Do you plan to sell your products online globally? If so, then it’s a great idea to consider providing users with currency conversion.
Currency conversion tools allow your visitors to have the cost of an international currency transaction converted to their local currency at the point of sale. It also allows your customers to see the exact amount their card or PayPal account will be charged, expressed in their local currency.
The obvious advantage of showing currency conversion is that it allows visitors to see and understand pricing in foreign countries in their own local currency, and makes it easier for customers to work out their costs and expenses.
If your site is built with WordPress, you can add a currency converter to WordPress, allowing your visitors to quickly and easily work out the cost of your goods.
Currencyr – WordPress Currency Converter
Currencyr is a simple, easy-to-use and complete currency converter plugin with a unique and attractive converter tooltip. Best of all, it’s free to install and use on your website or blog.
The Currencyr currency conversion WordPress plugin features:
- Inline converter
- Supports a number of exchange rates providers, like Google, Open Exchange Rates and European Central Bank
- Supports Shortcodes
- Widgetized currency table and converter
- Can be integrated with a number of online shopping plugins like WooCommerce, WP-eCommerce, Shopp, and Easy Digital Downloads.
- Automatically detects local currency
- Translation support
Note: This plugin needs PHP 5.3.0 or later. Do not use this plugin if you are running an older version of PHP. Alternatively, ask your web hosting company to check and upgrade your PHP.
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You can install the plugin from your WP dashboard by typing in “currencyr” into the Plugins search field and clicking “Install Now” …
After you have installed and activated the plugin, you can configure the plugin’s settings by choosing Currencyr from your dashboard menu …
This takes you to the plugin settings area …
For example, you can select a base currency from a dropdown menu if you prefer to use a different currency than the default option ’USD’ …
Similarly, you can choose which data provider you want to use from the dropdown menu in the Provider section. The default selection is Yahoo Finance, but you can choose one of the other options, such as European Central Bank or Google Finance …
Note: If you choose Open Exchange Rates as your provider, an API (Application Programming Interface) is required …
You can specify how frequently you would like the exchange rates to be updated by choosing an option from the ‘Update Rates’ dropdown menu …
The Currencyr plugin uses jQuery, which allows web developers to add things like animation effects to web applications (e.g. WP plugins).
If you have no reason to modify the jQuery settings, leave these as they are …
Configure the rest of the settings according to your own preferences and remember to click the ‘Save Changes’ button when you have configured all of your settings …
Once you have finished configuring your plugin settings, you can add currency conversion to your WordPress posts using shortcodes.
Refer to the ‘Additional Plugin Notes’ section below to learn how to use currency codes (e.g. USD, AUD, ZAR, etc …) with the Currencyr plugin.
Shortcodes
You can easily insert currency conversion into WordPress posts, pages and widgets with no web coding knowledge or skills using shortcodes.
Here are some examples of currency shortcodes that you can add to posts and pages:
Let’s say that you are selling a product on your site for a set amount (e.g. $175) in US Dollars (USD), and you would like to display this conversion amount in British pounds (GBP) on your page.
To do this, just insert the following shortcode into your page content …
Note: You can also add prices in dollars and cents (e.g. 165.49, 197.00, 295.75, etc …)
The example below shows how your shortcode will look after being inserted into a page …
After the information has been published, your converted currency amount will display like this …
Using the above example, let’s now convert the same amount into multiple currencies.
To do this, use the shortcode below (you can add as many currency symbols as you want separated by vertical pipes) …
The screenshot below shows how the above shortcode looks when added to a page …
Once your post or page has been published, the currency conversion will then display as you can see below …
refer to the ‘Additional Plugin Notes’ section below to learn how to change the currency separator symbol with this plugin.
Now, suppose you want to select a different base currency than the one set as your default.
For example, say you have specified your default base currency as EUR and you have a section on your website targeted to visitors from countries like Australia or Canada, you can change the base currency using the following shortcode …
Here’s how the shortcode appears when you add it to your content …
After publishing your information, the currency conversion will then display like this …
Using The Widget
You can also add currency conversion to your website or blog’s sidebar menu using a widget.
To add currency conversion to your sidebar area, select Appearance > Widgets in your WordPress admin menu …
In the Widgets > Available Widgets section find the ‘Currencyr’ widget and drag it to an ‘Active Widgets’ area …
Configure the widget settings as shown in the example below (add any currency codes you would like to display on your widget separated by a comma), and click Save to update your settings …
Your currency conversion tool will now appear on your site’s sidebar menu with the options you have specified …
Additional Plugin Notes
Here are some additional notes and useful information about using the plugin.
Currency Separator
The Currencyr plugin lets you specify the symbol to display as the currency separator when using several currencies.
You can change the symbol in the Multiple Separator settings section.
So, for example, entering the default symbol “/” (forward slash) …
Separates all your currency values with a forward slash as shown below …
If you change the symbol and resave your plugin settings …
Your web visitors will see the new symbol display as the currency separator …
E-Commerce Software Integration
As described earlier, the Currencyr plugin integrates with various WP-compatible e-commerce plugins such as WooCommerce and Shopp …
(above image sourced from plugin site)
And there you have it! Now you know how to easily add a currency converter to your e-commerce web site.
To learn more about WordPress e-commerce plugins, see the tutorial below:
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