When you have a product with multiple priced variants, many Shopify themes default to showing “from [lowest variant price]”. If you prefer to just show the highest price, that’s easy to do in Liquid:
{{ product.price_max | money }}
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Radio Shack Pro-76 Test Modes
The PRO-76 was a simple, no-frills scanning receiver manufactured for Radio Shack by Uniden in the early 2000s.
The PRO-76 has some features and test modes that can be accessed by holding down various keys while turning the radio on. None do anything particularly interesting (to me), but maybe others will find these useful.
Keys What It Does 2-9 Shows “Clear” on the screen and clears memory. 2-9-SCAN Shows “Load” on the screen. When the “Load” message is gone, Channels 1-15 are replaced with test frequencies. 2-9-PROG Shows “000 00” on the screen. Pressing the up and down keys changes the hexadecimal value on the screen. Unclear what this does. 2-9-MON The same as 2-9. 2-9-PRI The same as 2-9-SCAN. 2-9-DELAY The same as 2-9-PROG. 2-9-L/OUT Does a limit search on 173.0 – 173.1. 2-9-ALERT Clears the memory, but if the radio is already cleared (all memories are zeroed out), it flashes “ALERT” on the screen. 2-9-KEYLOCK Starts weather search mode. 2-9-HOLD Clears the memory. 2-9-. Shows “H WIRED” message on the screen. 2-9-0 Performs display test. When E is pressed, it loads test frequencies into memory. (If the radio is turned off at this point, no test frequencies are loaded.) 2-9-E Same as 2-9-0. L/OUT This lets you configure the beep that plays when you press a key. Normally, when you turn the radio on with this key held down, it displays “NO BEEP” before going to the regular scan mode, after which the radio will not beep when you press keys on the keypad. To turn the beep back on, press it again and it will say “ON BEEP.” The beep will be restored. -
Making Shopify conversion scripts conditional on backorder status
In some environments, it can be helpful to have the ability to run scripts in Shopify’s checkout based on whether the order placed was a preorder, backorder, or other scenario where the item was out of stock when the order was placed.
For example, if you integrate with an outside service to suggest product reorders or solicit reviews for your products, you may want to do things differently for an order that will ship right away versus an order that will ship in three weeks.
Thankfully, this is pretty easy to approximate in Liquid. Simply do something like this from the Settings > Checkout screen in the Order Status Page > Additional Scripts section:
{% if first_time_accessed %} {% assign has_bo = 0 %} {% for line_item in checkout.line_items %} {% if (line_item.variant.inventory_quantity < 0) and (line_item.variant.inventory_management == 'shopify') %} {% assign has_bo = 1 %} {% endif %} {% endfor %} {% if has_bo == 0 %} <!-- Script goes here --> {% endif %} {% endif %}The first condition, “if first_time_accessed”, is Shopify magic specific to the Order Status page. It simply indicates that this Liquid template section should only run the first time the customer sees the Order Status screen for that order (on checkout), not any time they stop back to check on their order.
We then loop through the line items and determine if any are backordered, based on whether the item has inventory control enabled (line_item.variant.inventory_management == ‘shopify’) and inventory quantity for the item (line_item.variant.inventory_quantity) is negative.
Note that while this simple script worked well enough for my purposes, there is the possibility of a race condition in a high-volume store in a scenario where, in the moment between an in-stock order being received and the customer seeing the order status (order confirmation) screen, another order is processed taking the inventory below zero. If data integrity in a scenario like that is important, it would be smart to use workflows and order metafields to store the backorder status immediately upon the order being received.
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Fixing Roomba “Obstacle area review will normally appear here” error
When I first set up my Roomba j7+, I opted out of the “Obstacle Image Review” feature. A few days later, I tried to enable it, but would get a message saying “Something went wrong. Obstacle area review will normally appear here” every time I’d try to view a prior run.
Following these steps helped me to get this feature working, without losing my existing maps:
- Navigate to iRobot > Product Settings > About Roomba > Remove Device from Account
- Ensure the “Save maps during factory reset” option is selected
- Tap the red “Factory Reset” button
- Using the iRobot app, set up the device again
- Tap the “Map” button. You may see your maps are missing. DON’T PANIC – they will come back later.
