Custom Query Shortcode is a WordPress app, with a 5.0 average rating from 1 review, as of Aug 31, 2026.
Custom Query Shortcode is a WordPress Plugin Directory app by Peter Hebert. With a rating of 5.0★ from 1 reviews.
AppRanks verdict
Generated from live marketplace data — refreshed daily
Custom Query Shortcode is a category-leading WordPress app with a limited review volume. Category data on the canonical marketplace listing is currently incomplete, so AppRanks falls back to platform-wide rather than category-relative comparison for this listing. 1 reviews put it in the early-traction tier — useful for early-stage stores willing to be on the leading edge. Early-traction review counts are sensitive to single launch periods or feature events, so a 30-day re-check before bigger commitments often resolves whether the trend is sustained. Paid-only pricing means evaluating fit on the marketplace listing or via the developer's documentation before installing. AppRanks tracks rating, review count, pricing tier, and category position daily — the figures on this page reflect the most recent scrape from the canonical WordPress Plugin Directory listing.
Pros
- +High average rating (5.0★) signals consistent merchant satisfaction
- +Published by Peter Hebert — established developer track record
Cons
- −Limited review base (1) — ratings can shift significantly with new feedback
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How Custom Query Shortcode works
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This plugin gives you [query] shortcode which enables you to query and output any posts filtered by specific attributes.
Usage You can use most parameters supported by WP_Query class to filter the posts; you can query for specific post types, categories, tags, authors, etc.
Other supported parameters Aside from WP_Query parameters, the shortcode also supports the following additional parameters:
featured: to query for sticky posts which by default are excluded from the query.
thumbnail_size: to specify the size of the {THUMBNAIL} images. You can use built-in image sizes or custom ones you’ve defined.
content_limit: to limit the number of words of the {CONTENT} var; by default it’s “0” which means it outputs the whole content.
posts_separator: text to display between individual posts.
lens: custom output template – see description below.
twig_template: output template using Twig templating engine – requires the Timber library.
Formatting the output You can define how you want to format the output inline within an opening [query] and closing [/query] tag.
Available keywords are: TITLE, CONTENT, AUTHOR, AUTHOR_URL, DATE, THUMBNAIL, CONTENT, COMMENT_COUNT.
The following example will display the latest 5 posts from the category with the ID of 3, showing a post title and comment count, with a link to the post:
[query posts_per_page=”5″ cat=”3″]
{TITLE} ({COMMENT_COUNT}) [/query]
Grid display
With the “cols” parameter you can display the output in a grid.
[query posts_per_page=”3″ cols=”3″] {THUMBNAIL}
{TITLE} {CONTENT} [/query]
will display the latest 3 posts in the defined template, in 3 columns.
The plugin will automatically divide the grid into rows based upon the ‘posts_per_page’ option, divided by the ‘cols’ option.
Lenses (output templates) With the “lens” parameter you can customize the display of the query results using a template. Some basic lenses/templates are provided:
ul: unordered list of linked post titles.
ul-title-date: same as ‘ul’, but also displays the posted date.
article-excerpt: series of articles, with a header containing the linked post title, and the excerpt.
article-excerpt-date: same as ‘article-excerpt’, but also displays the posted date.
cards: displays the post thumb above the header with linked post title, followed by the excerpt.
Bootstrap lenses
Some pre-defined lenses/templates are provided which use JavaScript Components from the Bootstrap CSS framework. The generated markup is compliant with the 5.x version of Bootstrap.
This feature relies on Bootstrap library to be already loaded on the page, the plugin does not include it.
If you’re using a Bootstrap-based theme, this should work; otherwise you can use the Bootstrap plugin).
Tabs
This will show the latest 3 posts in a tabbed widget.
[query posts_per_page=”3″ lens=”tabs”]
Accordion
This will create an accordion widget of all our posts from the “faq” post type.
[query posts_per_page=”0″ post_type=”faq” lens=”accordion”]
Carousel
This creates a carousel of latest five featured posts:
[query posts_per_page=”5″ featured=”true” lens=”carousel”]
Custom Lenses/templates
You can create your own custom templates and put them into one of these pre-defined folder names within your theme:
‘query-shortcode-templates’
‘partials/query-shortcode-lenses/’
‘html/lenses/’
Or simply specify your own subfolder in the ‘lens’ parameter:
[query lens=”folder/template-name”]
Twig Template Support Starting with version 0.4, you can use Twig templates for your output. Support for Twig is provided by the Timber library.
This requires that Timber 2.x be installed as a Composer dependency.
To use a Twig template for your query output, simply use the 'twig_template' parameter instead of the 'lens' parameter, and provide the path to your template. By default, Timber looks within the views folder in your active theme. You can change the default template location in Timber.
Examples:
[query twig_template="template-name.twig"] [query twig_template="folder/template-name.twig"]
Keyword rankings
Custom Query Shortcode ranks for 1 keywords across WordPress Plugin Directory. Here are the top 1:
- 1.faqRank #849
Competitors & alternatives
AppRanks tracks competitor sets per category. For Custom Query Shortcode, the independent listing audit includes a competitive context section, and the full WordPress app index shows the broader marketplace landscape this app competes in. Sign up free to surface a side-by-side competitor matrix customized to your tracked apps.
Frequently asked questions
What is Custom Query Shortcode?
Custom Query Shortcode is an app for WordPress. It currently holds a 5.0-star rating from 1 merchant review, and AppRanks has been tracking its public marketplace data on the refresh cadence published in our methodology. AppRanks tracks its category position, review-velocity trend, and the top alternatives in the same space. Developed by Peter Hebert.