AC's Loan Plugin Calculator

A Free Calculator for WordPress Websites and Blogs

Updated November 2024 v1.5.4.3


  Original Size  
Use these shortcodes in the page's content editor for above result:
[fcloanplugin sc_size="medium" sc_custom_style="No" sc_add_link="Yes" sc_brand_name="Karl's" sc_hide_resize="no" sc_loan_amt="305000" sc_n_months="360" sc_rate="5.25"]

This plugin is also available for download at WordPress.org

The FC Loan Calculator WordPress Plugin is based on and uses the code from the very popular Loan Calculator. The plugin solves for the monthly payment amount and it creates an amortization schedule and charts. Your site visitors can select their own currency and date convention which is ideal if the host site attracts visitors from around the globe. The website or blog owner can select from four predefined sizes or modify a CSS file to customize both size and colors.

Rebranding with your site's brand name is supported and encouraged.

The plugin may be

  1. used in a post or page's content area via a shortcode; or
  2. used in a sidebar widget area; or
  3. called from any template file.

New Plus version

Sites are encouraged to install the free, enhanced AC Loan Calculator Plus v2.0 with a printable payment schedule and dozens of additional configuration and styling options. (free, for now, with citation)


Installation

  1. Either
    1. upload the fc-loan-calculator folder with all its files to the /wp-content/plugins/; or
    2. unzip the plugin's zip file in the /wp-content/plugins/  folder.
  2. Activate the plugin through the Plugins Installed Plugins menu in WordPress

Upgrading: If you've translated the plugin from English to another language, please backup your work prior to upgrading the plugin.

Usage

There are 3 mutually exclusive ways you can deploy the calculator to an individual page (though you can use all three methods on different pages within a site):

  1. Add the shortcode [fcloanplugin] in the content area of your page or post and configure shortcode parameters.
  2. Add the following code to your template where you want the calculator to appear.
    • <?php show_fcloan_plugin(); ?>
  3. If you are using widgets, just add the plugin to the sidebar through the Appearance Widgets menu in WordPress. Be sure to click Save.

Shortcode parameters

  • sc_size= "tiny" | "small" | "medium" | "large"
  • sc_custom_style= "No" | "Yes"
  • sc_add_link= "Yes" | "No"
  • sc_brand_name=
  • sc_hide_resize= "No" | "Yes"
  • sc_loan_amt=
  • sc_n_months=
  • sc_rate=
  • sc_currency=
  • sc_date_mask=

Shortcode Examples:

Copy and paste to page's or post's content area.

First example includes all options.

[fcloanplugin sc_size= "tiny" sc_custom_style= "No" sc_add_link= "Yes" sc_brand_name= "Best's Auto" sc_hide_resize= "Yes" sc_loan_amt= "30000" sc_n_months= "60" sc_rate= "5.5" sc_currency="83" sc_date_mask="2"]
[fcloanplugin sc_size="small" sc_custom_style="Yes" sc_hide_resize="Yes" sc_currency="83" sc_date_mask="2"]
[fcloanplugin sc_custom_style="No" sc_add_link="Yes" sc_brand_name="Friendly Mortgage" sc_hide_resize="Yes" sc_loan_amt="30000" sc_n_months="60" sc_rate="5.5"]

Optional array parameter passed to
show_fcloan_plugin()

This can be copied and pasted to a template part.

Valid values for options are the same as the shortcode above.

<?php show_fcloan_plugin(array( 'op_size' => "medium", 'op_custom_style' => "No", 'op_add_link' => "Yes", 'op_brand_name' => "", 'op_hide_resize' => "No", 'op_loan_amt' => "32500.0", 'op_n_months' => "48", 'op_rate' => "5.5", 'op_currency' => "999", 'op_date_mask' => "999")); ?>
Notes:
  1. If you want to add your brand to the calculator, the add link option must be set to "Yes".
  2. When branding, your brand name will be added before "Loan Calculator".
  3. If custom style is set to "Yes", the plugin will load fin-calc-widgets-custom.css located in the plugin's CSS folder. If you set the option to "Yes" without making any changes, the calculator will change to a horrendous red which indicates the custom css is being used.
  4. The plugin is built and tested on HTML5/CSS3 pages.
  5. max-width: large: 440px, medium: 340px, small: 290px, tiny: 150px
  6. New: Website developers can set a default currency sign and preferred date format by setting <op /sc>_currency and <op /sc>_date_mask respectively. Set one or both to an integer value. For the list of integers to support 90 plus currency symbols and 6 date format options, see the file currency_and_date_conventions.txt in the plugin's root folder. (example: India, Indian Rupee: ₹1,23,45,678.99 = 83)
Enhanced Internationalization

