XE.com - Free Customization of the Universal Currency Converter ®

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xe.com Free Customization of the Universal Currency Converter^®
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Free Customization or Full Customization?

XE.com offers two level of customization that enable webmasters to seamlessly integrate our Universal Currency Converter^® -- the world's most popular Internet currency tool -- into your site. Regardless of which you choose, both options give you:

Live rates updated non-stop all day, every day
Access to every world currency in existence
Unlimited usage with no "hidden fees"
Unlimited free changes and updates to your converter
Support for a growing list of foreign languages
Peace of mind -- our currency services have been in continuous operation since 1995!

Option:	1. Free Customization	2. Full Customization
Xe.com Ads:	Yes: 1 (one) banner ad	No: 0 (zero) banner ads
Input Page:	Customized as you desire and hosted on your site.	Customized as you desire and hosted on your site.
Results Page:	Our standard currency converter results, including 1 (one) xe.com banner ad, but encapsulated in HTML code specified by you.	Converter results, without any xe.com banner ad, customized to your specifications. You may include any number of your own ads.
Cost:	100% free.	A flat annual rate of US$540. UNLIMITED USAGE. The world's most popular currency converter. No hidden charges, all taxes included. What more can we say?
For more info:	Keep reading this document.	Click here to go to the full customization page.

Free Customization: What You Get

This document describes how to put a customized version of the Universal Currency Converter, like the one pictured above, on your site. After reading through the legal information below, the process itself takes less than five minutes.

By choosing xe.com as your currency partner, you are choosing the Internet's largest provider of foreign exchange tools and services. Independent industry rankings consistently confirm that more people -- and websites -- use our wide variety of simple and powerful currency tools than any others.

Important Notes about the Customization Process

You are free to design your own interface to the converter, using the customizing functionality that we have developed, provided that you adhere to the terms of use below. You are of course free to include advertisements or promotions on both your input page and results page.

WARNING: Read these restrictions carefully! Use of the converter that does not conform to these restrictions is not permitted. Regretfully, misuse of our services has forced us to be more aggressive in pursuing legal action against violators of our internationally protected intellectual property rights. Our main goal is to keep the services running, which we need your help to do. Please conform to our requirements when customizing the service.

We can and we do track the location of external input pages to ensure that they comply with the legal requirements. We freely encourage the use of our converter, but we must protect our copyright and trademark rights.

Free Terms of Use

XE.com extends to you or your organization the right to generate a customized version of the converter as a part of your Web resource provided that all of the following conditions are met.

Your resource may not give the impression that any entity other than xe.com is responsible for the functionality of the resource. You may take credit for the design of your interface, but not for the functionality provided by our services.
You may, if you wish, simplify your input page or result page by reducing the number of available currencies. You may further simplify your input page by "hard coding" values and settings into hidden variables in your input page form.
You are not required to provide a link to the Converter master site; however, if you do so, it must be done in the following format:
If you desire, you are permitted to incorporate our spinning currency logo into your interface by directly referencing it at our site, but not by copying it to yours. However, if you do so, it must be done in the following format:
If you like, you can use our alternate graphic, which has a white background, by using the following HTML:
WARNING: No other use of the spinning currency logo is permitted. It is copyrighted intellectual property and a trade mark of xe.com. You are not permitted to duplicate it, distribute it, or alter it in any way. To protect our rights and identity, we must aggressively pursue legal action against violators of our internationally protected intellectual property rights.
If you use the phrase "Universal Currency Converter" in your interface, and if the phrase is not part of a hyperlink to the master Converter site, then you must attach a trade mark symbol hyperlink to each instance in the following format:
You agree to hold xe.com harmless from any action brought against you by a third party as the result of the contents of your Web pages, including a Converter input page adhering to these restrictions. You acknowledge that xe.com is not -- and can not be -- responsible for content that you deploy on your site.
You agree to use your best efforts to ensure that your input page interfaces with the converter pursuant to specified methods, that your interface works, and that appropriate upgrades and additions to the Converter are reflected in your page. Specifically, but not exclusively, you agree to add or remove currencies as instructed by xe.com personnel as our currency feed changes and grows.
You understand, acknowledge, and agree to the following:

xe.com is not a financial institution, not affiliated with any financial institution, and not a rate feed provider. We do not distribute currency rates for a fee. Our rates are derived from a variety of publicly available sources, and we reserve the right to change our sources at any time without notice. Although we strive to ensure our figures are correct, we can make no guarantees as to their accuracy or suitability for any purpose. While effort is taken to ensure their accuracy, errors can from time to time appear. Currency rates specified by financial institutions will differ from ours, sometimes significantly. In addition, currency rates will vary by geographical market. The end user assumes all risk for the use of any information provided by our services.

