Are you planning to set up an e-commerce site using WordPress, or sell goods online? If so, then here’s a great idea: think about providing users with currency conversion.
Currency converting software tools allow your visitors to translate foreign currency pricing into their home currency when purchasing or checking out products on e-commerce sites. It also lets visitors and customers see the exact amount their credit card or PayPal account will be charged, displayed in their own home currency.
One great advantage of putting currency conversion on your site is that it allows visitors to see and understand prices in foreign countries in their own home currency, making it it easier for purchasers to calculate their costs and expenses.
If your site is built with WordPress, you can add currency conversion via a plugin to your website, allowing your site visitors to quickly calculate the cost of your goods.
Currencyr
Currencyr is an intuitive, easy-to-use and complete currency converter WP plugin with a unique converter tooltip. It’s also free to install and use on your WordPress site.
The Currencyr currency conversion plugin includes features like the following:
- In-line converter
- Supports various exchange rates providers, such as Yahoo!, Open Exchange Rates & FoxRates
- Supports Shortcodes
- Currency table and converter widget
- Supports integration with a number of e-store plugins like WP-eCommerce & Easy Digital Downloads.
- Automatically detects local currency
- Support for language translations
Important: This plugin requires 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 hosting provider to check and upgrade your PHP.
***
You can install the currency conversion plugin from your WP admin area by searching for “currencyr” in the Plugins area and clicking “Install Now” …
After installing and activating the plugin, you can configure the plugin’s settings by choosing Currencyr from your administration menu …
The plugin settings page provides many configuration options …
For example, you can select your base currency from the ‘Base Currency’ dropdown menu. The default currency is ’USD’ …
You can specify a data provider from the drop-down menu in the Provider section. The default selection is ‘Yahoo! Finance’, but you can choose another option, such as European Central Bank, FoxRate, Google Finance or Open Exchange Rates …
Note: If you choose Open Exchange Rates as your provider, an API (Application Programming Interface) is required …
You can select how frequently you want to update the currency exchange rates by specifying 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 (such as WordPress plugins).
If you have no reason to change the jQuery settings, leave this option alone …
Configure the remainder of the settings according to your own preferences and don’t forget to click Save Changes when you have configured this screen …
After your plugin settings have been configured, you can add currency conversion to WordPress pages or posts using a shortcode.
See the ‘Additional Plugin Notes’ section further below to learn how to use currency codes (e.g. USD, NZD, CAD, etc …) in this plugin.
How To Use Shortcodes
You can easily insert currency conversion into WordPress posts, pages and widgets without having to mess with code using shortcodes.
Here are some examples of currency shortcodes that you can add to your WordPress posts and pages:
Let’s say that you retail an item on your site for a fixed amount (e.g. $175) in US Dollars (USD), and you would also like to show your amount converted into British pounds (GBP) on your page.
To do this, just add the shortcode below into your page content …
Note: You can also add amounts in dollars and cents (e.g. 165.49, 197.00, 149.00, etc …)
The screenshot below shows how your shortcode looks when added to a page …
When the content has been published, the converted currency amount will display like this …
Using the same example, let’s also translate the same amount into multiple currencies.
To do this, use following shortcode (add as many currency symbols as you like separated by vertical pipes) …
The screenshot below now shows how the above shortcode appears when inserted into your content …
Once your post or page has been published, the converted currency amounts will then appear like this …
See the ‘Additional Plugin Notes’ section below to learn more about changing the currency separator symbol with the Currencyr plugin.
Now, suppose you want to use 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 website targeted to customers from countries like Australia or Canada, you can change the base currency using the following shortcode …
The screenshot below now shows how the shortcode appears when inserted into a post …
Once the content has been published, your converted currency amounts will then display like this …
Using The Plugin Widget
You can also add a currency converter to your website’s sidebar using the plugin’s widget.
To add currency conversion to your sidebar, select Appearance > Widgets in your WP admin menu …
In the Widgets > Available Widgets area find the ‘Currencyr’ widget and add it to an ‘Active Widgets’ area …
Configure the widget settings as shown in the example below (add the currency codes you would like displaying on your widget separated by a comma), and click Save to update your settings …
Your currency converter tool will now display on your website’s sidebar with the options you have specified …
Additional Plugin Notes
This section contains additional information about using the Currencyr plugin.
Currency Separator
The Currencyr plugin allows you to specify the symbol to display as the currency separator when using several currencies.
You can change the symbol in the Multiple Separator settings field.
So, for example, using the default symbol “/” (forward slash) …
Displays your currency values separated by a forward slash as shown below …
If you modify this symbol and resave your settings …
Your web site 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 various WordPress-compatible e-commerce plugins like WooCommerce, Shopp and Easy Digital Downloads …
(above image sourced from Currencyr plugin website)
Congratulations! Now you can go and easily add a currency converter to your e-commerce web site.
To learn more about WordPress e-commerce plugins, see the tutorial below:
***
"This is AMAZING! I had learnt about how to use WordPress previously, but this covers absolutely everything and more!! Incredible value! Thank you!" - Monique, Warrior Forum