What are Stations?



Stations represent the workstations or computers your shippers utilize in their operations. A station record will need to be configured for each machine you are looking to use the Shipstore Merchant application on.


See Also: Shipstore Merchant Application

Stations can be managed in Shipstore from the Stations page of the Admin settings.

This can be found by following the steps below:

1) Select Admin in the left-hand navigation bar beneath System Settings.

2) Select Stations.





Adding a Station


You have 2 options to add a station to Shipstore:



Adding Station Using Shipstore Website

From the Station settings page, do the following: 

1) Click the blue Add button in the top-right.



2) A dialog box will appear asking you to confirm you wish to add a station. Click the blue Add button.



3) You will be presented with the New Station setup window.



  1. Be sure to give your station a unique name in the Station Name field.

      - This is how your station will be identified in the Shipstore Portal.
  2. Your station's PC Name (hostname) must be entered into the Computer Name field.

      - The computer name needs to match exactly for the Merchant app to talk to the web application.
      - This may be found by typing pc name into the Windows search bar and choosing View your PC name.

      - Copy the Device name from the window that appears. This will be your Computer Name for the Shipstore Portal.

  3. Be sure to select the blue Save Changes button in the top-right of the Stations page once complete.



Adding a Printer



Select the Printers tab at the top of the stations section and then the Add Printer button in the top right of the section. A new window will pop up allowing you to enter in the information for your printer. It's integral to the workflow of the software that your Printer Name matches exactly the printer's name in your computer's control panel. To see this, open the control panel on your computer, navigate to Devices and Printers, right click the printer in question, and select properties. We suggest copying and pasting the highlighted name below and into the Printer Name field.

To add a Zebra Label printer that is on network, follow these steps:
        1. Go to Zebras support website for the specific Zebra Label printer you have set up on your network
        2. Download the most recent driver that the website recommends
        3. Once the .zip file is downloaded, open up the file in your files folder
        4. This should open the Zebra printer installation wizard
        5. Follow the installation wizards step by step instructions
        6. Once this process is finished, the printer will be added to your Printers and Scanners tab on your local computer
        7. Now you are eligible to add another printer on your stations page utilizing the printer name from your settings
        8. "Printer Language" will be "ZPL", "Use For Carrier" will be "All Services" and "Conditions for use" will be "All Shipments"






Printer language is the coding of your documents/labels your printer translates to create your document/label. Normally this is ZPL for labels and PDFs for printers that do manifests/invoices. There are situations where this changes.

Use for Carrier gives you the ability to utilize different printers for different carriers, normally this is set to "All Services".  Conditions for use lets you even more fine tune the usage of the printer with Shipstore, normally this is set to "All Shipments". 

Sometimes your labels will print backwards, if they do you can enable Invert? to get them to print the correct way. The offset inputs allow you to adjust the top margin and left margin of the actual printed material on your label this is normally used for situations such as dock tabs. Use Cutter is an option for printers that don't accept perforated label rolls. 


Adding a Scale


To add a scale to your station for the automated weighing of packages on the ship screen select the Scale tab above the stations section. Here you'll need to select the port that your scale is connected to the station through. This will normally be USB if connected through a USB port, or TCP if the scale sends data over the internet. In some older circumstances the scale may use a COM which is a serial port connector. 



USB Scales


To set up a USB scale, you will first need to locate the Hardware IDs of the device. The locate the Hardware IDs, click on the Windows logo at the bottom-left of your screen to open the Start Menu. Type in "Bluetooth & other devices" and open it. Look for a Weighing Device under Other Devices. If you are unable to locate the scale, unplug it from your computer and make note of which device disappears and reappears once the scale has been reconnected. Once found, right-click on your device from the list and select Properties. Choose the Details tab and select "Hardware IDs" from the dropdown list. The Vendor ID is preceded by "VID_" and Product ID preceded by "PID_".



Once you have obtained the Hardware IDs for your scale, return to your Stations page in your Shipstore portal to fill out your scale information. Choose the Scale tab. Click the blue "Add scale" button if present. Choose "USB" for the port and fill out the following options:

Type: Brand/Model of the scale.
Vendor ID: HID Vendor ID of the scale.
Product ID: HID Product ID of the scale.
Weight Start Position: normally "4".
Weight Length: normally "2".
Weight Timeout: normally "5".
Status Position: normally "0".
Tare Command: normally "T".
Weigh Command: normally "570D"

Note: Be sure to save your changes by clicking the "Save Changes" button.



TCP Scales


To setup a TCP or "Networked" scale, you will need to determine the IP address of the scale you wish to use. Once you have the IP address, return to your Stations page in your Shipstore portal to fill out your scale information. Choose the Scale tab. Click the blue "Add scale" button if present. Choose "TCP/IP" for the port and fill out the following options:

URL/IP: URL or IP address of your scale i.e. "10.10.25.64", "\\10.10.25.64\Scale Name".
Port: normally "0"
Weight Start Position: normally "4".
Weight Length: normally "2".
Weight Timeout: normally "5".
Status Position: normally "0".
Tare Command: normally "T".
Weigh Command: normally "570D"

Optional Values (Leave "255" if unknown)

Good Mask: normally "255".
Good Value: normally "255".
Motion Mask: normally "255".
Motion Value: normally "255".
Zero Mask: normally "255".
Zero Value: normally "255".

Note: Be sure to save your changes by clicking the "Save Changes" button.



COM Scales


While we do support connecting scaled by COM/Serial port in Shipstore, they are not recommended due to the issues that have been previously encountered during the connection process for these interfaces. The following information is required for COM/Serial setup and may be found in either your owner's manual for the scale or in the settings found by using the scale's display:

Port Configuration: Serial port parameters {baud rate},{parity},{word length},{stop bits} i.e. 9600,e,7,1
Weight Start Position: normally "4".
Weight Length: normally "2".
Weight Timeout: normally "5".
Status Position: normally "0".
Tare Command: normally "T".
Weigh Command: normally "570D"

Optional Values (Leave "255" if unknown)

Good Mask: normally "255".
Good Value: normally "255".
Motion Mask: normally "255".
Motion Value: normally "255".
Zero Mask: normally "255".
Zero Value: normally "255".

Note: Be sure to save your changes by clicking the "Save Changes" button.




Adding a scale to a station can be a tricky process in Shipstore, there's a lot that can go wrong in the communication between the web application and the scale. If you are having issues, please contact Support. 



Removing a Station


From the Station settings page, do the following:

1) Click the red trashcan button in the row of the station you want to remove.
    Note: Multiple stations may be removed at one time by checking each station you'd like to remove and then the red Delete Selected button.