How to Create Your Own Dynamic Elementor Shortcodes in WordPress

Hey there! So, you’ve been working on your WordPress site and realized you want an easy way to drop in some dynamic content—like a custom message, a CTA, or maybe a list of recent posts—wherever you want on your site. That’s where WordPress shortcodes come in. And guess what? They’re super simple to create.

What Are Shortcodes?

In case you’re new to this, shortcodes are little placeholders in square brackets—like [my_shortcode]—that you can pop into posts, pages, or widgets. When WordPress sees that, it swaps in some content or functionality. It’s like a shortcut (see what I did there?) to add something dynamic without touching code on every single page.

How to Create a Custom Shortcode

We’re going to write a tiny bit of PHP for this, but don’t worry—it’s painless. You can add this to your theme’s functions.php file or, if you want to keep things organized (highly recommended), create a custom plugin.

Here’s an example of a basic shortcode that outputs a friendly message:

// Add this to your functions.php or a custom plugin
function my_greeting_shortcode() {
return 'Hey there! Welcome to my WordPress site.';
}
add_shortcode('greeting', 'my_greeting_shortcode');

That’s it! Now, if you type [greeting] anywhere in your site, it’ll show: “Hey there! Welcome to my WordPress site.”

Let’s Make It Dynamic

Static text is cool and all, but what if you want something a little smarter? Let’s say you want to show today’s date. We can tweak the function to make it dynamic:

function my_date_shortcode() {
return 'Today’s date is: ' . date('F j, Y');
}
add_shortcode('todays_date', 'my_date_shortcode');

Now, when you use [todays_date], it’ll output something like “Today’s date is: January 24, 2025.” Boom—dynamic content.

Shortcodes with Parameters

Alright, so maybe you want even more flexibility. Shortcodes can take parameters (like arguments in a function). Let’s create a shortcode that outputs a custom greeting based on a name you pass in:

function custom_greeting_shortcode($atts) { 
  $attributes = shortcode_atts([
    'name' => 'friend', 
  ], $atts); 

  return 'Hello, ' . esc_html($attributes['name']) . '! Welcome to our site.'; 
} 
add_shortcode('custom_greeting', 'custom_greeting_shortcode');

Now, you can use [custom_greeting name="Alice"] to output: “Hello, Alice! Welcome to our site.” If you don’t pass a name, it defaults to “friend.” Pretty slick, right?

Using Shortcodes to Output HTML

Need something more complex, like custom HTML or even a list of posts? Shortcodes can handle that too! Here’s an example of a shortcode that outputs the titles of your latest posts in a list:

function latest_posts_shortcode($atts) {
  $attributes = shortcode_atts([
    'count' => 5,
  ], $atts);

  $query = new WP_Query([
    'post_type' => 'post',
    'posts_per_page' => intval($attributes['count']),
  ]);

  if ($query->have_posts()) {
    $output = '<ul>';
    while ($query->have_posts()) {
      $query->the_post();
      $output .= '<li><a href="' . get_permalink() . '">' . get_the_title() . '</a></li>';
    }
    $output .= '</ul>';
    wp_reset_postdata();
    return $output;
  } else {
    return 'No posts found.';
  }
}
add_shortcode('latest_posts', 'latest_posts_shortcode');

Now, if you use [latest_posts count="3"], it’ll list the titles of the 3 most recent posts with links to each.

A Quick Note on Shortcode Security

Whenever you’re outputting user-generated content or working with dynamic data, you’ll want to sanitize everything. Use functions like esc_html(), esc_url(), and intval() to keep things safe. Trust me, future-you will thank you for avoiding unnecessary headaches.

Testing Your Shortcodes

The easiest way to test your shortcodes is by adding them to a page or post in the block editor. Just drop it into a paragraph block like [greeting] or [custom_greeting name="Bob"] and preview the page. If everything’s working, you’re golden.

Take It to the Next Level

Once you’ve got the hang of shortcodes, you can:

Create Reusable Components: Use them for CTAs, custom widgets, or snippets you want to reuse across your site.
Combine with APIs: Pull in external data (like weather info or stock prices) and display it dynamically.
Build for Others: If you’re working with clients, shortcodes can make it easy for non-tech folks to drop in custom functionality.

That’s all there is to it! Shortcodes are like little WordPress superpowers—easy to create, endlessly flexible, and incredibly useful. Let me know if you try one out or need help tweaking a function!