Are you thinking about setting up an e-commerce website or making products available for sale to an online customer base? If so, then it’s a great idea to consider providing users with a currency conversion tool.
Currency converting software allows your prospects to have the cost of an international currency transaction converted to their local currency when purchasing or checking out products online. It also allows visitors to see the exact amount their card or PayPal account will be charged, expressed in their own local currency.
One great benefit of showing currency conversion on your site is that it lets visitors view and understand prices in foreign countries in their own local currency, making it it easier for visitors to calculate their costs and expenses.
Fortunately, if you are a WordPress user, it’s quite easy to add a currency converter to WordPress, allowing your site visitors to quickly work out the cost of your products.
WP Free Currency Converting Plugin – Currencyr
Currencyr is an intuitive, easy-to-use and complete currency converter plugin with a visually attractive converter tooltip. It’s also free!
Some of the useful features of this plugin include:
- In-line conversion tool
- Supports various exchange rates providers, like Yahoo!, Google, Open Exchange Rates, European Central Bank and FoxRates
- Support database cache driven for fast response
- Widgetized currency table and converter
- Can be integrated with a number of e-store plugins such as WooCommerce, WP-eCommerce & Easy Digital Downloads.
- Automatically determines local currency
- Supports full translations
Note: The Currencyr 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 upgrade your PHP server installation if required.
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You can install the plugin from your WP dashboard by typing in “currencyr” into the Plugins search field and clicking the ”Install Now” button …
After installing and activating the plugin, you can visit the plugin’s settings by choosing Currencyr from your admin user area …
This takes you to the plugin settings page …
For example, you can choose a base currency from a dropdown menu if you want something other than the default option ’United States Dollar’ …
Similarly, you can specify a data provider from the drop-down menu in the ‘Provider’ section. The default provider is Yahoo Finance, but you can select another provider, such as FoxRate or Open Exchange Rates …
Note: If you choose Open Exchange Rates, you will need to obtain an API (Application Programming Interface) ID …
You can choose how often you want the 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 you have a reason to change the jQuery settings, simply ignore this setting …
Configure the remainder of the plugin settings and click the Save Changes button when you have configured all the options in this page …
When your plugin settings have been configured, you can start adding currency conversion to WordPress blog’s posts or pages using shortcodes.
Refer to the ‘Additional Plugin Notes’ section at the bottom of this tutorial to learn how to use currency codes (e.g. USD, NZD, ZAR, etc …) in this plugin.
Currencyr Shortcodes
You can add currency conversion to WordPress pages, posts and widgets with no web coding knowledge using shortcodes.
Let’s take a look at some examples of currency shortcodes that you can add to your WP pages and posts:
Let’s say that you retail an item online for a fixed amount (e.g. $175) in US Dollars (USD), and you would also like to display this conversion amount in British pounds (GBP) on your product information page.
All you need to do is add the following shortcode into your page content …
Note: You can also display pricing in dollars and cents (e.g. 155.25, 37.95, 2499.99, etc …)
The screenshot below shows how the above shortcode will look once you have added it to your product page …
After publishing your post or page, the currency conversion will appear as shown in the screenshot below …
Using the same example, let’s also convert the same amount into different currencies.
To do this, use the shortcode below (you can add as many currency symbols as you like separated by vertical pipes) …
The screenshot below now shows how the shortcode appears when you add it to a page …
After publishing the content, the currency conversion will then display like this …
See the ‘Additional Plugin Notes’ section below to learn how to change the currency separator symbol with the Currencyr plugin.
Now, suppose you would like to specify a different base currency than the one set as the default.
For example, say you have set your default base currency as EUR and you have a section on your site targeted to customers from countries like Australia or Canada, you can change the base currency using the following shortcode …
The example below now shows how the shortcode appears when added to your content …
Once your page or post has been published, the currency conversion will then display as seen in the screenshot below …
How To Use The Plugin Widget
You can also insert a currency converter into your website’s sidebar menu using a widget.
To add currency conversion to your sidebar area, choose Appearance > Widgets from the WP user admin menu …
In the Widgets > Available Widgets area find the ‘Currencyr’ widget and drag it to the Active Widgets area …
Configure the widget options as shown in the screenshot below (add any currency codes you want displaying on your widget separated by a comma), and click Save to update your settings …
The currency conversion tool will now display on your sidebar with the settings you have specified when configuring the widget …
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 section.
So, for example, using the default symbol “/” (forward slash) …
Displays your currency values separated by the forward slash as shown below …
If you choose another symbol and update your settings …
Your website visitors will see the new symbol used as the currency separator …
E-Commerce Platform Integration
As stated earlier, the Currencyr plugin can be integrated with a number of WP-compatible e-commerce plugins such as WooCommerce, Shopp and Easy Digital Downloads …
(above image sourced from plugin site)
And there you have it! Now you know how to easily add currency conversion to your WordPress web site.
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)