Are you thinking about setting up an e-commerce web site or making goods or services available for sale internationally? If so, then you should probably think about providing users with currency conversion.
Currency conversion allows your prospects to have the cost of an international currency amount translated into their home currency when purchasing products online. 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.
One benefit of providing currency conversion is that it lets visitors view and understand pricing in foreign countries in their own home currency, making it it easier for visitors to calculate their costs and expenses.
If your site is powered by WordPress, you can add currency conversion using a plugin to your WordPress website, allowing your visitors to easily understand the cost of your goods.
Currencyr
Currencyr is a simple, easy-to-use and complete currency converter WP plugin with a unique and attractive converter tooltip. And, it’s also free!
This plugin features:
- Inline conversion tool
- Supports various exchange rates providers, like Yahoo! and European Central Bank
- Support database cache driven for fast response
- Widgetized currency table and converter
- Can be integrated with various online store plugins such as WooCommerce, WP-eCommerce and Easy Digital Downloads.
- Automatic local currency detection
- Full support for language translations
Important: This plugin requires PHP 5.3.0 or later. Do not install this plugin if you are running an older version of PHP on your server. 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” …
Once the plugin has been installed and activated, you can configure the plugin’s settings by selecting Currencyr from your WordPress administration navigation menu …
This takes you to the plugin settings section …
For example, you can choose a base currency from a drop-down menu. The default option is ’USD’ …
Similarly, you can select a data provider from a dropdown menu. The default option is Yahoo Finance, but you can select one of the other options, such as FoxRate or Open Exchange Rates …
Note: If you select ‘Open Exchange Rates’ as your provider, an API (Application Programming Interface) will be required …
You can select how frequently you would like the currency exchange rates to update 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 (such as WordPress plugins).
Unless you have a reason to modify the jQuery settings, just ignore this setting …
Configure the remainder of the settings and don’t forget to click ‘Save Changes’ when done …
Once your plugin settings have been configured, you can add currency conversion to any WordPress page or post using a shortcode.
See the ‘Additional Plugin Notes’ section below to learn how to use currency codes (e.g. USD, GBP, CAD, etc …) in this plugin.
Using Shortcodes
You can easily insert currency conversion into pages, posts and widgets with no web coding skills using shortcodes.
Below are some examples of currency shortcodes that you can add to WordPress posts and pages:
Let’s say that you are selling your products online for a fixed amount (e.g. $175) in US Dollars (USD), and you would like to display your price converted into British pounds (GBP) on your sales page.
All you need to do is add the shortcode below into your post or page …
Note: You can also add amounts in dollars and cents (e.g. 16.95, 189.00, 399.99, etc …)
The screenshot below shows how your shortcode should look once you have inserted it into your post or page …
After publishing your page or post, your currency conversion will then appear 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 separated by vertical pipes) …
You can see how the shortcode appears when you add it to your content …
After publishing the page, your converted currency amounts will then display as shown in the example below …
See the ‘Additional Plugin Notes’ section below to learn more about changing the currency separator symbol with this plugin.
Now, suppose you would like to select 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 e-commerce pages targeted to non-European customers (e.g. Australia or Canada), you can change the base currency using the following shortcode …
The example below now shows how the above shortcode looks when inserted into a page …
Once the information has been published, your currency conversion will then appear like this …
Currencyr Widget
You can also insert currency conversion into your website or blog’s sidebar using the Currencyr widget.
To add the currency converter to your sidebar menu, choose Appearance > Widgets from your WP admin menu …
In the Widgets > Available Widgets section find the ‘Currencyr’ widget and add it to an Active Widgets location …
Configure the widget options as shown in the screenshot below (add currency codes separated by commas), and click Save to update your settings …
Your currency conversion tool will now show on your sidebar menu with the options you have specified …
Additional Plugin Notes
This section contains additional information about using the Currencyr plugin.
Currency Separator
The Currencyr plugin lets you 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 field.
So, for example, entering the default symbol “/” (forward slash) …
Displays your currency values separated by a forward slash as you can see in the example below …
If you modify the symbol and update your settings …
Your web site visitors will see the new symbol used as the currency separator …
Integration With WordPress e-Commerce Platforms
As described earlier, the Currencyr plugin can be integrated with various WordPress-compatible e-commerce plugins like WP-eCommerce, Shopp, and Easy Digital Downloads …
(image source: Currencyr plugin website)
Congratulations! Now you can go and easily add a currency converter to your e-commerce website.
To learn more about WordPress e-commerce plugins, see the tutorial below:
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