Are you planning to set up an e-commerce web site with WordPress, or sell any products internationally? If so, then you should probably think about providing users with a currency conversion tool.
Currency converting software lets your visitors have the price of a foreign currency transaction translated to their local currency at the purchase or checkout phase. It also allows your visitors to view the exact amount their credit card or PayPal account will be charged, expressed in their own local currency.
One great advantage of adding currency conversion is that it allows customers to see and understand pricing in foreign countries in their own home currency, and makes it easier for customers to work out their costs and expenses.
If your site is powered by WordPress, you can add a currency conversion plugin to currency conversion to WordPress using a plugin, allowing your prospective customers to easily work out the cost of your goods.
Currencyr
Currencyr is an intuitive, easy-to-use and complete currency converter plugin with a unique and attractive converter tooltip. And, it’s also free to install and use on your web site.
This plugin includes many features such as:
- Inline conversion tool
- Supports several exchange rates providers, such as Yahoo!, Open Exchange Rates & European Central Bank
- WP-Cron task scheduler enabled
- Currency table and converter widget
- Supports integration with various online store plugins like WooCommerce & Shopp.
- Can determine local currency automatically
- Supports full language translations
Important: This plugin needs PHP 5.3.0 or later. Do not use this plugin if you currently have an older version of PHP installed on your server. Ask your web host to check and upgrade your PHP.
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You can install the plugin from your WP admin area by typing in “currencyr” into the Plugins search field and clicking the “Install Now” button …
When the plugin has been installed and activated, you can visit the plugin’s settings by selecting Currencyr from your WordPress administration area …
The plugin settings page provides various configuration settings …
For example, you can select your base currency from the Base Currency drop-down menu. The default option is ‘USD’ …
Similarly, you can choose a data provider from a dropdown menu. The default option is Yahoo Finance, but you can choose another provider, like European Central Bank, FoxRate, Google Finance or Open Exchange Rates …
Note: If you choose Open Exchange Rates, you will need to obtain an API (Application Programming Interface) ID …
You can choose how frequently you want to update the currency exchange rates by selecting an option from the ‘Update Rates’ drop-down menu …
The plugin uses jQuery, which allows web developers to add things like animation effects to web applications (such as WP plugins).
If you have no reason to modify the jQuery settings, simply ignore this setting …
Edit the rest of the plugin settings to suit your preferences and don’t forget to click ‘Save Changes’ when done …
After your plugin settings have been configured, you can easily start adding currency conversion to your WP pages using a shortcode.
See the ‘Additional Plugin Notes’ section at the end of this tutorial to learn how to use currency codes (e.g. USD, AUD, CAD, etc …) with this plugin.
Using Plugin Shortcodes
You can easily insert currency conversion into posts, pages and widgets with no technical skills or knowledge using shortcodes.
Here are some examples of currency shortcodes that you can add to your WordPress pages and posts:
Let’s say that you sell goods on your website for a fixed amount (e.g. $175) in US Dollars (USD), and you want to display this amount converted into British pounds (GBP) on your sales page.
All you need to do is insert the following shortcode into your page content …
Note: You can also display amounts in dollars and cents (for example, 16.95, 29.95, 295.75, etc …)
The screenshot below shows how the shortcode looks once you have inserted it into the page or post …
Once your post has been published, the converted currency will display as seen in the example below …
Using the same example, let’s also convert the same price into multiple currencies.
To do this, use following shortcode (add as many currency symbols as you like separated by vertical pipes) …
The screenshot below shows how the above shortcode appears when inserted into a post …
After publishing the content, your converted currency amounts will then display like this …
refer to the ‘Additional Plugin Notes’ section further below to learn more about changing the currency separator symbol in the Currencyr plugin.
Now, suppose you would like to specify a different base currency than the one set as the 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 customers from countries like Australia or Canada, you can change the base currency using the following shortcode …
The example below now shows how the shortcode looks when added to a post …
After publishing the post or page, the converted currency will then display as you can see below …
Currencyr Widget
You can also insert a currency converter into your website’s sidebar section using the plugin’s widget.
To add the currency converter to your sidebar, select Appearance > Widgets in the WordPress dashboard menu …
In the Widgets > Available Widgets area find the ‘Currencyr’ widget and drag it to an ‘Active Widgets’ area …
Configure the widget options as shown below (add currency codes separated by a comma), and click ‘Save’ to update your settings …
The currency converter will now appear on your site’s sidebar with the options you have specified …
Additional Plugin Notes
This section contains additional 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 multiple 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 the forward slash as you can see in the screenshot below …
If you modify this symbol and update your settings …
Your web visitors will see the new symbol display as the currency separator …
Using The Currencyr Plugin With WordPress-Compatible e-Commerce Software
As stated earlier, the Currencyr plugin can be integrated with various WP-compatible e-commerce plugins such as WP-eCommerce, Shopp, and Easy Digital Downloads …
(image source: Currencyr plugin site)
And there you have it! 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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