Do you sell goods or services online globally? If so, then it’s a good idea to consider providing users with a currency conversion feature.
Currency conversion software lets your web visitors translate international currency pricing into their local currency when purchasing products on e-commerce sites. It also allows visitors to view the exact amount their card or PayPal account will be charged, displayed in their local currency.
One benefit of adding currency conversion to your site is that it lets your customers view and understand prices in foreign countries in their own home currency, and makes it easier for visitors to work out their costs and expenses.
Fortunately, if you are a WordPress user, it’s easy and simple to add currency conversion using a plugin to your WordPress website, allowing your visitors to easily work out the cost of your goods.
WordPress Free Currency Converter – Currencyr
Currencyr is a simple, easy-to-use and complete currency converter plugin with a unique and attractive converter tooltip. It’s also free to install and use on your WP website.
This useful plugin features:
- In-line converter
- Supports various exchange rates providers, like Yahoo! & FoxRates
- Support database cache driven for fast response
- Widgetized currency table and converter
- Can be integrated with a number of e-store plugins such as WooCommerce, Shop and Easy Digital Downloads.
- Can determine local currency automatically
- Supports full language translations
Note: This plugin requires 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. Alternatively, ask your web host to upgrade your PHP server installation if necessary.
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You can install the currency conversion plugin from your WordPress 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 screen by choosing Currencyr from your admin area …
This takes you to the plugin settings area …
For example, you can select your base currency from a dropdown menu. The default option is ’USD’ …
Similarly, you can select any supported data provider from the dropdown menu in the ‘Provider’ section. The default selection is ‘Yahoo! Finance’, but you can select another option, such as European Central Bank or Google Finance …
Note: If you select ‘Open Exchange Rates’ as your provider, an API (Application Programming Interface) is required …
You can specify 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 (like WordPress plugins).
If you have no reason to edit the jQuery settings, leave them as they are …
Configure the rest of the plugin settings and remember to click Save Changes when you have configured all of your settings …
After you have finished configuring your plugin settings, you can start adding currency conversion to any WP page using a shortcode.
Refer to the ‘Additional Plugin Notes’ section below to learn how to use currency codes (e.g. USD, AUD, JPY, etc …) in the Currencyr plugin.
Using Plugin Shortcodes
You can add currency conversion to WordPress posts, pages and widgets without editing your web templates using shortcodes.
Below are some examples of currency shortcodes that you can add to posts and pages:
Let’s say that you are selling a product for a set price (e.g. $175) in US Dollars (USD), and you want to display your conversion amount in British pounds (GBP) on your product information page.
All you need to do is insert the shortcode below to your page content …
Note: You can also add prices in dollars and cents (for example, 175.00, 47.00, 1356.87, etc …)
The example below shows how the shortcode looks after you have added it to a post or page …
After the page or post has been published, the converted currency amount will display like this …
Using this example, let’s also convert 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 screenshot below now shows how the shortcode looks when added to a page …
Once your information has been published, your converted currency will then display like this …
refer to the ‘Additional Plugin Notes’ section at the bottom of this tutorial to learn how to change the currency separator symbol with this plugin.
Now, let’s say that you would like to select a different base currency than the one you have selected as the 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 customers in countries like Australia or Canada, you can change the base currency using the following shortcode …
The screenshot below shows how the above shortcode appears when inserted into your content …
Once your post or page has been published, your converted currency will then appear like this …
Widget
You can also insert currency conversion into your website’s sidebar using the plugin’s widget.
To add the currency converter to your sidebar area, choose Appearance > Widgets from the WP admin 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 below (add currency codes separated by a comma), and click ‘Save’ to save your settings …
Your currency converter will now display on your site’s sidebar with the settings you have selected …
Additional Plugin Notes
This section contains additional information about using the 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 change the symbol in the Multiple Separator settings field.
So, for example, entering the default symbol “/” (forward slash) …
Separates all your currency values with the forward slash as shown below …
If you modify this symbol and update your settings …
Your site visitors will see the new symbol being used as the currency separator …
E-Commerce Platform Integration
As stated earlier, the plugin can be integrated with a number of WP-compatible e-commerce plugins such as WooCommerce, WP-eCommerce, Shopp, and Easy Digital Downloads …
(image source: plugin website)
And there you have it! Now you can go and easily add a currency converter 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)