Do you like to style content on your WordPress blog and make it look real pretty? Are you NOT a whiz with css? Then, here are some quick and easy shortcode solutions for you!

Shortcodes are, imho, one of the best things to happen to WordPress. They allow you to do all kinds of cool things on your blog with just a few mouse clicks; like create beautiful buttons, boxes, columns and tabs. Today, I’d like to share 3 of my favorite shortcode plugins to do just that, and then some… check out #3 on the list; it’s awesome!

#1 – J-Shortcodes

J-Shortcodes is one of the simplest plugins available for buttons, tabs and the like.

• Uses pure CSS to achieve effects like hover and active states for buttons
• A real lightweight when it comes to page load times
• Combine and nest the shortcodes to create truly unique WordPress layouts.

 

Speaking of layouts, have you ever struggled to get your post content “just so” in nicely arranged columns or boxes? Fret no more. The J-Columns and J-Boxes shortcodes enable you to create custom layouts in your posts, pages and widgets. You can use them in divs, tables, lists… just about anywhere.

Have a lot of good content that needs to be squeezed in?

The variations of the J-Tabs shortcodes – 5 themes and 5 sizes – allow for 25 unique looks. And, yup, you can nest other shortcodes in there too!

J-Shortcodes is available for download from the WordPress repository here: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/j-shortcodes/
Full specs are also available here: http://www.jshortcodes.com/

#2 – TheTheFly Shortcodes for tabs and accordions

TheTheFly (weird name, I know) has some fully customizable shortcodes for tabs, as well as both vertical and horizontal accordions. The output of these shortcodes also inherits the styles of your current WordPress theme, so no futzing around required.

Customization is accomplished with a whole slew of parameters you can define in the shortcode:

• Title
• Speed
• Style
• Collapsible
• Animated
• Autoheight
• Autoplay
• Pauseonhover
• …and many more

TheTheFly Shortcodes is available for download from the WordPress repository here: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/thethe-tabs-and-accordions/
Full specs here: http://thethefly.com/wp-plugins/thethe-tabs-and-accordions/

#3 – Shortcodes Ultimate… for just about everything!

The Shortcodes Ultimate plugin deserves its name. Pretty much anything can be accomplished with this WordPress plugin. All shortcodes and custom parameters can be defined in a modal window that pops up when you click the “Add shortcode” icon available above your post editor.

• Buttons
• Tabs
• Spoilers
• Accordions
• Image frames
• Quotes and pullquotes
• Labels
• Boxes

• Members-only content (really!)
• Lists
• Columns
• Tables
• Google maps
• Google docs
• Image sliders, carousels and galleries
• …and more still

The Shortcodes Ultimate plugin also has an easy-to-use admin panel where you can load only the scripts you actually use. Custom CSS can be added too.

Here’s a video demo for using the Shortcodes Ultimate plugin:

Shortcodes Ultimate shortcodes plugin is available for download from the WordPress repository here: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/shortcodes-ultimate/

Photo credit: Plugs from Flickr.com

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