Do you plan to sell goods and services online worldwide? If so, then here’s a good idea: consider providing your web visitors with the convenience of currency conversion on your e-commerce site.
Currency converting software tools let your visitors translate foreign currency transactions into their local currency at the point of sale. It also allows your visitors and customers to view the exact amount their credit card or PayPal account will be charged, displayed in their home currency.
The obvious benefit of adding currency conversion is that it allows visitors to see and understand pricing in foreign countries in their own home currency, and makes it easier for purchasers to calculate their costs and expenses.
Fortunately, if you are a WordPress user, you can add a currency converter to currency conversion to WordPress using a plugin, allowing your prospective customers to easily work out the cost of your goods.
Currencyr – Free Currency Converting Plugin For WordPress
Currencyr is a simple yet advanced, intuitive, easy-to-use and complete currency converter plugin with a beautiful and unique converter tooltip. Best of all, it’s free to install and use on your site.
Some of the many features of this plugin include the following:
- In-line conversion tool
- Supports various exchange rates providers, such as Yahoo!, Open Exchange Rates & FoxRates
- WP-Cron task scheduler enabled
- Currency table and converter widget
- Can be integrated with a number of e-commerce plugins such as WooCommerce, WP-eCommerce, Shopp, and Easy Digital Downloads.
- Can detect local currency automatically
- Translation support
Important: The Currencyr plugin requires PHP 5.3.0 or later. Do not install this plugin if you currently have an older version of PHP installed. Alternatively, ask your web hosting support team to upgrade your PHP server installation.
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You can install the plugin from your WordPress admin area by searching for “currencyr” in the Plugins section and clicking the ”Install Now” button …
When the plugin has been installed and activated, you can configure the plugin’s settings by selecting Currencyr from your dashboard area …
This takes you to the plugin settings screen …
For example, you can choose a base currency from the ‘Base Currency’ dropdown menu. The default currency is ‘United States Dollar – (USD)’ …
Similarly, you can specify a data provider from a drop-down menu. The default selection is Yahoo Finance, but you can also select another provider, like European Central Bank, FoxRate, Google Finance or Open Exchange Rates …
Note: If you choose ‘Open Exchange Rates’ as your provider, you will need an API (Application Programming Interface) ID …
You can choose how frequently you would like the exchange rates to be updated by selecting an option from the ‘Update Rates’ dropdown menu …
The plugin uses jQuery, which allows web developers to add things like animation effects to web applications (like WordPress plugins).
Unless there is a reason to modify the jQuery settings, leave this option alone …
Edit the rest of the plugin settings to suit your needs and click ‘Save Changes’ when finished …
Once your plugin settings have been configured, you can start adding currency conversion to any WordPress post or page using a shortcode.
Refer to the ‘Additional Plugin Notes’ section at the end of this tutorial to learn how to use currency codes (e.g. USD, GBP, JPY, etc …) with the Currencyr plugin.
Plugin Shortcodes
You can add currency conversion to WP posts, pages and widgets with no coding skills or knowledge using shortcodes.
Let’s take a look at some examples of currency shortcodes that you can add to pages and posts:
Let’s say that you are selling your product on your website for a set amount (e.g. $175) in US Dollars (USD), and you would also like to display the conversion amount in British pounds (GBP) on your sales page.
All you need to do is insert the following shortcode into your page content …
Note: You can also add pricing in dollars and cents (e.g. 175.00, 189.00, 544.97, etc …)
The example below shows how your shortcode looks when inserting it into your post …
Once your page has been published, your converted currency will then display like this …
Using the above example, let’s now translate the same amount into multiple currency formats.
To do this, use following shortcode (you can add as many currency symbols as you want separated by vertical pipes) …
The example below now shows how the above shortcode appears when added to a page …
After publishing your post, the currency conversion will then appear as you can see in the screenshot below …
refer to the ‘Additional Plugin Notes’ section further below to learn more about changing the currency separator symbol in this plugin.
Now, let’s say that you would like to use a different base currency than the one selected as your default.
For example, if you have specified your default base currency as EUR and you have a section on your site targeted to customers in countries like Australia or Canada, you can change the base currency using the following shortcode …
Here’s how the shortcode appears when inserted into your content …
Once your information has been published, your converted currency amounts will then appear as seen below …
How To Use The Currencyr Widget
You can also add currency conversion to your website or blog’s sidebar area using the Currencyr widget.
To add currency conversion to your sidebar, select Appearance > Widgets from your WordPress user admin 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 in the screenshot below (add currency codes separated by commas), and click Save to update your settings …
The currency converter tool will now appear on your website’s sidebar with the options you have specified …
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 change the symbol in the ‘Multiple Separator’ settings section.
So, for example, using the default symbol “/” (forward slash) …
Separates all your currency values with the forward slash as you can see in the screenshot below …
If you change this symbol and update your plugin settings …
Your website visitors will see the new symbol being used as the currency separator …
Integration With e-Commerce Platforms
As described earlier, the Currencyr plugin integrates with a number of WordPress-compatible e-commerce plugins such as WooCommerce and Shopp …
(image sourced from plugin site)
Congratulations! Now you know how to easily add a currency converter to your e-commerce web site.
To learn more about WordPress e-commerce plugins, see the tutorial below:
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