Are you planning to set up a WordPress-based e-commerce site, or sell goods online? If so, you may want to consider providing your potential customers with a currency conversion tool.
Currency conversion software tools let your visitors have the cost of a foreign currency amount converted into their home currency at the buying or checkout phase. It also lets your customers view the exact amount their credit card or PayPal account will be charged, expressed in their own home currency.
One benefit of showing currency conversion is that it allows customers to see and understand prices in foreign countries in their own home currency, making it it easier for visitors to work out their costs and expenses.
If you are a WordPress user, you can add a currency conversion plugin to WordPress, allowing your customers to quickly and easily calculate the cost of your products.
Currencyr – WP Currency Converting Plugin
Currencyr is a simple, easy-to-use and complete currency converter plugin with a unique converter tooltip. Best of all, it’s free!
Some of the features of this plugin include:
- Inline conversion tool
- Supports various exchange rates providers, such as Yahoo! & FoxRates
- Supports Shortcodes
- Widgetized currency table and converter
- Can be integrated with a number of e-store plugins like WooCommerce, WP-eCommerce, Shopp, and Easy Digital Downloads.
- Automatically detects local currency
- Full support for language translations
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. 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 the “Install” button …
After installing and activating the plugin, you can get to the plugin’s settings screen by selecting Currencyr from your WP dashboard menu …
This takes you to the plugin settings section …
For example, you can select your base currency from the ‘Base Currency’ drop-down menu if you want a different currency than the default option (USD) …
You can also select a data provider from a drop-down menu. The default option is Yahoo Finance, but you can also select one of the other options, such as European Central Bank or Open Exchange Rates …
Note: If you select ‘Open Exchange Rates’, you will need to obtain an API (Application Programming Interface) ID …
You can select how frequently you would like to update the exchange rates by specifying an option from the Update Rates drop-down menu …
The Currencyr plugin uses jQuery, which allows web developers to add things like animation effects to web applications (such as WP plugins).
If you have no reason to edit the jQuery settings, leave this option alone …
Configure the rest of the plugin settings according to your needs and remember to click the ‘Save Changes’ button when finished …
When you have configured your settings, you can add currency conversion to all of your WP posts using a shortcode.
Refer to the ‘Additional Plugin Notes’ section at the bottom of this tutorial to learn how to use currency codes (e.g. USD, NZD, JPY, etc …) in the Currencyr plugin.
Currencyr Shortcodes
You can easily add currency conversion to WP pages, posts and widgets with no programming skills or knowledge using shortcodes.
Here are some examples of currency shortcodes that you can add to pages and posts:
Let’s say that you are selling an item on your website for a fixed price (e.g. $175) in US Dollars (USD), and you want to display the conversion amount in British pounds (GBP) on your page.
All you need to do is add the shortcode below into your post or page …
Note: You can also display amounts in dollars and cents (e.g. 188.35, 37.95, 544.97, etc …)
The example below shows how your shortcode will look after being added to your post or page …
After the page or post has been published, your currency conversion will then display as shown in the screenshot below …
Using the above example, let’s also display the same amount into different 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 now shows how the above shortcode looks when added to your content …
After publishing the page or post, the converted currency amounts will then display like this …
refer to the ‘Additional Plugin Notes’ section further below to learn how to change the currency separator symbol within the Currencyr plugin.
Now, let’s say that you want to specify a different base currency than the one selected as the default.
For example, if you have set 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 above shortcode looks when inserted into a page …
After publishing your post, your converted currency amounts will then display like this …
How To Use The Plugin Widget
You can also insert a currency converter into your site’s sidebar menu using the Currencyr widget.
To add currency conversion to your sidebar, choose Appearance > Widgets in the WordPress admin menu …
In the Widgets > Available Widgets area find the ‘Currencyr’ widget and drag it to an ‘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 conversion tool will now show on your website’s sidebar menu with the options you have specified when configuring the widget …
Additional Plugin Notes
This section contains additional information about using the plugin.
Currency Separator
The Currencyr plugin lets you specify a symbol of your choice to display as the currency separator when using multiple currencies.
You can select a different symbol in the Multiple Separator settings field.
So, for example, entering the default symbol “/” (forward slash) …
Separates all your currency amounts using a forward slash as you can see in the screenshot below …
If you choose another symbol and resave your plugin settings …
Your website visitors will see the new symbol used as the currency separator …
E-Commerce Integration
As stated earlier, the plugin can be integrated with various WordPress-compatible e-commerce plugins like WooCommerce, WP-eCommerce and Shopp …
(above image sourced from plugin site)
Congratulations! Now you can go and easily add a currency converter to your WordPress site.
To learn more about WordPress e-commerce plugins, see the tutorial below:
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