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Shortcake (Shortcode UI) icon
Possibly abandoned Tested up to 5.0.29 #10 in shortcodes

Shortcake (Shortcode UI)

Used alongside add_shortcode, Shortcake supplies a user-friendly interface for adding a shortcode to a post, and viewing and editing it from within the content editor.

Active installs10K+10K+ tier
Downloads · 30d1.5K▲ +14.3% vs prev. 30d
Rating4.1/524 reviews
Health score43/100Fair
All-time downloads423.7KSince Mar 2015
Support resolved—No recent threads
RequiresWP 4.5PHP any
Downloads · 7d413▲ +23.3% week over week
Our verdict

Use with caution

Shortcake (Shortcode UI) works, but test it on a staging site before relying on it in 2026. It runs on 10K+ sites, is rated 4.1/5 and was last updated 8 years ago, and scores 43/100 on our health check.

  • Proven at scale on 10K+ active sites
  • No update in 7 years
  • Only tested up to WordPress 5.0 (latest is 7.1)

How does it stack up?

Side-by-side on installs, updates, ratings & support

Daily downloads

255075Jun 28Aug 11Sep 25
Yesterday73
Daily average (1y)45
Peak day177Apr 27, 2026
Last 12 months16.4K

Download spikes usually follow a new release — each site that auto-updates counts as a download.

Rankings

Where Shortcake (Shortcode UI) stands today

WordPress.org search rankings

Live position in the plugin search, top 100
KeywordPositionCompeting pluginsCategory
shortcodes >100 10,000 Best shortcodes plugins →

Version adoption

Share of active sites per release.

  • 0.799.4%
  • 0.60.57%

Rating breakdown

★★★★★★★★★★ 4.1 from 24 reviews

  • 5★66.7%
  • 4★12.5%
  • 3★0.00%
  • 2★4.2%
  • 1★16.7%

About Shortcake (Shortcode UI)

From the official readme · v0.7.4

Description

Used alongside add_shortcode, Shortcake supplies a user-friendly interface for adding a shortcode to a post, and viewing and editing it from within the content editor.

Once you’ve installed the plugin, you’ll need to register UI for your shortcodes. For inspiration, check out examples of Shortcake in the wild.

To report bugs or feature requests, please use Github issues.

Running tests

We have test coverage for PHP using PHPunit, and JavaScript using Jasmine.

Running tests locally

Jasmine tests can be run using grunt jasmine and are also run as part of the grunt scripts task. To update the core WordPress files used by the Jasmine test suite, run grunt updateJasmineCoreScripts --abspath="/path/to/wordpress-install".

Installation

Shortcake can be installed like any other WordPress plugin.

Once you’ve done so, you’ll need to register the UI for your code.

New in 0.4.0 is the ability to attach javascript functions to event attribute updates. Action hooks can be used to dynamically show or hide a field based on the value of another, or to implement custom validation rules.

Changelog

We've removed the compatibility shim for the placeholder attribute argument. You should register a placeholder for your field using the meta argument.

0.7.4 (January 16, 2019)

  • Block editor compatability: prevent templates from being output before the document head, which forced the browser into quirksmode, breaking some CSS styles in the block editor.
  • Bug fix: the above bugfix.
  • Bug fix: Fix a javascript error which would cause the Insert Post Element modal to be blank if any shortcode contains a select field with no visible options and no default set.
  • Bug fix: Fix a bug where the “Select Files” button in the media controller became unresponsive after a post element has been inserted.
  • Enhancement: add an optional “allow clear” field attribute to be passed to select2 fields (post, user, or term select) so that multi-select fields can be cleared with a single click. (This option defaults to off and should not affect existing fields.)

0.7.3 (September 5, 2017)

  • Security: Use nonce validation in ajax render shortcode callback to protect against CSRF.
  • Bug fix: Make sure that the same js hooks fire on all field types.
  • Bug fix: Fix bugs affecting multiple select fields (values could not be unset once set, and multiple default values couldn’t be set).
  • Bug fix: Prevent encoded fields containing two percent characters from breaking.
  • Bug fix: Fix some issues where the media modal state was not reset properly if a shortcode was closed without saving.
  • Bug fix: Support cases where there are multiple WP_Editor instances on a page, and make sure that the shortcode being edited is sent to the correct page.
  • Enhancement: When post_select field is selecting from more than one post type, show the post type alongside the post name for easier selection.
  • Enhancement: Show attachment thumbnails for any attachment type, not just images.
  • Enhancement: Add more helpful error messages if no shortcodes with Shortcake UI are registered.
  • Update Norwegian translation

0.7.2 (April 24, 2017)

  • Bug fix: Fix behavior in WordPress 4.7.4 where editing a shortcode would insert a new shortcode into the editor rather than updating the shortcode being edited.
  • Bug fix: The replacement used to escape percent (%) characters in attributes only replaced the first appearance
  • Bug fix: For select fields with multiple=true, allow multiple options to be selected by default
  • Added i18n for all strings in attachment field template
  • Added Finnish translation

0.7.1 (March 16, 2017)

  • Change shortcode formatting to add a space before the self-closing trailing slash.
  • Fix alignment of attachment previews with long filenames.
  • Bug fix: Set an initial value on select fields (previously, no value would be set for a select field unless the user interacts with the field).
  • Enhancement/fix: Reuse one copy of the media modal and reset its state upon closing, rather than creating duplicate markup each time the modal is accessed.
  • Compatability: Uses “full” version of select2.js 4.0.3 to prevent plugin conflicts with other plugins which expect the full version to be enqueued.
  • Compatability: Add SELECT2_NOCONFLICT flag to load Select2 in a unique namespace to prevent conflicts with other plugins which are loading select2.js version 3.
  • Added Norwegian translation.
  • Multiple coding style fixes.

