change only affects Shipper Service for BVC5. Starting with release 1.4.8, the carrier information that is downloaded from the store will include both the carrier name and the name of the shipping method that the customer selected. For example, let's say that you have 2 shipping methods called FedEx Standard and FedEx Expedited, and that both methods are identical except that FedEx Expedited includes a $10 surcharge to provide expedited handling.

In previous versions of Shipper Service for BVC5, only the carrier and service would have been downloaded regardless of which shipping method was selected, and the shipping department would not know if they should expedite the handling or not. In this version of Shipper Service for BVC5, both the carrier and shipping method name are included:

Old:	FedEx / Ground
New:	FedEx (FedEx Expedited) / Ground

Note that this will break any Shipper service assignments that depend on the old shipment carrier text. You will need to update the service assignments (Tools > Options > More Settings > Service Assignemnts) or simply re-assign the services (Edit > Prepare Shipment > save the assignment).

Downloads

With this release, I have also brought all the component versions back into sync (at 1.4.8) and configured Shipper 1.4.8 so that it requires Shipper Service 1.4.8 or above. This means that if you install this release candidate, you will need to install both Shipper and Shipper Service for your store.

Shipper
Shipper Service for StoreFront
Shipper Service for BVC2004
Shipper Service for BVC5
Shipper Service for BVC5 SP2

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Shipping Rate Provider Suite 2.6 Release Candidate 1

Fri, 31 Aug 2007 15:28:00 GMT

Shipping Rate Provider Suite version 2.6 is now available for testing. Although I am not aware of any problems, I do not recommend using this on a production site. This version works with BVC5 SP2.

Download

There are 3 new features in this version: better support for Google Checkout, additional properties you can test, and the ability to compare properties.

Better Support for Google Checkout

If you have used Google Checkout, you have probably been bit by the 3 second rule. During checkout, Google will ask your web site how much to charge for shipping. If your site does not respond within 3 seconds, Google will use the default values. Unfortunately, some carriers frequently take 1 or 2 seconds, so if your store supports more than one carrier or more than one service level from a single carrier, your site will consistently fail to respond within 3 seconds.

One way to work around this problem is to offer Google Checkout customers different, and faster, shipping options. This version of the Shipping Rate Provider Suite adds two new checkboxes called "Visible to BVC5 Checkout" and "Visible to Google Checkout" to each shipping method that you define. If you check "Visible to BVC5 Checkout", the shipping method will appear to customers that use any one of the BVC5 checkout themes. If you check "Visible to Google Checkout", the shipping method will appear to customers that use Google Checkout. If you uncheck either option, the shipping method will not appear during the corresponding checkout.

For example, if you define two shipping methods called "USPS Priority Mail" and "USPS Parcel Post", you can both appear during BVC5 checkout, but only offer "USPS Priority Mail" during Google Checkout. By fine tuning the methods that appear during Google Checkout, you can ensure that you are not hit by the 3 second rule.

Additional Properties You Can Test

Joe Arbogast (www.birdsafestore.com) asked if he could using the packaging rules to create separate packages for items that are backordered. So version 2.6 now includes 3 new item properties that you can include in your tests:

Inventory Available: If inventory is enabled, this is the number of items available.
Inventory Enabled: If inventory is enabled, this is 1, otherwise this is 0.
Inventory Low Point: If inventory is enabled, this is the inventory low point for the item.

Using these new properties, you can separate backordered items into there own packages using a rule like this:

While Items Inventory Enabled = 1 and Items Inventory Available = 0.

I also added 2 new order properties that you test:

Distance in Miles: If you have loaded the postal codes for both your store and the shipping address, this is the distance in miles from your store to the shipping address.
Hour of Day: This is the hour (including partial hour) that the order is placed. For example, if the order is placed at 1:30pm, this property is 13.5.

Ability to Compare Properties

Prior to version 2.6, rules could test a property value against a fixed limit. For example,

If Rate From "USPS Priority Mail" > 8.25, Cost = 8.25.

Starting with version 2.6, rules can compare properties. For example, USPS Priority Mail is sometimes lower than Parcel Post. If you only want to display the lower cost service, you can use shipping cost rules like this:

When Rate From "USPS Priority Mail" < Rate From "USPS Parcel Post", Cost = Rate From "USPS Priority Mail".
For all other packages, Cost = Rate From "USPS Parcel Post".

