Try the Market Data Widget
Free for any site, including commercial ones. Keep the small credit line at the bottom of the widget so readers can find the full version. Nothing is stored about the people who use it. See the disclaimer.
How to add it to your site
- Copy the code above Use the copy button so nothing is lost to line wrapping. It is a single iframe tag and it does not need anything else.
- Open the page you want it on In WordPress add a Custom HTML block, in Wix use the Embed HTML element, in Squarespace use a Code block, and on a hand-built site paste it straight into your HTML.
- Paste and publish The widget appears immediately. If you see an empty space instead, your editor has stripped the iframe tag, which the HTML embed guide explains how to work around.
- Adjust the look if you want to Add the parameters in the table below to the iframe URL to change the theme, the accent colour or the height. Nothing needs to be configured on our side.
Customisation options
| Parameter | Values | What it does |
|---|---|---|
theme | auto, light, dark | Default follows the reader's own system setting, so the widget looks right on a dark site and a light one without you choosing. |
accent | Six hex digits, e.g. accent=1A56DB | Recolours the header bar and the primary button to match your brand. |
header | 1 or 0 | Set to 0 to hide the title bar when your page already has a heading above the widget. |
breakdown | 1 or 0 | Set to 0 to hide the calculation breakdown for a more compact block. |
corners | 1 or 0 | Set to 0 for square corners if your design has no rounding anywhere else. |
width | full | Removes the 520px maximum so the widget stretches to its container. |
Parameters are added to the iframe URL as a normal query string, for example
/embed/position-size-calculator.html?theme=dark&accent=1A56DB&header=0. The
widget builder lets you set all of them visually and hands you the finished code.
What the widget calculates
For each pair the widget shows the current reference level and the percentage change over roughly thirty days, derived from daily closes. Rises and falls are signed and colour-coded, with the sign carrying the meaning so colour is never the only cue.
The basket figure at the top inverts each rand pair so that a positive number always means a stronger rand, which avoids the common confusion where USD/ZAR falling is good news for the rand but looks like a decline on a chart.
Who this widget suits
Business and financial news
A market summary block that is about your readers' currency rather than someone else's index.
Economics and policy blogs
Thirty-day framing suits commentary better than a live tick, because it matches the timescale of the argument.
Investor relations and country pages
A neutral, ad-free snapshot of currency conditions that needs no maintenance.
Related widgets
- Forex Rates WidgetForex Rates
- Live Forex Quotes WidgetLive Forex Quotes
- Trading Chart WidgetTrading Chart
- Economic Calendar WidgetEconomic Calendar
The full library of free trading widgets has more than eighty tools, and the widget builder lets you preview and configure any of them before you copy the code.
Frequently asked questions
What exactly is the rand basket figure?
It is the average thirty-day percentage move of the rand against six currencies, weighted equally, calculated in your reader's browser from daily closing reference rates. A positive number means the rand strengthened on average over that period.
It is not an official index and the widget does not claim it is. Trade-weighted indices published by the SARB use actual trade weights and a different methodology, and will not match this figure exactly.
Why thirty days rather than today's move?
A single day's move in a currency is mostly noise, and a widget that headlines it invites readers to draw conclusions from nothing. Thirty days is long enough to reflect a genuine shift and short enough to still be current. If you want the daily change instead, the live quotes widget shows that.
Does it include JSE indices or commodities?
No. JSE index data is licensed by the exchange and cannot be redistributed in a free widget, and free commodity price sources are not reliable enough to put on someone else's site. The widget covers currencies, where genuinely free and dependable reference data exists.
How current is the data?
It is based on daily closing reference rates, with the date of the most recent close shown under the table. It is a market summary rather than a live feed, which is the right resolution for a thirty-day view.
Can I embed just the basket number without the table?
Not as a separate parameter at present. Hiding the title bar with header=0 and setting a fixed height will crop the widget in most layouts, though the cleaner option is to use the full widget in a sidebar where the table has room.