A zone claims addresses by postcode, three ways. Use whichever reads most naturally; they combine freely in one zone.
Ranges
3000–3207 claims every postcode from 3000 to 3207, both ends included. A zone can hold several ranges — metro Melbourne plus the 8000–8499 CBD PO boxes is two ranges in one zone.
Single postcodes
An exact postcode on its own — 0872, say — for the odd address a range would drag too much in with.
Exclusions
An exclusion takes a postcode back out of the zone. The zone behaves as if it never claimed that postcode: the address goes to whichever other zone claims it, or to Everywhere else if none does.
Use it to carve an exception out of a range instead of rewriting the range around it — a remote island inside a coastal range, a postcode you price separately.
How an address is matched
- The zone that claims the postcode — inside a range or named exactly, and not excluded — is the one that prices the order.
- A zone that names the postcode always beats Everywhere else, whatever order the zones are in.
- Two zones claiming the same postcode is worth fixing on screen; until you do, the one listed first wins.
- The zone screen counts what you've covered — "2 ranges, nothing excluded" — so you can see at a glance what a zone claims.