WordPress shortcode plugins are a cool way of extending WordPress’ functionality and literally do amazing things with minimal effort inside WordPress. In a nutshell, shortcode plugins let you create placeholders for convoluted pieces of code or features that can then be easily added inside your content inside the WordPress editor.
There are shortcodes for everything from custom buttons, content boxes, menu, forms popovers, accordions, and many more. The sky’s the limit.
Instead of physically copying and pasting lines of HTML and PHP codes into the WYSIWYG editor, they let you add that functionality with a short, succinct code anywhere in your blog posts, pages, and sometimes even inside widgets. All without the risk of wreaking havoc inside the WordPress editor.
Here is a list of the 6 best WordPress Shortcodes Plugins in 2023, some free while others commercial.
Shortcodes Ultimate (Free Plugin)
With more than 700,000+ installation this is the most popular shortcode plugin for WordPress. It supports over 50 beautiful shortcodes that work with every theme, post editor, text widget, or even in the template files. Using it, you can create tabs, buttons, boxes, sliders and carousels, and responsive Youtube videos.
I’m using this plugin for everything from adding columns, call to action buttons, to responsive Youtube videos. You can see all of this on this page on my site for example:
Ultimate Shortcode Example
One highlight feature is its custom widget generator to turn anything into a widget. It has some premium add-ons for those that need even more features, such as Extra Shortcodes, Skins, and Shortcode Creator (allows you to create your own).
Short Coder (Free Plugin)
With 30,000+ installation, Short Coder is growing rapidly. It allows you to create your own and store HTML, Javascript and other snippets in it. Short coder comes with visual editor for adding contents. To create a shortcode, just give it a name, paste the HTML/Javascript you wish to display as content and Save. Lastly, insert it [sc name=”my_shortcode”] in your post or page.
Custom Content Shortcode (Free Plugin)
It can be thought of as Shortcodes on steroids. Instead of just displaying short snippets of code, you can use it to show entire pages, posts, menus, or widgets anywhere else inside your theme or posts.
The loop feature, for example, lets you do things like store the 5 most recent posts or 4 most popular products on your site, then display that info anywhere else on your site. Think of it as creating custom templates within WordPress that can be reused with ease. Love it!
Column Shortcodes (Free Plugin)
Have you ever wanted to add columns inside the WordPress editor to present your content in a more interesting way? It was built just for that. It offers a diverse range of layout options to choose from. You can select different columns like one-third, two-thirds, one-fourth, one-sixth. And it’s free.
Vision (Premium)
Vision is one of the versatile WordPress shortcode plugins out there, though for that it comes at a cost ($25). It comes with over 100 shortcodes that together let you put together a stunning design in no time.
Some of the shortcodes supported are the call to action buttons, lightboxes, graphs, counters, pricing boxes, and much more.
Supreme (Premium Plugin)
Supreme is another awesome premium WordPress Shortcodes plugin. With the help of this plugin, you can make responsive rows and columns inside your content with ease. Add lines and dividers, animated elements such as 3D Buttons, Modals and Popovers, and pretty much anything needed for today’s modern web presentation. There is a live demo of every shortcode for you to test out before you take the plunge.
Final Words
They are the easiest way to add functionality to your WordPress content. As you can see, there are plenty of free shortcode plugins, and when you need even more features, premium ones to fill the gap. Which one is your favorite? Let us know in the comment section below.
