SugarCalc

SugarCalc adds a blood glucose unit converter to any page or post on your WordPress site. Visitors enter their blood glucose reading and get an instant result in the other unit. All calculations happen in the browser. No reading ever leaves your visitor’s device.

The converter works with both mmol/L and mg/dL, the two units used in clinical practice worldwide. It follows published guidelines from the American Diabetes Association (ADA) and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in the UK. Visitors select their diabetes type and indicate how recently they have eaten. The plugin uses that context to interpret their reading and present an appropriate result.

Who is SugarCalc for?

SugarCalc suits any WordPress site where blood glucose information matters.

• Health information and awareness websites
• Diabetes support blogs and communities
• Healthcare practice websites
• Patient charity and advocacy sites
• Any site publishing clinical health content

Privacy by design

No reading, no value, and no visitor identifier ever leaves the browser. There is no server-side log of conversions. There are no analytics calls tied to a specific result. The converter works entirely with JavaScript running on your visitor’s own device.

Clinically grounded

The converter applies the standard mathematical relationship between mmol/L and mg/dL. The contextual result guidance follows current ADA and NICE thresholds for adults with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, accounting for meal timing.

Built for accessibility

SugarCalc is designed to WCAG 2.1 AA. The colour contrast of every scheme has been audited against it.

How to add it to a page

Place the [sugarcalc] shortcode in any page, post, or widget area. The converter appears where the shortcode sits. It works in the block editor, in the classic editor, and in most page builders.

What the free version includes

• mmol/L to mg/dL conversion
• mg/dL to mmol/L conversion
• ADA and NICE clinical thresholds for Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes
• Meal-timing context (within 2 hours, or more than 2 hours since the last meal)
• Minimal Mono colour scheme (clean black and white)
• Designed to WCAG 2.1 AA (colour contrast audited)
• No data collection from visitors
• Works offline once the page has loaded

SugarCalc Pro and SugarCalc Agency tiers

SugarCalc Pro and SugarCalc Agency add professional colour schemes (including dark themes), custom clinical information links, corner and line styling options, and control over the «Powered by SugarCalc» credit. See sugarcalc.com for the full comparison.

Third-party services

SugarCalc includes the Freemius SDK, which runs our optional opt-in programme and handles our sales and licensing. Freemius states it does not sell personal data.

Nothing is sent to Freemius unless you choose it. On first activation you will see a one-time prompt. If you click Skip, SugarCalc works in full and makes no connection to Freemius.

If you opt in, on that prompt or later from the Opt In link on the Plugins screen, Freemius receives your name and email address; basic website details (homepage URL and title, WordPress and PHP versions, site language); and the versions of SugarCalc and the Freemius SDK, and whether SugarCalc is active, deactivated or uninstalled. The opt-in screen also offers to share a list of your installed plugins and themes (names, versions and whether each is active). That option starts switched off, and nothing from it is sent unless you switch it on.

The Upgrade link opens the pricing section of sugarcalc.com in your browser. Viewing plans makes no connection from your site. Activating a licence connects to Freemius, because that is how licences are handled.

The SugarCalc converter itself sends no data anywhere, under any circumstances. Freemius never receives blood glucose readings or anything entered into the converter.

• Freemius Privacy Policy
• Freemius Terms of Service

The bundled Freemius SDK is open source. Its complete, non-minified source code — including the pricing-page application that ships here in compiled form — is available from the Freemius WordPress SDK and Freemius pricing-page repositories.

Credits

Icons from Font Awesome Free, licensed under CC BY 4.0.

1. Go to Plugins > Add New Plugin in your WordPress admin.
2. Click Upload Plugin, select the SugarCalc zip file, and click Install Now.
3. Click Activate Plugin.
4. Visit SugarCalc > Settings to review the default configuration.
5. Add [sugarcalc] as a shortcode to any page or post where you want the converter to appear.

You can also install by uploading the sugarcalc folder directly to /wp-content/plugins/ via FTP, then activating from the Plugins menu.

Requirements

• WordPress 6.0 or later
• PHP 8.2 or later
• JavaScript enabled in the visitor’s browser

What is the difference between the free and paid versions?

The free version includes the core blood glucose converter, the Minimal Mono colour scheme, and ADA and NICE clinical thresholds.

SugarCalc Pro adds five professional colour schemes and email support.

SugarCalc Agency adds six dark colour schemes, custom clinical information links (for hypoglycaemia, hyperglycaemia, ketoacidosis, and a general diabetes overview), corner and line styling, and control over the «Powered by SugarCalc» credit.

Please visit sugarcalc.com for the full comparison and current pricing.

Does SugarCalc collect or store my visitors’ blood glucose readings?

No. All conversions happen in the browser using JavaScript. No reading ever reaches a server. SugarCalc keeps no log of conversions and has no database of results.

The only thing the converter keeps is one flag in the visitor’s browser session (sessionStorage), which records that they have accepted the medical disclaimer so it isn’t shown again on every page. It contains no reading, and the browser deletes it when the tab is closed.

Does SugarCalc connect to any external servers?

The converter never does. No blood glucose reading, calculation or anything you type is transmitted anywhere.

The plugin contacts Freemius only when you choose to: by opting in, or by activating a licence. The Upgrade link opens sugarcalc.com in your browser. If you skip the opt-in, SugarCalc makes no external connections. See Third-party services above for exactly what opting in shares.

