Title: Issue with Categories shortcode?
Last modified: February 27, 2026

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# Issue with Categories shortcode?

 *  Resolved [sarahsas](https://wordpress.org/support/users/sarahsas/)
 * (@sarahsas)
 * [3 months, 1 week ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/issue-with-categories-shortcode/)
 * Hi again,
 * I’m having an issue displaying the categories shortcode, is this a pro-only feature,
   I cannot find any reason in the documentation why it wouldn’t render. But see
   page above, the shortcode is rendering as text when I add [wpdm_categories]
   I
   have 3 categories all with at least 1 document in them. Any idea why isn’t not
   rendering?
 * The page I need help with: _[[log in](https://login.wordpress.org/?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fwordpress.org%2Fsupport%2Ftopic%2Fissue-with-categories-shortcode%2F%3Foutput_format%3Dmd&locale=en_US)
   to see the link]_

Viewing 5 replies - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)

 *  Plugin Support [Tahasin](https://wordpress.org/support/users/tahasin/)
 * (@tahasin)
 * [3 months, 1 week ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/issue-with-categories-shortcode/#post-18836446)
 * Hello [@sarahsas](https://wordpress.org/support/users/sarahsas/)
 * Thanks for reaching out.
 * Please try using this shortcode
    `[wpdm_category id="category_slug1,category_slug1"
   template="link-template-default" toolbar="1" paging="0" orderby="title" order
   ="asc" items_per_page="20" cols=3 colspad=1 colsphone=1]`You will find the category
   slug here **Downloads > Categories > Slug Column**(from categories table)Please
   check and let me know.Regards
    -  This reply was modified 3 months, 1 week ago by [Tahasin](https://wordpress.org/support/users/tahasin/).
    -  This reply was modified 3 months, 1 week ago by [Tahasin](https://wordpress.org/support/users/tahasin/).
 *  Thread Starter [sarahsas](https://wordpress.org/support/users/sarahsas/)
 * (@sarahsas)
 * [3 months, 1 week ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/issue-with-categories-shortcode/#post-18838742)
 * Hi [@tahasin](https://wordpress.org/support/users/tahasin/) this is not a realistic
   solution long-term, given it would need to be manually updated anytime a new 
   category is added? Shouldn’t the shortcode automatically detect all the categories
   and display them to view what’s IN the categories?
 * Sorry, to clarify, I am trying to display a list/grid of download categories 
   such that the user can click the category and be taken to the archive page to
   display all the downloads WITHIN that particular category. Is this not possible?
    -  This reply was modified 3 months, 1 week ago by [sarahsas](https://wordpress.org/support/users/sarahsas/).
 *  Plugin Support [Tahasin](https://wordpress.org/support/users/tahasin/)
 * (@tahasin)
 * [3 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/issue-with-categories-shortcode/#post-18838999)
    - The shortcode `[wpdm_category id="category-slug"]` is designed to display 
      one or more specific categories. You need to enter the desired category slug(
      s) inside the `id` attribute. If you create a new category later, you’ll need
      to manually add its slug to the shortcode in order for it to appear.
    - `[wpdm_categories]` would be a better fit for your requirements, as it can
      dynamically display all categories. Please note that this shortcode requires
      the **WPDM Directory add-on** to work.
 *  Thread Starter [sarahsas](https://wordpress.org/support/users/sarahsas/)
 * (@sarahsas)
 * [3 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/issue-with-categories-shortcode/#post-18839684)
 * Ah ok thank you. The add-on is the key.
 *  Plugin Support [Tahasin](https://wordpress.org/support/users/tahasin/)
 * (@tahasin)
 * [3 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/issue-with-categories-shortcode/#post-18839702)
 * Welcome!!

Viewing 5 replies - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)

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 * 5 replies
 * 2 participants
 * Last reply from: [Tahasin](https://wordpress.org/support/users/tahasin/)
 * Last activity: [3 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/issue-with-categories-shortcode/#post-18839702)
 * Status: resolved