You understand and acknowledge that xe.com cannot support a free service whose primary components are off of our server and outside of our control. This customization process is currently used by thousands of sites, so any problems you experience are at your end. Again, we regret that we cannot support your development efforts. If you need assistance, do not contact our staff.

You acknowledge that you have read and that you understand the legal information pertaining to these services located at:

http://www.xe.com/legal/

You complete the following form in its entirety. All sections must be completed. In addition, you must fully complete one for each customized interface that you create.

You MUST fill out this form. It should take less than two minutes of your time. Besides being a requirement for customization, it will help us keep you up to date with important additions and enhancements to the converter, such as the addition of new currencies.

The full, precise URL Web address of your customized interface to the Converter:
(If on an internal network, just type intranet)

Main type of use for this customized converter:

The full, legal name of the entity responsible for this customized interface:

Address Line 1:

Address Line 2:

City:

State, Province, or Territory:
Please check the drop down list before you type.

Country:
Please check the drop down list before you type.

The full phone number of this entity:

The name of contact responsible for maintaining this interface: (CRITICAL)

The full e-mail address of this person: (CRITICAL)

The full phone number of this person (if different than above):

Your name (if different than above):

Your full e-mail address (if different than above):

How can we improve this service?

By pressing this button, you are stating your agreement and intent, on behalf of the entity responsible for this resource, to comply with the Terms of Use, and that you have the authority to do so.

Processing may take a few moments.
Please click the button only once.

Fast-Track Instructions for Customizing the Converter

And now, the good news. As a reward for wading through all that legalese above -- believe me, we don't like it any more than you do -- you now get to "fast track" the customization of the converter.

By popular demand, we have simplified the process of customizing the converter. We have prepared a standardized block of HTML code that you can simply drop into any of your pages. No HTML coding is necessary! Just follow the simple steps below.

Fast Track Customization Steps
Following these instructions, you can have a working customized converter on your site in less than ten minutes.

Download the quick-start HTML code.

samp-ucc.zip (2.3 kb)

Click here to see the raw HTML. Click here to see what it looks like in your browser.

Decompress the downloaded file.

samp-ucc.htm

Insert the quick-start HTML code into your page.

samp-ucc.htm

Upload the page to your Website.

That's all there is to it! You will now have a fully-functional version of the converter in your Web page.

Most Webmasters stop here. However, advanced Webmasters may want to take advantage of some of the other features possible through customization. If you are one, then read on!

OPTIONAL: Advanced Instructions for Customizing the Converter

This section is intended for Webmasters with an advanced understanding of HTML who wish to further customize the Universal Currency Converter^® beyond the level explained above.

Proceed at your own risk! Although these instructions should be pretty straightforward to people familiar with HTML and forms, we cannot possibly support a free service whose primary components are off of our server and outside of our control. In short, if you need assistance, please do not contact our staff. This customization process has been tested and works perfectly, so any problems you experience are at your end. Again, we regret that we cannot support your development efforts.

For information on HTML programming, use the Internet as a resource. You may wish to start with the following resources:

Creating Net Sites: Netscape's HTML author assistance resource page -- a good place to start finding information about Web page authoring.
Fill-Out Form Support: A clear, straightforward guide to writing HTML forms like the one used to pass currency input to the converter program. If you're having trouble getting your form to work with the converter, read this document carefully.

Changing The Appearance of your Input Page

Provided you do not affect form variables in the downloadable code, you are free to modify the "look and feel" of your input page in any way you desire. Or course, such modifications must be pursuant to the Terms of Use above, but other than that you're free to do whatever you want.

Changing the Appearance of the Output Page

We have made it possible to encode, on your converter's front page, special variables containing HTML output code that will appear on the results page. You don't have to customize the output page of the converter, but you can.

