Are you thinking about setting up an e-commerce web site or selling goods internationally? If so, you should probably consider providing your prospects with a currency conversion tool.
Currency converting software lets your prospective customers translate international currency pricing to their local currency at the point of sale. It also allows visitors and customers to view the exact amount their credit card or PayPal account will be charged, displayed in their own local currency.
One advantage of adding currency conversion to your site is that it lets customers see and understand prices in foreign countries in their own home currency, making it it easier for customers to work out their costs and expenses.
If your site is powered by WordPress, you can add a currency converter to WordPress, allowing your customers to easily understand the cost of your goods.
Currencyr
Currencyr is a simple, easy-to-use and complete currency converter WP plugin with a unique converter tooltip. Best of all, it’s free!
The Currencyr useful WordPress plugin includes many practical features like the following:
- In-line converter
- Supports several exchange rates providers, such as Yahoo!, Google, Open Exchange Rates, European Central Bank and FoxRates
- Support database cache driven for fast response
- Currency table and converter widget
- Supports integration with a number of e-store plugins such as WooCommerce, Shop and Easy Digital Downloads.
- Automatic local currency detection
- Translation support
Note: This plugin needs your server to be running PHP 5.3.0 or later. Do not install this plugin if you currently have an older version of PHP installed on your server. Alternatively, ask your web hosting company to upgrade your PHP server installation if required.
***
You can install the Currencyr plugin from your WordPress admin area by searching for “currencyr” in the Plugins screen and clicking the ”Install Now” button …
After installing and activating the plugin, you can get to the plugin’s settings page by selecting Currencyr from your admin user area …
This takes you to the plugin settings screen …
For example, you can select a base currency from the Base Currency dropdown menu if you prefer to use a different currency than the default option ’US Dollar’ …
You can choose a data provider from the drop-down menu in the ‘Provider’ section. The default provider is Yahoo Finance, but you can also select one of the other options, like 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 select how frequently you would like to update the exchange rates by selecting an option from the ‘Update Rates’ dropdown menu …
The Currencyr plugin uses jQuery, which lets web developers add things like animation effects to web applications (like WordPress plugins).
Unless there is a reason to edit the jQuery settings, just ignore this section …
Edit the rest of the settings and don’t forget to click ‘Save Changes’ when done …
After your plugin settings have been configured, you can add currency conversion to your WP site’s posts using a shortcode.
Refer to the ‘Additional Plugin Notes’ section at the end of this tutorial to learn how to use currency codes (e.g. USD, AUD, CAD, etc …) with the Currencyr plugin.
Shortcodes
You can insert currency conversion into posts, pages and widgets without having to mess with code using shortcodes.
Let’s take a look at some examples of currency shortcodes that you can add to your WordPress pages and posts:
Let’s say that you retail an item for a set amount (e.g. $175) in US Dollars (USD), and you want to show this conversion amount in British pounds (GBP) on your sales page.
To do this, simply add the shortcode below into your post or page …
Note: You can also add pricing in dollars and cents (for example, 165.49, 22.00, 129.10, etc …)
The example below shows how the shortcode should look after being inserted into the product page …
Once the information has been published, the converted currency will display as seen below …
Using the above example, let’s now convert the same amount into different currency formats.
To do this, use the shortcode shown below (you can add as many currency symbols as you like separated by vertical pipes) …
You can see how the shortcode appears when you add it to a page …
After publishing your post, your currency conversion will then display as seen in the example below …
refer to the ‘Additional Plugin Notes’ section below to learn how to change the currency separator symbol within this plugin.
Now, suppose you want to use a different base currency than the one you have set as your default.
For example, say you have specified your default base currency as EUR and you have a section on your site targeted to non-European visitors (e.g. Australia or Canada), you can change the base currency using the following shortcode …
The example below now shows how the above shortcode looks when you add it to your content …
Once the information has been published, the currency conversion will then appear like this …
Using The Widget
You can also add a currency converter to your website’s sidebar section using a widget.
To add currency conversion to your sidebar menu, select Appearance > Widgets in the WP dashboard menu …
In the Widgets > Available Widgets area find the ‘Currencyr’ widget and add it to the ‘Active Widgets’ location …
Configure the widget settings as shown below (add currency codes separated by commas), and click Save to update your settings …
The currency converter will now show on the sidebar with the options you have specified …
Additional Plugin Notes
This section contains additional information about using the Currencyr plugin.
Currency Separator
The Currencyr plugin lets you specify a symbol of your choice to display as the currency separator when using multiple currencies.
You can select a different symbol in the Multiple Separator settings field.
So, for example, entering the default symbol “/” (forward slash) …
Displays your currency values separated by a forward slash as shown below …
If you change the symbol and resave your settings …
Your web site visitors will see the new symbol being used as the currency separator …
WordPress E-Commerce
As mentioned earlier, the Currencyr plugin can be integrated with various WP-compatible e-commerce plugins such as WooCommerce, WP-eCommerce, Shopp, and Easy Digital Downloads …
(image source: plugin website)
And there you have it! Now you can go and easily add a currency converter to your e-commerce site.
To learn more about WordPress e-commerce plugins, see the tutorial below:
***
"If you're new to WordPress, this can stand on its own as a training course and will stay with you as you progress from beginner to advanced and even guru status." - Bruce (Columbus, Ohio)