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1. zoonini
   help me help you
   Posted 10 months ago #

   I've been trying to use shortcodes on a site in order to pull in a form on only certain pages.

   Here is what I added to my functions.php:

   add_shortcode('inquiry','inquiry_function');
   function inquiry_function() {
      $inquiry = include('contact-form-sidebar.php');
      return $inquiry;
   }

   I can then add forms to certain pages by using this shortcode:

   [inquiry]

   It works great except for one thing. For some reason, a stray number 1 is getting added just below the form. I cannot for the life of me figure out why. It is just below the form's submit button - here's a screenshot: http://www.twitpic.com/5ze4xv

   If I include the file directly via the template file by using

   include ('contact-form-sidebar.php');

   ...the form appears correctly, without the stray "1" - so it doesn't appear to be an issue with the form code itself.

   Any ideas where the stray "1" is coming from? Thanks!

2. zoonini
   help me help you
   Posted 10 months ago #

   I think I've found a solution. I've modified the shortcode function as follows to adjust the way the included file is being called in:

   add_shortcode('inquiry','inquiry_function');
   function inquiry_function() {
   	ob_start();
   	include('contact-form-sidebar.php');
   	$inquiry = ob_get_clean();
   	return $inquiry;
   }

   I'll admit that I'm not sure why this took care of the stray 1 but apparently it's a more desirable way of including a file within a function, according to my Googling. (If anyone knows why this worked I'd love to know!)

3. Michael Fields
   Theme Wrangler
   Posted 10 months ago #

   Hi Zoonini!

   PHP's include statement was successful and the file you are including most likely has no return value. When it's output is stored in a variable, the value will be "1". Please see php doc example 130 for a better explanation of this.

   So, when you look at this code:
   

   $inquiry = include('contact-form-sidebar.php');

   Two things are happening:

   1. A file is being included which I assume contains html.
   2. The result of the include state,ent is stored in $inquiry.

   When you return the value of $inquiry, WordPress will "inject" it into the post_content in place of the shortcode. Would be interesting to see what happens using this function with content both before and after the shortcode.

   Hope this makes sense :)

4. zoonini
   help me help you
   Posted 10 months ago #

   Wow, that actually does make sense - thanks so much for explaining it, Michael! The mystery of the stray 1 is solved.

   Would be interesting to see what happens using this function with content both before and after the shortcode.

   I did have content displaying both before and after the shortcode in the sidebar - being called in via the sidebar template file - and it actually came out fine. Should it not have?

5. Michael Fields
   Theme Wrangler
   Posted 10 months ago #

   No problem!

   I did have content displaying both before and after the shortcode in the sidebar - being called in via the sidebar template file - and it actually came out fine. Should it not have?

   Honestly, I have no idea :) I know that printing would not. Never tried it with an included file though. Take for instance the following scenario:

   functions.php

   add_shortcode('inquiry','inquiry_function');
   function inquiry_function() {
      print '<p>PRINT</p>';
      return '<p>THIS IS THE RETURN VALUE</p>';
   }

   Post Content:

   Up Top.
   
   [inquiry]
   
   Down Below.

   Whe you view the post, the following is generated:

   PRINT
   Up Top.
   THIS IS THE RETURN VALUE
   Down Below.

   Notice how print is at the top of the content. I thought that the same might happen with includes too.

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