For more details please see:
* Freemius Privacy Policy
* Freemius Terms of Service

Is SugarCalc accessible?

SugarCalc is designed to WCAG 2.1 AA, and the colour contrast of every scheme has been audited against it.

Can I change the SugarCalc colours or style to match my brand?

The free version comes with our standard Minimal Mono theme, a clean black, grey, and white design. Additional colour schemes and styling controls are available in the paid tiers described above — please visit sugarcalc.com for details.

Does SugarCalc work on mobile phones?

Yes. The interface is responsive and works on phones and tablets of all sizes.

Does SugarCalc work with Elementor?

Yes. SugarCalc works with Elementor and other major WordPress page builders that support shortcodes. You can insert the converter using a simple shortcode.

How do I add the converter to a page?

Add [sugarcalc] as a shortcode to any page, post, or text widget. In the block editor, add a Shortcode block and type [sugarcalc] inside it. The converter will appear in place of the shortcode when the page loads.

Will SugarCalc slow my website down?

No. SugarCalc is very lightweight. SugarCalc loads its scripts and styles only on pages that include the [sugarcalc] shortcode. The converter front-end has zero external dependencies (no jQuery, no external API calls) and is built with modern, plain JavaScript. It makes no external CDN requests and no remote API calls during normal operation. The total asset footprint is very small.

What information does SugarCalc provide?

SugarCalc provides contextual, evidence-based information based on the entered reading. It covers scenarios such as hypoglycaemia, hyperglycaemia, and ketoacidosis.

SugarCalc always includes a clear disclaimer that it is an informational tool, not a replacement for professional medical advice.

What blood glucose guidelines does the plugin use?

The plugin applies thresholds from the ADA (American Diabetes Association) and NICE (the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence in the UK).

You can review the threshold values on our Blood Glucose Thresholds page.

The converter shows a medical disclaimer. What does that mean for my site?

SugarCalc displays a disclaimer stating that the tool provides general information only and is not medical advice. You should seek your own legal advice about the disclaimer wording for your jurisdiction and your specific audience.

Does SugarCalc offer support?

Yes. We offer email support on all SugarCalc Pro and SugarCalc Agency licences.

1.4.2

• Accessibility: the converter no longer marks itself as the page’s main content, so it sits correctly inside the theme’s own page structure.
• Accessibility: the «Waiting …» status in the results panel is no longer announced as a heading.
• Accessibility: screen readers now keep their normal reading keys inside the converter.
• Changed: the ketoacidosis result now says medical attention may be required, because a blood glucose reading alone cannot confirm ketoacidosis. Its advice is now shown in bold.

1.4.1

• Fixed: the converter now updates when a reading is pasted or autofilled, not only when it is typed.
• Fixed: a reading of zero or less, or above 50 mmol/L (900 mg/dL), now shows a prompt to check the number instead of a result. Readings below 2 or above 30 mmol/L show the result with a warning.
• Changed: clicking a reading field selects its value instead of clearing both fields.
• Changed: one converter is shown per page. Editors see a notice where a second one is placed.
• Fixed: the converter now fits the width the theme gives it. In narrow content columns it no longer squeezes three panels side by side.
• Privacy: removed the deactivation feedback form, so SugarCalc sends nothing to Freemius unless you opt in.
• Privacy: the optional plugins-and-themes list on the opt-in screen now starts switched off.
• Privacy: the Upgrade link now opens the pricing section of sugarcalc.com, and no longer loads a pricing page inside WordPress admin.
• Readme: corrected the description of what is shared with Freemius, the Pro colour-scheme count and the accessibility wording.

1.4.0

• WordPress.org compliance: paid features are no longer bundled in the free download — the free package now contains only free-version code, styles, and settings, and is fully self-contained. Removed the time-limited activation option. Renamed internal identifiers for uniqueness. Front-end and admin scripts are now fully enqueued rather than inline.
• Updated the bundled Freemius SDK to version 2.13.4.
• Removed the automatic favicon output; the plugin no longer adds any branding to the site front-end.

1.3.3

• Added a «Credit» setting: the «Powered by SugarCalc» credit beneath the converter is now opt-in, and off by default in the free version.

1.3.2

• Updated the bundled Freemius SDK to version 2.13.2.

1.3.1

• Fixed: returning visitors no longer see a brief flash of the medical disclaimer before the converter appears.
• Improved: clearer wording in the introduction panel describing where mmol/L and mg/dL are commonly used.

1.3.0

• Full panel text system: all converter content is now stored in the database and editable from the WordPress admin.
• Twelve built-in colour schemes added, including six dark themes (Agency).
• Blood glucose thresholds aligned to current ADA and NICE guidance.
• Custom clinical information links added (Agency): diabetes overview, hypoglycaemia, hyperglycaemia, and ketoacidosis.
• Corner and line styling options added (Agency).
• Credit control added (Agency).
• WCAG 2.1 AA colour-contrast audit completed across all colour schemes.
• Translation-ready: all user-facing strings are now wrapped for gettext.

1.2.0 — 2025-12-11

• Private beta release to test clients.
• Freemius licence management integrated.

1.1.0 — 2025-10-25

• Plugin feasibility test version.

1.0.0 — 2024-08-08

• Initial code version (non-plugin).