Disclaimer: AlphaBlossom is a recommended developer for Agent Evolution, the company behind the Equity Framework.
It’s no secret that the new Equity Framework by Agent Evolution (an IDX Broker company) has become our favorite framework for real estate websites. With the announcement today of a new version release, it just continues to get better.
Version 1.3 of the Equity Framework for real estate websites was released today, with an impressive lineup of new features and minor fixes.
A lot of great features have been added, but I love a couple in particular. I’m really happy to see support added for the Shortcake plugin and for IDX Broker’s sitemaps.
If you’d like to see the full list of changes, skip to the end of the article. Otherwise, continue reading to learn more about Shortcake. Our next post will go over the IDX Broker Sitemap support, so be sure to check back or sign up for our newsletter to receive our posts in your inbox.
Shortcake Plugin for WordPress Shortcodes
Shortcodes allow you to insert a short, specially formatted line of code in your WordPress text editor to more easily display various things like a button or quotes, for example. A simple example of a shortcode for Equity is:
[button url=”https://www.alphablossom.com” size=”large”]Large[/button]
This is how your default shortcode will display in your WordPress admin panel:
This is how your Shortcake shortcode will display in your WordPress admin panel:
You can see that the default shortcode functionality gives no indication of how it will look on the front end. You also have to remember the shortcode and type it in, or copy and paste the code.
Shortcake changes all of that and now that it’s supported in Equity, adding shortcodes is easier than ever. Read on.
What is Shortcake?
Shortcake is a plugin that provides a Graphical User Interface (GUI) for inserting shortcodes into your post. You can read more about it and download it on GitHub.
Shortcake is so good that Automattic has made it available to all WordPress.com VIP customers, and there’s talk of including it in WordPress core.
By itself, it won’t do anything. To get Shortcake to work, you have to write some code to integrate Shortcake with your shortcodes. The good news is that Agent Evolution has done that in this new release, so all you have to do is install the plugin and go.
How to use Shortcake with the Equity Framework
Using Shortcake with the Equity Framework is as simple as downloading the plugin and installing it as you would any other plugin. Once you activate the Shortcode plugin, you’ll automatically have the benefits of the user friendly interface for adding shortcodes.
Install Shortcake:
- Download the Shortcake zip file here
- Install the plugin in your WordPress Admin. From your admin menu (left side menu) select “Plugins > Add New”. Select “Upload Plugin” and activate the plugin.
Insert your shortcode:
In your WordPress post/page editor screen, click the “Add Media” button (same button you’d use to insert an image or Gallery). You’ll see the standard Media popup has an option on the left that says “Insert Post Element”.
Click on “Insert Post Element” and you’ll see your shiny new shortcode interface, which includes Alert Box, Button, Font Awesome Icon, Icon Box, Responsive Video, and Testimonial.
Click on any element to add your information and insert your short code. The image below shows what the “Alert box” interface is and how easy it is to use:
What a difference! Simply fill out your content, alert type (Default, info, success, warning, alert, secondary), border (rounded and radius) and whether you want to include an option to close the alert box. You can then preview or insert your shortcode into your post. You’ll now see your actual alert box in your post editor (see the image above), as well as on the front end of your site.
With this great addition, you can easily add one of the six default shortcodes into your post. I can imagine that more will be added with future updates, and perhaps included with various themes.
The Equity Framework for real estate websites just keeps getting better. If you haven’t taken a look at it yet, head over to Agent Evolution’s website and take a look.
All Equity Version 1.3 Changes
We’ve only touched on one feature announced in the Equity 1.3 release, and we’ll go over another one in the next article, but there were many other upgrades in version 1.3. These are all of the changes announced in Equity version 1.3:
- New: Support for Shortcode UI via Shortcake plugin for all content shortcodes (See: https://github.com/fusioneng/Shortcake/)
- New: Added Shortcake as a recommended plugin
- New: Author box feature to optionally display author bio on posts
- New: Redirect to custom feed URL in Theme Settings
- New: Field added for IDX Broker listings sitemap XML
- New: Shortcode added for [idx_sitemap] to output link to IDX sitemap
- New: Phone number option added to IDX Lead Sign up widget
- New: [agent_phone] and [agent_email] shortcodes modified to accept icon parameter (accepts Font Awesome icon CSS classes)
- Enhancement: Removed app.js to reduce HTTP requests. app.js now merged with theme.js.
- Fix: Bug that would reset settings saved in Customizer
IDX Broker Sitemap Support – Great for SEO
Our next article will go over the Equity version 1.3 support for IDX Broker’s sitemap, great for your site’s SEO. Check back soon or enter your name and email below to receive our articles in your inbox:
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