One reason WordPress is special among other site builders and CMSes is its vast possibilities. You can turn your WordPress installation into virtually anything by changing the theme and adding necessary plugins. There are two options that you can choose regarding this customization: you can go with the free basic options or choose the rich-featured premium paid alternatives. But not many WordPress users know that there are free plugins they can use to add premium features to their site. One such plugin is Shortcodes Ultimate.
What Is Shortcodes Ultimate?
In its basic sense, Shortcodes Ultimate is a WordPress plugin that provides you with a large collection of shortcodes. For those who are unfamiliar with shortcodes, they are codes that you can insert virtually anywhere in your WordPress environment to enable certain functions. One example of shortcodes is the Typed Js that insert a typing effect into your text.
Imagine what you can do with your WordPress installation if you could add almost any function just by inserting a line of text. Using Shortcodes Ultimate you can easily create tabs, buttons, boxes, sliders, responsive videos, and more. This plugin is fully responsive, works with any theme, provides you with a shortcode generator, has a modern design, and is powered by the CSS3, to mention just a few of its features.
And if all the available shortcodes are not enough, you can opt for a paid upgrade to get more add-ons.
How to Use Shortcodes Ultimate
After installing the plugins from the WordPress plugins repository and activating it via the “Plugins -> Add New” menu on the sidebar, a new “Shortcodes” menu will appear on the sidebar.
This menu is where you can access Shortcodes Ultimate’s settings. You can learn more about the plugin, adjust the “Settings,” and customize your website design by modifying the CSS using “Custom CSS.”
To insert the shortcode into your post or pages, create a new post/page or edit one of the existing ones. You will find an additional tab called “Insert Shortcode.”
Click the tab to begin searching for an available shortcode that you can insert into your post/page. To find the one that you want faster, use the search bar at the top of the page. You can also narrow your search by filtering the list by type.
For example, if you’d like to insert a download button to your post, you can choose the button shortcode from the list. The button settings window will appear, and you can adjust all the elements of the button to your liking.
You can set the link to activate when the button is clicked, decide on the shape and color of the button, insert an icon on the button, and many more option. Choose “Live Preview” to see the final result while you’re editing your shortcode. And when you’re satisfied with it, you can click the “Insert Shortcode” button.
You will get the shortcode along with all the necessary description inserted into your post/page in one string similar to the following image.
Further Use of Shortcodes
The plugin provides users with more than a simple way to insert shortcodes. You can use shortcodes within shortcodes if you want to. For example, you can add several download buttons inside a nested spoilers box or maybe nested spoilers inside nested spoilers. For those who are not familiar with nested spoilers, they are a hidden content that will be revealed when you click on the title of the spoilers.
The final shortcodes would look like the following image.
Those who are familiar with HTML would find the structures of the shortcodes are similar to HTML codes and would pick up the pace in no time. Those who aren’t familiar with HTML can jumpstart their shortcodes building skills by using the ready-made examples and editing the content. You can find the examples under the “Shortcodes” sidebar menu. There are several “Basic” and “Advanced” examples that you can use.
There are vast options of elements that you can explore that are impossible to be squeezed in here. It’s better that you try the plugin yourself and make your discoveries.
In conclusion, the Shortcodes Ultimate plugin can help you insert many cool elements that are usually only available in premium paid WordPress themes and plugins. Some examples of these items are horizontal and vertical tabs, spoilers, accordions, anchors, columns, customized buttons, and animations. And everything is free and just a shortcode away.
What do you think of Shortcodes Ultimate? Share your thoughts and opinion in the comments below.
Jeffry Thurana is a creative writer living in Indonesia. He helps other writers and freelancers to earn more from their crafts. He’s on a quest of learning the art of storytelling, believing that how you tell a story is as important as the story itself. He is also an architect and a designer, and loves traveling and playing classical guitar.
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