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ShipSync 2.1, now with address validation!

May 9

Posted by dskdskdsk in Magento

FedEx = Magento

This release adds some exciting features ->

  • Address validation via FedEx's API (checks if address is valid, checks residential status, and cleans address before saving in Magento's database)
  • New and improved rate request optimization.   ShipSync now estimates packages based on height, length, width, and weight of items, offering a number of different packaging styles.   This method retrieves near-perfect rates for all types of shipments.
  • Adds height, length, and width attributes for products
  • Completely rewritten backend shipment functionality
  • Tons of bug fixes and tweaks
  • Firebug debugging (see rate requests and responses)
  • Much much more...

Get ShipSync! http://www.illapps.com/shipsync.html

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Show default price for Magento Bundled products!

May 9

Posted by dskdskdsk in Magento

Greetings fans, friends, and lovers!

I was going through my directory of Magento mods and found this little snippet that I had made for a client.     I figured some of you cats might be interested, so I just zipped it up into a nice module and am posting it here.    This extension shows the default (base price) of a Bundled Product in the product catalog, as opposed to the lowest price.    This is just a little thang, so I'm giving it away for free.    Enjoy!

Bundled Product

Bundled Product

Download BundleBase Here!

Installation

1. Upload to your base Magento directory and unzip

2. Clear your cache

3. Voila!

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ShipSync v1.3 - Magento + FedEx API, now with THERMAL printing support!

Feb 16

Posted by admin in Magento

ShipSync v1.2

Woohoo! This update is packed full of coolness. I won't bother listing all the new features, since they're listed quite nicely below. However, I will take a moment to rave about the addition of thermal printing support. ShipSync now supports EPL2, ZPLII, and DPL thermal printers, and a wide variety of new label and paper types! Additionally, the quality of the images are greatly improved (the PDF option prints absolutely gorgeous labels---so much nicer than the PNG option). Super big thanks to my FedEx rep for helping out with this.

FedEx must be tired of me running test orders, but I just can't get over how cool these new labels are... Anyways, these new features are just the beginning. I've received a lot of good feedback from my customers, and am currently implementing a number of requested features. Stay tuned!

02/08/2010 - ShipSync v1.3
• Added Free Shipping method
• Added options for all FedEx image types, including Thermal Printing support
- PDF
- PNG
- EPL2 (Zebra ZPL)
- ZPLII (Zebra ZPL)
- DPL (Datamax)
• Added support for all FedEx stock types
- PAPER_7X4.75
- PAPER_4X6
- PAPER_4X8
- PAPER_4X9
- PAPER_8.5X11_BOTTOM_HALF_LABEL
- PAPER_8.5X11_TOP_HALF_LABEL
- STOCK_4X6
- STOCK_4X6.75_LEADING_DOC_TAB
- STOCK_4X6.75_TRAILING_DOC_TAB
- STOCK_4X8
- STOCK_4X9_LEADING_DOC_TAB
- STOCK_4X9_TRAILING_DOC_TAB
• Added option to reprint labels (found on Shipments page)
• Fixed a few minor display bugs

01/13/2010 - ShipSync v1.2
- Added choice of LIST or ACCOUNT rates
- Fixed issues with Internet Explorer
- Fixed problems with Magento v1.2
- Fixed issues with multiple packages
- Added ability to turn off SOAP caching
- Changed label image size from 4x6 to 4.75x7 per FedEx's suggestion
- Various display tweaks

01/01/2010 - ShipSync v1.10
- First public release!

Get ShipSync! http://www.illapps.com/shipsync.html

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ShipSync v1.2 - Magento + FedEx, getting easier by the day

Jan 13

Posted by admin in Magento

ShipSync v1.2
Oh man, the FedEx API is a real beast.. I just spent the entire evening trying to get ACCOUNT rates to work in Magento.. It seemed strange that Magento didn't support them before, especially since it's such a simple flag when making the rate request, but sometimes things aren't as easy as they should be.. After adding the option to retrieve account rates, my staging site mysteriously started crashing anytime I'd try to retrieve rates. So, what the heck? This is bunk. After hours of tinkering, I finally noticed that when retrieving account rates, FedEx sends Home Delivery in a *different* format than the rest of the shipping options. What?!?! Anyways, I'm a pragmatist, so I added an exception for this format, and account rates started working. Boy, was I relieved.    So, I proudly present VERSION 1.2! Hurray for stability.

