Making a wordpress shortcode reusable

Question

I have created a wordpress shortcode which outputs a form. The following is my shortcode

function testcode(){
   echo "<h1>TEST</h1>";
}

add_shortcode("test-code","testcode");

What i want is to be able to include the <h1>Test</h1> in a file such that users who want to override the shorcode can simply create a new file.

So something like

  function testcode(){
      //load html from a a file like templates/test.php
  }
 add_shortcode("test-code","testcode");

How do i proceed to make this reusable and extendable?

which users do you mean would be able to simply create a new file? — gael
– gael, Commented Apr 1, 2020 at 8:21
@gael the above code is located in a plugin and i would like for plugin users to have the capbility to override the file by simply creating a folder with the file in it. — Geoff
– Geoff, Commented Apr 1, 2020 at 8:52

Sagar Bahadur Tamang · Accepted Answer · 2025-08-08 14:34:01Z

2

you can add a file parameter to the shortcodeload a separate file.

function testcode( $atts = [], $content = null, $tag = '' ){
     // normalize attribute keys, lowercase
     $atts = array_change_key_case((array)$atts, CASE_LOWER);
 
     // override default attributes with user attributes
     $atts = shortcode_atts(
        [
            'file' => 'default.php',
        ],
        $atts, 
        $tag
    );
    ob_start();
    
        $contents = '';

    // echo "/some/path/{$atts['file']}";
        if ( str_ends_with( $atts['file'], '.php' ) {
            require "/some/path/{$atts['file']}";
            $contents = ob_get_contents();
            ob_end_clean();
    }

        return $contents;
    
}
add_shortcode("test-code","testcode");

echo do_shortcode( '[test-code file="sagar"] ');

Reference: https://developer.wordpress.org/plugins/shortcodes/shortcodes-with-parameters/ https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/do_shortcode/

edited Aug 8 at 14:34

answered Apr 1, 2020 at 8:24

Sagar Bahadur Tamang

2,7293 gold badges28 silver badges41 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

5 Comments

Geoff Over a year ago

Including it via require "/some/path/{$atts['file']}"; limits users from overriding the template. My shortcode is located in a plugin and i want users to be able to overide this in the theme later by creating a folder with a specific name and the file which should automatically override it.

Sagar Bahadur Tamang Over a year ago

@Geoff Then what you are seeking is the template override functionality similar to WooCommerce. Then you need to implement 3 functions similar to WooCommerce, they are wc_get_template_part, wc_get_template and wc_locate_template. You can find those functions here github.com/woocommerce/woocommerce/blob/master/includes/…

Sagar Bahadur Tamang Over a year ago

@Geoff Let me know if you have any problem.

Ramon Fincken Feb 14 at 11:52

A word of warning .. This code will require/include ANY valid file. Even none-PHP files. It might be better to have an allowlist of paths / files and/or use basename and also do a check ( if file_exists ) first.

Sagar Bahadur Tamang Aug 8 at 14:34

Thanks for the suggestion, updated the code.

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Making a wordpress shortcode reusable

1 Answer 1

5 Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

1 Answer 1

5 Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related