I have added a custom field to my site called "dansk_url", to which a link to the version in Danish (different domain) will be entered. I would like to be able to output this as a shortcode to add anywhere within the post, and it should appear as a link (anchor text will always be "Dansk" and whichever url has been entered in the custom field for that post.

Is this possible? I prefer a non-plugin solution.

I have added a custom field to my site called "dansk_url", to which a link to the version in Danish (different domain) will be entered. I would like to be able to output this as a shortcode to add anywhere within the post, and it should appear as a link (anchor text will always be "Dansk" and whichever url has been entered in the custom field for that post.

Is this possible? I prefer a non-plugin solution.

• custom-field
• shortcode
• post-meta

• 1 How did you add the custom field? Using custom code? If so, what's your code? – Sally CJ Commented Apr 26, 2019 at 3:36
• 1 post some code so that other developers could see where you stuck at. – maverick Commented Apr 26, 2019 at 3:45
• Sorry, I didn't add any code. I used the instructions here link – auntie Commented Apr 26, 2019 at 3:49

2 Answers 2

Put this in functions.php of your theme.

add_shortcode( 'dansk_url', 'dansk_url' );
function dansk_url() {
    $output='';
    $the_url= get_post_meta( get_the_ID(), 'dansk_url', true );

    if ( $the_url)  $output .= '<a href="' . esc_url( $the_url) . '">Dansk</a>';

    return $output;
}

and use shortcode [dansk_url] in the post.

I would like to be able to output this as a shortcode to add anywhere within the post

So since you said, "I prefer a non-plugin solution", then you can use this (which you'd add to the theme functions.php file) to create the shortcode:

add_shortcode( 'dansk_link', 'dansk_link_shortcode' );
function dansk_link_shortcode() {
    ob_start();
    $url = get_post_meta( get_the_ID(), 'dansk_url', true );
    if ( $url ) : ?>
        <a href="<?php echo esc_url( $url ); ?>">Dansk</a>
    <?php
    endif; // end $url
    return ob_get_clean();
}

And in the post content, add [dansk_link] anywhere you like.

The above PHP code is still considered a plugin, but it's basically "your own" plugin. :)

PS: For the function reference, you can check add_shortcode() and get_post_meta().

UPDATE

1. I changed the shortcode name to dansk_link because that seems better than dansk_url for what the shortcode is for (i.e. outputting a link).

2. In my original answer, I used output buffering (i.e. those ob_start() and ob_get_clean()) so that's it's easier for you (the question author) to edit the HTML output.

Having said the point #2 above, you could also use:

add_shortcode( 'dansk_link', 'dansk_link_shortcode' );
function dansk_link_shortcode() {
    if ( $url = get_post_meta( get_the_ID(), 'dansk_url', true ) ) {
        return '<a href="' . esc_url( $url ) . '">Dansk</a>';
    }
    return '';
}