# Arock Shortcodes — free WordPress plugin

> Seven ready-made shortcodes: [year], today's date, site name, page title, last updated, reading time and WooCommerce product count. Works with any theme.

Source: https://dcarock.com/plugins/arock-shortcodes

- Type: free WordPress plugin
- Price: free (GPL-2.0)
- Version: 1.0.0
- Requires: WordPress 6.0+, PHP 7.4+
- Download: https://dcarock.com/plugins/arock-shortcodes

## What it does

Small shortcodes for the bits of text that **should never go stale**: the year in your footer, today's date, when a page was last updated, how long it takes to read, and how many products your store has. Type one *anywhere shortcodes work* and it fills itself in.

 
 
- **[year]:** keeps your "© 2026" footer up to date, *in your site's timezone*. 
- **[current_date]:** shows today's date, in your site's format or *any format you like*. 
- **[site_name]:** prints your site title. 
- **[page_title]:** prints the title of the page it's on. 
- **[last_updated]:** shows *when the page was last edited*. 
- **[reading_time]:** shows "3 min read" and *ignores WPBakery code* when counting words. 
- **[wc_product_count]:** shows how many products your store has, optionally *by category* and without hidden products. 
- **Cached counts:** product counts are cached and *refresh by themselves* when products change. 
- **Settings page:** Settings › Shortcodes lists them all with a live example; *click one to copy it*. 
- **Switch off:** turn off any shortcode you don't need. 
- **Safe:** never overrides a shortcode your theme or another plugin already uses, and *tells you when that happens*. 
- **Replaces old plugins:** includes the old "Current Year Shortcode" and "WooCommerce Product Count Shortcode" plugins, with the *same shortcodes and options*.

## Setup

1. **Install & Activate it.** In WordPress go to Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin, choose the .zip and click Install Now, then Activate. Coming from the old Current Year Shortcode or Product Count plugin? Deactivate it first.
2. **Copy a shortcode.** Go to Settings › Shortcodes and click the shortcode you want; it's copied.
3. **Paste it anywhere.** Use it in a page, post, footer widget, Shortcode block or page builder text block.

## Frequently asked questions

### I used the old Current Year Shortcode. Will [year] keep working?

Yes. [year] works the same way and follows your site’s timezone. If the old plugin is still active, this one waits until you deactivate it, so nothing runs twice.

### Do I need WooCommerce?

Only for [wc_product_count]. All other shortcodes work on any WordPress site.

### Does it work with my theme and page builder?

Yes. It works anywhere WordPress runs shortcodes: posts, pages, the Shortcode block, text widgets and page builders like WPBakery.

### Does it work with page caching?

Yes. Cached pages show the value from when they were cached, so clear your cache after big product changes, and once in January for [year].

### Is it really free?

Yes. Free forever, no sign-up, no ads, and it doesn't track you.

### What happens to my data when I delete the plugin?

Your settings are kept, because Arock Toolkit and other versions of this plugin share them. Your pages are never changed.

## Changelog

- **1.0.0** (2026-11-14): - First release.; - Includes the old Current Year Shortcode and WooCommerce Product Count Shortcode plugins.