Do you plan to sell goods online globally? If so, then you should probably consider providing your prospects with the convenience of currency conversion on your website.
Currency converting software allows your customers to have the cost of an international currency transaction translated into their local currency when purchasing or checking out products on e-commerce sites. It also allows visitors to view the exact amount their credit card or PayPal account will be charged, displayed in their own local currency.
One advantage of adding currency conversion is that it allows your customers to see and understand prices in foreign countries in their own local currency, making it it easier for customers to calculate their costs and expenses.
If your site is built using WordPress, it’s quite simple to add currency conversion via a plugin to currency conversion to WordPress via a plugin, allowing your customers to easily work out the cost of your goods.
Currencyr
Currencyr is a simple, easy-to-use and complete currency converter WordPress plugin with a unique and attractive converter tooltip. It’s also free!
Plugin features include:
- Inline converter
- Supports a number of exchange rates providers, like Google & FoxRates
- WP-Cron task scheduler enabled
- Currency table and converter widget
- Supports integration with a number of e-store plugins such as WP-eCommerce and Easy Digital Downloads.
- Can determine local currency automatically
- Full translation support
Important: The Currencyr plugin needs your server to be running 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 WP admin area by searching for “currencyr” in the Plugins section and clicking “Install Now” …
After installing and activating the plugin, you can configure the plugin’s settings by choosing Currencyr from your WordPress admin menu …
The plugin settings page provides various configuration options …
For example, you can select a base currency from the Base Currency drop-down menu. The default base currency is ‘United States Dollar – (USD)’ …
Similarly, you can choose any supported data provider from the drop-down menu in the ‘Provider’ section. The default selection is ‘Yahoo! Finance’, but you can also choose another option, such as European Central Bank, FoxRate, Google Finance 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 exchange rates to update by specifying an option from the Update Rates drop-down menu …
The Currencyr plugin uses jQuery, which is an open-source library of Javascript code that 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 remainder of the settings according to your own preferences and don’t forget to click the ‘Save Changes’ button when done …
Once you have configured your plugin settings, you can start adding currency conversion to any WordPress page using a shortcode.
See the ‘Additional Plugin Notes’ section below to learn more about using currency codes (e.g. USD, AUD, JPY, etc …) with this plugin.
Currencyr Shortcodes
You can easily add currency conversion to WP posts, pages and widgets with no web coding skills using shortcodes.
Here are some examples of currency shortcodes that you can add to WordPress posts and pages:
Let’s say that you retail goods on your site for a set amount (e.g. $175) in US Dollars (USD), and you want to display your amount converted into British pounds (GBP) on your product sales page.
All you need to do is insert the shortcode below into your post or page …
Note: You can also insert pricing in dollars and cents (e.g. 175.00, 97.00, 2499.99, etc …)
The example below shows how the shortcode looks after being added to your product page …
When the content has been published, the currency conversion will then display like this …
Using the above example, let’s now display the same price into multiple currency formats.
To do this, use the shortcode shown below (you can add as many currency symbols as you want by using vertical pipes) …
The example below shows how the above shortcode appears when you add it to a post …
Once your page has been published, your currency conversion will then display like this …
refer to the ‘Additional Plugin Notes’ section below to learn how to change the currency separator symbol within the Currencyr plugin.
Now, let’s suppose that you would like to select a different base currency than the one selected as your default.
For example, say you have specified your default base currency as EUR and you have a section on your e-commerce pages targeted to visitors from countries like Australia or Canada, you can change the base currency using the following shortcode …
Here’s how the above shortcode appears when inserted into a post …
After publishing the page or post, the currency conversion will then appear as seen in the example below …
Widget
You can also add a currency converter to your website’s sidebar menu using a widget.
To add currency conversion to your sidebar menu, select Appearance > Widgets from your WP admin menu …
In the Widgets > Available Widgets section find the ‘Currencyr’ widget and add it to the ‘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 converter tool will now display on your sidebar menu with the settings you have specified when configuring the widget …
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 shown below …
If you change this symbol and update your plugin settings …
Your website visitors will see the new symbol being used as the currency separator …
E-Commerce Integration
As described earlier, the plugin integrates with various WordPress-compatible e-commerce plugins like WooCommerce, WP-eCommerce, Shopp, and Easy Digital Downloads …
(image source: plugin website)
Congratulations! Now you can go and easily add a currency converter to your WordPress site.
To learn more about WordPress e-commerce plugins, see the tutorial below:
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