Installation and configuring plug-in Shipping Restrictions

The plugin changes the shipping rates and hides shipping methods on the checkout page by your own rules. A rule can replace the rate, give a discount or add a surcharge (percent or fixed amount), or hide a shipping method, depending on the carrier, weight, dimensions, order subtotal, customer role, store, date and time, coupon codes, products, addresses and many other conditions.

It's easy to configure the plugin. See pictures.

1. Install the plugin and open the plugin configure page. Enable 'Enabled'. When it is disabled the plugin does nothing and the customer sees the default shipping methods and rates.
The plugin replaces the shipping service of nopCommerce. Only one plugin can do it. If another plugin already replaced it, the configure page shows the name of this plugin.

2. The plugin has its own menu FoxNetSoft - Shipping Restrictions with two items: 'Rules' and 'Configure'.

3. Open 'Rules' and press 'Add new'. You can create several rules. Each rule has its own conditions and its own new rate. The list shows the carriers, the shipping methods, the rates and the conditions of each rule.
The plugin checks the active rules in the 'Priority' order. If no rule is validated the customer sees the default shipping methods and rates.
Example. You created a rule for USPS Priority Mail. This rule changes the rate of this shipping method only. The other shipping methods keep their old rates.

4. The rule has seven tabs. On the 'Main' tab set 'Is active', 'Priority' and 'Name' of the rule.

Select 'Shipping carriers' for this rule. The list has your active shipping and pickup providers. Leave it empty for all carriers.
'Include shipping methods' - the rule works only for these shipping methods. 'Except shipping methods' - the rule works for all shipping methods except these ones. One shipping method per line, the name as the customer sees it on the checkout page. Leave both empty for all shipping methods.

5. 'Action (if the rule is validated)' - what the plugin does after this rule. The page shows an example for each action.
'Next Step' - change the rate and check the next rule.
'Exit' - change the rate and stop. The next rules are not checked.
'Exit And Remove' - change the rate, remove all shipping methods which are not validated by this rule and stop.
'Goto Rule' - change the rate and jump to the rule selected in 'Next step'.
'Hide If Valid' - hide the shipping method if the rule is valid. Example. Hide 'USPS Priority Mail' on Saturday and Sunday.
'Hide If Not Valid' - hide the shipping method if the rule is not valid.
'Admin comment' is your own note. The customer does not see it.

6. Open the 'Conditions' tab. Set the limits of the package: 'Weight from' / 'Weight to', the length, the width, the height and the girth. Leave a field empty for no limit. The girth is length + 2 x (width + height). Use the same units as in your product weights and dimensions.
Enable 'Apply checking dimensions for each product in the cart' if each product must fit the dimensions. Otherwise the plugin checks the dimensions of the whole package.
'Order SubTotal from' / 'Order SubTotal to'. Example. Free shipping for all orders with the subtotal from $150. The amounts are in the primary store currency.

7. 'Limited to customer roles' and 'Limited to stores' - the rule works only for these customer roles and stores. You have to disable the settings 'Ignore ACL rules' and 'Ignore "limit per store" rules' in the catalog settings, otherwise these fields do nothing.
'Apply rule for discounts' - the rule works only if the customer has one of these discounts. 'Skip rule for discounts' - the rule is skipped if the customer has one of these discounts. The lists show only the discounts with the type 'Assigned to order total'.

8. Open the 'Date and Time' tab. Select 'Days of the week' and set 'Time from' / 'Time to' if the rule works only on some days or hours. Example. Free shipping on weekends.
Set 'Start date' / 'End date' for a time-limited promotion. Example. Free shipping for Black Friday.

9. Open the 'Coupon codes' tab. 'Apply' - the customer has to use one of these coupon codes for this rule. 'Skip' - if the customer uses one of these coupon codes the plugin skips this rule.
Type the code in 'Coupon code' and press 'Add new record'. The coupon codes must exist in the nopCommerce Discounts section, otherwise the customer cannot enter them on the shopping cart page.

10. Open the 'Rates' tab and select 'Type of calculation': 'Replace', 'Discount percent', 'Surcharge percent', 'Don't replace', 'Discount Fixed' or 'Surcharge Fixed'. The page explains each type with an example.
'Replace' with 'Rate' 0 makes the shipping free.

'Minimum Rate' and 'Maximum Rate' limit the new rate. Example. 'Discount percent' 50 and 'Maximum Rate' 20: the customer gets half the price, but never pays more than $20.
Enable 'Cumulative rates (change rate in the next rules)' if the next validated rules have to change the new rate again. Example. The customer has products from different manufacturers and each manufacturer adds its own rate. Otherwise the next rules do not change this shipping method.

11. Open the 'Products' tab and press 'Add a new product' if the rule works only for some products. Leave the list empty for all products.
Please note, the shopping cart has to have only products from this list. If the customer adds another product the rule is not validated.
Use 'Edit product attributes' to limit the rule to the selected attribute values of the product.

12. Open the 'Requirements' tab for the complicated conditions. You can add several requirements in one group and select 'And' (all requirements) or 'Or' (one of them) for the group. A group can include another group.
Requirement types: 'Billing address', 'Shipping address' (zip code, country, ISO codes, province, address), 'Checkout attributes', 'Order Totals', 'Specification attributes', 'Shipping methods', 'Customer attributes' and 'Product' (category, manufacturer, vendor, warehouse).
Enable 'Check for all products from the cart' if every product of the cart must fit the requirement. Otherwise one product is enough.

To add a requirement select 'Shipping rule requirement type', then 'Property', 'Operator' and 'Value' and press 'Save'. Example. 'Order Totals', 'Number of orders per customer' >= 1 - the rule works only for the customers who already have an order.
Operators: ==, !=, >, >=, <, <=, in, not in, contain, starts with, not starts with, regexp match. Some requirement types have fewer operators.

13. Save the rule and check it on the checkout page. The plugin has no own blocks on the public store. The customer simply sees the changed rates, and the hidden shipping methods are not shown.
The same rules work for the pickup points (for example 'Pickup.PickupInStore'): the plugin can hide a pickup point or change its fee.