Title: using a variable inside do_shortcode()
Last modified: May 18, 2018

---

# using a variable inside do_shortcode()

 *  Resolved [davidzohar](https://wordpress.org/support/users/davidzohar/)
 * (@davidzohar)
 * [7 years, 12 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/using-a-variable-inside-do_shortcode/)
 * Hi,
 * i’m trying to have custom shortcode nested in a plugin shortcode.
    i learned 
   that there is some limitation to WP shortcodes and to over come it I need to 
   us the do_shortcode function
 * i used this in my function file
    $childrens = do_shortcode(‘[products ids=”$string”]’);
   based on some research I tried: $childrens = do_shortcode(‘[products ids=”.’$
   string’.”]’); and this $childrens = do_shortcode(‘[products ids=\’$string’\]’);
   with no success.
 * in my custom template i can see the correct output for the $string variable using
   echo $string results in “41,402” so i know it works ok
 * when i use
    $childrens = do_shortcode(‘[products ids=”41,402″]’); i can see the
   desired behavior rendered on the page when i use $childrens = do_shortcode(‘[
   products ids=”$string”]’); i get all the results for the [products} shortcode
   as it ignore the $string variable.
 * any thoughts?
 * David
 * The page I need help with: _[[log in](https://login.wordpress.org/?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fwordpress.org%2Fsupport%2Ftopic%2Fusing-a-variable-inside-do_shortcode%2F%3Foutput_format%3Dmd&locale=en_US)
   to see the link]_

Viewing 2 replies - 1 through 2 (of 2 total)

 *  [Jacob Peattie](https://wordpress.org/support/users/jakept/)
 * (@jakept)
 * [7 years, 12 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/using-a-variable-inside-do_shortcode/#post-10293708)
 * The shortcode inside [`do_shortcode()`](http://php.net/manual/en/language.types.string.php)
   is a [String](http://php.net/manual/en/language.types.string.php), so needs to
   be wrapped in `'` or `"`.
 * To output a variable inside a string, you need to close the `'` quote marks, 
   use `.` to append to the string, then put the variable, before opening the string
   again and completing the shortcode:
 *     ```
       $childrens = do_shortcode( '[products ids="'. $string . '"]' );
       ```
   
 * It’s also possible to just put a variable string if you use double quotes:
 *     ```
       $string = "This is $variable";
       ```
   
 * But since shortcodes already contain double quotes you would need to escape them
   with `\`:
 *     ```
       $childrens = do_shortcode( "[products ids=\"$string\"]" );
       ```
   
 * Another option is to use [sprintf()](http://php.net/manual/en/function.sprintf.php),
   which can be used to substitute a placeholder in a string with a variable:
 *     ```
       $childrens = do_shortcode( sprintf( '[products ids="%s"]', $string ) );
       ```
   
    -  This reply was modified 7 years, 12 months ago by [Jacob Peattie](https://wordpress.org/support/users/jakept/).
 *  Thread Starter [davidzohar](https://wordpress.org/support/users/davidzohar/)
 * (@davidzohar)
 * [7 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/using-a-variable-inside-do_shortcode/#post-10314824)
 * Hi Jacob,
 * Thank you so much!!!
    this solved the issue i had.
 * David

Viewing 2 replies - 1 through 2 (of 2 total)

The topic ‘using a variable inside do_shortcode()’ is closed to new replies.

## Tags

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

 * In: [Developing with WordPress](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/wp-advanced/)
 * 2 replies
 * 2 participants
 * Last reply from: [davidzohar](https://wordpress.org/support/users/davidzohar/)
 * Last activity: [7 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/using-a-variable-inside-do_shortcode/#post-10314824)
 * Status: resolved

## Topics

### Topics with no replies

### Non-support topics

### Resolved topics

### Unresolved topics

### All topics