Do you plan to sell products online internationally? If so, then you should probably think about providing your prospects with the convenience of currency conversion on your e-commerce web site.
Currency conversion tools allow your prospective customers to translate foreign currency amounts to their local currency when checking out products online. It also lets your customers see the exact amount their credit card or PayPal account will be charged, expressed in their own local currency.
One benefit of adding currency conversion is that it allows visitors to view and understand pricing in foreign countries in their own home currency, and makes it easier for customers to calculate their costs and expenses.
If your site is built with WordPress, it’s simple to add currency conversion using a plugin to your website, allowing your prospective customers to easily understand the cost of your goods.
Currencyr – WordPress Currency Converter
Currencyr is an intuitive, easy-to-use and complete currency converter WP plugin with a unique and attractive converter tooltip. And, it’s free!
This useful plugin includes many features like the following:
- In-line converter
- Supports various exchange rates providers, such as Yahoo!, Google, Open Exchange Rates, European Central Bank and FoxRates
- Support database cache driven for fast response
- Currency table and converter widget
- Supports integration with various e-commerce plugins such as WooCommerce, WP-eCommerce and Easy Digital Downloads.
- Can determine local currency automatically
- Full language translation support
Note: This plugin needs your server to be running PHP 5.3.0 or later. Do not install this plugin if you are running an older version of PHP on your server. Alternatively, ask your web host to upgrade your PHP.
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You can install the Currencyr plugin from your WordPress dashboard by searching for “currencyr” in the Plugins screen 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 WordPress administration menu …
The plugin settings section offers you several configuration settings …
For example, you can select your base currency from the ‘Base Currency’ drop-down menu if you prefer to use something other than the default option (USD) …
Similarly, you can specify any supported data provider from the dropdown menu in the ‘Provider’ section. The default selection 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 choose Open Exchange Rates, you will need to enter an API (Application Programming Interface) ID …
You can select how frequently you would like the currency exchange rates to update by choosing 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 (e.g. WordPress plugins).
If you have no reason to edit the jQuery settings, leave this option alone …
Edit the remainder of the settings and remember to click the ‘Save Changes’ button when finished …
Once your plugin settings have been configured, you can easily start adding currency conversion to all of your WP posts using shortcodes and widgets.
Refer to the ‘Additional Plugin Notes’ section at the end of this tutorial to learn more about using currency codes (e.g. USD, NZD, CAD, etc …) with this plugin.
Currencyr Shortcodes
You can easily insert currency conversion into WP pages, posts and widgets without having to edit your web templates 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 goods online for a set amount (e.g. $175) in US Dollars (USD), and you would also like to display this amount converted into British pounds (GBP) on your product information page.
To display this information, simply add the following shortcode into your page content …
Note: You can also display pricing in dollars and cents (e.g. 89.95, 22.00, 544.97, etc …)
The example below shows how your shortcode looks when inserting it into a post or page …
When the content has been published, the converted currency will appear like this …
Using this example, let’s now translate the same price into different currency formats.
To do this, use following shortcode (you can add as many currency symbols as you want by using vertical pipes) …
You can see how the above shortcode appears when inserted into a page …
After publishing your content, the converted currency will then display as shown below …
See the ‘Additional Plugin Notes’ section further below to learn how to change the currency separator symbol in the Currencyr plugin.
Now, let’s suppose that you want to use a different base currency than the one selected as your 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 (e.g. Australia or Canada), you can change the base currency using the following shortcode …
The example below now shows how the shortcode looks when you add it to a post …
Once your post has been published, the currency conversion will then appear like this …
Plugin Widget
You can also add currency conversion to your website or blog’s sidebar using the plugin’s widget.
To add the currency converter to your sidebar area, choose Appearance > Widgets from your WordPress dashboard menu …
In the Widgets > Available Widgets section find the ‘Currencyr’ widget and drag it to the ‘Active Widgets’ location …
Configure the widget settings as shown below (add the currency codes you want displaying on your widget separated by commas), and click Save to save your settings …
Your currency converter will now display on your website’s sidebar menu 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 a symbol of your choice to display as the currency separator when using several currencies.
You can select a different symbol in the ‘Multiple Separator’ settings section.
So, for example, using the default symbol “/” (forward slash) …
Displays your currency values separated by a forward slash as shown below …
If you change this symbol and resave your settings …
Your web site visitors will see the new symbol display as the currency separator …
E-Commerce Integration
As mentioned earlier, the plugin integrates with various WordPress-compatible e-commerce plugins such as WooCommerce, WP-eCommerce and Easy Digital Downloads …
(above image sourced from plugin site)
Congratulations! 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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