Do you plan to set up a WordPress-based e-commerce site, or sell goods to a global market? If so, you should think about providing your prospects with a currency conversion tool.
Currency conversion software lets your customers convert foreign currency prices into their home currency when purchasing products on e-commerce sites. It also allows your visitors and customers to see the exact amount their credit card or PayPal account will be charged, expressed in their own home currency.
One great advantage of showing currency conversion on your website is that it allows customers to see and understand pricing 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, you can add currency conversion using a plugin to currency conversion to WordPress using a plugin, allowing your prospective customers to quickly and easily understand the cost of your goods.
Currencyr
Currencyr is a simple, easy-to-use and complete currency converter WP plugin with a visually attractive converter tooltip. And, it’s also free to install and use on your web site.
This useful plugin features:
- Inline converter
- Supports a number of exchange rates providers, such as Yahoo!, Google, Open Exchange Rates, European Central Bank and FoxRates
- Support database cache driven for fast response
- Widgetized currency table and converter
- Supports integration with various e-commerce plugins such as WooCommerce, WP-eCommerce, Shopp, and Easy Digital Downloads.
- Automatically determines local currency
- Full translation support
Note: This plugin needs your server to be running PHP 5.3.0 or later. Do not use this plugin if you are running an older version of PHP on your server. Alternatively, ask your web host to check and upgrade your PHP.
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You can install the Currencyr plugin from your WP admin area by typing in “currencyr” into the Plugins search field and clicking “Install Now” …
When you have installed and activated the plugin, you can configure the plugin’s settings by selecting Currencyr from your administration menu …
The plugin settings screen provides a number of configuration settings …
For example, you can choose your base currency from the Base Currency dropdown menu if you prefer something other than the default option ’US Dollar’ …
You can choose which data provider you want to use from the dropdown menu in the ‘Provider’ section. The default provider is ‘Yahoo! Finance’, but you can also select one of the other options, such as European Central Bank, FoxRate, Google Finance or Open Exchange Rates …
Note: If you select ‘Open Exchange Rates’, you will need an API (Application Programming Interface) ID …
You can specify how frequently you would like the currency exchange rates to update by choosing an option from the Update Rates dropdown menu …
The Currencyr plugin uses jQuery, which allows web developers to add things like animation effects to web applications (e.g. WP plugins).
If you have no reason to change the jQuery settings, leave them as they are …
Configure the remainder of the plugin settings and remember to click Save Changes when finished …
When you have finished configuring your settings, you can add currency conversion to any WP page or post using shortcodes.
Refer to the ‘Additional Plugin Notes’ section at the end of this tutorial to learn how to use currency codes (e.g. USD, NZD, CAD, etc …) in the Currencyr plugin.
Using Plugin Shortcodes
You can add currency conversion to pages, posts and widgets without having to edit your web templates 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 are selling a product on your website for a fixed amount (e.g. $175) in US Dollars (USD), and you want to show your price converted into British pounds (GBP) on your page.
All you need to do is add the shortcode below to your post or page …
Note: You can also display prices in dollars and cents (for example, 165.49, 79.45, 295.75, etc …)
The example below shows how the shortcode looks after being added to your post …
When the post has been published, your converted currency will display as seen below …
Using the same example, let’s also translate the same amount into multiple currency formats.
To do this, use the shortcode below (add as many currency symbols as you want by using vertical pipes) …
The example below now shows how the shortcode appears when you add it to a post …
After publishing your post or page, the converted currency amounts will then appear as shown in the example below …
refer to the ‘Additional Plugin Notes’ section below to learn how to change the currency separator symbol in the Currencyr plugin.
Now, suppose you want to specify a different base currency than the one selected as your default.
For example, if you have specified your default base currency as EUR and you have a section on your website targeted to customers from countries like Australia or Canada, you can change the base currency using the following shortcode …
The screenshot below now shows how the shortcode looks when you add it to your content …
After publishing the post, the currency conversion will then display like this …
Plugin Widget
You can also insert a currency converter into your website or blog’s sidebar using a widget.
To add the currency converter to your sidebar menu, select Appearance > Widgets in the WP dashboard menu …
In the Widgets > Available Widgets section find the ‘Currencyr’ widget and drag it to the Active Widgets area …
Configure the widget settings as shown below (add currency codes separated by a comma), and click Save to update your settings …
Your currency converter will now show on your site’s sidebar menu with the options you have specified …
Additional Plugin Notes
This section contains additional information about using the Currencyr plugin.
Currency Separator
The Currencyr plugin lets you 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) …
Separates all your currency values using a forward slash as shown below …
If you change this symbol and resave your plugin settings …
Your website visitors will see the new symbol display as the currency separator …
e-Commerce Software Integration
As described earlier, the plugin can be integrated with a number of WordPress-compatible e-commerce plugins such as WooCommerce, WP-eCommerce and Shopp …
(image source: plugin site)
Congratulations! Now you know how to 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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