WordPress shortcode snippet to display external files

I needed a quick way to automatically include external page content in my WordPress Rising Stars post.

There are two tables with latest plugin standings that are automatically generated and I wanted the post to be updated automatically when they update too.

Easiest way to accomplish this is through WordPress shortcode API with a simple code that you can add into the theme functions.php file:

Here is the code:

function show_file_func( $atts ) {
  extract( shortcode_atts( array(
    'file' => ''
  ), $atts ) );

  if ($file!='')
    return @file_get_contents($file);
}

add_shortcode( 'show_file', 'show_file_func' );

This allows you to write something like this anywhere in your post:

Last updated: October 14th, 2019



Num Plugin Author Score
1 Visual Composer Website Builder visualcomposer.com 281
2 Happy Elementor Addons HappyMonster 205
3 WordPress Forms Made Easy – Kali Forms Kali Forms 154
4 LuckyWP Table of Contents LuckyWP 133
5 Dynamic Conditions RTO GmbH 125
6 Colibri Page Builder ExtendThemes 124
7 Elements kit Elementor addons (Header & Footer Builder, Mega Menu Builder, Layout Library) Wpmet 118
8 Gutenberg Blocks by WordPress Download Manager WordPress Download Manager 105
9 Search Console Tropicalista 103
10 Custom Category Templates Hassan Derakhshandeh 102
11 OMGF | Host Google Fonts Locally Daan van den Bergh 95
12 Loco Automatic Translate Addon Cool Plugins 94
13 Advanced Category Template Praveen Goswami 92
14 Shortcode Table of Contents James Kemp 92
15 Seamless Sticky Custom Post Types Jascha Ephraim 91
16 Filter Custom Fields & Taxonomies Light Websupporter.net 90
17 EnvoThemes Demo Import EnvoThemes 87
18 NotificationX – Best Social Proof & FOMO Plugin WPDeveloper 87
19 Elementor Addons –  PowerPack Addons for Elementor IdeaBox Creations 86
20 Free SSL Certificate for WordPress – SSL Zen Sagar Patil 84

Num	Plugin	Author	Score
1	Visual Composer Website Builder	visualcomposer.com	281
2	Happy Elementor Addons	HappyMonster	205
3	WordPress Forms Made Easy – Kali Forms	Kali Forms	154
4	LuckyWP Table of Contents	LuckyWP	133
5	Dynamic Conditions	RTO GmbH	125
6	Colibri Page Builder	ExtendThemes	124
7	Elements kit Elementor addons (Header & Footer Builder, Mega Menu Builder, Layout Library)	Wpmet	118
8	Gutenberg Blocks by WordPress Download Manager	WordPress Download Manager	105
9	Search Console	Tropicalista	103
10	Custom Category Templates	Hassan Derakhshandeh	102
11	OMGF \| Host Google Fonts Locally	Daan van den Bergh	95
12	Loco Automatic Translate Addon	Cool Plugins	94
13	Advanced Category Template	Praveen Goswami	92
14	Shortcode Table of Contents	James Kemp	92
15	Seamless Sticky Custom Post Types	Jascha Ephraim	91
16	Filter Custom Fields & Taxonomies Light	Websupporter.net	90
17	EnvoThemes Demo Import	EnvoThemes	87
18	NotificationX – Best Social Proof & FOMO Plugin	WPDeveloper	87
19	Elementor Addons – PowerPack Addons for Elementor	IdeaBox Creations	86
20	Free SSL Certificate for WordPress – SSL Zen	Sagar Patil	84

The snippet above will automatically include the contents of given page into your post. Handy, isn't it?

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3 Comments

Yoav

Jan 2nd, 2013 10:02 PM

This is a very dangerous shortcode that could allow authors to read any file on the server filesystem. You can make it safer by using WP’s HTTP api instead of file_get_contents(), but it’ll still be dangerous.
[ show_file file="/etc/passwd" ] !
Tigara Electronica

Mar 18th, 2011 11:31 AM

interesting code, thanks for always staying on top of things :)
kevin

Mar 3rd, 2011 7:34 AM

is there anyway to use this code to embed the remote file into a wordpress widget or the sidebar, instead of a post? Or maybe a wordpress plugin that keeps the last post on the homepage sticky, instead of the first like other plugins ive seen. thanks.