Title: Shortcode Doesn’t Work – Wasted 20 Minutes on Basic Functionality
Last modified: May 4, 2026

---

# Shortcode Doesn’t Work – Wasted 20 Minutes on Basic Functionality

 *  [laclac1](https://wordpress.org/support/users/laclac1/)
 * (@laclac1)
 * [3 weeks, 2 days ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/shortcode-doesnt-work-wasted-20-minutes-on-basic-functionality/)
 * I installed the plugin **“Easy Table of Contents”**, added their shortcode, and
   it worked immediately.
 * Then I installed the plugin **“Joli Table Of Contents”**, filled out their settings
   page, added their shortcode… nothing. After 20 minutes of tweaking settings and
   trying to find the cause, still nothing shows up.
 * I just wasted 20 minutes of my life for nothing, on something very basic in WordPress(
   processing a shortcode). I’m not giving 0 stars because this plugin seems to 
   work for most people, but it’s not normal for a plugin to just not work and make
   users lose time.

Viewing 1 replies (of 1 total)

 *  Plugin Support [Michael](https://wordpress.org/support/users/wpjmike/)
 * (@wpjmike)
 * [2 weeks, 1 day ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/shortcode-doesnt-work-wasted-20-minutes-on-basic-functionality/#post-18906698)
 * Hi, sorry for the bad experience. Based on what you said, I think the issue comes
   from a legacy option that prevents the TOC from showing in the content if there
   are less than 3 headings on the page.
 * Have you tried the plugin on a long page with multiples headings ?
 * If you tested the plugin on a page with very little content that has less than
   3 headings, it probably did not show because of that. This was originally designed
   like that because TOCs are unnecessary for tiny pages but I understand this was
   not obvious.
 * You can adjust this option under General > Table of contents > **Minimal headings
   count** and set this to 0 to have the TOC to show at all times.
 * In some rare cases, there could be compatibility issues but I can’t tell if that’s
   the case for your particular install.
 * I invite you to try the plugin again with this information in mind.
 * Thank you for your feedback.

Viewing 1 replies (of 1 total)

You must be [logged in](https://login.wordpress.org/?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fwordpress.org%2Fsupport%2Ftopic%2Fshortcode-doesnt-work-wasted-20-minutes-on-basic-functionality%2F%3Foutput_format%3Dmd&locale=en_US)
to reply to this review.

 * ![](https://ps.w.org/joli-table-of-contents/assets/icon-256x256.png?rev=3487088)
 * [Joli Table Of Contents](https://wordpress.org/plugins/joli-table-of-contents/)
 * [Frequently Asked Questions](https://wordpress.org/plugins/joli-table-of-contents/#faq)
 * [Support Threads](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/joli-table-of-contents/)
 * [Active Topics](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/joli-table-of-contents/active/)
 * [Unresolved Topics](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/joli-table-of-contents/unresolved/)
 * [Reviews](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/joli-table-of-contents/reviews/)

 * 1 reply
 * 2 participants
 * Last reply from: [Michael](https://wordpress.org/support/users/wpjmike/)
 * Last activity: [2 weeks, 1 day ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/shortcode-doesnt-work-wasted-20-minutes-on-basic-functionality/#post-18906698)