Do you plan to set up an e-commerce web site with WordPress, or sell goods globally? If so, you may want to think about providing users with a currency conversion service.
Currency conversion software tools let your prospects convert international currency transactions to their local currency at the purchase or checkout phase. It also lets customers see the exact amount their card or PayPal account will be charged, displayed in their own home currency.
One advantage of showing currency conversion on your site is that it lets your customers see and understand prices in foreign countries in their own home currency, and makes it easier for visitors to calculate their costs and expenses.
Fortunately, if you are a WordPress user, it’s easy and simple to add currency conversion using a plugin to currency conversion to your web site via a plugin, allowing your site visitors to easily work out the cost of your products.
WordPress Free Currency Converter – Currencyr
Currencyr is a simple yet advanced, intuitive, easy-to-use and complete currency converter plugin with a unique and attractive converter tooltip. It’s also free to install and use on your website.
This plugin features:
- In-line converter
- Supports a number of exchange rates providers, like Yahoo!, Google, Open Exchange Rates, European Central Bank and FoxRates
- Supports Shortcodes
- 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
- Supports full language translations
Note: This plugin requires PHP 5.3.0 or later. Do not install this plugin if you are running an older version of PHP on your server. Alternatively, ask your web host to upgrade your PHP.
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You can install the Currencyr plugin from your WordPress admin area 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 selecting Currencyr from your dashboard menu …
This takes you to the plugin settings screen …
For example, you can choose your base currency from a drop-down menu. The default base currency is ‘USD’ …
Similarly, you can choose which data provider you want to use from the dropdown menu in the Provider section. The default selection is Yahoo Finance, but you can also select another provider, such as European Central Bank or Google Finance …
Note: If you select Open Exchange Rates, you will need an API (Application Programming Interface) ID …
You can choose how frequently you want the exchange rates to be updated 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 WP plugins).
If you have no reason to edit the jQuery settings, simply ignore this option …
Edit the rest of the plugin settings to suit your own needs and don’t forget to click ‘Save Changes’ when you have configured this section …
When your plugin settings have been configured, you can easily add currency conversion to WordPress pages and posts using widgets.
Refer to the ‘Additional Plugin Notes’ section below to learn how to use currency codes (e.g. USD, GBP, ZAR, etc …) with this plugin.
Currencyr Shortcodes
You can insert currency conversion into pages, posts and widgets with no coding knowledge using shortcodes.
Here are some examples of currency shortcodes that you can add to posts and pages:
Let’s say that you are selling an item 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 post or page …
Note: You can also insert prices in dollars and cents (for example, 165.49, 97.00, 295.75, etc …)
The example below shows how the above shortcode should look once you have inserted it into your product page …
After your page or post has been published, your converted currency will appear as seen below …
Using the same example, let’s also display the same price into different currencies.
To do this, use following shortcode (add as many currency symbols as you like separated by vertical pipes) …
The screenshot below shows how the above shortcode appears when added to a page …
After publishing the information, the converted currency will then appear like this …
See the ‘Additional Plugin Notes’ section further 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 you have selected as the default.
For example, if you have specified your default base currency as EUR and you have a section on your site targeted to non-European visitors (for example, Australia or Canada), you can change the base currency using the following shortcode …
You can see how the shortcode looks when added to a page …
After publishing the page, your converted currency will then display like this …
Widget
You can also insert currency conversion into your website or blog’s sidebar using the plugin’s widget.
To add the currency converter to your sidebar, select Appearance > Widgets in the WP admin menu …
In the Widgets > Available Widgets section find the ‘Currencyr’ widget and add it to an ‘Active Widgets’ location …
Configure the widget settings as shown below (add the currency codes you would like to display on your widget separated by commas), and click Save to save your settings …
The currency conversion tool will now display on your 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 Currencyr plugin.
Currency Separator
The Currencyr plugin lets you specify a symbol of your choice to display as the currency separator when using several currencies.
You can select a different symbol in the ‘Multiple Separator’ settings section.
So, for example, entering the default symbol “/” (forward slash) …
Separates all your prices with the forward slash as shown below …
If you modify the symbol and resave your settings …
Your web visitors will see the new symbol being used as the currency separator …
Using The Currencyr Plugin With WP-Compatible e-Commerce Platforms
As described earlier, the plugin integrates with a number of WordPress-compatible e-commerce plugins like WooCommerce, WP-eCommerce, Shopp, and Easy Digital Downloads …
(image source: plugin site)
And there you have it! Now you know how to easily add a currency converter to your e-commerce site.
To learn more about WordPress e-commerce plugins, see the tutorial below:
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