Title: Shortcode does not seem to work
Last modified: August 30, 2016

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# Shortcode does not seem to work

 *  [practicaleq](https://wordpress.org/support/users/practicaleq/)
 * (@practicaleq)
 * [10 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/shortcode-does-not-seem-to-work/)
 * Hi – I can’t get the product link shortcode generated by the plugin to work.
 * I set up a product with EU and non-EU URLs, resulting in the shortcode [euvat_countrydetect
   product_id=”NLP Trainer Megapack”].
 * I set up a test page including this text:
 * NLP Trainer’s Megapack [euvat_countrydetect product_id=”NLP Trainer MegaPack”]
 * The resulting page shows this:
    NLP Trainer’s Megapack [http://webstore.coachingleaders.co.uk/location-detect/?product=NLP%20Trainer%20MegaPack](http://webstore.coachingleaders.co.uk/location-detect/?product=NLP%20Trainer%20MegaPack)
 * I was expecting some kind of clickable link – was I wrong to do so? Do I need
   to put something else with the shortcode to make a clickable link?
 * Thanks,
    Andy Smith
 * [https://wordpress.org/plugins/eu-vat-redirect/](https://wordpress.org/plugins/eu-vat-redirect/)

Viewing 10 replies - 1 through 10 (of 10 total)

