Do you plan to sell goods online to an online audience? If so, then here’s a good idea: think about providing users with the convenience of currency conversion on your web site.
Currency converting software tools let your prospects have the price of an international currency transaction translated to their home currency at the point of sale. It also lets visitors view the exact amount their credit card or PayPal account will be charged, displayed in their own home currency.
One great advantage of putting currency conversion is that it allows customers to view and understand pricing in foreign countries in their own local currency, making it it easier for purchasers to calculate their costs and expenses.
If you are a WordPress user, it’s easy to add currency conversion using a plugin to your WordPress site, allowing your prospective customers to easily perform currency conversions to determine the cost of your goods.
Currencyr – Currency Converting Tool For WP Websites
Currencyr is an intuitive, easy-to-use and complete currency converter WP plugin with a unique and attractive converter tooltip. Best of all, it’s free!
Plugin features include:
- In-line converter
- Supports several exchange rates providers, like Yahoo!, Open Exchange Rates and European Central Bank
- Supports Shortcodes
- Widgetized currency table and converter
- Supports integration with a number of e-commerce plugins such as WP-eCommerce & Easy Digital Downloads.
- Automatic local currency determination
- Full support for language translations
Important: This plugin requires PHP 5.3.0 or later. Do not use this plugin if you are running an older version of PHP. Ask your webhosting support team to check and upgrade your PHP.
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You can install the plugin from your WordPress admin area by typing in “currencyr” into the Plugins search field and clicking “Install Now” …
Once the plugin has been installed and activated, you can get to the plugin’s settings section by selecting Currencyr from your WordPress admin area …
This takes you to the plugin settings section …
For example, you can select a base currency from the Base Currency drop-down menu if you want something other than the default option ‘USD’ …
You can also choose any supported data provider from a drop-down menu. The default provider is ‘Yahoo! Finance’, but you can 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 as your provider, you will need an API (Application Programming Interface) ID …
You can select how frequently you would like the exchange rates to be updated by selecting an option from the ‘Update Rates’ dropdown menu …
The Currencyr plugin uses jQuery, which lets web developers add things like animation effects to web applications (such as WordPress plugins).
Unless you have a reason to edit the jQuery settings, leave this option alone …
Edit the remainder of the plugin settings to suit your preferences and remember to click Save Changes when finished …
Once you have configured your settings, you can easily add currency conversion to any WP post or page using shortcodes.
See the ‘Additional Plugin Notes’ section at the end of this tutorial to learn how to use currency codes (e.g. USD, NZD, CAD, etc …) with this plugin.
Currencyr Shortcodes
You can insert currency conversion into pages, posts and widgets with no web coding skills using shortcodes.
Below are some examples of currency shortcodes that you can add to posts and pages:
Let’s say that you are selling a product for a set amount (e.g. $175) in US Dollars (USD), and you would also like to display the price converted into British pounds (GBP) on your product information page.
All you need to do is add the following shortcode into your page content …
Note: You can also add prices in dollars and cents (e.g. 16.95, 79.45, 400.00, etc …)
The example below shows how the shortcode looks when added to your post …
When your information has been published, the currency conversion will appear as you can see below …
Using the same example, let’s also convert the same amount into multiple currency formats.
To do this, use the shortcode shown below (add as many currency symbols as you want by using vertical pipes) …
The example below now shows how the above shortcode looks when you add it to a post …
Once your post or page has been published, your converted currency amounts will then display like this …
See the ‘Additional Plugin Notes’ section below to learn how to change the currency separator symbol with this plugin.
Now, suppose you want to use a different base currency than the one set as the default.
For example, say you have set your default base currency as EUR and you have a section on your website targeted to non-European visitors (like Australia or Canada), you can change the base currency using the following shortcode …
The example below shows how the above shortcode looks when inserted into your content …
Once the post has been published, the converted currency amounts will then appear as you can see in the example below …
Using The Currencyr Widget
You can also insert currency conversion into your website or blog’s sidebar using the plugin’s widget.
To add the currency converter to your sidebar, select Appearance > Widgets in the WordPress admin menu …
In the Widgets > Available Widgets area find the ‘Currencyr’ widget and drag it to an Active Widgets location …
Configure the widget options as shown below (add any currency codes you want displaying on your widget separated by commas), and click ‘Save’ to update your settings …
The currency converter tool will now show on your site’s sidebar with the settings you have selected …
Additional Plugin Notes
This section contains additional information about using the Currencyr 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) …
Separates all your currency values using a forward slash as you can see in the screenshot below …
If you modify this symbol and resave your settings …
Your website visitors will see the new symbol used as the currency separator …
Integration With WP e-Commerce Software
As mentioned earlier, the Currencyr plugin integrates with various WordPress-compatible e-commerce plugins such as WooCommerce, WP-eCommerce, Shopp, and Easy Digital Downloads …
(image source: plugin site)
And there you have it! Now you know how to easily add a currency converter to your e-commerce website.
To learn more about WordPress e-commerce plugins, see the tutorial below:
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