Tradewind CSV Exporter for Australia Post

Description

Tick the orders you want to ship, choose Export AusPost manifest from the
Bulk actions dropdown, and download a CSV that Australia Post’s bulk shipping
tool accepts as-is. Orders are split by destination automatically, so you get a
Domestic file, an International file, or both, with no reformatting and no
retyping addresses.

The plugin is free and sends nothing anywhere. It reads your orders and writes
a file.

Built around what Australia Post actually rejects

Getting the columns right is the easy half. Most of the work in this plugin is
in the values, because the importer refuses a file for reasons it explains
badly:

• Whole-centimetre dimensions. Australia Post rejects any dimension with
  more than 4 integral digits or more than one decimal place, which a
  calculated measurement such as 9.18 or 13.65 trips instantly.
• Item weight never below the declared contents. On international
  manifests each content line is rounded up to the 0.001 kg floor, so a parcel
  of many sub-gram pieces can declare more across its contents than the order
  weighs. That is rejected with “the input shipment request is invalid for item
  content weight”. The exported weight is always the larger of the two.
• Customs values of at least 1. Free lines and fully discounted lines would
  otherwise trigger “Parcel Contents – Value is in error”.
• Minimal quoting. PHP’s own CSV writer quotes any field containing a
  space, which produces a header row Australia Post cannot match against its
  required column names. This plugin quotes a field only when the value truly
  needs it.
• The Schedule 8 declaration. Australia Post requires every domestic parcel
  to state whether it contains Schedule 8 or medicinal cannabis. Leave the
  column out and the upload still succeeds, but MyPost asks for the answer
  again the moment you open an order to edit it, one order at a time.

Package size that reflects what is in the box

Rather than stacking every item, products are packed into your configured
parcel footprint: each product’s volume is totalled, divided by a configurable
packing efficiency to allow for air between items, and spread across the base
area. A satchel of thirty flat pieces no longer exports as thirty layers deep.

The parcel is also never shallower than the bulkiest single item it has to
contain, measured in its best-fitting orientation. Dimensions and weights are
converted from your store’s own units, so a shop measuring in millimetres or
grams still exports correct centimetres and kilograms.

Weight works the same way as height. The order’s product weights are summed,
then raised to your minimum package weight whenever they come in under it,
so packaging, padding and products carrying no weight at all never export a
parcel lighter than the one you lodge.

Signature on delivery, resolved in three steps

1. The customer’s own choice, read from the order and from the order’s shipping
   line, so a flag attached to the chosen shipping method is picked up either
   way.
2. Any shipping method you list as requiring a signature, for services where
   the signature is a property of the rate rather than a customer choice.
3. Your configured default.

Pro add-on

CSV Exporter Pro
is a separate, paid add-on for stores that need more: customs descriptions and
HS codes per product, variation or category (including 10-digit US codes),
marking orders as exported with a warning before a duplicate upload, and
importing tracking numbers back onto orders from a CSV. Everything
described above stays in this free plugin.

For developers

Filters: apcsv_content_line (one customs content line, with its item, product
and order), apcsv_order_description, apcsv_order_edn, apcsv_customs_missing,
apcsv_delivery_address, apcsv_order_signature and
apcsv_signature_meta_keys. Actions: apcsv_export_ready (the export notice is
about to show) and apcsv_exported (a manifest was written).

Links

• Plugin page and version history at bloodweb.net, including downloadable sample manifests
• Full documentation
• Jack Ewers, who builds it

Privacy

This plugin makes no external requests. It does not phone home, check for
updates from anywhere but WordPress.org, load remote scripts, or transmit order
data to any third party. The CSV is built on your own server and sent straight
to your browser as a download.

Not affiliated with Australia Post

This is an independent plugin. It is not made, endorsed or supported by
Australia Post. “Australia Post” and “AusPost” are trademarks of the Australian
Postal Corporation and are used here only to describe what the plugin is
compatible with.

Technical details