01/13/2010 - ShipSync v1.2
- Added choice of LIST or ACCOUNT rates
- Fixed issues with Internet Explorer
- Fixed problems with Magento v1.2
- Fixed issues with multiple packages
- Added ability to turn off SOAP caching
- Changed label image size from 4x6 to 4.75x7 per FedEx's suggestion
- Various display tweaks

01/01/2010 - ShipSync v1.10
- First public release!

Get ShipSync! http://www.illapps.com/shipsync.html

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ShipSync : Simple FedEx API Integration for Magento

Jan 6

Posted by admin in Magento

Hey kiddos. Remember that mess of FedEx code I posted a few months back? Well, time to throw it in the trash. I've got a new plugin, designed from the ground up to get FedEx/Magento integration right. So, if you're tired of hacking away at this crap, you can kiss your troubles goodbye with my new sweet-ass plugin. It does everything you would want Magento to do, (and you guys already know I have the chops to get it done).

So, if you want to make your boss happy, buy this plugin.

Oh yeah, one more thing. As a customer you get first priority in my email box, and I'm more than happy to help you get your FedEx integration going right..

I expect some of you are disappointed that this isn't open source, but I'll be honest: I've spent hundreds of hours over the past year figuring out the ins-and-outs of FedEx and Magento, and I just didn't have the heart to give it away.. Besides, the money for this plugin will go towards important things like music equipment, beer, and making more cool apps.

... and without further ado, the link -> http://www.illapps.com/shipsync.html

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Magento MySQL Order Export Tool v1.01

Dec 16

Posted by admin in Magento

Magento

Magento's database structure is rather arcane, but the API provides a clean way of retrieving order data. So, I made this little tool to pull Magento's orders from the API and then populate these orders in a second MySQL database. The orders are exported to two tables : mage (the order data, including customer shipping and billing information), and mage_items (which includes info on the items purchased). The tables are linked by the increment_id (which is also the order #), so it makes for a very readable database. This tool was designed for reporting, but could likely be useful for other applications... If anyone has any suggestions or improvements definitely send 'em my way!

Installation

  1. Create a Magento API username and key (done within the Magento back-end)
  2. Untar to a protected directory on your webserver ("tar -xvf magesync_v1.00a.tar")
  3. Edit /etc/cfg.php and define your absolute path, database host, database name, database username, database password, Magento API URL, Magento API username, and Magento API key
  4. Setup a CRON job and set to run as desired (ex, "cd /path/to/magesync; php -q cron.php")
  5. Watch and be amazed as Magento's database is demystified!
Download MageSYNC v1.01

Update Log

01/06/2010 - Removed removeMagicQuotes and unregisterGlobals functions since they appeared to be causing problems on some systems (and were also superfluous)

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Magento <=> FedEx API (WSDL v6)

Jul 18

Posted by dskdskdsk in Magento

Warning: THIS POST IS DEPRECATED! I gave up trying to hack OrderShip and wrote my own extension (http://www.illapps.com/shipsync.html)..    I'm leaving the post here for reference, but I strongly suggest going with a commercial solution.

Read the rest of this entry »

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THE DEATH OF IE6

May 13

Posted by admin in Uncategorized

IE6 FAIL

 

IE6 is over 7 YEARS OLD.    It's time to die.            

Good news!  Microsoft has announced that they will now give users an automatic update notification to upgrade to IE8 (http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2009/04/10/prepare-for-automatic-update-distribution-of-ie8.aspx).     Unfortunately this is not a compulsory update, and there are many corporate users and luddites who may being locked into IE6 for some time to come.  So, this piece of shit browser will still continue to plague us.

 

Why does IE6 suck so bad?

Internet Explorer 6 is incredibly insecure.    This alone is reason enough to nix it from the world's browser repertoire.   Additionally, IE6 is not standards compliant, has severe useability issues, doesn't properly support new technologies, suffers from poor performance, and that's just the tip of the iceberg.    To further drive home my point, observe that Microsoft's very own MSN site is not IE6 compliant.

Also, let us also not forget IE6's economic impact.    Developers spend countless hours "hacking" clean, well-designed websites to display properly in IE6.      This time often accounts for as much as 20% of the total cost of development.   In terms of dollars, this translate to millions in wasted time and lost productivity.    It's time for developers and clients to take a stand against IE6.

 

How can we take a stand?

The cleanest way is to insert code that prevents (or discourages) IE6 users from visiting our sites.       The Stop IE6 Campaign has provided a Javascript app just for this purpose.     So, speak with your clients, and let them know the dangers, useability issues, and cost of IE6.     Together, we can fight this pandemic.

