Do you plan to set up an e-commerce website, or sell goods and services to a worldwide customer base? If so, then it’s a great idea to consider providing users with the convenience of currency conversion on your e-commerce website.
Currency conversion tools let your visitors convert international currency prices into their local currency at the buying or checkout phase. It also allows visitors and customers to see the exact amount their card or PayPal account will be charged, expressed in their own home currency.
The obvious benefit of adding currency conversion is that it lets your customers view and understand prices in foreign countries in their own home currency, making it it easier for purchasers to work out their costs and expenses.
If your site is powered by WordPress, you can add a currency converter to your web site, allowing your customers to easily understand the cost of your products.
Currencyr – Currency Converter For WordPress
Currencyr is an intuitive, easy-to-use and complete currency converter WP plugin with a unique converter tooltip. And, it’s also free!
This useful plugin includes many great features such as:
- Inline converter
- Supports several exchange rates providers, like Yahoo!, Google and FoxRates
- WP-Cron task scheduler enabled
- Currency table and converter widget
- Supports integration with various online store plugins such as WooCommerce and Easy Digital Downloads.
- Automatic local currency determination
- Supports full translations
Note: This plugin needs PHP 5.3.0 or later. Do not install this plugin if you currently have an older version of PHP installed. Alternatively, ask your web host to update your PHP.
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You can install the Currencyr plugin from your WordPress dashboard by searching for “currencyr” in the Plugins section and clicking “Install Now” …
Once you have installed and activated the plugin, you can get to the plugin’s settings by choosing Currencyr from your WP dashboard area …
This takes you to the plugin settings section …
For example, you can select your base currency from a drop-down menu. The default currency is ’US Dollar’ …
You can also select a data provider from the dropdown 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’, you will need to obtain an API (Application Programming Interface) ID …
You can choose how frequently you want to update the exchange rates 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. WordPress plugins).
If you have no reason to edit the jQuery settings, leave these as they are …
Configure the remainder of the settings and click Save Changes when you have finished configuring all of your settings …
After your plugin settings have been configured, you can easily start adding currency conversion to any WordPress post or page using a shortcode.
Refer to the ‘Additional Plugin Notes’ section further below to learn more about using currency codes (e.g. USD, GBP, CAD, etc …) in the Currencyr plugin.
Shortcodes
You can add currency conversion to WP posts, pages and widgets with no web coding skills using shortcodes.
Below are some examples of currency shortcodes that you can add to pages and posts:
Let’s say that you are selling a product for a fixed amount (e.g. $175) in US Dollars (USD), and you would like to display this conversion amount in British pounds (GBP) on your product sales page.
All you need to do is insert the shortcode below into your page content …
Note: You can also insert amounts in dollars and cents (for example, 165.49, 197.00, 129.10, etc …)
The example below shows how the above shortcode should look when inserting it into a product page …
When your information has been published, the currency conversion will then appear like this …
Using this example, let’s also convert the same amount into multiple currency formats.
To do this, use the shortcode shown below (you can add as many currency symbols as you want separated by vertical pipes) …
You can see how the above shortcode appears when you add it to a post …
Once the page has been published, your currency conversion will then display like this …
See the ‘Additional Plugin Notes’ section below to learn how to change the currency separator symbol in this plugin.
Now, let’s suppose that you want to specify 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 customers (for example, Australia or Canada), you can change the base currency using the following shortcode …
The screenshot below now shows how the shortcode looks when inserted into your content …
After publishing your post, your converted currency amounts will then display as shown below …
How To Use The Widget
You can also add currency conversion to your website’s sidebar using the Currencyr widget.
To add the currency converter to your sidebar menu, choose Appearance > Widgets from your WordPress admin menu …
In the Widgets > Available Widgets area find the ‘Currencyr’ widget and add it to the ‘Active Widgets’ location …
Configure the widget options as shown below (add any currency codes you would like to display on your widget separated by a comma), and click ‘Save’ to update your settings …
The currency converter will now show on your sidebar menu with the options you have selected …
Additional Plugin Notes
Here are some additional notes and useful information about using the 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 the forward slash as shown below …
If you select another symbol and update your plugin settings …
Your web visitors will see the new symbol used as the currency separator …
E-Commerce Software Integration
As stated earlier, the plugin can be integrated with various WordPress-compatible e-commerce plugins like WooCommerce and Easy Digital Downloads …
(above image sourced from plugin website)
Congratulations! Now you can go and easily add currency conversion to your WordPress website.
To learn more about WordPress e-commerce plugins, see the tutorial below:
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"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)