Are you planning to sell any products online globally? If so, then it’s a good idea to think about providing your potential customers with currency conversion.
Currency conversion tools allow your visitors to have the cost of a foreign currency transaction converted into their local currency at the point of sale. It also allows visitors and customers to view the exact amount their card or PayPal account will be charged, displayed in their home currency.
One benefit of adding currency conversion is that it allows customers to view and understand prices in foreign countries in their own local currency, and makes it easier for customers to calculate their costs and expenses.
If you are a WordPress user, you can add currency conversion via a plugin to your web site, allowing your visitors to easily perform currency conversions to determine the cost of your goods.
WordPress Currency Conversion Plugin – Currencyr
Currencyr is an intuitive, easy-to-use and complete currency converter WordPress plugin with a visually attractive converter tooltip. And, it’s free to install and use on your web site.
Useful plugin features include the following:
- In-line converter
- Supports several exchange rates providers, like Yahoo! and Open Exchange Rates
- WP-Cron task scheduler enabled
- Widgetized currency table and converter
- Can be integrated with various e-commerce plugins such as WooCommerce & Easy Digital Downloads.
- Automatic local currency determination
- Translation support
Note: This plugin requires PHP 5.3.0 or later. Do not use this plugin if you currently have an older version of PHP installed. Ask your web hosting provider to update your PHP.
***
You can install the currency conversion plugin from your WordPress dashboard by searching for “currencyr” in the Plugins section and clicking the “Install Now” button …
After installing and activating the plugin, you can configure the plugin’s settings by selecting Currencyr from your admin navigation menu …
This takes you to the plugin settings section …
For example, you can select a base currency from a dropdown menu. The default currency is ‘United States Dollar – (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 select another provider, like European Central Bank, FoxRate, Google Finance or Open Exchange Rates …
Note: If you choose ‘Open Exchange Rates’, an API (Application Programming Interface) is required …
You can specify how often you would like the currency exchange rates to be updated by specifying an option from the ‘Update Rates’ dropdown 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 (such as WordPress plugins).
Unless there is a reason to edit the jQuery settings, simply ignore this setting …
Edit the rest of the plugin settings and remember to click ‘Save Changes’ when you have finished configuring this screen …
Once your plugin settings have been configured, you can easily add currency conversion to any WP page using shortcodes and widgets.
See the ‘Additional Plugin Notes’ section at the end of this tutorial to learn how to use currency codes (e.g. USD, GBP, JPY, etc …) in this plugin.
Shortcodes
You can add currency conversion to WP pages, posts and widgets without touching your web templates using shortcodes.
Here are some examples of currency shortcodes that you can add to WP posts and pages:
Let’s say that you sell an item online for a fixed amount (e.g. $175) in US Dollars (USD), and you would also like to display your conversion amount in British pounds (GBP) on your sales page.
All you need to do is add the shortcode below into your post or page …
Note: You can also add pricing in dollars and cents (e.g. 16.95, 189.00, 399.99, etc …)
The screenshot below shows how your shortcode should look when inserting it into your post or page …
Once the information has been published, your currency conversion will appear as seen in the example below …
Using this example, let’s also convert the same price into multiple currencies.
To do this, use following shortcode (you can add as many currency symbols as you like by using vertical pipes) …
The screenshot below now shows how the above shortcode looks when you add it to a post …
After publishing the page or post, your currency conversion will then appear as seen in the screenshot below …
See the ‘Additional Plugin Notes’ section further 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 you have selected as your default.
For example, say you have set your default base currency as EUR and you have a section on your e-commerce pages targeted to customers from countries like Australia or Canada, you can change the base currency using the following shortcode …
You can see how the shortcode appears when inserted into your content …
After publishing your page, your currency conversion will then appear as seen below …
Currencyr Widget
You can also insert currency conversion into your website’s sidebar using the Currencyr widget.
To add the currency converter to your sidebar menu, choose Appearance > Widgets in your WordPress admin menu …
In the Widgets > Available Widgets section find the ‘Currencyr’ widget and add it to an ‘Active Widgets’ location …
Configure the widget options as shown below (add the currency codes you want displaying on your widget separated by a comma), and click Save to update your settings …
The currency converter will now appear on your sidebar menu 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 lets you specify the symbol 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) …
Displays your currency values separated by a forward slash as shown below …
If you enter another symbol and update your plugin settings …
Your web site visitors will see the new symbol used as the currency separator …
Integration With e-Commerce Software
As stated earlier, the plugin integrates with various WP-compatible e-commerce plugins like WP-eCommerce, Shopp, and Easy Digital Downloads …
(image source: plugin site)
Congratulations! Now you can go and easily add currency conversion to your e-commerce website.
To learn more about WordPress e-commerce plugins, see the tutorial below:
***
"If you're new to WordPress, this can stand on its own as a training course and will stay with you as you progress from beginner to advanced and even guru status." - Bruce (Columbus, Ohio)