Title: [Plugin: Shortcode Exec PHP] Last five posts code is broken with this update
Last modified: August 19, 2016

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# [Plugin: Shortcode Exec PHP] Last five posts code is broken with this update

 *  [JonDiPietro](https://wordpress.org/support/users/jondipietro/)
 * (@jondipietro)
 * [15 years, 3 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-shortcode-exec-php-last-five-posts-code-is-broken-with-this-update/)
 * This code works with version 1.17:
 *     ```
       // Prevent recursion
       global $outerPost;
       if ($outerPost) return "";
   
       // Parse parameters
       extract(shortcode_atts(array('query' => ''), $atts));
       $query = html_entity_decode($query);
   
       // Create new post loop
       ob_start();
       global $post;
       $outerPost = $post;
       $my_query = new WP_Query($query);
       while ($my_query->have_posts()) {
       	$my_query->the_post();
       	setup_postdata($my_query->post);
   
       	// Process post
       	echo '<li><em><a href="'; the_permalink(); echo '">'; the_title();
       	echo '</a></em><br/>';
       }
       $post = $outerPost;
       $id = $post->ID;
       $result = ob_get_contents();
       ob_end_clean();
   
       return $result;
       ```
   

Viewing 7 replies - 1 through 7 (of 7 total)

 *  Plugin Contributor [M66B](https://wordpress.org/support/users/m66b/)
 * (@m66b)
 * [15 years, 3 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-shortcode-exec-php-last-five-posts-code-is-broken-with-this-update/#post-1890540)
 * I just tested this code with the latest version (1.20) and it works, but maybe
   the shortcode is not executed in your specific case.
 * Can you please tell me more details about the problem, like your WordPress version,
   where you use the shortcode (post, page, widget, comment, etc), what attributes
   you use (the query parameter), if the shortcode is replace by an empty string
   or an error message or if the shortcode isn’t replaced but a question mark is
   appended. Are you using the latest version of Shortcode Exec PHP?
 * You could try adding the following unset statement:
 *     ```
       $post = $outerPost;
       unset($outerPost);
       $id = $post->ID;
       ```
   
 * Please let me know if your problem is solved (in whatever way).
 *  Thread Starter [JonDiPietro](https://wordpress.org/support/users/jondipietro/)
 * (@jondipietro)
 * [15 years, 3 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-shortcode-exec-php-last-five-posts-code-is-broken-with-this-update/#post-1890547)
 * I just updated to version 1.20 of the plugin on WordPress 3.0.4 and the code 
   still doesn’t work. I’m using the following shortcode inside of a page: [last_five
   query=”showposts=5″]
 * It’s displayed as: [last_five]?
 * I added the code you suggested and it’s still not working. Here’s the page that’s
   having the problem:
    [http://www.domesticatingit.com/](http://www.domesticatingit.com/)
 * Click on the “Technology Blog” tab on the right.
 *  Thread Starter [JonDiPietro](https://wordpress.org/support/users/jondipietro/)
 * (@jondipietro)
 * [15 years, 3 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-shortcode-exec-php-last-five-posts-code-is-broken-with-this-update/#post-1890548)
 * I just reverted back to version 1.17 of the plugin and it is now working.
 *  Plugin Contributor [M66B](https://wordpress.org/support/users/m66b/)
 * (@m66b)
 * [15 years, 3 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-shortcode-exec-php-last-five-posts-code-is-broken-with-this-update/#post-1890549)
 * The question mark following the shortcode as displayed means the post or page
   author is not allowed to execute shortcodes. This is a new feature since version
   1.18.
 * Could you please take a look at the plugin settings “Required capability for 
   authors to execute shortcodes”. If it is different from ‘edit_posts’, please 
   let me know. Try changing to ‘edit_posts’ and if this still doesn’t work try 
   changing to ‘read’. Please let me know your findings, so I can find out what 
   went wrong.
 * How did you upgrade the plugin: from the upgrade menu or on the plugins page?
 *  Thread Starter [JonDiPietro](https://wordpress.org/support/users/jondipietro/)
 * (@jondipietro)
 * [15 years, 3 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-shortcode-exec-php-last-five-posts-code-is-broken-with-this-update/#post-1890550)
 * OK, this is strange. I did the following:
    1. Deactivated version 1.20
    2. Deleted the plugin
    3. Uploaded version 1.17
    4. Confirmed that it started working again
    5. Performed automatic upgrade to version 1.20
    6. It is now working again
 * I checked the “Required capability” and it was set to “edit_posts”. Seems like
   this might be related to the automatic upgrade process but not sure. I didn’t
   change anything else – just removed, reverted to old version, then upgraded.
 *  Plugin Contributor [M66B](https://wordpress.org/support/users/m66b/)
 * (@m66b)
 * [15 years, 3 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-shortcode-exec-php-last-five-posts-code-is-broken-with-this-update/#post-1890551)
 * Okay, thanks for your response.
 * The plugin was probably not properly deactivated and reactivated during the upgrade
   process. I just released version 1.21 to prevent problems like yours if this 
   happens.
 *  Thread Starter [JonDiPietro](https://wordpress.org/support/users/jondipietro/)
 * (@jondipietro)
 * [15 years, 3 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-shortcode-exec-php-last-five-posts-code-is-broken-with-this-update/#post-1890552)
 * Sounds good – thanks for your help.

Viewing 7 replies - 1 through 7 (of 7 total)

The topic ‘[Plugin: Shortcode Exec PHP] Last five posts code is broken with this
update’ is closed to new replies.

 * ![](https://s.w.org/plugins/geopattern-icon/shortcode-exec-php.svg)
 * [Shortcode Exec PHP](https://wordpress.org/plugins/shortcode-exec-php/)
 * [Frequently Asked Questions](https://wordpress.org/plugins/shortcode-exec-php/#faq)
 * [Support Threads](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/shortcode-exec-php/)
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 * [Unresolved Topics](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/shortcode-exec-php/unresolved/)
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 * 7 replies
 * 2 participants
 * Last reply from: [JonDiPietro](https://wordpress.org/support/users/jondipietro/)
 * Last activity: [15 years, 3 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-shortcode-exec-php-last-five-posts-code-is-broken-with-this-update/#post-1890552)
 * Status: not resolved