 *  Plugin Author [andrewpaulbowden](https://wordpress.org/support/users/andrewpaulbowden/)
 * (@andrewpaulbowden)
 * [10 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/shortcode-does-not-seem-to-work/#post-6857050)
 * Hello Andy
 * The error you are seeing is saying that the redirects aren’t set up properly.
   When you set up your redirects, did you use the “Save Changes” button?
 *  Thread Starter [practicaleq](https://wordpress.org/support/users/practicaleq/)
 * (@practicaleq)
 * [10 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/shortcode-does-not-seem-to-work/#post-6857051)
 * Yes I did.
 * I *was* able to get the link to work using the URL generated from the shortcode
   though. See this page: [http://webstore.coachingleaders.co.uk/sandbox/](http://webstore.coachingleaders.co.uk/sandbox/)
 * And here is the code from my WP edit page:
    — EU VAT Redirect test page
 * NLP Trainer’s Megapack [buy link](http://webstore.coachingleaders.co.uk/location-detect/?product=megapack)(
   using the URL generated by the shortcode)
 * [euvat_countrydetect product_id=”megapack”] (entered in ‘Visual’)
 * [euvat_countrydetect product_id=”megapack”] (entered in ‘Text’)
 * —-
 * So I was able to make it work, but with a workround – if there’s a more straightforward
   way that I’ve missed, it would be helpful to have instructions on the plugin 
   page!
 * Thanks for coding this – it will make a big difference to my business. A couple
   of sentences about how to use it would make it even more helpful.
 *  Thread Starter [practicaleq](https://wordpress.org/support/users/practicaleq/)
 * (@practicaleq)
 * [10 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/shortcode-does-not-seem-to-work/#post-6857052)
 * (sorry, just realised that I had [http://webstore.coachingleaders.co.uk/sandbox/](http://webstore.coachingleaders.co.uk/sandbox/)
   set up as private – I’ve now made it public)
 * Also, the payment processors that I’m using (SendOwl for outside EU, Paddle for
   within EU) each have a nice little pop-up box to take payment that floats over
   the product page, reassuring customers that it is in fact legitimate.
 * (you can see this effect by clicking the ‘buy’ button for any product on webstore.
   coachingleaders.co.uk – the free products go through SendOwl, the paid-for ones
   go through Paddle)
 * Using the redirect plugin, the payment box floats over a blank page, so that 
   might lose the occasional sale. (you can see this on [http://webstore.coachingleaders.co.uk/sandbox/](http://webstore.coachingleaders.co.uk/sandbox/))
 * Is there any way to get the payment box back to floating over the product page?
 *  Plugin Author [andrewpaulbowden](https://wordpress.org/support/users/andrewpaulbowden/)
 * (@andrewpaulbowden)
 * [10 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/shortcode-does-not-seem-to-work/#post-6857059)
 * I am wondering if there’s something strange going on due to the spaces in your
   product ID name – I notice you’re currently using a single word instead. It’s
   something I’ll have to look into, and see if there’s a bug lurking in there. 
   The shortcode does just output a URL rather than a full link tag – the reason
   for that is so people can use it in buttons etc. But I’m glad to hear its working
   now.
 * As for the payment box floating – that’s an interesting one. It would require
   quite a rewrite of the code to make it more JavaScript based. In theory I believe
   it should be possible however would be a large job to make it work.
 *  Thread Starter [practicaleq](https://wordpress.org/support/users/practicaleq/)
 * (@practicaleq)
 * [10 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/shortcode-does-not-seem-to-work/#post-6857060)
 * Hmm, forget the floating box/javascript thing then!
 * I still can’t make the shortcode work even with a one-word product ID. I guess
   what I really need is instructions or an example of how to use the shortcode,
   because I can’t find a way to make it work ‘as is’.
 * What I will have to do if the example isn’t forthcoming is to use the shortcodes
   to make URL texts for each product on my ‘sandbox’ page, and then paste those
   URLs into my button codes – which seems a bit longwinded.
 *  Plugin Author [andrewpaulbowden](https://wordpress.org/support/users/andrewpaulbowden/)
 * (@andrewpaulbowden)
 * [10 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/shortcode-does-not-seem-to-work/#post-6857073)
 * Could you put somewhere a screenshot or something of the WordPress text box where
   you’re putting the shortcode? Might help me understand what’s going 0n.
 *  Thread Starter [practicaleq](https://wordpress.org/support/users/practicaleq/)
 * (@practicaleq)
 * [10 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/shortcode-does-not-seem-to-work/#post-6857074)
 * Sure:
 * Screenshot of ‘Visual’ version of WordPress text box:
    [https://gyazo.com/1980c844dd907e0c4d7024779b7ae433](https://gyazo.com/1980c844dd907e0c4d7024779b7ae433)
 * Screenshot of resulting ‘Text’ version of WordPress text box:
    [https://gyazo.com/e8490c7cafc228eb11524a9559bc9186](https://gyazo.com/e8490c7cafc228eb11524a9559bc9186)
 * Resulting page: [http://webstore.coachingleaders.co.uk/sandbox/](http://webstore.coachingleaders.co.uk/sandbox/)
 *  Plugin Author [andrewpaulbowden](https://wordpress.org/support/users/andrewpaulbowden/)
 * (@andrewpaulbowden)
 * [10 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/shortcode-does-not-seem-to-work/#post-6857082)
 * I see the issue here.
 * All the shortcode does is output the URL – it doesn’t create the link itself.
   But that doesn’t work very well with visual mode – I confess I rarely use visual
   mode so this wasn’t something I had considered. Rather remiss of me.
 * Anyway, the easy solution here is to switch to visual mode and enter the link
   manually, so it looks like this:
 * `<a href="[euvat_countrydetect product_id="megapack"]">whatever you want between
   the link</a>`
 * Doing it that way should work fine.
 * This raises a few questions in my mind about how best to work round this – at
   very least I should be able to update the instructions to make them clearer.
 * Better would be to solve the issue of how to offer a shortcode that’s flexible
   so people can use images or text, but which will also work easily in the visual
   editor. There’s a challenge there, however unfortunately one that I am not sure
   I have time to fix in the near future 🙁
 *  Thread Starter [practicaleq](https://wordpress.org/support/users/practicaleq/)
 * (@practicaleq)
 * [10 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/shortcode-does-not-seem-to-work/#post-6857083)
 * Sorry, still couldn’t get it to work using that link text:
 * [https://gyazo.com/1ebdaccb45486d8e988d2678aad94f14](https://gyazo.com/1ebdaccb45486d8e988d2678aad94f14)(
   screen shot of visual editor)
 * [http://webstore.coachingleaders.co.uk/sandbox/](http://webstore.coachingleaders.co.uk/sandbox/)(
   resulting page)
 * The only way I’ve found to make it work is to take the URL text generated by 
   the shortcode and then manually enter it as a link. Which is doable, just a tiny
   bit of a faff. Otherwise the plugin solves all my problems, and I’ll send you
   a little donation (would have been bigger if it was easier to use with clearer
   instructions!) once I’ve got it working 🙂
 *  Plugin Author [andrewpaulbowden](https://wordpress.org/support/users/andrewpaulbowden/)
 * (@andrewpaulbowden)
 * [10 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/shortcode-does-not-seem-to-work/#post-6857084)
 * Sorry, I made a typo above – I should have said go to text mode not visual!

Viewing 10 replies - 1 through 10 (of 10 total)

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## Tags

 * [shortcode](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/shortcode/)

 * 10 replies
 * 2 participants
 * Last reply from: [andrewpaulbowden](https://wordpress.org/support/users/andrewpaulbowden/)
 * Last activity: [10 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/shortcode-does-not-seem-to-work/#post-6857084)
 * Status: not resolved