In this article, you will find information about the connection of the shipping service provider Shipcloud to xentral. If you already have existing contracts with one or more shipping service providers, you can simply add them to Shipcloud and continue to ship according to your conditions. To do this, log in after your registration at support@shipcloud.io.
A general overview of the shipping methods and parcel labels that you can use in xentral, you can find here.
Shipcloud offers you the following features:
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Disabling the Additional Service Advance message
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Selecting the service type for DHL and DPD
First, register at Shipcloud.io. Then choose your subscription based on your shipment volume. To verify that this process worked, log in to Shipcloud and click on your login name in the top right, then click on "Profile".
For the settings of the shipping method in xentral you need from your account Data only the API key. You can find it under the login name → API key:
Clicking will take you to the interface shown here, where you can copy the API key can copy:
Note
At the end, Shipcloud receives from xentral the automatically transmitted affiliate ID, which indicates which xentral customer is using Shipcloud.
In order to use shipcloud as a shipping method in xentral, you must first create a new shipping method. You create it under Administration → Settings → Shipping methods → Overview → "+NEW"→ Shipcloud.
Fill in the following fields:
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Designation → Freely choose a designation for the shipping method. This is displayed in xentral among other things in the order for selection in the drop-down menu
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Type → Specify the type/field label. You can generally choose this as you wish, as long as it is not required for store mapping or other mappings. Ideally, you should keep the default
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Module → Select "Shipcloud" from the drop-down menu
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Project → Optionally select a project, provided that a separate Shipcloud shipping type is created for each project
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Active → By ticking it, you activate the shipping type and make it visible and usable
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No postage check→ By ticking, no postage check will be performed in the order
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Printer parcel stamp → Select the default printer from the drop-down menu, which prints the parcel stamps
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Printer export→ Select from the drop-down menu the default printer, which prints the export papers
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Shipping mail → Select the behavior of the shipping mail from the drop-down menu. "Default behavior" means that a standard tracking email will be sent, "no shipping email" means that no tracking email will be sent for this shipping type, and "custom text template" means that a custom shipping confirmation text template will be used for this shipping type, regardless of the project and logistics process
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API Key → Enter here the API Key from the Shipcloud customer portal
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Standard Height → Enter the standard height of a shipment in cm. This is automatically transferred to the shipping dialog
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Default width → Specify the default width of a shipment in cm. This is automatically taken over in the shipping dialog
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Default length → Specify the default length of a shipment in cm. This is automatically taken over in the shipping dialog
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Shipping company → Select the shipping method from the drop-down menu which should be shipped via Shipcloud. If you use multiple shipping methods via Shipcloud, then analogously also create multiple shipping types in xentral. Here only the fields "Name", "Type" and "Shipping company" change. You can find an overview here
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Service → Select the desired service from the drop-down menu. "Normal" and "Express" are available. Note: This field is only passed for DPD and DHL
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Minimum weight → Specify the minimum weight of a shipment in kg. This is automatically transferred to the shipping dialog
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Tracking no. from position → To take over the tracking number correctly, you must in the shipcloud shipping type the correct position of the tracking number. The specified number of characters will be truncated at the beginning of the tracking number (e.g. if you specify 4 and "abcdef", "ef" is left over)
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Tracking no. length → Enter the length of the tracking no. If you leave the field empty, the tracking no. is taken to the end
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Disable the additional service advance message → Here you deactivate the Additional Service Advance message, i.e. the advance notice of a package by Shipcloud
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Take over tracking → By ticking, the tracking number will be automatically inserted into the field after the parcel tag is created and no longer has to be scanned from the package tag
When finished, click the "Save" button in the bottom right corner.
Note
Should you change your access data at one of the shipping service providers. you have to change this data in the shipcloud portal as well.
If you are using different shipping providers through shipcloud, you will need to create a separate module for creating a separate shipping type for each one in xentral using the "Shipcloud" module. Use unique labels for the "Type" field here:
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Angel → angel_en
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Cargo International → cargo_international
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German Post → dpag
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DHL → dhl
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DHL Express → dhl_express
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DPD → dpd
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FedEx → fedex
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GLS → gls
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GO! → go
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Hermes → hermes
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iIoxx → iloxx
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PARCEL.ONE → parcel_one
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Seven Senders → seven_senders
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TNT → tnt
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UPS → ups
Once you have made all the settings as described above, you can test the parcel mark print in the shipping center or even in a single delivery bill. To do this, select in the delivery bill in the tab "Delivery bill" the shipping type "Shipcloud" from the drop-down menu.
Click the "Save" button before navigating to the package marker dialog.
Next, click on the "Package Mark" tab in the delivery bill and print a package mark for the included items via "Print Package Mark".
In the field "Name 2" you can optionally enter the company name. In the field "E-Mail" you can additionally specify an e-mail address for DHL and DPD, to use the service DPD Predict or DHL notification.
After your test print is complete, you can subsequently cancel the parcel label in the Shipcloud business customer portal.