Shortcodes in the Sidebar

Shortcodes are used to insert complicated or customized content into a page or post with minimal fuss. They usually look something like this:

[shortcodekeyword]
Sometimes they will have other information along with them like this:

[shortcodekeyword value='somevalue']

Since WordPress 2.5 the process of outputting shortcode has been simplified. Unfortunately it’s not posssible, out of the box, to use shortcodes in the sidebar text widgets. Enabling this feature is simple, though. Simply add the following line to the functions.php file in your active theme:

add_filter('widget_text', 'do_shortcode');

Of course, if the thought of adding code to your theme gives you hives you can always use this plugin: Sidebar Shortcodes