Before we look at how to register WordPress custom shortcodes, let’s be clear: If there’s one thing Gutenberg is about to kill, it’s the use of WordPress shortcodes in content creation.

WordPress plugins can cause all kinds of errors: 500 internal server errors, PHP parse errors (also called syntax errors), errors that simply whitescreen your entire site, and more.

Since so many things can go wrong in a WordPress environment, it’s important to develop general WordPress bugfixing hunches.

Halloween’s coming up, and it seems like a good time to remember all the moments of abject terror WordPress has brought into my life. Programming in WordPress is fun for the most part, but, especially as you’re learning, you’ll sometimes hit errors that are both incomprehensible and devastatingly severe. If you really need the site you’re working on to function properly, that can be an edge-of-your-seat experience.