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Psystar warms my soul.

May 10

Posted by admin in Uncategorized

Psystar

Now this is truly open computing.

http://psystar.com/

These guys are awesome.   They're fighting Apple tooth and nail to be able to distribute OSX on their pcs.     So far it looks like they're winning.   However it pans out, they've won in my book.

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AMD Hackintosh Challenge! (Day 1)

May 9

Posted by admin in Uncategorized

Welcome!   Today I'm going to attempt to install Mac OS on my AMD Phenom system.      I've decided to blog the process, so grab a cup of coffee, sit back, and enjoy!

System Specs

Abit AN78GS Motherboard (nForce 730a)
AMD Phenom 9500+ (Quad Core) 
3GB DDR-1066 RAM
Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB
M-Audio Delta 1010LT Audio Interface (I'll be stoked if I can get this to work)
Western Digital 160GB SATA (Could be difficult to get working)
Seagate 250GB External USB Drive (This will be the OSx86 install disk) 

OSX will run on a number of hardware configurations, but people seem to have the best luck with Intel chipsets.   Installing on my Nvidia chipset could prove to be challenging.    Check out the OSx86 Project Wiki for compatible hardware.

 

Obtaining an OSX disc

I downloaded iDeneb v1.4 (OSX 10.5.6) from the interwebs...   You're on your own with this step.     To best follow along with my post, it would be wise to obtain this same release.   

 

Burning the ISO

Use your favorite app to burn the ISO to a DVD.    I used PowerISO, but any app should work.     If you don't know how to burn an ISO you probably should stop now and go buy a real Mac.

 

Installing

Seagate 250 GB External USB

Now the fun begins!    I have opted to install to my Seagate 250GB USB drive since I am doubtful that the installer will detect my SATA drive.

 

1. First, place the DVD in your drive tray and boot the OSX installer.      The booting process will vary depending on your machine.   You may need to enter BIOS to rearrange your boot order, or hit a hotkey to instruct the system to boot from DVD (see screenshot).

Boot

 

2. Next you will see the Darwin bootloader.      I suggest hitting "F8" at the prompt and selecting "-v" from the boot options.     This enables verbose messaging so you will know if there are any issues.

Darwin Bootloader

 

3. As the installer loads you will see a bunch of messages fly across the screen, and if all goes well you will be greeted by the glorious Apple loading screen!

Apple loading screen

My installation failed at first because my DVD was dirty.   I cleaned it with a t-shirt and tried again.    This time the installer loaded just fine.

 

 

4. The next few steps are simple.    Select your language, and agree to the software license.

 

5. Once you've accepted the licensing agreement you will be given the option to select your installation disk.     It is unlikely that you will have an Apple partition already, so you must enter the disk utility to prepare a drive for OSX to use.

Disk Utility

 

6. The disk utility will load and show your available drives.    As I suspected, my SATA drives are not present, but I can see both of my USB drives.    Select the drive you would like to install OSX on, and choose "Erase."     This will format the drive using Mac OS Extended (journaled) and then mount the drive for the installer.   NOTE: This will wipe your entire drive.    Please exercise caution during this step.

Select Drive

Erase

 

7.   Now close out of the disk utility, select your newly formatted drive, and click "Continue"

Destination

 

8. This next step is probably the most important.   You must select "Customize" and tweak the installation for your system.

Customize

 

9.  The iDeneb install disc provides a number of alternate kernels and drivers to accommodate a variety of hardware configurations, so feel free to experiment here.     These are the packages I installed ->

Chipset -> AppleNForceATA Test (Hopefully this will get my SATA drives working)
Kernel -> Kernel 9.5.0 Voodoo (This is the only kernel that worked with my AMD system)
Ethernet -> nForce Ethernet  (LAN)
Video -> Nvidia -> NVdarwin -> NVdarwin 320mb (for my GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB)

 

10.   Once you've selected your customizations, click next and begin the install!    Cross your fingers and hope for the best.

Installing

 

11.  Once the install is complete your system will reboot and OSX will load.       Watch the Apple intro video and pat yourself on the back.   If you've made it this far you're doing pretty damn good.   Click through the registration process and enjoy your new operating system!

OSx86 AMD

OSx86

 

Troubleshooting!

But wait, we're not done yet!    I've got a somewhat functional Hackintosh, but my SATA drives still aren't working.    I also need to track down my audio drivers.    So check back tomorrow for DAY 2 of my Hackintosh challenge!

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