Do you plan to set up a WordPress-based e-commerce site, or sell goods or services worldwide? If so, then here’s a great idea: think about providing your prospects with the convenience of currency conversion on your e-commerce site.
Currency conversion software tools allow your prospects to have the price of an international currency transaction converted to their local currency at the point of sale. It also allows your customers to see the exact amount their credit card or PayPal account will be charged, expressed in their own local currency.
One advantage of adding currency conversion is that it allows visitors to see and understand prices in foreign countries in their own local currency, making it it easier for customers to work out their costs and expenses.
If you are a WordPress user, it’s easy to add currency conversion using a plugin to WordPress, allowing your customers to quickly determine the cost of your goods.
Currencyr – WordPress Free Currency Converting Plugin
Currencyr is a simple yet advanced, intuitive, easy-to-use and complete currency converter plugin with a unique and attractive converter tooltip. And, it’s 100% free to install and use on your WP site.
Some of the useful features of this great plugin include:
- In-line conversion tool
- 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
- Supports integration with various e-commerce plugins such as WooCommerce, WP-eCommerce & Easy Digital Downloads.
- Automatic local currency detection
- Full language translation support
Note: This plugin needs 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 upgrade your PHP.
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You can install the currency conversion plugin from your WP admin area by searching for “currencyr” in the Plugins section and clicking “Install Now” …
After installing and activating the plugin, you can get to the plugin’s settings section by choosing Currencyr from your admin area …
This takes you to the plugin settings screen …
For example, you can choose a base currency from the ‘Base Currency’ dropdown menu. The default currency is ‘United States Dollar – (USD)’ …
Similarly, you can choose any supported data provider from the drop-down menu in the ‘Provider’ section. The default option is ‘Yahoo! Finance’, but you can choose another option, such as European Central Bank, FoxRate, Google Finance or Open Exchange Rates …
Note: If you select ‘Open Exchange Rates’, you will need to obtain an API (Application Programming Interface) ID …
You can choose how frequently you would like to update the currency exchange rates by specifying an option from the Update Rates dropdown menu …
The 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 edit the jQuery settings, you can simply ignore this option …
Configure the rest of the plugin settings according to your own preferences and click Save Changes when finished …
After your plugin settings have been configured, you can add currency conversion to any WordPress post or page using shortcodes and widgets.
Refer to the ‘Additional Plugin Notes’ section at the end of this tutorial to learn how to use currency codes (e.g. USD, AUD, ZAR, etc …) in this plugin.
Using Currencyr Shortcodes
You can insert currency conversion into WordPress pages, posts and widgets without touching your web templates using shortcodes.
Here are some examples of currency shortcodes that you can add to WordPress pages and posts:
Let’s say that you sell your products on your website for a set amount (e.g. $175) in US Dollars (USD), and you would also like to show the amount converted into British pounds (GBP) on your page.
All you need to do is add the following shortcode to your page content …
Note: You can also add pricing in dollars and cents (for example, 165.49, 79.45, 1356.87, etc …)
The screenshot below shows how the shortcode should look once you have added it to a post or page …
When the page has been published, the currency conversion will then display as you can see below …
Using the above example, let’s also display the same price into multiple currency formats.
To do this, use following shortcode (you can add as many currency symbols as you want by using vertical pipes) …
The example below shows how the shortcode looks when you add it to your content …
After publishing your content, your currency conversion will then display like this …
See the ‘Additional Plugin Notes’ section further below to learn more about changing the currency separator symbol in this plugin.
Now, suppose you would like to specify a different base currency than the one set as the default.
For example, if you have specified your default base currency as EUR and you have a section on your website targeted to non-European customers (for example, Australia or Canada), you can change the base currency using the following shortcode …
You can see how the above shortcode appears when you add it to a post …
After publishing your page, the converted currency will then appear as you can see in the screenshot below …
How To Use The Widget
You can also add a currency converter to your site’s sidebar area using the plugin’s widget.
To add the currency converter to your sidebar menu, choose Appearance > Widgets from your WP user admin menu …
In the Widgets > Available Widgets section find the ‘Currencyr’ widget and drag it to the ‘Active Widgets’ area …
Configure the widget options as shown in the screenshot below (add currency codes separated by a comma), and click ‘Save’ to save your settings …
Your currency conversion tool will now display on your site’s sidebar menu with the settings you have specified …
Additional Plugin Notes
This section contains additional information about using the 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 you can see in the example below …
If you change the symbol and resave your plugin settings …
Your site visitors will see the new symbol being used as the currency separator …
Integration With e-Commerce Platforms
As mentioned earlier, the plugin integrates with various WordPress-compatible e-commerce plugins like WooCommerce, Shopp and Easy Digital Downloads …
(image sourced from plugin site)
Congratulations! Now you know how to easily add currency conversion to your WordPress site.
To learn more about WordPress e-commerce plugins, see the tutorial below:
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