- Tap Product Settings > Reboot and allow the device to restart
- Wait for the device to fully charge (or maybe just for some amount of time to elapse, I’m not really sure)
- Tap “Map” again, and you’ll see an option to download the maps you saved earlier
If these steps don’t help, this reddit thread has some other ideas, including disconnecting from WiFi and reconnecting, and some ideas specific to the iOS flavor of the iRobot app.
Happy vacuuming.
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Exploring USPS Ground Advantage
In July 2023, the US Postal Service announced a new addition to their lineup of shipping options, USPS Ground Advantage, a long with some fairly significant changes to the rest of their small-package product lineup.
The announcement of these changes came with relatively little fanfare, but they are pretty significant for small-package shippers, and some shippers my find that they make USPS an extremely competitive option for many of their ground shipments.
This is an area of interest to quite a few of my clients, so I thought I’d write up a quick summary of what I know so far. As a disclaimer, I do not work for the USPS and my anecdotal observations may be specific to western PA. When in doubt, check with your USPS rep or the friendly folks at your local post office.
Elimination of Network Distribution Centers (NDCs)
To understand the changes that come with Ground Advantage, it’s important to understand a major change that’s currently underway in the postal distribution network.
For the past several decades, ground-exclusive services have had a unique place in the USPS network, with Parcel Select Ground, Retail Ground, and Media Mail packages distributed alongside bulk mail by Network Distribution Centers (NDCs).
In 2023, the USPS announced plans to eliminate the NDC system and move mail previously processed by these facilities into their standard logistics network. This means that Parcel Select Ground and Media Mail will no longer be processed by separate facilities.
This change empowers the USPS to speed up ground delivery times while routing more of their Priority Mail volume through their ground network.
What does this mean for Priority Mail?
The Priority Mail service is unaffected by this change, continuing to provide 1-3 business day service to any US address.
What does this mean for First Class Package?
First-Class Package service has been eliminated and is replaced by Ground Advantage.
Ground Advantage provides 2-5 business day service, which matches the current service level for First Class Mail set in 2021.
What does this mean for shipments to Hawaii, Alaska, US territories, and overseas military?
“Ground” shipments to offshore locations can be extremely time consuming. Media Mail shipments to offshore locations can take weeks to complete as the mail moves to its destination by boat instead of air.
The current USPS documentation about Ground Advantage is unclear as to whether the 2-5 business day timeframe will apply to offshore states and territories.
A recent USPS blog post states “Packages going to certain places (including Alaska, Hawaii, and offshore destinations) […] may receive slower service.”
However, eBay has recently released a FAQ about Ground Advantage which states that “USPS Ground Advantage will fly to/from/throughout offshore destinations as a 2-5 service whereas PSG currently travels by boat and is a 2-8 day service”. It’s unclear where they received this information.
What does this mean for Parcel Select Ground?
Parcel Select Ground service (and its retail sister service, Retail Ground) has been eliminated and is replaced by Ground Advantage.
Ground Advantage provides 2-5 business day service, which matches the current service level for Parcel Select Ground.
Ground Advantage packages are now routed through the standard USPS network, not the NDCs (though it remains a ground only service and will not ship by air).
Ground Advantage provides up to $100 of insurance at no additional cost, unlike Parcel Select Ground which offered insurance for an additional fee.
What does this mean for Media Mail?
Media Mail currently continues to exist as a standalone service and service levels are unchanged.
With the elimination of NDCs, Media Mail has begun to be routed through the normal USPS distribution system in many areas.
I’ve heard anecdotal reports – primarily from western PA and northeast OH – that this has resulted in a significant speed-up in Media Mail processing and delivery times.
Some shippers have also observed that NDCs tend to experience significant slowdowns during periods of heavy load, such as during peak season and during the 2020 COVID lockdowns. The consolidation of the mail streams may reduce or eliminate these slowdowns.