Currency Switcher 4.x is available!
As announced last week, we are delighted to announce that we have just released our next major update for our popular Currency Switcher for WooCommerce. As anticipated, this version includes support for WooCommerce 2.7, and has been tested with the Release Candidate of that version.
Several of our customers opted for a preliminary test and received the new release in advance. They are now enjoying the benefits and improvements it introduces, and they are pleased of how well it works.
Here you can find a list to recap main features in this new version.
Compatibility with WooCommerce 2.7
The latest version of the Currency Switcher is compatible with the new features introduced in WooCommerce 2.7. We tested our plugin against WC 2.7 Beta 1, back in December 2016, then again with the Beta 2 and the Release Candidate version. The results have been great. Of course, we will keep testing it and address any glitch that we will find.
Optimised code, taking advantage of the Aelia Foundation Classes library
Our Aelia Foundation Classes (AFC, for short) is indeed the foundation of most of our plugins. The mini-framework we designed is flexible enough to allow us to keep the main plugins small and lean.
Also, thanks to the features in the AFC, our products can easily check the system for missing requirements, and even install other plugins they might need, with a single click. We consider ourselves “pioneers”: in an environment where packaging bulky frameworks with each plugin is common practice, we went for lean plugins, shared libraries and dependency management. It wasn’t easy, but it worked!
Better performance
We optimised the currency conversion logic in the Currency Switcher to make it easier to use it on shops with a large number of products. The currency conversion logic is now up to 80% faster. This is especially visible on sites with a high number of variable products and/or of variations.
Improved logging
To keep in line with our “lead the way philosophy”, in July 2016 we developed a flexible logging system, which we are going to use in all our plugins. Our new logger is PSR-3 compliant, powerful and flexible. We were pleased to hear that WooCommerce 2.7 will introduce a similar logger system, as it’s a proof that we have been, and we still are, on the right track. Our plugins will keep using our own logger, and the two systems will live next to each other, transparently.
Improved geolocation
The Aelia Foundation Classes framework loads version 2 of the MaxMind Geolocation database. The database supports a finer granularity than the one included with WooCommerce. That’s what makes it possible to detect not only countries, but also provinces/states/counties and, in some cases, cities. We have been using it in our Prices by Country and Tax Display by Country plugin for over a year, with great results.
Improved reports
We extended the reporting capabilities of the Currency Switcher to allow running reports filtered by currency. Each report will show the exact total of sales made in each currency. Thanks to this feature, it will be easier to find out which currency generates the most sales, and adjust your sale strategy.
Here are some screenshots of the new reports:
The new sales report in the Currency Switcher 4.x, showing the sales made in EUR
The new sales report in the Currency Switcher 4.x, showing the sales made in USD
New shortcodes
The Currency Switcher 4.x includes a couple of new, handy shortcodes. You can use them to convert arbitrary values in on the page, or show a product price in the active currency, anywhere on your site. Here’s a brief description of how they work, together with a “live” example.
- Show an arbitrary value in the active currency
The aelia_cs_currency_amount shortcode allows to display a value that changes depending on the active currency. In this example, the shortcode was configured with a base value of $100. Dynamic value: $100.00. - Show a product price anywhere
The aelia_cs_product_price shortcode displays the price of a product, anywhere on the site. The price changes automatically with the active currency. Here are current prices of our most popular plugins:
Try selecting a currency, on the right sidebar, and the values in bold will change automatically.
It’s now possible to force the currency by shipping country
We added the “force currency by billing country” to the Currency Switcher over two years ago, albeit reluctantly. For those not familiar with it, the feature allows customers to select a currency indirectly. Instead of going for the currency, they can select a billing country, and the currency changes to the one used in such country. Since we received several requests to allow binding the currency to the shipping country, we added such option to the new release.
The Currency Switcher 4.x allows to force currency by shipping country, as well as billing country.
Currencies can now be sorted in the settings page
Some of our customers asked if it would be possible to sort the enabled currencies without having to resort to a filter. We listened to our clients, and such feature is now part of the Currency Switcher. Here’s a preview of the interface that allows the sorting:
Drag the handle of each currencies to change their order, then save the settings the new sorting.
Of course, if you implemented a filter for your custom sorting, you can keep using it, it will work just fine.
Dropped support for WooCommerce 2.3 and earlier
The Aelia Team is known for its skill in keeping full backward compatibility in all our products, even after adding or improving existing features. Our Currency Switcher 3.x was fully compatible with WooCommerce from version 2.1.x until 2.6.x, and worked seamlessly on each of those version. After a careful analysis, we realised that WooCommerce 2.3 and earlier have practically disappeared from the market. Thus, keeping the code to support those versions makes little sense. Due to this, the Currency Switcher 4.x now requires WooCommerce 2.4 or newer.
Integrations with 3rd party plugins are now external addons
The Currency Switcher used to include integrations with several 3rd party plugins. We quickly realised that, even though such solution looked convenient, the integrations don’t belong there, as not every merchant needs them. Thus, we decided to extract each integration to a separate, lightweight plugin, so that the user can install only the needed ones. The integrations will work the ones we released so far, supporting plugins such as Subscriptions, Bundles, Composite Products, Product Add-ons and, more recently, Dynamic Pricing.
To make sure that users are aware of the changes, the Currency Switcher will inform merchants when an integration is no longer included in the main plugin. The Currency Switcher will also explain how to download the replacement integration.
When will the Currency Switcher 4.x be available?
The Currency Switcher 4.x is a available now! 🙂
Will I have to pay for the new version?
If you are an existing customer, with an active licence, you can download the Currency Switcher 4.x free of charge. Simply go to the My Account section and you will find the link to download it.
If you are not yet a customer, or if your licence expired, please contact us to get the best deal to get the new version of our product.
As always, please feel free to send us any feedback you have about this new version. We would like to thank you in advance for taking the time to write us, as your feedback is what allows us to provide you with top class solutions.
Thanks for reading, and for your continued support and renewed custom.
Sincerely,
The Aelia Team
