Contents

Shortcodes - Plugixa Testimonial

Two shortcodes ship with Plugixa Testimonial:

  • [plugixa_testimonials] - displays testimonials on any page, post, widget, or template file.
  • [plugixa_testimonial_form] - renders the frontend submission form (see Submission Form).

Quick start

[plugixa_testimonials]

Displays all approved testimonials using the default view.

The grid layout on the front end: testimonial cards laid out three to a row, each with the client’s photo, a quote mark, the testimonial text, a star rating, and the client’s name, role and company.

[plugixa_testimonials] attributes

Defaults are the plugin-wide defaults - they can be changed globally in Settings, or per-instance via the attributes below.

Content filtering

Attribute Default Values Description
id 0 int Load a saved shortcode configuration by ID.
view_id 0 int Visual preset - see Views. 0 = use the default view.
category "" IDs or uncategorized/0 Comma-separated category IDs to include. "uncategorized" / "0" returns testimonials with no category.
limit -1 int Max testimonials to fetch from the database (-1 = all). Distinct from per_page - this is the pool size, not the page size.
orderby display_order display_order, created_at, rating, client_name, random Sort field.
order ASC ASC, DESC Sort direction.
featured 0 0 / 1 1 = show only featured testimonials.
min_rating 0 0–5 Minimum star rating (0 = no filter).
language auto language code Force a language (overrides WPML/Polylang detection).

Display toggles

These moved from Views to Shortcodes - each shortcode controls its own display toggles.

Attribute Default Values Description
show_photo from config 0 / 1 / "" Show client photo. Empty = use saved config.
show_rating from config 0 / 1 / "" Show star rating.
show_role from config 0 / 1 / "" Show client role / position.
show_company from config 0 / 1 / "" Show company name.
show_date from config 0 / 1 / "" Show the testimonial creation date.
show_website from config 0 / 1 / "" Show a link to the client’s website.
show_quote_icon from config 0 / 1 / "" Show the decorative quote icon.
show_video from config 0 / 1 / "" Show video embed (Pro).
show_custom_fields from config 0 / 1 / "" Show custom field values (Pro).

Dark mode

Attribute Default Values Description
dark_mode disabled disabled, enabled, auto Override the view’s dark mode. auto follows prefers-color-scheme.

Pagination

Attribute Default Values Description
pagination_enabled 1 0 / 1 Master toggle.
pagination_style from view numbers, load_more, infinite_scroll Override the view’s pagination style.
per_page 8 int Items shown per page (display-level control).
load_more_label Load More string Custom button label.

Schema (SEO)

Attribute Default Values Description
schema 1 0 / 1 Emit JSON-LD Review + AggregateRating on the page. Respects the global enable_schema setting.

Examples

Filter by category

[plugixa_testimonials category="3"]
[plugixa_testimonials category="1,3,5"]
[plugixa_testimonials category="uncategorized"]

Specific view

[plugixa_testimonials view_id="3"]

[plugixa_testimonials featured="1" limit="6"]

Minimum 4 stars, highest first

[plugixa_testimonials min_rating="4" orderby="rating" order="DESC"]

Load more pagination, 4 per page, custom label

[plugixa_testimonials pagination_style="load_more" per_page="4" load_more_label="Show more reviews"]

Force dark mode

[plugixa_testimonials view_id="2" dark_mode="enabled"]

Auto dark mode (system preference)

[plugixa_testimonials dark_mode="auto"]

Hide photos and quote icon

[plugixa_testimonials show_photo="0" show_quote_icon="0"]

Full example

[plugixa_testimonials
  category="3,5"
  view_id="2"
  limit="-1"
  orderby="rating"
  order="DESC"
  min_rating="4"
  featured="1"
  pagination_style="load_more"
  per_page="6"
  dark_mode="auto"
  show_video="1"
  show_custom_fields="1"
  schema="1"
]

The visual Shortcode Builder

Instead of memorizing attributes, use the builder at Plugixa Testimonial → Shortcodes → Add New.

The Add Shortcode screen, which builds a shortcode without your writing one. The left column runs from Shortcode Details through the generated Shortcode Tag - shown both by ID and by parameters, with a copy button - then Query (view, categories, order by, order, featured only, minimum rating), Display Options (nine toggles from Show Photo to Show Video), Dark Mode (Light, Dark, Auto), Pagination and Schema (SEO). The right-hand Live Preview updates as each control changes.

Configure through grouped sections

  • Shortcode Details - name, slug, description.
  • Query - view, categories, ordering, featured, min rating.
  • Display Options - 9 show/hide toggles (photo, rating, role, company, date, website, quote icon, video, custom fields).
  • Dark Mode - Light / Dark / Auto ToggleButtonGroup.
  • Pagination - enable, style, per-page, limit, load more label.
  • Schema (SEO) - toggle + description.

Live preview

Real-time preview using actual approved testimonials matching the shortcode filters. Falls back to 12 sample testimonials if no real data matches.

Changes to any setting update the preview instantly - no save needed until you’re ready.

Save and reuse

The Shortcodes screen. Five saved shortcodes - All Testimonials, Featured Showcase, Top Rated, Web Dev Portfolio and Latest Reviews Slider - each with its description and two copy buttons, “By ID” and “By Parameters”, for the two ways of embedding it.

Click Save to store the shortcode under a name. The shortcode list shows two formats for each saved config:

  • ID-based - [plugixa_testimonials id="7"] - references the saved config; changes to the config propagate to all pages.
  • Parametric - [plugixa_testimonials view_id="2" category="3,5" limit="6" ...] - inlines all settings; immune to config edits.

Click any shortcode chip to copy it to the clipboard (icon swaps to a green checkmark + “Copied!” for 1.5 seconds).

The Gutenberg block

See Blocks - the block exposes the same options through a visual sidebar, no shortcode typing required.

Settings cascade

When a setting appears in multiple places, this is the priority order (highest wins):

  1. Shortcode attribute - e.g., [plugixa_testimonials show_video="0"].
  2. Saved shortcode config - if loaded via id.
  3. View config - the view selected via view_id.
  4. Global settings - Plugixa Testimonial → Settings.

Use in PHP / template files

<?php echo do_shortcode( '[plugixa_testimonials category="3" limit="5"]' ); ?>

Use in widgets

  • Appearance → Widgets → add a Shortcode widget.
  • Paste [plugixa_testimonials].

[plugixa_testimonial_form] attributes

The submission form shortcode - see Submission Form for the full setup guide.

Attribute Default Values Description
form_style from settings inline, modal inline renders the form directly on the page; modal renders a trigger button that opens a modal dialog.
button_text Submit Testimonial string Text for the modal trigger button. Only applies when form_style="modal". 
[plugixa_testimonial_form]
[plugixa_testimonial_form form_style="modal" button_text="Share Your Experience"]

Troubleshooting

The shortcode is printed as text

  • Confirm the plugin is active.
  • Check that quotes are straight (") not curly (""). The WP visual editor sometimes converts them - paste from a plain-text editor.
  • If using a page builder, use the builder’s Shortcode widget, not a raw HTML block.

“No testimonials found”

  • Check the category IDs - typos are the #1 cause.
  • Confirm testimonials are approved, not pending / draft.
  • If multilingual, check the current language matches the testimonial’s language.

Design looks different from the view preview

  • The shortcode attribute overrides the view. Check whether you’ve accidentally set a conflicting show_* or dark_mode.
  • CSS conflicts from the theme - use browser DevTools to find the overriding rule. Add overrides in Settings → General → Custom CSS.

Quick Links

Plugin page Changelog