Are you thinking about setting up an e-commerce web site or selling goods globally? If so, then you should think about providing users with the convenience of currency conversion on your e-commerce site.
Currency conversion software tools let your customers have the price of a foreign currency amount converted into their home currency at the purchase or checkout phase. It also allows visitors and customers to see the exact amount their card or PayPal account will be charged, expressed in their home currency.
One great advantage of putting currency conversion is that it lets customers see and understand prices in foreign countries in their own local currency, making it it easier for visitors to calculate their costs and expenses.
If your site is powered by WordPress, you can add currency conversion via a plugin to WordPress, allowing your site visitors to quickly calculate the cost of your goods.
Currencyr
Currencyr is a simple, easy-to-use and complete currency converter WP plugin with a unique and attractive converter tooltip. It’s also free to install and use on your web site.
The Currencyr plugin features:
- In-line converter
- Supports various exchange rates providers, such as Yahoo!, Open Exchange Rates and FoxRates
- Supports Shortcodes
- Currency table and converter widget
- Supports integration with a number of e-commerce plugins like WooCommerce, Shop & Easy Digital Downloads.
- Automatic local currency detection
- Support for language translations
Important: This plugin needs your server to be running PHP 5.3.0 or later. Do not install this plugin if you are running an older version of PHP. Ask your web host to check and upgrade your PHP.
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You can install the plugin from your WP admin area by typing in “currencyr” into the Plugins search field and clicking “Install Now” …
After installing and activating the plugin, you can visit the plugin’s settings area by choosing Currencyr from your WP dashboard navigation menu …
This takes you to the plugin settings section …
For example, you can choose your base currency from a dropdown menu if you prefer to use something other than the default option ’United States Dollar’ …
Similarly, you can specify any supported data provider from the drop-down menu in the ‘Provider’ section. The default selection is Yahoo Finance, but you can also choose one of the other options, like FoxRate or Open Exchange Rates …
Note: If you select Open Exchange Rates, you will need to obtain an API (Application Programming Interface) ID …
You can select how often you would like the exchange rates to be updated by selecting an option from the ‘Update Rates’ dropdown menu …
The Currencyr 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. WP plugins).
Unless you have a reason to edit the jQuery settings, leave them as they are …
Configure the rest of the plugin settings to suit your preferences and click Save Changes when done …
Once your plugin settings have been configured, you can add currency conversion to all of your WP pages and posts using shortcodes and widgets.
Refer to the ‘Additional Plugin Notes’ section below to learn more about using currency codes (e.g. USD, GBP, JPY, etc …) with this plugin.
Currencyr Shortcodes
You can easily insert currency conversion into WP pages, posts and widgets with no technical skills or knowledge using shortcodes.
Let’s take a look at some examples of currency shortcodes that you can add to your WP posts and pages:
Let’s say that you are selling goods online for a fixed amount (e.g. $175) in US Dollars (USD), and you want to display the price converted into British pounds (GBP) on your sales page.
All you need to do is insert the shortcode below to your post or page …
Note: You can also add pricing in dollars and cents (for example, 165.49, 79.45, 1356.87, etc …)
The example below shows how the shortcode looks when inserting it into the product page …
When the page has been published, the currency conversion will then display as shown in the screenshot below …
Using this example, let’s now translate the same amount into multiple currency formats.
To do this, use following shortcode (you can add as many currency symbols as you like separated by vertical pipes) …
You can see how the above shortcode appears when added to a post …
Once your information has been published, the currency conversion will then appear as shown below …
See the ‘Additional Plugin Notes’ section below to learn more about changing the currency separator symbol with this plugin.
Now, suppose you would like to use a different base currency than the one selected as your default.
For example, if you have set your default base currency as EUR and you have a section on your e-commerce pages targeted to visitors in countries like Australia or Canada, you can change the base currency using the following shortcode …
Here’s how the above shortcode appears when added to your content …
After publishing the information, your currency conversion will then display like this …
Widget
You can also add currency conversion to your site’s sidebar using the Currencyr widget.
To add the currency converter to your sidebar, choose Appearance > Widgets in the WordPress dashboard menu …
In the Widgets > Available Widgets section find the ‘Currencyr’ widget and add it to the Active Widgets area …
Configure the widget settings as shown in the screenshot below (add currency codes separated by commas), and click ‘Save’ to update your settings …
The currency conversion tool will now appear on your website’s sidebar menu with the settings you have specified …
Additional Plugin Notes
Here are some additional notes and useful information about using the Currencyr 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 change the symbol in the ‘Multiple Separator’ settings section.
So, for example, using the default symbol “/” (forward slash) …
Separates all your prices using a forward slash as you can see in the example below …
If you specify another symbol and update your plugin settings …
Your site visitors will see the new symbol being used as the currency separator …
E-Commerce Platform Integration
As stated earlier, the Currencyr plugin integrates with a number of WP-compatible e-commerce plugins like WooCommerce and Easy Digital Downloads …
(image source: Currencyr plugin site)
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:
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