You can still build your rules using a smooth point-and-click interface. For example, this video shows how easily the two rules above are created.

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Article on customizing Shipper Service

Tue, 07 Aug 2007 19:16:00 GMT

Customizing Shipper Service

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Shipper Service for BVC5 SP2 Version 1.4.6 Released

Tue, 31 Jul 2007 01:53:00 GMT

Version 1.4.6 of Shipper Service for BVC5 SP2 is available for production use. Correctly updates orders that have been processed by a third party such as Google Checkout.

If you are upgrading from an earlier 1.4 build, just copy the new bin files to your web site.

download

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Shipping Rate Provider Suite 2.5.3 Released

Tue, 24 Jul 2007 18:33:00 GMT

Shipping Rate Provider Suite version 2.5.3 is now available. This release includes the following changes:

Logical "and" comparisons are made before "or" comparisons.
Suggested packages for wrapped providers (i.e. US Postal Service) will have the correct weight.

download

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Shipping Rate Provider Suite 2.5.2 Released

Wed, 11 Jul 2007 19:05:00 GMT

Shipping Rate Provider Suite version 2.5.2 is now available. This update includes support for both "and" and "or" conditions within Packaging and Shipping Cost rules. For example,

Download

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Shipping Rate Provider Suite 2.5 Released

Thu, 28 Jun 2007 17:41:00 GMT

Shipping Rate Provider Suite 2.5 is now avilable for production use. The big changes from version 2.0 include:

The number of calculators has been reduced from 6 down to 2: Order Rules and Package Rules without loosing any features. This makes it much easier to create sophisticated cost calculations without custom programming. As their names imply, use Order Rules when you want to calculate the shipping cost based on an order property (such as sub total). Use Package Rules for everything else. Of course you can still combine them for more complicated calculations.
All of the providers now include packaging rules so that you can implement packaging based on your own business practices. The packaging is carried all the way through the checkout to order processing as Suggested Packages so your shipping department knows exactly how to package the order.
A standalone Postal Code Support library is now included which you can use to load and manage postal code lists. The Shipping Rate Provider Suite uses this library to calculate the shipping distance between any two addresses on earth (if you load the appropriate postal code data). The Shipping Rate Provider Suite includes over 42000 US postal codes.
InstallSuite.aspx is no longer used to finish the installation. Installation and other management tasks are now performed using the "Shipping Rate Provider Suite" plugiin (BV Admin > Plug-Ins).

Please see the updated Samples for ideas on how to implement your own cost calculations.

Migrating from Earlier Versions

Complete the following steps before you update to version 2.5:

The shipping methods that you created with version 2.0 and earlier are not compatible with version 2.5. I recommend that you take a screen shot of each shipping method so that you can re-produce quickly using version 2.5.
Use the InstallSuite.aspx page from your current version to Remove the current providers. If you skip this step, send me your Taskloader.Custom.vb file so that I can manually remove the code that is no longer needed.

After installing version 2.5, you can delete the unused editors by deleting the following directories:

BVModules\Shipping\Item Router\
BVModules\Shipping\Item Rules\
BVModules\Shipping\Package Router\
BVModules\Shipping\Order Router\

You can also delete BVModules\Shipping\InstallSuite.aspx.

Please see the Release Notes for details about breaking changes.

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Web Development Tools

Mon, 25 Jun 2007 17:56:00 GMT

John Hrvatin (MS Program Manager for Internet Explorer) posted a list of lightweight web development tools for Internet Explorer. He missed Firebug Lite, but otherwise caught the ones I use plus many more.

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Shipping Rate Provider Suite Version 2.5 Beta 2

Mon, 18 Jun 2007 21:28:00 GMT

The second beta of Version 2.5 is now available for testing. The big changes from version 2.0 include:

The number of calculators has been reduced from 6 down to 2: Order Rules and Package Rules. As their names imply, use Order Rules when you want to calculate the shipping cost based on the entire order (such as subtotal). Use Package Rules for everything else. Of course you can still combine them for more complicated calculations.
Package Rules (and the DHL providers) now include a much more flexible packaging scheme so you can break up your order into exactly the right packages.
A standalone Postal Code Support library is now included which you can use to load and manage postal code lists. The Shipping Rate Provider Suite uses this library to calculate the distance between points.
InstallSuite.aspx is no longer used to finish the installation. Installation and other management tasks are now performed using the "Shipping Rate Provider Suite" plugin (BV Admin > Plug-Ins).

