Do you sell goods online globally? If so, then it’s a good idea to think about providing users with a currency conversion feature.
Currency conversion software tools allow your prospective customers to convert international currency prices into their home currency at the point of sale. It also allows your customers to see the exact amount their card or PayPal account will be charged, expressed in their local currency.
The obvious benefit of adding currency conversion to your website is that it allows visitors to view and understand pricing in foreign countries in their own local currency, making it it easier for purchasers to calculate their costs and expenses.
If your site is powered by WordPress, it’s easy and simple to add a currency conversion plugin to currency conversion to WordPress using a plugin, allowing your customers to quickly perform currency conversions to determine the cost of your goods.
Currencyr
Currencyr is a simple yet advanced, intuitive, easy-to-use and complete currency converter WP plugin with a visually attractive converter tooltip. Best of all, it’s free!
The Currencyr plugin features:
- In-line converter
- Supports several exchange rates providers, like Yahoo! and Open Exchange Rates
- WP-Cron task scheduler enabled
- Currency table and converter widget
- Supports integration with a number of e-store plugins like WooCommerce & Shopp.
- Automatically determines local currency
- Translation support
Important: The Currencyr plugin needs PHP 5.3.0 or later. Do not use this plugin if you are running an older version of PHP. Ask your web hosting provider to check and upgrade your PHP.
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You can install the Currencyr plugin from your WP dashboard by searching for “currencyr” in the Plugins area and clicking the ”Install Now” button …
When you have installed and activated the plugin, you can configure the plugin’s settings by selecting Currencyr from your admin area …
This takes you to the plugin settings area …
For example, you can select your base currency from a drop-down menu. The default base currency is ’US Dollar’ …
Similarly, you can select which data provider you want to use from a drop-down menu. The default option is Yahoo Finance, but you can also select one of the other options, such as European Central Bank or Google Finance …
Note: If you choose ‘Open Exchange Rates’, an API (Application Programming Interface) is required …
You can specify how frequently you would like the currency exchange rates to update by selecting an option from the Update Rates drop-down menu …
The plugin uses jQuery, which is an open-source library of Javascript code that allows web developers to add things like animation effects to web applications (e.g. WordPress plugins).
If you have no reason to change the jQuery settings, just ignore this section …
Configure the rest of the plugin settings and don’t forget to click the Save Changes button when done …
When your plugin settings have been configured, you can easily add currency conversion to any WP post or page using widgets.
Refer to the ‘Additional Plugin Notes’ section further below to learn how to use currency codes (e.g. USD, AUD, ZAR, etc …) in this plugin.
How To Use Currencyr Shortcodes
You can add currency conversion to WordPress pages, posts and widgets without editing 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 sell an item for a set price (e.g. $175) in US Dollars (USD), and you would also like to display the conversion amount in British pounds (GBP) on your product information page.
All you need to do is insert the shortcode below into your post or page …
Note: You can also display amounts in dollars and cents (e.g. 89.95, 47.00, 295.75, etc …)
The example below shows how your shortcode will look when added to the post …
After publishing your page, the converted currency amount will then display as shown below …
Using the above example, let’s also convert the same price into different currencies.
To do this, use following shortcode (you can add as many currency symbols as you like separated by vertical pipes) …
The screenshot below shows how the shortcode appears when you add it to your content …
After publishing your content, your currency conversion will then appear as seen in the screenshot below …
refer to the ‘Additional Plugin Notes’ section further below to learn how to change the currency separator symbol within this plugin.
Now, suppose you would like to select a different base currency than the one 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 non-European customers (e.g. Australia or Canada), you can change the base currency using the following shortcode …
You can see how the above shortcode appears when added to a page …
After publishing your information, your converted currency amounts will then display like this …
Currencyr Widget
You can also add currency conversion to your site’s sidebar area using the Currencyr widget.
To add the currency converter to your sidebar menu, choose Appearance > Widgets in the WordPress dashboard menu …
In the Widgets > Available Widgets section find the ‘Currencyr’ widget and drag it to the ‘Active Widgets’ location …
Configure the widget options as shown in the example below (add any currency codes you want to display on your widget separated by a comma), and click ‘Save’ to update your settings …
The currency converter tool will now show on your website’s sidebar menu with the settings 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 multiple currencies.
You can select a different symbol in the Multiple Separator settings field.
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 change the symbol and resave your settings …
Your site visitors will see the new symbol being used as the currency separator …
Using The Plugin With WordPress-Compatible e-Commerce Platforms
As described earlier, the Currencyr plugin integrates with a number of WordPress-compatible e-commerce plugins such as WooCommerce, WP-eCommerce, Shopp, and Easy Digital Downloads …
(image sourced from Currencyr plugin website)
And there you have it! Now you can go and easily add currency conversion to your e-commerce site.
To learn more about WordPress e-commerce plugins, see the tutorial below:
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"If you're new to WordPress, this can stand on its own as a training course and will stay with you as you progress from beginner to advanced and even guru status." - Bruce (Columbus, Ohio)