Do you plan to set up a WordPress-based e-commerce site, or sell products online? If so, then it’s a good idea to consider providing users with a currency conversion service.
Currency conversion software lets your prospects convert international currency prices to their local currency at the buying or checkout phase. It also lets visitors view the exact amount their card or PayPal account will be charged, expressed in their own home currency.
One great advantage of displaying 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 purchasers to calculate their costs and expenses.
Fortunately, if you are a WordPress user, it’s really easy and simple to add a currency converter to WordPress, allowing your visitors to quickly and easily calculate the cost of your goods.
Currencyr – WordPress Free Currency Converting Plugin
Currencyr is a simple, easy-to-use and complete currency converter WP plugin with a unique converter tooltip. It’s also free!
This currency conversion WP plugin includes features like the following:
- In-line converter
- Supports a number of exchange rates providers, like Yahoo!, Google and European Central Bank
- WP-Cron task scheduler enabled
- Widgetized currency table and converter
- Supports integration with various online shopping plugins such as WooCommerce, Shop and Easy Digital Downloads.
- Automatic local currency detection
- Supports full language translations
Note: The Currencyr plugin needs PHP 5.3.0 or later. Do not use this plugin if you currently have an older version of PHP installed on your server. Ask your web hosting provider to check and upgrade your PHP.
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You can install the plugin from your WordPress dashboard by typing in “currencyr” into the Plugins search field and clicking the “Install Now” button …
When the plugin has been installed and activated, you can access the plugin’s settings screen by selecting Currencyr from your admin area …
The plugin settings area offers you a number of configuration settings …
For example, you can select a base currency from the ‘Base Currency’ drop-down menu if you prefer a different currency than the default option ‘USD’ …
Similarly, you can choose which data provider you want to use from the drop-down menu in the ‘Provider’ section. The default option is Yahoo Finance, but you can also choose another provider, like FoxRate or Open Exchange Rates …
Note: If you choose Open Exchange Rates as your provider, an API (Application Programming Interface) is required …
You can specify how frequently you want to update the currency exchange rates by choosing an option from the ‘Update Rates’ drop-down menu …
The plugin uses jQuery, which is an open-source library of Javascript code that lets web developers add things like animation effects to web applications (e.g. WordPress plugins).
Unless there is a reason to edit the jQuery settings, leave this option alone …
Configure the rest of the plugin settings to suit your own needs and remember to click ‘Save Changes’ when you have finished configuring all the settings on this section …
Once your plugin settings have been configured, you can add currency conversion to any of your WP pages and posts using a shortcode.
Refer to the ‘Additional Plugin Notes’ section below to learn how to use currency codes (e.g. USD, NZD, ZAR, etc …) in the Currencyr plugin.
Plugin Shortcodes
You can insert currency conversion into WP posts, pages and widgets without having to edit your web templates using shortcodes.
Let’s take a look at some examples of currency shortcodes that you can add to WordPress pages and posts:
Let’s say that you are selling a product online for a set amount (e.g. $175) in US Dollars (USD), and you want to display the amount converted into British pounds (GBP) on your page.
All you need to do is add the following shortcode to your page content …
Note: You can also insert prices in dollars and cents (for example, 6.95, 189.00, 295.75, etc …)
The example below shows how your shortcode looks after you have added it to your product page …
After publishing your page, the currency conversion will display like this …
Using this example, let’s now display the same amount into different currencies.
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 looks when inserted into a post …
After publishing the page, 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 with the Currencyr plugin.
Now, suppose you want to specify a different base currency than the one you have 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 non-European visitors (like Australia or Canada), you can change the base currency using the following shortcode …
The screenshot below now shows how the shortcode appears when you add it to your content …
After publishing your information, the converted currency amounts will then display as seen below …
Plugin Widget
You can also add a currency converter to your website’s sidebar menu using the plugin’s widget.
To add the currency converter to your sidebar, select Appearance > Widgets from your WP user admin menu …
In the Widgets > Available Widgets area find the ‘Currencyr’ widget and add it to an ‘Active Widgets’ location …
Configure the widget options as shown in the example below (add any currency codes you want displaying on your widget separated by commas), and click ‘Save’ to update your settings …
Your currency conversion tool will now appear on your website’s 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 allows you to specify a symbol of your choice to display as the currency separator when using multiple currencies.
You can change the symbol in the Multiple Separator settings section.
So, for example, entering the default symbol “/” (forward slash) …
Displays your currency values separated by the forward slash as shown below …
If you choose another symbol and resave your settings …
Your web site visitors will see the new symbol display as the currency separator …
E-Commerce Platform Integration
As described earlier, the Currencyr plugin can be integrated with various WP-compatible e-commerce plugins like WooCommerce, Shopp, and Easy Digital Downloads …
(image source: Currencyr plugin website)
And there you have it! Now you know how to easily add currency conversion to your e-commerce website.
To learn more about WordPress e-commerce plugins, see the tutorial below:
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