Title: Render reviews from PHP without shortcode Last modified: September 23, 2020 --- # Render reviews from PHP without shortcode * Resolved [Devomo](https://wordpress.org/support/users/devfirst/) * (@devfirst) * [5 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/render-reviews-from-php-without-shortcode/) * Hi there, * First of all, I must say I really like this plugin. It has saved me a ton of time. * I only was wondering: if I want to customize a lot of things, the shortcode is not exactly short any more. So for a recent project, I solved that like this: * ``` $reviews_args = [ 'summary="no"', 'review_item_order="author switch text first"', 'date="off"', 'excerpt=""', 'reviews_link="reviews via Google"' ]; $reviews = do_shortcode('[reviews_rating ' . implode(' ', $reviews_args) . ']'); ``` * Not the most elegant solution, but it gets the job done. * What I was looking for, is a function/action I can just pass my `$reviews_args` to, without needing to render the shortcode. I searched the plugin code, but I could not find any other way to render the reviews than through `do_shortcode()`. Or am I missing something? * If such a function/action does not exist: it could be as simple as adding an action (as well as a shortcode). One line of code in the plugin would do: * ``` add_action('reviews_rating', array($this, 'wp_display')); ``` * in the plugin’s `google_business_reviews_rating` class. * That would enable me to do: * ``` $reviews_args = [ 'summary' => 'no', 'review_item_order' => 'author switch text first', 'date' => 'off', 'excerpt' => '', 'reviews_link' => 'reviews via Google' ]; do_action('reviews_rating', $reviews_args); ``` * instead of using `do_shortcode()`. * Just meant as a suggestion, curious what you think 🙂 - This topic was modified 5 years, 8 months ago by [Devomo](https://wordpress.org/support/users/devfirst/). Viewing 7 replies - 1 through 7 (of 7 total) * Plugin Author [Noah Hearle](https://wordpress.org/support/users/designextreme/) * (@designextreme) * [5 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/render-reviews-from-php-without-shortcode/#post-13445719) * [@devfirst](https://wordpress.org/support/users/devfirst/) Thanks for getting in touch about this. I’m really glad that you’ve found the plugin useful – I’ve aimed this plugin at moderate to expert WordPress users because there are so many design/tweaks/customizations etc. that are possible with a base level of knowledge. * I will have a look at the `do_shortcode()` function and perhaps adding a new action in the next day or so… * Are you able to achieve the same outcome using `do_shortcode()` to a variable? * What you’ve said here all adds up, but I’m away from my computer for a bit. I’ll reply again when I have more to say after a few tests on my side. * Thread Starter [Devomo](https://wordpress.org/support/users/devfirst/) * (@devfirst) * [5 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/render-reviews-from-php-without-shortcode/#post-13447076) * [@designextreme](https://wordpress.org/support/users/designextreme/) thanks for the quick response. * > Are you able to achieve the same outcome using do_shortcode() to a variable? * I’m not entirely sure what you mean by this, but at least it made me realize that it is not as simple as I thought. After all, a shortcode _returns_ content, and I now assume the `do_action()` call will _echo_ it. So maybe you will need a function after all, or create a dedicated method which echoes the shortcode content and add that as an action. * The reason I suggested an action instead of a function is the fact that as a theme developer, I will always have to check whether a plugin-provided function exists. If I use an action, I will not have to do that, it will simply do nothing if no listeners are attached. * Plugin Author [Noah Hearle](https://wordpress.org/support/users/designextreme/) * (@designextreme) * [5 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/render-reviews-from-php-without-shortcode/#post-13449102) * [@devfirst](https://wordpress.org/support/users/devfirst/) I am back on my laptop and re-reading the messages… * I don’t quite understand why using `do_shortcode()` is such a bad thing. You can add something like this to your [custom] theme: * ``` $reviews = ''; if (is_plugin_active('g-business-reviews-rating/g-business-reviews-rating.php')) { $reviews = do_shortcode('[reviews_rating summary=false review_item_order=\'author switch text first\' date=false excerpt=null reviews_link=\'Reviews via Google\'']); } // Later: echo $reviews; ``` * Having a long list