Are you thinking about setting up an e-commerce web site or making goods or services available for sale online? If so, then it’s a good idea to think about providing your prospects with currency conversion.
Currency converting software tools let your visitors translate international currency transactions to their home currency when purchasing products online. It also lets visitors and customers see the exact amount their card or PayPal account will be charged, displayed in their home currency.
One advantage of providing currency conversion is that it lets customers see and understand prices in foreign countries in their own home currency, making it it easier for customers to calculate their costs and expenses.
If you are a WordPress user, it’s easy to add currency conversion using a plugin to your website or blog, allowing your visitors to quickly perform currency conversions to determine the cost of your goods.
Currencyr
Currencyr is an intuitive, easy-to-use and complete currency converter plugin with a beautiful and unique converter tooltip. Best of all, it’s free!
This useful WP plugin includes features such as:
- In-line conversion tool
- Supports a number of exchange rates providers, like Yahoo! & European Central Bank
- WP-Cron task scheduler enabled
- Widgetized currency table and converter
- Can be integrated with various online store plugins like WooCommerce, WP-eCommerce and Easy Digital Downloads.
- Automatically determines local currency
- Full translation support
Important: The Currencyr plugin requires your server to be running 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 update your PHP server installation.
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You can install the currency conversion plugin from your WP admin area by searching for “currencyr” in the Plugins screen and clicking the ”Install Now” button …
After installing and activating the plugin, you can configure the plugin’s settings by choosing Currencyr from your WP admin user navigation menu …
This takes you to the plugin settings screen …
For example, you can choose a base currency from the Base Currency drop-down menu if you prefer something other than the default option ’USD’ …
You can specify 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 also choose another option, such as European Central Bank or Google Finance …
Note: If you select 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 exchange rates by choosing an option from the Update Rates drop-down menu …
The plugin uses jQuery, which lets web developers add things like animation effects to web applications (like WordPress plugins).
Unless there is a reason to modify the jQuery settings, leave them as they are …
Configure the remainder of the settings and click Save Changes when finished …
After you have configured your settings, you can easily start adding currency conversion to any WordPress post using shortcodes and widgets.
See the ‘Additional Plugin Notes’ section further below to learn more about using currency codes (e.g. USD, NZD, JPY, etc …) in this plugin.
Using Plugin Shortcodes
You can easily insert currency conversion into posts, pages and widgets with no web coding skills using shortcodes.
Let’s take a look at some examples of currency shortcodes that you can add to pages and posts:
Let’s say that you retail your products 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 page.
All you need to do is insert the following shortcode to your page content …
Note: You can also insert amounts in dollars and cents (e.g. 89.95, 37.95, 149.00, etc …)
The example below shows how the shortcode looks when added to a page …
After your post has been published, your converted currency amount will then appear like this …
Using the same 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 shortcode looks when you add it to a post …
After publishing the page or post, the currency conversion will then appear like this …
See the ‘Additional Plugin Notes’ section further below to learn more about changing the currency separator symbol in the Currencyr plugin.
Now, suppose you want to select a different base currency than the one selected as the default.
For example, if you have set your default base currency as EUR and you have a section on your site targeted to visitors 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 added to a page …
After publishing the content, your currency conversion will then appear as seen below …
Widget
You can also add currency conversion to your website’s sidebar using a widget.
To add currency conversion to your sidebar, select Appearance > Widgets from the WP admin menu …
In the Widgets > Available Widgets area find the ‘Currencyr’ widget and drag it to an Active Widgets location …
Configure the widget options as shown below (add currency codes separated by commas), and click Save to save your settings …
The currency converter will now show on your 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 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 change this symbol and resave your settings …
Your web visitors will see the new symbol used as the currency separator …
Integration With e-Commerce Software
As stated earlier, the Currencyr plugin integrates with a number of WP-compatible e-commerce plugins like WooCommerce and Shopp …
(image source: plugin site)
And there you have it! Now you know how to easily add currency conversion to your e-commerce web site.
To learn more about WordPress e-commerce plugins, see the tutorial below:
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