If you don't customize the output page, we will just serve up our standard output page and it will look almost identical to what the user would see if they had used the main xe.com Universal Currency Converter page. If you do customize the output page, then the results page will be stripped down to the banner ad and the table containing the currency results, which will be inserted between a header and a footer that you specify. This will give you the appearance to make the output page match the look and feel of your own site.

This is accomplished by adding two hidden variables to your page that will control the output page's "header" (everything above the currency conversion results) and "footer" (everything below). These tags should contain all of the HTML you would normally use to build a web page.

For example, the header variable should contain the <HTML>, <HEAD>, and <BODY> tags. In addition, the footer variable should contain the </BODY> and <HTML> tags. Stated another way, the header and footer tags taken together should comprise a valid HTML document.

The use of the header and footer variables is detailed below.

To reiterate, the only things on the output page that you will not be able to control are (a) the appearance of the table containing the conversion results and (b) the appearance of a banner advertisement. (How else could we give you all this wonderful functionality for free?)

Further customization of the results page, including removal of the ad, is available through full customization. Click here for more information.

How to use the Header and Footer Variables

Start from the Fast-Track instructions above. Once you have the quick-start code incorporated into your page, look for the line that says:

<FORM METHOD=POST ACTION="http://www.xe.com/ucc/convert.cgi">

Beneath this line, cut and paste the following two lines:

<INPUT TYPE="hidden" NAME="Header" VALUE=" "> <INPUT TYPE="hidden" NAME="Footer" VALUE=" ">

Here's what you need to know to use these variables properly:

The variable names "Header" and "Footer" are case-sensitive. Don't change this or the customization won't work.
The blank spaces between the quotes in the VALUE=" "> tags are where you put your header and footer HTML code. However, make sure you read the next step before you start coding..
Use square brackets instead of angle brackets inside the header and footer HTML code. The converter will automatically convert square brackets to angle brackets when generating output. If you don't replace the angle brackets in your form, you will your disrupt the hidden variable tags! (Right?)
To intentionally produce square brackets in the output page (i.e. to override the program's square-bracket-to-angle-bracket translation), preface the bracket character with a backslash (e.g. \[ yields [ ).
Don't use the " and ' characters in your HTML string. (They can cause problems as well.) For double quotes, use the sequence \DQ and use \SQ for the single quote character. The converter will automatically convert these codes to double and single quotes on the output page.
Don't forget that if you're referencing graphics on the results page, you'll have to use their full Internet URL path -- remember, the results page is generated by our server, but your graphics don't live here. In fact, you may want to consider using full absolute URL references in all your converter-related pages, just so you don't forget.

That's all you need to know to make the output page look just about any way you want it to.

Changing the Order of Currencies in your Lists

You are free to reorder the currencies in the lists on your converter. However, you must move entire currency lines, including the <OPTION> and </OPTION> tags.

Preselecting Variables in Your Converter

You may want to set different default value for your converter. This is very easy to do.

Presetting the "Amount" field: Just change the number in the VALUE="" portion of the INPUT tag. For example, to start with a default value of 50 currency units, your "Amount" input tag would look like this (the green text indicates where you preset the desired amount):

<INPUT TYPE="text" NAME="Amount" VALUE="50" SIZE=10>

Presetting the "To" or "From" currency field: Just move the word SELECTED to the currency of your choice. (Hint: It helps if this currency is near enough to the top of the list to be displayed in the selection window; otherwise, the user might not be aware that a selection has been preset.) The resulting preselected currency will look like this:

<OPTION SELECTED>CHF Switzerland Francs</OPTION>

Currencies that are not preselected (i.e. all the others in the list) will look like this:

<OPTION>NLG Netherlands Guilders</OPTION>

Remember, you can only identify one currency per list as SELCTED: one in the "From" SELECT list, and one in the "To" SELECT list.

Hard-Coding Variables in Your Converter

Sometimes it's not enough to preselect a currency: sometimes you want to give the user no choice in the matter and force the use of a certain currency. This is done by removing the selection areas and replacing them with hidden variables. Remember, for each variable that you "hard code" with a hidden variable, you must remove the corresponding input section.

