Are you planning to sell goods online globally? If so, then you should think about providing users with the convenience of currency conversion on your e-commerce website.
Currency conversion software tools let your site visitors have the price of a foreign currency amount converted into their home currency when purchasing products on e-commerce sites. It also lets visitors view the exact amount their credit card or PayPal account will be charged, expressed in their home currency.
The obvious benefit of adding currency conversion to your website is that it allows your customers to view and understand pricing in foreign countries in their own home currency, and makes it easier for customers to calculate their costs and expenses.
If your site is powered by WordPress, it’s easy and simple to add currency conversion using a plugin to your WP website or blog, allowing your visitors to quickly and easily calculate the cost of your goods.
Currencyr
Currencyr is a simple, easy-to-use and complete currency converter plugin with a unique and attractive converter tooltip. Best of all, it’s free to install and use on your site.
This plugin features:
- In-line conversion tool
- Supports several exchange rates providers, like Google and European Central Bank
- WP-Cron task scheduler enabled
- Widgetized currency table and converter
- Supports integration with a number of e-store plugins like WP-eCommerce and Easy Digital Downloads.
- Automatic local currency detection
- Support for language translations
Important: The Currencyr plugin needs PHP 5.3.0 or later. Do not use this plugin if you currently have an older version of PHP installed on your server. Ask your web host to upgrade your PHP server installation if required.
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You can install the currency conversion plugin from your WordPress dashboard by searching for “currencyr” in the Plugins screen and clicking “Install Now” …
After installing and activating the plugin, you can configure the plugin’s settings by selecting Currencyr from your WordPress admin user navigation menu …
The plugin settings page offers you a number of configuration settings …
For example, you can select your base currency from the Base Currency drop-down menu. The default option is ‘USD’ …
You can select which data provider you want to use from a drop-down menu. The default option is ‘Yahoo! Finance’, but you can also choose another provider, such as European Central Bank or Google Finance …
Note: If you select ‘Open Exchange Rates’ as your provider, an API (Application Programming Interface) will be required …
You can specify how often you would like to update the exchange rates by specifying 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).
Unless you have a reason to edit the jQuery settings, leave these as they are …
Edit the rest of the settings to suit your own preferences and click the ‘Save Changes’ button when finished …
After your plugin settings have been configured, you can start adding currency conversion to any WordPress 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, AUD, JPY, etc …) in the Currencyr plugin.
Plugin Shortcodes
You can easily insert currency conversion into posts, pages and widgets without editing code using shortcodes.
Below are some examples of currency shortcodes that you can add to your WordPress posts and pages:
Let’s say that you sell an item online for a set amount (e.g. $175) in US Dollars (USD), and you would like to show your 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 insert amounts in dollars and cents (for example, 188.35, 197.00, 129.10, etc …)
The example below shows how your shortcode looks when added to a post or page …
After publishing the post, your converted currency amount will then appear like this …
Using this example, let’s now translate the same amount into different currency formats.
To do this, use the shortcode below (add as many currency symbols as you like by using vertical pipes) …
You can see how the above shortcode looks when inserted into your content …
Once the page or post has been published, the converted currency will then display as seen in the screenshot below …
refer to the ‘Additional Plugin Notes’ section below to learn more about changing the currency separator symbol in this plugin.
Now, let’s say that you would like to select a different base currency than the one you have set as the default.
For example, say you have set your default base currency as EUR and you have a section on your site targeted to non-European customers (for example, Australia or Canada), you can change the base currency using the following shortcode …
Here’s how the shortcode looks when inserted into a post …
After publishing the page, the currency conversion will then display as shown below …
Using The Currencyr Widget
You can also insert a currency converter into your website or blog’s sidebar menu using a widget.
To add currency conversion to your sidebar area, choose Appearance > Widgets in the WP dashboard menu …
In the Widgets > Available Widgets area find the ‘Currencyr’ widget and drag it to the Active Widgets location …
Configure the widget options as shown in the example below (add the currency codes you would like displaying on your widget separated by a comma), and click ‘Save’ to update your settings …
Your currency converter will now appear on your website’s sidebar with the options you have selected …
Additional Plugin Notes
This section contains additional information about using the plugin.
Currency Separator
The Currencyr plugin lets you specify the symbol 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) …
Displays your currency values separated by the forward slash as shown below …
If you select another symbol and update your settings …
Your web visitors will see the new symbol used as the currency separator …
Integration With e-Commerce Software
As stated earlier, the Currencyr plugin integrates with various WP-compatible e-commerce plugins such as WooCommerce, Shopp and Easy Digital Downloads …
(image source: Currencyr plugin site)
And there you have it! Now you can go and easily add a currency converter to your WordPress website.
To learn more about WordPress e-commerce plugins, see the tutorial below:
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"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)