0.7.0 (November 18, 2016)

  • Adds “Add post element” button to media buttons – one click to open the shortcode list, rather than clicking “Add media” button and then finding “insert post element” in the menu.
  • Added “Term Select” field type.
  • Added “User Select” field type.
  • Added new hooks that fire on rendering/editing/closing a shortcode, which can be used for field types which require custom javascript initialization or cleanup.
  • Select fields: add full support for multiple select fields.
  • Select fields: support custom ordering of options.
  • Select fields: support grouping option in <optgroup>s by passing them as a nested array.
  • Attachment fields: support multiple selection.
  • Attachment fields: support SVG images (if svg uploads are enabled by a plugin or theme).
  • Bug fix: Handle percent signs when decoding fields with encode=true specified.
  • Bug fix: fix issue where it takes two clicks on a shortcode in editor to bring up the Edit Shortcode modal.
  • Bug fix: fix issue when searching for shortcodes by name where if multiple shortcodes start with the search string, only the first is returned.
  • Bug fix: only output a description field on an attribute if it’s not empty.
  • Compatability: Remove shims for handling the media modal in WP 4.1 and 4.2.
  • Compatability: Upgrade Select2 library to 4.0.3 to avoid conflicts with other plugins which use the latest version of Select2.
  • Added Turkish translation.
  • Added Finnish translation.
  • Added Swedish translation.
  • Added Hungarian translation.

0.6.2 (November 12, 2015)

  • Bug fix: Listens for “change” event on radio buttons and checkboxes to ensure shortcode attributes are updated.
  • Bug fix: Ensures register_shortcode_ui is always run before calling get_shortcodes(). Fixes post select AJAX callback when using register_shortcode_ui hook.

Full changelog on WordPress.org →

Screenshots

Without Shortcake, shortcodes have a minimal UI.
Without Shortcake, shortcodes have a minimal UI.
But with Shortcake, TinyMCE will render the shortcode in a TinyMCE view.
But with Shortcake, TinyMCE will render the shortcode in a TinyMCE view.
And add a user-friendly UI to edit shortcode content and attributes.
And add a user-friendly UI to edit shortcode content and attributes.
Add new shortcodes to your post through "Add Media".
Add new shortcodes to your post through "Add Media".

For developers

Is this your plugin? Show off the numbers.

Add a live badge to your site, docs or GitHub README. It updates on its own — no account needed.

Active installs badge Rating badge Health score badge

Best Shortcake (Shortcode UI) alternatives

All shortcodes plugins →
Alternatives
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7 Contact Form 7 Shortcode Enabler Contact Form 7 Shortcode Enabler This plugin enables the usage of external shortcodes inside Contact Form 7 Forms. by Tobias Zimpel 10K+ ★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 (12) 2 years ago 45
8 Elements For Elementor Elements For Elementor The plugin adds some useful elements to the Elementor Page Builder Plugin. All components… by nicdark 10K+ ★★★★★★★★★★ No reviews 2 years ago 33
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11 WooCommerce Colors WooCommerce Colors Allows you to change the buttons color and other elements of WooCommerce. Beautifully. by Claudio Sanches 10K+ ★★★★★★★★★★ 3.2 (31) 6 years ago 38

FAQ

Shortcake (Shortcode UI): quick answers

Straight answers, pulled from live WordPress.org data.

Live data from WordPress.org · checked Sep 26, 2026

Is Shortcake (Shortcode UI) free?

Yes. Shortcake (Shortcode UI) is free to download and use from the official WordPress.org plugin directory.

Is Shortcake (Shortcode UI) safe to use in 2026?

Shortcake (Shortcode UI) works, but test it on a staging site before relying on it in 2026. It runs on 10K+ sites, is rated 4.1/5 and was last updated 8 years ago, and scores 43/100 on our health check.

How many websites use Shortcake (Shortcode UI)?

Shortcake (Shortcode UI) is active on 10K+ WordPress websites and has been downloaded 423,651 times since it launched in March 2015. It was downloaded 1,530 times in the last 30 days.

Does Shortcake (Shortcode UI) work with WordPress 7.1?

Shortcake (Shortcode UI) is officially tested up to WordPress 5.0.29, while the latest release is 7.1.2. It may still work, but try it on a staging site first.

When was Shortcake (Shortcode UI) last updated?

The latest version, 0.7.4, was released on January 16, 2019 (8 years ago).

Who makes Shortcake (Shortcode UI)?

Shortcake (Shortcode UI) is developed and maintained by Daniel Bachhuber.

What are the best alternatives to Shortcake (Shortcode UI)?

The most popular alternatives to Shortcake (Shortcode UI) are Shortcodes Ultimate (400K+ installs), Column Shortcodes (60K+ installs) and Apollo13 Framework Extensio… (20K+ installs).

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