Place your hidden variables immediately after the following line in your front end:

<FORM METHOD=POST ACTION="http://www.xe.com/ucc/convert.cgi">

Now, here are some examples of how to create "hard coded" hidden variables:

Hard coding the "Amount" variable: Here is an example of how to hard code the "Amount" variable to be exactly 100.00:

<INPUT TYPE="HIDDEN" NAME="Amount" VALUE="100.00">

Hard coding the "From" currency variable: Here is an example of how to hard code the "From" variable to be U.S. Dollars (USD):

<INPUT TYPE="HIDDEN" NAME="From" VALUE="USD">

Hard coding the "From" currency variable: Here is an example of how to hard code the "To" variable to be Euro (EUR):

<INPUT TYPE="HIDDEN" NAME="To" VALUE="EUR">

Adding Currencies to Your Converter

Your version of the service is not limited to the "default" set of currencies that we provide. You are free to add as many other currencies as you wish. (Our services do support every world currency unit!) You can obtain extra desired currencies by "cutting and pasting" from the "Full" Universal Currency Converter.

For example, let's say you wanted to add the Guatemala Quetzal to your converter, in your "From" currency list. All you would have to do is add the following line in the desired spot between the <SELECT NAME="From"> tag, and the corresponding </SELECT> tag:

<OPTION>GTQ Guatemala Quetzal</OPTION>

You would probably want to add a similar entry in the "To" currency list, so that people could perform conversions either way.

However, if you are adding more than a few extra currencies, it might be easier just to customize the full version instead. (Instructions currently under development.)

Please keep in mind that we have two versions of the converter, "regular" and "full", for a good reason. Most people never use any more than the top 70 currencies in the regular converter -- in fact, the vast majority (85%) use just the top 10 currencies! The more currencies you have, the harder it is for people to find their desired currency, and the longer it takes the page to load. You are of course free to list as many currencies as you want, but we recommend that -- for the sake of your users -- you carefully consider the list of currencies you will need. Sometimes, as they say, less is more. You are also free to remove currencies from your converter, as outlined below.

Removing Currencies from Your Converter

Just as you are free to add currencies to your converter, you are free to remove currencies from either the "To" and "From" fields of your converter. More often than not, this is actually a very good thing to do.

Why would you want to remove currencies? As we have already mentioned, 85% of the people using our services are served by the top 10 currencies alone! Every currency you add to this list increases the time it takes for a user to find their currency. You should try to tailor the currencies you support to the actual needs of your users. While "listing them all" may seem like a good idea, your users may not agree.

In fact, there are circumstances where you might want to remove all currencies except for one, as outlined below.

Setting the Time Zone of Your Converter

By default, your converter will display date and time information in Universal Coordinated Time ("UTC"), also known as Greenwich Mean Time ("GMT"); or Zulu Time ("Zulu"). All of the these refer to the same thing: the time of day at the "prime meridian", which is 0°rees; longitude. UTC is widely used as a reference timezone.

However, if you suspect that your converter will be used primarily by people in a specific time zone, then you can set the converter to display any date and time information in that timezone. This is done by passing a hidden variable to the converter. For example, let's say you lived in Toronto, Canada and wanted to set the timezone for your converter appropriately. You would include the following code in you FORM:

<INPUT TYPE="HIDDEN" NAME="timezone" VALUE="EST5EDT">

Both the variable name "timezone" and the timezone value itself are case-sensitive. "EST5EDT" is the time zone for New York City and much of the eastern United States. For other locations, replace this code with the appropriate timezone. The following is a list of time zone codes than can be passed to the converter. Codes with both "ST" and "DT" suffixes, such as the "EST5EDT" in the above example, will automatically respect daylight savings time in your area.

AST4
AST4ADT
CET
CST6
CST6CDT
EET

EST5
EST5EDT
HST10
MET
MST7
MST7MDT

PST8
PST8PDT
UCT
UTC
WET
YST9

YST9YDT
Zulu
GMT
GMT+1
GMT+2
GMT+3

GMT+4
GMT+5
GMT+6
GMT+7
GMT+8
GMT+9

GMT+10
GMT+11
GMT+12
GMT-1
GMT-2
GMT-3

GMT-4
GMT-5
GMT-6
GMT-7
GMT-8
GMT-9

GMT-10
GMT-11
GMT-12
GMT-13
GMT-14

Other Requirements

While we cannot support development of free customizations, we can provide modifications to the standard service for a fee. For more information, please see our Full Customization page.

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