New: Support for over 90 currency signs (using appropriate nummber formatting conventions) and 6 date formats (mm/dd/yyyy, dd/mm/yyyy, yyyy.mm.dd etc.). If neither the website developer or the user makes a selection, the calculator will read the browser's default currency and date options and automatically use them. Without doing anything, a website visitor from Japan visiting a website hosted in France will initially see a floating yen sign. The website developer can easily override this default behavior by setting either shortcodes or function options. The user (if the website designer keeps the feature enabled) can override both and select a currency and date format.

To summarize, the plugin determines what currency symbol (and date format) to use by applying the following rules:
  1. If a website allows a user to select a symbol, and the user makes a selection, the plugin uses the visitor's choice first.
  2. Otherwise, if a user has not made a selection, and the website owner has set a default currency (i.e., currency does not equal 999), the calculator uses the website's selection.
  3. Otherwise, the calculator plugin will attempt to read the browser's currency default and pick a currency symbol.
  4. Otherwise, the plugin defaults to using the '$' symbol.
Language Translations

New in v1.5, support for 14 languages in addition to English. The plugin also includes a translation template file (.POT) in the "languages" folder. Using a POT/PO file editor, website owners can translate this plugin to any language supported by WordPress.

The supported languages are:

  • da : Danish : Dansk
  • nl : Dutch : Nederlandse
  • fi : Finnish : Suomalainen
  • fr : French : Français
  • de : German : Deutsch
  • hu : Hungarian : Magyar
  • it : Italian : Italiano
  • lt : Lithuanian : Lietuvių
  • pl : Polish : Polski
  • pt : Portuguese : Português
  • ro : Romanian : Românesc
  • ru : Russian : Русский
  • es : Spanish : Español
  • sv : Swedish : Svenska

Notes: (1) The plugin depends on the site's "Site Language" setting to display to your visitors the correct language. The files in the language folder can be renamed if needed. For example, if you want the plug to display in Portuguese the .MO and .JSON files include assume your site's language setting is Portuguese (Portugal) which is local pt_PT. But if your site is in Brazil, you'll need to rename the plugin's language files to use pt_BR. (2) At this time, these translations were computer generated. A fluent speaker can edit the included .PO file and regenerate the .MO file to update the tranlation. (3) If you are willing to allow me to include your edits with the plugin, I'll regenerate the .MO, and if needed the .JSON files for you.

I am making the other calculators available free-of-charge to bloggers who are able to help with translation. See this page for details.

Screenshots

loan calculator plugin for WordPress
Two of the predefined screen sizes showing relative difference between "large" and "tiny".
auto loan amortization schedule
Example loan schedule with detailed header and payment due dates.
charts created by loan calculator plugin
Creates three charts for visualization.
WordPress option page for loan calculator plugin
Configuration screen in WordPress's admin area
(only for when installing in a sidebar area).

Need Support?

I'm happy to offer support for all my plugins. If you have a question or face an issue, please go to the WordPress plugin's support forum and leave your question.

Please specify if you are using the original plugin or the "Plus" plugin. Also, if possible, please provide a link to a page where you have installed the plugin. Providing a link to the page where the issue occurs may help me to resolve it faster.

19 Comments on “Loan Plugin”

Join the conversation. Tell me what you think.
  • Trying to use FC Auto Loan Calculator http://cjinternationalcars.com/inventory
    Here is the shortcode I used

    [fcautoloanplugin sc_size= "large" sc_custom_style= "No" sc_add_link= "Yes" sc_brand_name= "CJ International Cars" sc_hide_resize= "Yes" sc_price= "5.5" sc_dwn_pmt= "0" sc_loan_amt= "0" sc_n_months= "72" sc_rate= "0" sc_currency="1" sc_date_mask="2"]

    My issue is with sc rate = “5.5”

    When looking at the calculator on the website it adds 4 zeros after 5.5 making the interest 50000% I have tried .05 but no matter what I do it puts a comma in and charges 50,000%. It is not even putting the comma in the correct place.

