Are you thinking about setting up an e-commerce site or making goods available for sale globally? If so, then it’s a great idea to consider providing users with the convenience of currency conversion on your web site.
Currency converting software tools let your visitors convert international currency prices into their home currency when purchasing products on e-commerce sites. It also lets visitors and customers see the exact amount their credit card or PayPal account will be charged, expressed in their local currency.
One benefit of displaying currency conversion is that it allows visitors to see and understand pricing in foreign countries in their own local currency, making it it easier for purchasers to calculate their costs and expenses.
If your site is powered by WordPress, you can add a currency converter to your website or blog, allowing your prospective customers to quickly perform currency conversions to determine the cost of your products.
Currencyr – Currency Conversion Plugin For WordPress
Currencyr is a simple, easy-to-use and complete currency converter WP plugin with a unique converter tooltip. It’s also free to install and use on your WP site.
This currency conversion plugin features:
- Inline conversion tool
- Supports a number of exchange rates providers, like Yahoo!, Google, Open Exchange Rates, European Central Bank and FoxRates
- Support database cache driven for fast response
- Currency table and converter widget
- Can be integrated with a number of e-store plugins such as WooCommerce, WP-eCommerce, Shopp, and Easy Digital Downloads.
- Automatically detects local currency
- Full language translation support
Note: The Currencyr plugin requires your server to be running PHP 5.3.0 or later. Do not use this plugin if you currently have an older version of PHP installed. Ask your web hosting support team to upgrade your PHP.
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You can install the plugin from your WordPress admin area by searching for “currencyr” in the Plugins screen and clicking “Install Now” …
After installing and activating the plugin, you can access the plugin’s settings by choosing Currencyr from your admin menu …
This takes you to the plugin settings screen …
For example, you can select a base currency from the Base Currency drop-down menu. The default currency is ’US Dollar’ …
You can also specify any supported data provider from the dropdown menu in the Provider section. The default selection is Yahoo Finance, but you can also select one of the other options, like European Central Bank, FoxRate, Google Finance or Open Exchange Rates …
Note: If you select ‘Open Exchange Rates’, an API (Application Programming Interface) will be required …
You can choose how often you want the currency exchange rates to update by selecting an option from the Update Rates drop-down menu …
The Currencyr plugin uses jQuery, which allows web developers to add things like animation effects to web applications (such as WP plugins).
Unless there is a reason to change the jQuery settings, leave this option alone …
Configure the rest of the plugin settings and remember to click ‘Save Changes’ when done …
Once you have configured your settings, you can add currency conversion to all of your WordPress posts using a shortcode.
Refer to the ‘Additional Plugin Notes’ section below to learn how to use currency codes (e.g. USD, AUD, ZAR, etc …) in this plugin.
How To Use Currencyr Shortcodes
You can insert currency conversion into WP pages, posts and widgets with no technical skills or knowledge using shortcodes.
Here are some examples of currency shortcodes that you can add to pages and posts:
Let’s say that you retail goods online for a set price (e.g. $175) in US Dollars (USD), and you would like to display your amount converted into British pounds (GBP) on your sales page.
To do this, you will need to add the following shortcode to your post or page …
Note: You can also display amounts in dollars and cents (for example, 89.95, 189.00, 295.75, etc …)
The example below shows how the shortcode looks when inserting it into the post or page …
After the information has been published, the currency conversion will display as you can see below …
Using this example, let’s also convert the same price into different currencies.
To do this, use following shortcode (add as many currency symbols as you want by using vertical pipes) …
You can see how the above shortcode looks when you add it to a page …
Once the page or post has been published, your converted currency amounts will then display like this …
refer to the ‘Additional Plugin Notes’ section below to learn how to change the currency separator symbol within this plugin.
Now, let’s suppose that you would like to select a different base currency than the one set as the default.
For example, if you have set your default base currency as EUR and you have a section on your e-commerce pages targeted to non-European visitors (for example, Australia or Canada), you can change the base currency using the following shortcode …
The screenshot below shows how the above shortcode appears when inserted into a post …
Once your content has been published, the converted currency amounts will then appear like this …
Currencyr Widget
You can also insert currency conversion into your website’s sidebar area using the plugin’s widget.
To add currency conversion to your sidebar, select Appearance > Widgets from your WP user admin menu …
In the Widgets > Available Widgets section find the ‘Currencyr’ widget and add it to an 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 save your settings …
The currency converter will now show on your website’s sidebar with the options you have selected …
Additional Plugin Notes
This section contains additional information about using the Currencyr plugin.
Currency Separator
The Currencyr plugin allows you to specify a symbol of your choice 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 the forward slash as shown below …
If you select another symbol and update your plugin settings …
Your web site visitors will see the new symbol used as the currency separator …
Integration With WordPress e-Commerce Software
As mentioned earlier, the Currencyr plugin can be integrated with various WordPress-compatible e-commerce plugins like WP-eCommerce, Shopp, and Easy Digital Downloads …
(image sourced from Currencyr plugin site)
Congratulations! Now you can go and easily add currency conversion to your WordPress site.
To learn more about WordPress e-commerce plugins, see the tutorial below:
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