Create Shortcodes to Display Recent Posts With Parameters

To display recent posts with parameters using a shortcode without using a plugin, you will have to create a custom shortcode with parameters.

I have written a separate article on creating custom shortcodes, where I have outlined passing parameters and attributes in custom shortcodes.

Now to create a shortcode to display recent posts, copy the below code snippet in your theme’s functions.php file.

// Creating Shortcodes with parameter to display recent posts

function diwp_shortcode_display_post($attr, $content = null){

	//call global variable
        global $post;

	// Defines Shortcode's Attributes
	$shortcode_args = shortcode_atts(
					  array(
						'cat'	 => '',
						'num'	 => '3',
						'order'  => 'desc'
					    ), $attr);	
	
	// set an array with query arguments
	$args = array(
			'cat'		 => $shortcode_args['cat'],
			'posts_per_page' => $shortcode_args['num'],
			'order'          => $shortcode_args['order']
		     );
	
	// get posts  
	$recent_posts = get_posts($args);

	$output = '
<ul>';
	
	// extracting each post by foreach loop
	foreach ($recent_posts as $post) :
		
		//  set new post data
		setup_postdata($post);

		$output .= '
<li><a href="'.get_permalink().'">'.get_the_title().'<a></li>

';	


	endforeach;	
	
	// reset post data  
	wp_reset_postdata();

	$output .= '</ul>

';
	
	//return the output.
	return $output;

}

// Register the shortcode.
add_shortcode( 'diwp_recent_posts', 'diwp_shortcode_display_post' );

The above code will create a custom shortcode called [diwp_recent_posts] with the attribute cat, num, and order.

cat: pass category id
num: number of posts to display
order: order of posts to display: asc | desc

You can use these attributes with your shortcode to get desired results.

For example: Add the below shortcode to your page, post, or widget to display recent posts. this shortcode will give you the list of 10 recent posts in ascending order.

[diwp_recent_posts num="10" order="asc"]

If you want to add this shortcode into your theme file or with PHP, then use it with do_shortcode() function as given below.

<?php do_shortcode('[diwp_recent_posts num="10" order="asc"]'); ?>

Let’s understand the example:

In the above snippets, I have created a callback function for shortcode and registered that shortcode. So let’s understand what is going on in my callback function.

I have created a callback function and passed ( $attr, $content ) parameters in it.
```
function diwp_shortcode_display_post($attr, $content = null)
```
Then here, I have called WordPress’s global function for post.
```
//call global variable
global $post;
```

In the next step, I have defined the attributes for my shortcode.

$shortcode_args = shortcode_atts(
			    array(
				  'cat'	 => '',
				  'num'	 => '3',
				  'order'  => 'desc'
			     ), $attr);

Next, I have created an array with the arguments that will be passed in the posts query.

// set an array with query arguments
	$args = array(
			'cat'		 => $shortcode_args['cat'],
			'posts_per_page' => $shortcode_args['num'],
			'order'          => $shortcode_args['order']
		     );

In the next step, have called a template tag or function get_posts($args); to retrieve all the posts as per my arguments.
```
$recent_posts = get_posts($args);
```

Hope this article helps you to learn about creating shortcodes to display recent posts with shortcodes parameters.

Bhuvnesh Shrivastava

Owner of diveinwp.com, solely responsible for creating helpful, informative content about WordPress, a fulltime WordPress developer with 8+ years of hands-on experience in WordPress design and development.

Let’s understand the example:

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