Do you plan to set up a WordPress-based e-commerce site, or sell your products internationally? If so, then here’s a great idea: think about providing your prospects with the convenience of currency conversion on your e-commerce web site.
Currency conversion software lets your prospective customers have the cost of a foreign currency amount translated to their local currency at the point of sale. It also allows your visitors to see the exact amount their credit card or PayPal account will be charged, expressed in their own local currency.
One advantage of adding currency conversion is that it lets customers see and understand prices in foreign countries in their own local currency, making it 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 your WP website, allowing your prospective customers to quickly calculate the cost of your products.
Currencyr
Currencyr is a simple yet advanced, intuitive, easy-to-use and complete currency converter WordPress plugin with a beautiful and unique converter tooltip. It’s also free to install and use on your WordPress website or blog.
This currency conversion plugin includes a number of features like the following:
- In-line conversion tool
- Supports various exchange rates providers, such as Yahoo!, Google & FoxRates
- WP-Cron task scheduler enabled
- Widgetized currency table and converter
- Supports integration with a number of e-commerce plugins such as WooCommerce, WP-eCommerce, Shopp, and Easy Digital Downloads.
- Automatic local currency detection
- Full language translation support
Note: The Currencyr plugin needs your server to be running PHP 5.3.0 or later. Do not use this plugin if you currently have an older version of PHP installed. Ask your web hosting provider to check and upgrade your PHP.
***
You can install the currency conversion plugin from your WP dashboard by searching for “currencyr” in the Plugins section and clicking “Install Now” …
After installing and activating the plugin, you can configure the plugin’s settings by selecting Currencyr from your dashboard area …
The plugin settings section provides many configuration options …
For example, you can choose your base currency from the ‘Base Currency’ drop-down menu. The default base currency is ‘United States Dollar – (USD)’ …
You can specify a data provider from the dropdown menu in the ‘Provider’ section. The default option is ‘Yahoo! Finance’, but you can also select one of the other options, like 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 want the currency exchange rates to be updated by specifying an option from the ‘Update Rates’ dropdown menu …
The plugin uses jQuery, which lets web developers add things like animation effects to web applications (e.g. WordPress plugins).
Unless there is a reason to edit the jQuery settings, leave these as they are …
Configure the remainder of the plugin settings according to your own needs and don’t forget to click Save Changes when you have finished configuring this screen …
Once you have configured your settings, you can start adding currency conversion to any WP page or post using a shortcode.
See the ‘Additional Plugin Notes’ section at the end of this tutorial to learn how to use currency codes (e.g. USD, GBP, ZAR, etc …) in this plugin.
Shortcodes
You can insert currency conversion into WP pages, posts and widgets with no technical knowledge or skills using shortcodes.
Below are some examples of currency shortcodes that you can add to pages and posts:
Let’s say that you retail an item on your site for a fixed price (e.g. $175) in US Dollars (USD), and you would also like to show your conversion amount in British pounds (GBP) on your sales page.
All you need to do is add the following shortcode to your page content …
Note: You can also insert amounts in dollars and cents (for example, 19.95, 29.95, 400.00, etc …)
The screenshot below shows how your shortcode looks once you have inserted it into your post or page …
Once the content has been published, the currency conversion will then display like this …
Using the above example, let’s now convert the same price into multiple currency formats.
To do this, use the shortcode below (add as many currency symbols as you want by using vertical pipes) …
The screenshot below shows how the shortcode appears when inserted into a page …
Once the post or page has been published, your currency conversion will then appear like this …
See the ‘Additional Plugin Notes’ section at the end of this tutorial to learn more about changing the currency separator symbol within the Currencyr plugin.
Now, let’s suppose that you want to specify 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 e-commerce pages 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 shortcode looks when inserted into your content …
After publishing your post or page, the currency conversion will then display like this …
Plugin Widget
You can also add a currency converter to your website’s sidebar menu using the Currencyr widget.
To add the currency converter to your sidebar, choose Appearance > Widgets in your WP dashboard menu …
In the Widgets > Available Widgets area find the ‘Currencyr’ widget and add it to the Active Widgets area …
Configure the widget options as shown below (add currency codes separated by a comma), and click ‘Save’ to save your settings …
Your currency conversion tool will now display on your site’s sidebar menu with the options you have specified when configuring the widget …
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 a symbol of your choice 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 currency amounts 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 mentioned earlier, the plugin can be integrated with various WP-compatible e-commerce plugins such as WooCommerce, Shopp and Easy Digital Downloads …
(image sourced from plugin website)
Congratulations! 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:
***
"I am beyond impressed with what you have put together. I can tell that you put a ton of hard work into building what you have. You have the absolute best content on WordPress I have ever seen!" - Robert T. Jillie