One of the innovations in WordPress 2.5 that remains rather inconspicuous compared to the equally acclaimed and spontaneously rejected administration interface is the Shortcode API. With this, WordPress has introduced a procedure, familiar from other CMSs, that allows authors to access complex functions directly from the body of a post using a simple “shortcode”. To do this, simply enter the desired function in the text, enclosed in square brackets.

The first and only shortcode so far is [gallery], which calls the new gallery function. In general, shortcodes are identified by square brackets containing a unique function identifier. Additional information is included in the shortcode via additional options: [gallery size="medium" columns="4"]. The options that shortcodes “understand” are determined by the creator of the function during programming. Shortcodes can be either self-closing ([foo bar="baz"]) or enclosing ([foo bar="baz"]lorem ipsum[/foo]).

Anyone who has worked with Textpattern CMS will immediately recognise the way the Textpattern tags work. No wonder, as the design and programming of the shortcode API was largely done by Alex Shiels, a former Textpattern developer.

Alex has abandoned the XML-based syntax of the Textpattern tags <txp:foo bar="baz" />. The author must therefore avoid collisions between terms in square brackets simply placed in the middle of the text and a shortcode with the same wording, for example, if he wants to write about the shortcode [gallery] and not include a gallery in the article.

I asked Alex about possible workarounds, and was advised to use the numeric HTML entities instead of the square brackets for “normal” text:

Escaping shortcodes: good question. [gallery] works. We need a better way. - Alex Shiels

Attention: The numeric entities can only be entered in the HTML editor and will not survive a switch from the HTML editor to the visual editor.

So it looks like WordPress 2.5.1 (or whatever the next maintenance release is called) will bring an escaping mechanism for shortcodes. In the future, template designers should also be able to enjoy shortcodes - after all, working with PHP is not everyone’s cup of tea…