Are you thinking about setting up an e-commerce web site or selling goods online? If so, then you may want to consider providing your prospects with a currency conversion service.
Currency conversion lets your visitors have the price of a foreign currency amount converted into their local currency when purchasing or checking out products on e-commerce sites. It also lets your visitors see the exact amount their credit card or PayPal account will be charged, expressed in their local currency.
One benefit of putting currency conversion is that it allows visitors to view and understand pricing in foreign countries in their own local currency, making it it easier for visitors to calculate their costs and expenses.
If you are a WordPress user, you can add currency conversion via a plugin to WordPress, allowing your customers to quickly work out the cost of your products.
Currencyr – Currency Converter For WP Web Sites
Currencyr is an intuitive, 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 site.
The Currencyr currency conversion plugin includes a number of features like:
- In-line converter
- Supports a number of 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
- Can be integrated with a number of e-commerce plugins like WooCommerce, Shop and Easy Digital Downloads.
- Can detect local currency automatically
- Supports full translations
Important: This plugin needs PHP 5.3.0 or later. Do not install this plugin if you currently have an older version of PHP installed on your server. Ask your web host to upgrade your PHP.
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You can install the plugin from your WP dashboard by searching for “currencyr” in the Plugins section and clicking the ”Install Now” button …
After the plugin has been installed and activated, you can configure the plugin’s settings by choosing Currencyr from your admin area …
This takes you to the plugin settings page …
For example, you can select your base currency from the Base Currency dropdown menu. The default currency is ’USD’ …
Similarly, you can select which data provider you want to use from the drop-down menu in the Provider section. The default selection is Yahoo Finance, but you can choose another provider, such as European Central Bank, FoxRate, Google Finance or Open Exchange Rates …
Note: If you choose ‘Open Exchange Rates’ as your provider, you will need an API (Application Programming Interface) ID …
You can select how frequently you want to update the currency 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 (e.g. WordPress plugins).
Unless you have a reason to modify the jQuery settings, leave this option alone …
Edit the remainder of the plugin settings to suit your own preferences and don’t forget to click Save Changes when you have configured all of your settings …
Once your plugin settings have been configured, you can easily start adding currency conversion to your WP website’s pages and 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 …) in the Currencyr plugin.
Plugin Shortcodes
You can insert currency conversion into WordPress pages, posts and widgets without editing your web templates using shortcodes.
Let’s take a look at some examples of currency shortcodes that you can add to WP pages and posts:
Let’s say that you are selling goods online for a set price (e.g. $175) in US Dollars (USD), and you would also like to show the conversion amount in British pounds (GBP) on your product sales page.
All you need to do is insert the following shortcode into your post or page …
Note: You can also insert pricing in dollars and cents (e.g. 89.95, 22.00, 544.97, etc …)
The screenshot below shows how the shortcode should look once you have added it to your post or page …
Once the post or page has been published, the converted currency amount will then display like this …
Using this example, let’s now translate the same amount into multiple currency formats.
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 appears when added to your content …
Once the page or post has been published, your converted currency amounts will then appear like this …
See the ‘Additional Plugin Notes’ section at the end of this tutorial to learn more about changing the currency separator symbol within the Currencyr plugin.
Now, suppose you want to specify a different base currency than the one selected as your default.
For example, say 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 looks when inserted into your content …
After publishing your post or page, the converted currency amounts will then display like this …
Widget
You can also insert currency conversion into your website’s sidebar using the Currencyr widget.
To add the currency converter to your sidebar, choose Appearance > Widgets in your WordPress user admin menu …
In the Widgets > Available Widgets area find the ‘Currencyr’ widget and drag it to the Active Widgets area …
Configure the widget settings as shown below (add currency codes separated by a comma), and click Save to update your settings …
The currency converter tool will now appear on your sidebar with the options you have selected …
Additional Plugin Notes
This section contains additional 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, using the default symbol “/” (forward slash) …
Separates all your currency amounts using the forward slash as shown below …
If you choose another symbol and resave your plugin settings …
Your web site visitors will see the new symbol display as the currency separator …
Integration With e-Commerce Platforms
As mentioned earlier, the plugin integrates with various WP-compatible e-commerce plugins such as WooCommerce and Easy Digital Downloads …
(image sourced from Currencyr plugin website)
Congratulations! Now you know how to easily add a currency converter to your WordPress site.
To learn more about WordPress e-commerce plugins, see the tutorial below:
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