of arguments isn’t a bad thing, you can make it very long with no issues at all. * Please contact me directly as it may be easier to discuss in a different format such as WhatsApp or Skype. Details on [my website](https://designextreme.com/wordpress), under Contact Us. * Thread Starter [Devomo](https://wordpress.org/support/users/devfirst/) * (@devfirst) * [5 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/render-reviews-from-php-without-shortcode/#post-13452347) * [@designextreme](https://wordpress.org/support/users/designextreme/) It’s not _bad_, it does the job. But in my opinion, such a long shortcode is not very elegant, nor is it very readable. It’s not about the functionality, just about the developer experience. * I’d rather have the arguments as an array, one per line, and pass them to a function or action. I think that would be less error-prone, too. * If it’s not clear to you, I’d be happy to get in touch. - This reply was modified 5 years, 8 months ago by [Devomo](https://wordpress.org/support/users/devfirst/). * Plugin Author [Noah Hearle](https://wordpress.org/support/users/designextreme/) * (@designextreme) * [5 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/render-reviews-from-php-without-shortcode/#post-13453393) * [@devfirst](https://wordpress.org/support/users/devfirst/) The reason for the continuation off the forums is to understand why you are looking for a different method. If I can understand it and see the benefits, I’ll introduce this new functionality into a future release of the plugin. * If the answer is just to get away from the ugly string argument needed to run` do_shortcode()`, then it isn’t going to be a major priority. * You can introduce your own shortcode handler function where you can pass an array of the parameter keys and values (or have it live in the function) and this will return the HTML of the shortcode to use wherever you wish. However, this is still going to use the `do_shortcode()` function somewhere but it will assist in moving the code excerpt out of the theme’s template files. * Thread Starter [Devomo](https://wordpress.org/support/users/devfirst/) * (@devfirst) * [5 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/render-reviews-from-php-without-shortcode/#post-13461695) * [@designextreme](https://wordpress.org/support/users/designextreme/) The only real benefit here is a better developer experience, I think that’s clear, so I do not feel the need to continue the discussion off the forums. * I understand that this is just a small improvement, which does not have your top priority. I came up with the suggestion because I felt it could be accomplished with minor effort on your part. * But it was just a suggestion after all 🙂 * Plugin Author [Noah Hearle](https://wordpress.org/support/users/designextreme/) * (@designextreme) * [5 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/render-reviews-from-php-without-shortcode/#post-13462551) * [@devfirst](https://wordpress.org/support/users/devfirst/) I understand what you’re looking for here. * I can write a function, external to the plugin, that can be added to your theme’s development or **functions.php**. It will basically parse an array, run a check on the plugin’s status and off it goes… Viewing 7 replies - 1 through 7 (of 7 total) The topic ‘Render reviews from PHP without shortcode’ is closed to new replies. * ![](https://ps.w.org/g-business-reviews-rating/assets/icon.svg?rev=2722684) * [Reviews and Rating – Google Reviews](https://wordpress.org/plugins/g-business-reviews-rating/) * [Frequently Asked Questions](https://wordpress.org/plugins/g-business-reviews-rating/#faq) * [Support Threads](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/g-business-reviews-rating/) * [Active Topics](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/g-business-reviews-rating/active/) * [Unresolved Topics](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/g-business-reviews-rating/unresolved/) * [Reviews](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/g-business-reviews-rating/reviews/) ## Tags * [php](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/php/) * [rendering](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/rendering/) * [shortcode](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/shortcode/) * 7 replies * 2 participants * Last reply from: [Noah Hearle](https://wordpress.org/support/users/designextreme/) * Last activity: [5 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/render-reviews-from-php-without-shortcode/#post-13462551) * Status: resolved