One of the most powerful features of WordPress is Shortcodes which makes a difficult task much easier. With shortcodes, you can do anything that you want. With the help of WordPress shortcodes, it is possible to add an interactive element or develop a complex page layout in just a single line of code.
For example if you are looking to add gallery you will just need to add the following code
[gallery ids="34 ,65, 85, 73, 46, 68, 79, 90" columns="4" size="medium"]
By adding this shortcode you will get the output by appearing gallery with the mentioned ID images. The maximum size will be medium with 4 different columns. Thus you will not require to deal with ugly or complex HTML code.
Even if you have no expertise in programming skills then also you can easily add dynamic content on your website very easily. Different kinds of dynamic content that can be added to your website are image galleries, event calendars, players for podcasts, changing statistics for particular data.
Shortcode format
Shortcodes make a use of square brackets tags i.e. []. It can have different formats some of them are listed below
[shortcode]
[shortcode]add text here[/shortcode]
[shortcode]<a href="http://yourwebsite.com/">HTML content</a>[/shortcode]
[shortcode]add text here [another-shotcode] add some more text [/shortcode]
Different format of shortcodes with attributes are
[gallery id="456" size="medium"]
[recent-posts posts="7"]
[recent-posts posts="7"]heading of a posts[/recent-posts]
Some build in shortcodes is available in WordPress. Some of them are
- [audio]
Permit you to add audio files
- [caption]
Permit you to cover caption near content
- [gallery]
Permit you to add more than one image galleries to your pages and posts
- [embed]
Permit you to cover items with max height and width
- [playlist]
Add functionality of showcasing a group of WordPress video and audio files.
- [video]
permit you to add video files
Add paragraph text here.
Themes and plugins shortcodes
WordPress professional themes and plugins come with plenty of shortcodes that can be added to your website's page or post editor to display the output on the front end. The number of plugins and themes are still utilizing the features of shortcodes.
For example, most of the shortcodes are used in plugins to pull quotes, display calendars, tables, memberships, forms, countdown timers, etc. Even there is a shortcode plugin that can be used to create shortcodes for different functionalities.
Custom shortcodes
In WordPress, it is possible to create your own shortcodes to perform different tasks. For example, one can use custom shortcodes to create columns on your WordPress website.
The WordPress Shortcode API
You can utilize the features of a simple set of functions that are provided by the WordPress shortcode API for creating shortcodes for pages and posts.
A plugin developer creates dynamic content with the help of shortcode API so that users can easily add posts and pages by just adding shortcode into the desired area.
There are more things to learn about the WordPress shortcode API. Some of them are mentioned below
- Output
- Function reference
- Handling attributes
- Formal syntax
- Limitations
- Self-closing vs enclosing shortcodes
The new shortcode block
Before block editor, in the page editor, or into the page the shortcodes were added directly. But now WordPress block editor is included with the new shortcode block.
This feature makes handy to use legacy shortcodes with pages an posts
Suppose your paragraph block is not working while inserting shortcodes at this time you require to add a shortcode block. By clicking on the add block button, it is easy to add shortcode blocks to posts and pages.
The decision for WordPress shortcodes
WordPress shortcodes are and will be considered as one of the most crucial aspects of WordPress. With the help of shortcodes most of the developers are capable of creating user friendly plugin and professional WordPress themes. With the proper use of shortcodes it also reduce the burden of content creator and owners by creating custom shortcodes.