    I have tried copying and pasting the example short code above and it give the same result.

    I Looked around in the dashboard and I don’t not see any plugin settings, just the short codes I found here.

    What am I missing?

    • What country currency convention do you want to use? Per the contents of the "currency_and_date_conventions.txt" file, located in the plugin’s folder, I do not see 1 as a valid country code.

      If you are in Everett, WA, then you want the U.S. code which is "48"

      As it is set now, the comma is the decimal character, and when you see 5,5000, that is 5.5%.

  • Hi. Is it possible to add email option for person whos calculating to send this as an email to admin?

    • Hello, I have no plans to add such a feature. However, the plugin includes all the source code. Another programmer could add an email feature.

  • Hi! Is it possible to add more than one calculator to a page? Thanks!

    • It is possible to add more than one plugin to a page if they are different calculators.

      You cannot add multiples of the same calculator to a page.

  • Karl,

    I’m the one that is having issues printing the calculator posted on the plugin’s WordPress support page.

    Per your suggestion, I removed all custom styles, and it still won’t print. Even if I use the browser’s print function to print the page, the page is still blank. If I remove the calculator from the page, the page prints fine.

    Thanks!

    • Thanks for posting here.

      Pretty strange. As you can see if you try the plugin installed on this page, printing does work. There has to be an incompatibility with your theme.

      Let’s see if we can figure it out.

      In the plugin’s folder, there’s a CSS folder which contain these 2 files:

      printer.widget.css
      printer.widget.min.css

      please rename them to anything you like. Then reload the page and try the print feature by clicking on the print button.

      Do you see anything?

      • Well, we’re getting closer. Now, it prints the entire page. So, apparently there’s some kind of conflict somewhere in those css files.

        • I was trying to figure out what the problem is, and just on a hunch, I did a hard refresh of your page and I see that you’ve made some changes.

          The calculator is wider, and the print feature, for me, works perfectly.

          Do you agree?

          • I did some experimenting, and it had nothing to do with the css changes I made, so I added them back in. This sounds strange, but I had to add a div with 1px height at the bottom of the content and added css to give it top padding of 565px for print. Any less than that and it starts cutting off the bottom of the calculator. The less the padding the more it cuts off until it just doesn’t show up. It’s hacky, but it works for some reason.

            There is still some sort of print css conflict with the plugin and my theme (Flatsome) that you might want to look into.

  • wait these calculator widgets are free??

  • Hello, I would like to make a small modification to pass it into Spanish, so I live in the Dominican Republic and I see the code, but I don’t see where I can do it, thanks

    • Hi, are you familiar with PO files? You need a PO editor (there are some free ones on the internet). Edit the PO file as needed and regenerate the MO file.

      PO files are located in the plugin’s folder in the ‘languages’ subfolder.

      Do you currently see the plugin in Spanish and you just need to correct a few of the computer-generated translations?

      In the same folder, see the file, languages.txt, for some additional details

  • Hello,

    I’m using this shortcode: [fcloanplugin]

    I would like to ask if there is any way to remove the “.00” at the end of the amount?

    For example: $32,500.00 –> I just want to show $32,500

    Thank you!

    • Not easily. However, the plugin is shipped with all source code. If you are a programmer or have a programmer working on the site, they should be able to make the necessary modification to the display code to show the numbers without the decimal.

      • Okay I see.
        Could you let me what is the position where should I fixed?

        ( e.g. I need to fix in the plugin, or the funtion php from the theme)

        • There’s not going to be just one place. For example, you need to find the place in the JavaScript code that initializes the plugin – shows the values to the users. You need to find the place that returns the calculated results. You’ll also need to modify the JavaScript code that creates the payment schedule. Once you’ve modified the code, you’ll need to use the Google Closure Compiler to rebuild the minified code. These steps are well beyond the support that I am prepared to provide.

Comments are closed.