Do you plan to set up a WordPress-based e-commerce site, or sell goods and services to an international audience? If so, then here’s a good idea: consider providing users with the convenience of currency conversion on your web site.
Currency conversion lets your prospects have the cost of an international currency amount converted into their home currency at the point of sale. It also allows visitors and customers to see the exact amount their credit card or PayPal account will be charged, displayed in their home currency.
One great benefit of adding currency conversion is that it allows visitors to view and understand pricing in foreign countries in their own local currency, and makes it easier for visitors to work out their costs and expenses.
If you are a WordPress user, it’s easy to add a currency converter to WordPress, allowing your site visitors to quickly and easily understand the cost of your products.
Currencyr – Free Currency Conversion Plugin For WordPress
Currencyr is a simple, easy-to-use and complete currency converter WP plugin with a unique and attractive converter tooltip. Best of all, it’s free to install and use on your website.
Some of the features of this useful plugin include:
- In-line conversion tool
- Supports several 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
- Can be integrated with a number of e-store plugins like WooCommerce & Shopp.
- Can detect local currency automatically
- Translation support
Note: The Currencyr plugin requires PHP 5.3.0 or later. Do not use this plugin if you currently have an older version of PHP installed. Alternatively, ask your webhosting support team to update 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 …
After installing and activating the plugin, you can configure the plugin’s settings by choosing Currencyr from your dashboard menu …
This takes you to the plugin settings page …
For example, you can choose a base currency from the ‘Base Currency’ drop-down menu if you prefer something other than the default option ‘United States Dollar – (USD)’ …
You can also choose which data provider you want to use from the drop-down menu in the Provider section. The default selection is Yahoo Finance, but you can choose another option, like 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 often you want the 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 (such as WP plugins).
Unless there is a reason to change the jQuery settings, leave this option alone …
Configure the remainder of the plugin settings to suit your own needs and click ‘Save Changes’ when you have configured all of your options …
When your plugin settings have been configured, you can start adding currency conversion to your WP site’s pages or posts using widgets.
See the ‘Additional Plugin Notes’ section further below to learn more about using currency codes (e.g. USD, GBP, CAD, etc …) in this plugin.
Currencyr Shortcodes
You can easily add currency conversion to WordPress pages, posts and widgets without touching code 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 are selling your products online for a set amount (e.g. $175) in US Dollars (USD), and you would also like to display this conversion amount in British pounds (GBP) on your product sales page.
To do this, just add the following shortcode to your page content …
Note: You can also add prices in dollars and cents (for example, 19.95, 197.00, 544.97, etc …)
The screenshot below shows how the above shortcode looks after being inserted into the post …
After publishing your information, the converted currency amount will then appear as shown below …
Using the above example, let’s also convert the same price into multiple currency formats.
To do this, use the shortcode shown below (add as many currency symbols as you want by using vertical pipes) …
You can see how the above shortcode looks when added to a page …
After publishing the post or page, the converted currency amounts will then display as seen below …
See 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 specify a different base currency than the one you have set as your default.
For example, if 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 example below now shows how the shortcode appears when added to a post …
Once the page or post has been published, your converted currency amounts will then display like this …
Currencyr Widget
You can also insert currency conversion into your site’s sidebar using a widget.
To add currency conversion to your sidebar area, select Appearance > Widgets in your WordPress user admin menu …
In the Widgets > Available Widgets section find the ‘Currencyr’ widget and drag it to an ‘Active Widgets’ location …
Configure the widget settings as shown below (add currency codes separated by a comma), and click Save to save your settings …
Your currency converter will now appear on your site’s sidebar with the options you have selected …
Additional Plugin Notes
Here are some additional notes and useful information about using the plugin.
Currency Separator
The Currencyr plugin lets you specify the symbol to display as the currency separator when using several currencies.
You can change the 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 you can see in the screenshot below …
If you enter another symbol and resave your plugin settings …
Your web visitors will see the new symbol display as the currency separator …
Using The Plugin With WordPress-Compatible e-Commerce Platforms
As mentioned earlier, the plugin integrates with various WP-compatible e-commerce plugins such as WP-eCommerce and Shopp …
(image source: Currencyr plugin website)
Congratulations! Now you know how to easily add currency conversion to your WordPress website.
To learn more about WordPress e-commerce plugins, see the tutorial below:
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