/ Plugin Category

/ Design & Themes

/ Themes & Templates

/ Column Shortcodes

Column Shortcodes

By Tobias Schutter

Design & Themes / Themes & Templates

Reviewed by Omar Dabbas

Trusted WordPress expert with 20+ years of experience evaluating plugins for the WP ecosystem.

Column Shortcodes Review - In-Depth Analysis

Easily create columns in your posts or pages using shortcodes. Customize padding and select from various column widths.

Performance Overview

WPS Score

6.59/10

User Rating

4.8/5 (based on 134+ reviews)

Active Installations

60,000+

Update Frequency

Below Average It is calculated using the weighted average of same category plugins.

Security Score

1 / 10 (Very Low Risk) It is calculated using the weighted average of all versions.

What It Does

This plugin adds shortcodes to easily create columns in your posts or pages.

Sometimes you just need to divide your page into different columns. With this plugin, you simply select a column shortcode, and it will add the column to the page. You can also change the padding of each individual column from the user interface.

There are 10 different column widths available from which you can make all combinations, including full width (1/1), half (1/2), one third (1/3), two third (2/3), one fourth (1/4), three fourth (3/4), one fifth (1/5), two fifth (2/5), three fifth (3/5), four fifth (4/5), one sixth (1/6), and five sixth (5/6).

A preset stylesheet is included, which you can also overwrite to your liking in your theme's stylesheet.

Comparing to Alternatives

Column Shortcodes is a unique plugin in its category with no close direct alternatives available, making it a distinct choice for users needing simple column shortcode functionality.

Top alternatives

Strengths

Simple and easy to use interface
Reliable performance with minimal issues
Highly recommended over complex WYSIWYG solutions
Lightweight and focused on core functionality
Consistently positive user feedback

Weaknesses

Lacks advanced features such as vertical content alignment
No plans to add new features according to user feedback
Basic functionality may not satisfy all user needs

User Sentiment Analysis

With a high overall rating of 4.8 out of 5 and 91% of users giving 5 stars, the sentiment is overwhelmingly positive. Users appreciate its simplicity and effectiveness.

Positive highlights

'Simple plugin, but does what it's supposed to. Recommended over all the wysiwyg solutions.' - pslom
'Easy to use, works great!' - my3seadogs
'Easy to use, perfect!' - mvkwebmaster
'Simple and easy to use, that is the reason I like it.' - maruska
'Perfect plugin! Thanks a lot.' - Viktor Jenerál

Common complaints

Weaknesses

Limited feature set
No vertical content alignment option
No active development of new features

Who Should Use This?

Best for

Users seeking a straightforward, reliable plugin to add column shortcodes without unnecessary complexity will find this plugin ideal.

Not ideal for

Those needing advanced layout controls, such as vertical alignment or frequent feature updates, may find this plugin insufficient.

Pricing & Value

Free version includes

The free version offers all core features needed to implement column shortcodes effectively without any cost.

Final Verdict

Column Shortcodes stands out as a simple, effective solution for users needing basic column shortcode functionality with excellent ease of use and reliability. Its lack of direct alternatives highlights its unique position in the WordPress plugin ecosystem.

While it lacks advanced features and active development for new capabilities, its strong user satisfaction and absence of security vulnerabilities make it a trustworthy choice for those prioritizing simplicity and stability.

Other Notable Features

Here are a few other notable features of this free Column Shortcodes plugin.

Column

Columns

Shortcode

Shortcodes

Screenshots

FAQ

Standard
The easiest way is to use the added icon on the top of your editor ( right next to the media icon ). This will open a popup window from which you can select a column icon by clicking on one of the shortcodes.

Manual
You could also type in the shortcode yourself inside the editor. The following shortcodes are available:

[full_width][/full_width] [one_half][/one_half] [one_half_last][/one_half_last] [one_third][/one_third] [one_third_last][/one_third_last] [two_third][/two_third] [two_third_last][/two_third_last] [one_fourth][/one_fourth] [one_fourth_last][/one_fourth_last] [three_fourth][/three_fourth] [three_fourth_last][/three_fourth_last] [one_fifth][/one_fifth] [one_fifth_last][/one_fifth_last] [two_fifth][/two_fifth] [two_fifth_last][/two_fifth_last] [three_fifth][/three_fifth] [three_fifth_last][/three_fifth_last] [four_fifth][/four_fifth] [four_fifth_last][/four_fifth_last] [one_sixth][/one_sixth] [one_sixth_last][/one_sixth_last] [five_sixth][/five_sixth] [five_sixth_last][/five_sixth_last]

Another option
Another way to add shortcodes is to switch to HTML-view. On the top of editor you will now see all the shortcodes listed.
By default these buttons are hidden. If you’d like to use them you can add this to your theme’s functions.php:

add_filter('add_shortcode_html_buttons', '__return_true' );

When you have selected a shorcode it will be placed in you editor. You will see something like this:

[one_half][/one_half]

Make sure to place your content (text/images etc. ) between the two shortcodes, like so:

[one_half]My content goes here...[/one_half]

You can prefix the shortcode by placing the following in your functions.php. Problem solved =)

add_filter( 'cpsh_prefix', 'set_shortcode_prefix' ); function set_shortcode_prefix() {     return 'myprefix_'; // edit this part if needed }

