Are you planning to set up a WordPress-based e-commerce site, or sell goods globally? If so, you should probably consider providing your prospects with the convenience of currency conversion on your e-commerce web site.
Currency conversion software tools allow your web visitors to convert foreign currency pricing into their local currency at the point of sale. It also lets visitors and customers view the exact amount their card or PayPal account will be charged, expressed in their local currency.
One advantage of showing currency conversion on your site is that it lets your customers see and understand pricing in foreign countries in their own local currency, and makes it easier for customers to calculate their costs and expenses.
If your site is built using WordPress, you can add a currency conversion plugin to currency conversion to your WP website or blog via a plugin, allowing your prospective customers to easily perform currency conversions to determine the cost of your products.
WordPress Currency Converting Plugin – Currencyr
Currencyr is a simple, easy-to-use and complete currency converter WP plugin with a unique and attractive converter tooltip. Best of all, it’s free!
This useful WordPress plugin features:
- Inline converter
- Supports several exchange rates providers, like Google & FoxRates
- Supports Shortcodes
- Currency table and converter widget
- Supports integration with various e-store plugins like WooCommerce, WP-eCommerce, Shopp, and Easy Digital Downloads.
- Can determine local currency automatically
- Supports full language translations
Note: This plugin needs PHP 5.3.0 or later. Do not use this plugin if you are running an older version of PHP. Alternatively, ask your web host to update your PHP.
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You can install the plugin from your WordPress dashboard by typing in “currencyr” into the Plugins search field and clicking “Install Now” …
After installing and activating the plugin, you can access the plugin’s settings by choosing Currencyr from your WordPress dashboard area …
The plugin settings area offers you many configuration options …
For example, you can choose your base currency from the Base Currency dropdown menu if you want something other than the default option ’USD’ …
You can also specify any supported data provider from a dropdown menu. The default provider is Yahoo Finance, but you can choose another option, such as FoxRate or Open Exchange Rates …
Note: If you choose ‘Open Exchange Rates’ as your provider, an API (Application Programming Interface) will be required …
You can specify how frequently you would like the currency exchange rates to be updated 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 (e.g. WordPress plugins).
Unless you have a reason to edit the jQuery settings, just ignore this section …
Edit the remainder of the settings and click ‘Save Changes’ when done …
Once your plugin settings have been configured, you can easily start adding currency conversion to WP site’s posts using a shortcode.
Refer to the ‘Additional Plugin Notes’ section further below to learn more about using currency codes (e.g. USD, NZD, JPY, etc …) with the Currencyr plugin.
Currencyr Shortcodes
You can insert currency conversion into WordPress pages, posts and widgets without editing code using shortcodes.
Let’s take a look at some examples of currency shortcodes that you can add to posts and pages:
Let’s say that you are selling a product for a fixed price (e.g. $175) in US Dollars (USD), and you would like to show your price converted into British pounds (GBP) on your product sales page.
All you need to do is insert the following shortcode into your post or page …
Note: You can also display amounts in dollars and cents (e.g. 6.95, 22.00, 399.99, etc …)
The example below shows how the shortcode looks after being added to a post or page …
After your page has been published, the currency conversion will then display like this …
Using the above example, let’s now convert the same amount into different currency formats.
To do this, use the shortcode below (add as many currency symbols as you like separated by vertical pipes) …
You can see how the above shortcode appears when added to a page …
Once your post has been published, the converted currency will then display as shown below …
See the ‘Additional Plugin Notes’ section further below to learn more about changing the currency separator symbol in the Currencyr plugin.
Now, suppose 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 in countries like Australia or Canada, you can change the base currency using the following shortcode …
The example below now shows how the above shortcode looks when you add it to a page …
Once the page or post has been published, your converted currency amounts will then appear as seen below …
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 area, select Appearance > Widgets in your WP 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 in the example below (add currency codes separated by a comma), and click Save to save your settings …
Your currency conversion tool will now appear on your sidebar with the settings you have selected …
Additional Plugin Notes
Here are some additional notes and useful 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 multiple currencies.
You can change the symbol in the ‘Multiple Separator’ settings field.
So, for example, entering the default symbol “/” (forward slash) …
Separates all your prices using a forward slash as you can see in the example below …
If you change the symbol and resave your settings …
Your website visitors will see the new symbol display as the currency separator …
e-Commerce Platform Integration
As stated earlier, the Currencyr plugin can be integrated with a number of WP-compatible e-commerce plugins such as WooCommerce, WP-eCommerce, Shopp, and Easy Digital Downloads …
(image sourced from Currencyr plugin site)
And there you have it! Now you know how to easily add currency conversion to your e-commerce website.
To learn more about WordPress e-commerce plugins, see the tutorial below:
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