If you have version 2.0 (or eariler) installed, please use the InstallSuite.aspx page from your current version to Remove the current providers before you install version 2.5. If you skip this step, send me your Taskloader.Custom.vb file so that I can manually remove the code that is no longer needed.

Also if you have version 2.0 (or earlier) installed, you can delete the unused editors by deleting the following directories:

BVModules\Shipping\Item Router\
BVModules\Shipping\Item Rules\
BVModules\Shipping\Package Router\
BVModules\Shipping\Order Router\

You can also delete BVModules\Shipping\InstallSuite.aspx.

You can download the beta version from here,

Shipping Rate Provider Suite 2.5

Please let me know what you think. I plan on making a few minor changes before final release, so there is still time to lobby for your pet feature.

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Sample ShippingProvider for BVC5

Fri, 15 Jun 2007 18:53:00 GMT

The "How to Create a BVC5 Shipping Provider" article includes a sample ShippingProvider that only supports tracking.

Structured Solutions
Software to help you build a better store.

Structured Solutions Blog

Shipper 3.8 Help Updated

Links

Shipper 3.8 Release

Shipping Agent for Magento Updates

Shipper 3.8 Beta 3

Shipper Add-On Report: Package Errors

Shipping Agent for BV Commerce updates customer address book

Shipper 3.8 Beta 2

Shipper 3.8 Compatible with UPS WorldShip 2010 Version 12

Shipper 3.8 Beta Supports UPS WorldShip

Shipper 3.7 Release

Shipping Agent 3.6 for AbleCommerce 7.0.4 Released

Adding support for UPS WorldShip to Shipper 3.8

Shipper 3.7 Beta 2

Shipper 3.7 Beta

Adding support for eBay to Shipper 3.7

Shipper 3.6 Release

Shipping Agent for Magento authentication

Shipper 3.6 Beta

Shipper 3.5 Runs on Windows 7

Shipper 3.5 Release

Breaking Changes

1. Shipping Agent for AbleCommerce and Shipping Agent for BV Commerce authentication

2. Automatic Download Removed

3. ShipRush 7 Required

How to fix a corrupt SQLite database

Shipper 3.5 Beta 4

Shipper 3.5 Beta 3

Shipper 3 Renewals Online

First 3 Shipper 3 Videos

Using Windows 7 for Development

Shipper 3.5 Beta 2

Shipping Rate Rule Providers for BVC 5.6

Shipper 3.5 Beta

ShipRush 7 is Out...please wait!

Shipper 3.4 Released

Using Shipper 3 with Alternative Label Generators

Shipping Rate Rule Providers for BVC5 Service Pack 5

ShipRush 6.2.3226 Available for Download

Shipper 3.3 Released

Shipper 3 Documentation

Shipper 1 and UPS WorldShip 2009 Version 11.0

Running Shipper 3 on Vista

You can be a Hero

Shipper 3.2 Final Release

Shipper 3.2 Release Candidate 3

Shipper 3.2 Release Candidate 2

Shipper 3.2 Release Candidate 1

Shipper 3.2.3283 Now Available for Testing

Shipper 1 Enters Limited Maintenance Mode

Shipper 3.1.3261 is Now Available

Shipper 3.1 is Now Available

New and Improved

Shipping Agent 3.1 Install/Update Instructions

Shipper 3.1 Install/Update Instructions

Shipper 3.1 RC1

New and Improved

Shipping Agent 3.1 Install/Update Instructions

Shipper 3.1 Install/Update Instructions

Google Base Feed Products Updated

Shipping Rate Rule Providers Updated for BVC5 SP4

Support for DHL Shipping Rate Rule Providers ends January 2009

$10 Off ShipRush Standalone License Through December 31, 2008

BV Commerce version 5.4 is now available

What features would you like in Shipper 3.1?

Shipper 3 Released

Shipper 3.0 Release Candidate 4

Changes in RC4

Known Issues

Installation

Getting Started

Q&A

Stuff Might Change...If you want it to...

Feedback

Shipper 3.0 Release Candidate 3

Changes in RC3

Known Issues

Installation

Getting Started