Are you planning to sell goods online internationally? If so, then you may want to think about providing your potential customers with a currency conversion service.
Currency converting software tools allow your prospects to have the cost of an international currency amount converted into their local currency when checking out products online. It also lets customers view the exact amount their credit card or PayPal account will be charged, expressed in their own home currency.
One advantage of adding currency conversion is that it allows your customers to view and understand prices 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, you can add a currency converter to currency conversion to your WordPress site via a plugin, allowing your site visitors to easily work out the cost of your goods.
Currencyr – WordPress Currency Converting Plugin
Currencyr is an intuitive, easy-to-use and complete currency converter plugin with a visually attractive converter tooltip. It’s also free!
The Currencyr currency conversion plugin includes practical features like:
- In-line conversion tool
- Supports various exchange rates providers, like Yahoo!, Open Exchange Rates and European Central Bank
- Supports Shortcodes
- Currency table and converter widget
- Supports integration with a number of e-commerce plugins such as WooCommerce, WP-eCommerce, Shopp, and Easy Digital Downloads.
- Automatic local currency determination
- Supports full language translations
Important: This 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 on your server. Alternatively, ask your web host to update your PHP.
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You can install the plugin from your WP dashboard by typing in “currencyr” into the Plugins search field and clicking “Install Now” …
After installing and activating the plugin, you can configure the plugin’s settings by selecting Currencyr from your administration navigation menu …
The plugin settings area offers you many configuration options …
For example, you can choose a base currency from a drop-down menu. The default option is ‘USD’ …
Similarly, you can choose which data provider you want to use 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 choose ‘Open Exchange Rates’ as your provider, you will need to obtain an API (Application Programming Interface) ID …
You can select how frequently you would like the currency 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 (like WordPress plugins).
Unless there is a reason to modify the jQuery settings, leave this option alone …
Edit the rest of the settings to suit your preferences and remember to click ‘Save Changes’ when you have configured all of your settings …
After you have configured your plugin settings, you can add currency conversion to any WP post using widgets.
Refer to the ‘Additional Plugin Notes’ section further below to learn more about using currency codes (e.g. USD, GBP, JPY, etc …) in this plugin.
Currencyr Shortcodes
You can easily add currency conversion to pages, posts and widgets with no technical skills or knowledge using shortcodes.
Let’s take a look at some examples of currency shortcodes that you can add to your WP posts and pages:
Let’s say that you sell goods for a fixed amount (e.g. $175) in US Dollars (USD), and you would also like to display this amount converted into British pounds (GBP) on your sales page.
All you need to do is insert the shortcode below into your page content …
Note: You can also display prices in dollars and cents (e.g. 188.35, 197.00, 2499.99, etc …)
The screenshot below shows how the above shortcode looks after being inserted into a product page …
After publishing your post or page, your converted currency amount will display as seen below …
Using the above example, let’s now display the same amount into different currency formats.
To do this, use the shortcode below (add as many currency symbols as you want by using vertical pipes) …
You can see how the shortcode appears when inserted into a page …
Once your content has been published, the converted currency amounts will then appear like this …
refer to the ‘Additional Plugin Notes’ section below to learn how to change the currency separator symbol with the Currencyr plugin.
Now, suppose you would like to use a different base currency than the one set 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 visitors in countries like Australia or Canada, you can change the base currency using the following shortcode …
The screenshot below now shows how the above shortcode appears when added to a post …
Once the content has been published, the converted currency amounts will then display as seen in the screenshot below …
Currencyr Widget
You can also insert currency conversion into your website or blog’s sidebar using the Currencyr widget.
To add currency conversion to your sidebar area, select Appearance > Widgets from your WP user admin menu …
In the Widgets > Available Widgets area find the ‘Currencyr’ widget and add it to the Active Widgets location …
Configure the widget settings as shown below (add currency codes separated by a comma), and click ‘Save’ to update your settings …
The currency converter tool will now appear on the sidebar menu with the settings you have specified when configuring the widget …
Additional Plugin Notes
Here are some additional notes and useful information about using the 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 change the symbol in the ‘Multiple Separator’ settings field.
So, for example, using the default symbol “/” (forward slash) …
Displays your currency values separated by the forward slash as shown below …
If you choose another symbol and update your plugin settings …
Your web site visitors will see the new symbol being used as the currency separator …
E-Commerce Platform Integration
As described earlier, the Currencyr plugin can be integrated with a number of WordPress-compatible e-commerce plugins such as WooCommerce, WP-eCommerce and Easy Digital Downloads …
(image source: Currencyr plugin site)
And there you have it! Now you can go and easily add currency conversion to your WordPress web site.
To learn more about WordPress e-commerce plugins, see the tutorial below:
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