In patch 0.6 we added padding settings (optional) to the plugin. If you would like to hide this settings menu you can place the following in your functions.php

add_filter( 'cpsh_hide_padding_settings', '__return_true' );

If you would like to hide certain column from the menu; place the following in your functions.php

function hide_column_shortcodes( $shortcodes ) {      /* uncomment ( remove the '//' ) any of the following to remove it's shortcode from menu */      // unset( $shortcodes['full_width'] );     // unset( $shortcodes['one_half'] );     // unset( $shortcodes['one_third'] );     // unset( $shortcodes['one_fourth'] );     // unset( $shortcodes['two_third'] );     // unset( $shortcodes['three_fourth'] );     // unset( $shortcodes['one_fifth'] );     // unset( $shortcodes['two_fifth'] );     // unset( $shortcodes['three_fifth'] );     // unset( $shortcodes['four_fifth'] );     // unset( $shortcodes['one_sixth'] );     // unset( $shortcodes['five_sixth'] );      return $shortcodes; } add_filter( 'cpsh_column_shortcodes', 'hide_column_shortcodes' );

You can easily overwrite the existing stylesheet. For example you would like to add a margin between your columns, you just place the following in your theme’s style.css:

.one_half {     width: 49% !important;     margin-right: 2% !important; } .one_half.last_column {     width: 49% !important;     margin-right: 0px !important; } .one_third {     width: 32% !important;     margin-right: 2% !important; } .one_third.last_column {     width: 32% !important;     margin-right: 0px !important; } .two_third {     width: 66% !important;     margin-right: 2% !important; } .two_third.last_column {     width: 66% !important;     margin-right: 0px !important; } .one_fourth {     width: 23.5% !important;     margin-right: 2% !important; } .one_fourth.last_column {     width: 23.5% !important;     margin-right: 0px !important; } .three_fourth {     width: 74.5% !important;     margin-right: 2% !important; } .three_fourth.last_column {     width: 74.5% !important;     margin-right: 0px !important; } .one_fifth {     width: 18.4% !important;     margin-right: 2% !important; } .one_fifth.last_column {     width: 18.4% !important;     margin-right: 0px !important; } .two_fifth {     width: 39% !important;     margin-right: 2% !important; } .two_fifth.last_column {     width: 39% !important;     margin-right: 0px !important; } .three_fifth {     width: 59% !important;     margin-right: 2% !important; } .three_fifth.last_column {     width: 59% !important;     margin-right: 0px !important; } .four_fifth {     width: 79.6% !important;     margin-right: 2% !important; } .four_fifth.last_column {     width: 79.6% !important;     margin-right: 0px !important; } .one_sixth {     width: 15% !important;     margin-right: 2% !important; } .one_sixth.last_column {     width: 15% !important;     margin-right: 0px !important; }

If you would like to prevent the loading of the column styling on the frontend; place the following in your functions.php

add_filter( 'cpsh_load_styles', '__return_false' );

Contributors and developers

“Column Shortcodes” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.

Tobias Schutter

Codepress

David Mosterd

Stefan van den Dungen Gronovius

Free Version Docs

WPS

6.59

Average

Ratings

4.8 out of 5 | 134

Version

1.0.1

Last updated

4 years ago

Active installations

60,000+

WordPress version

6.0.17 or higher

PHP version

or higher

Languages

Other plugins you might like

Elementor Website Builder – More Than Just a Page Builder

By Elementor

WPS

7.18

Very Good

4.5/5

7.3k+reviews

10M+

active installation

Tested with

7.1.3

Ultimate Addons for Elementor

By Brainstorm Force

WPS

7.52

Very Good

4.9/5

2.5k+reviews

2M+

active installation

Tested with

7.1.3

Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets

By WPDeveloper

WPS

7.54

Very Good

4.9/5

4.1k+reviews

1M+

active installation

Tested with

7.1.3

Starter Templates – AI-Powered Templates for Elementor & Gutenberg

By Brainstorm Force

WPS

7.57

Very Good

4.9/5

4.8k+reviews

1M+

active installation

Tested with

7.1.3

ElementsKit Elementor Addons and Templates

By Roxnor

WPS

7.56

Very Good

4.9/5

2k+reviews

1M+

active installation

Tested with

7.1.3

SVG Support

By Benbodhi

WPS

7.52

Very Good

4.8/5

356+reviews

1M+

active installation

Tested with

7.0.7

Column Shortcodes Review - In-Depth Analysis

Performance Overview

What It Does

Comparing to Alternatives

User Sentiment Analysis

Who Should Use This?

Pricing & Value

Final Verdict

Other Notable Features

Screenshots

FAQ

Contributors and developers

Ratings

Reviews (134)

Sort by:

Contributors & Developers

Interested in development?

Changelog

Security Status

Secure

No Unpatched Vulnerabilities

Known Vulnerabilities (0)

Previous Versions

WPS

6.59

Other plugins you might like

Elementor Website Builder – More Than Just a Page Builder

Ultimate Addons for Elementor

Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets

Starter Templates – AI-Powered Templates for Elementor & Gutenberg

ElementsKit Elementor Addons and Templates

SVG Support