How-to Use Shortcodes

bydefytr

176 followers

9 years ago

I thought I'd share this page I'm working on. Any correcting comments are welcomed and encouraged. Also, if you know how I can get those screen shots to appear bigger, please let me know...

You install and activate a plugin in WordPress… So far, so good…

1. You need to create pages for the pages it will use… You can hide those pages from the main menu by using a plugin that hides the pages, such as (insert name of plugin).
2. The shortcode must be copied and pasted… INCLUDING the [ ] brackets… NOT in the visual tab of your WP page editor… NOT in the HTML tab within the html code…
3. SELECT THE TEXT TAB in your WP editor and copy and paste the shortcode directly onto the page, as if you were writing content for the text page… INCLUDING the [ ] brackets…
4. This is for BOTH full program plugins, such as forums, classified ad sites, membership sites, etc…. AND any corresponding widgets you may have to install to work in tandem with the main program…
5. Some widgets don’t require full pages, but allow for you to use a POST from your blog… Just put the shortcode wherever they tell you to, whether on a post page or on a menu page…
6. Some programs will require you to name the TITLE of the page or post specifically, IN ADDITION to copying and pasting the shortcode, with brackets included, into the content section, while within the text tab…
7. Whether or not any plugin will configurate with your THEME is a crapshoot… Some will… Some won’t… But, if you insert your shortcodes CORRECTLY, then you will know whether you have a problem with theme or WP version COMPATABILITY… There’s nothing wrong with the shortcode!
8. Shortcodes were invented so you could BYPASS PROGRAMMIMG DIRECTLY INTO THE CODE, so, don’t tinker with the code under the html tab, if you don’t know html…

And for goodness sakes, don’t try to get the shortcodes to work by copying and pasting into the content body while under the VISUAL tab…