Shortcodes

Shortcodes let you apply formatting, embed media, and insert interactive fields. They use square bracket syntax with opening and closing pairs.

Where Shortcodes work

Every Shortcode — typography, text properties, layout, media, form fields, and actions — renders inside any text element:

• Paragraphs (p)
• Headings (h1, h2, h3, h4, h5)
• Table headers and cells (th, td)
• List items (li)
• Columns layout cells

The same syntax works everywhere. No container or wrapper needed.

Syntax

[tag]content[/tag]
[tag, param1, param2]

Tags can be nested and combined freely. The engine processes them left-to-right, maintaining a stack for each formatting property.

Tag categories

Typography

Control font weight, style, and decoration within a text span.

Tag	Short	Description
[bold]...[/bold]	[b]...[/b]	Bold text
[italic]...[/italic]	[i]...[/i]	Italic text
[bolditalic]...[/bolditalic]	[bi]...[/bi]	Bold italic text
[underline]...[/underline]	[u]...[/u]	Underlined text
[strike]...[/strike]	[s]...[/s]	Strikethrough text
[caps]...[/caps]	—	UPPERCASE text (presentation only — source stays mixed-case)
[font, Name]...[/font]	—	Switch to a registered font family

HTML semantic aliases

Familiar HTML inline-element names route to the canonical tags above — useful when porting content from HTML or when the semantic name reads more naturally in template code:

Alias	Routes to	Meaning
[em]...[/em]	[i]	Emphasis (italic)
[strong]...[/strong]	[b]	Strong emphasis (bold)
[cite]...[/cite]	[i]	Citation (italic)
[ins]...[/ins]	[u]	Inserted text (underline)
[del]...[/del]	[s]	Deleted text (strikethrough)
[mark]...[/mark]	[hl, #FFFF00]	Default-yellow highlight

Text properties

Override font size, color, alignment, and position.

Tag	Short	Description
[fontsize, N]...[/fontsize]	[size, N]...[/size]	Set font size to N points
[color, color]...[/color]	[color, color]...[/color]	Set text color (hex or CSS3 name)
[letterspacing, N]...[/letterspacing]	[ls, N]...[/ls]	Track characters out (or in, with negative N) by N points
[highlight, color]...[/highlight]	[hl, color]...[/hl]	Background highlight on the span
[align, V]...[/align]	—	Override text alignment (l, r, c, j)
[superscript]...[/superscript]	[sup]...[/sup]	Superscript (raised text)
[subscript]...[/subscript]	[sub]...[/sub]	Subscript (lowered text)

Layout

Control spacing and positioning within a paragraph.

Tag	Description
[linebreak] or [br]	Line break (optional count: [br, 3])
[tab, X, Y]	Tab stop at X points from left, Y vertical offset

Media

Embed images and barcodes inline with text.

Tag	Short	Description
[image, path, W|H]	[img, path, W|H]	Inline image
[barcode, type, code, W|H]	—	Inline barcode

Math & chemistry

Typeset equations, chemical formulas, and physical quantities as selectable, editable text. See Math & Chemistry for the full grammar.

Tag	Description
[latex]...[/latex]	Backslash-free LaTeX math (frac{a}{b}, sqrt{x}, alpha), chemistry via ce{...}, units via pu{...}

Form fields

Insert interactive AcroForm fields inline.

Tag	Description
[textfield, name, 'value', W|H]	Text input field
[textarea, name, 'value', W|H]	Multi-line text area
[checkbox, name, checked, W|H]	Checkbox
[radio, name, group, selected, W|H]	Radio button
[choicefield, name, opt1|opt2|opt3, index, W|H]	Dropdown select
[listbox, name, opt1|opt2, 'value', multi, W|H]	List box

Links

Attach a clickable target to a text span. Renders into PDF output.

Tag	Description
[link, URL]...[/link]	Clickable hyperlink
[goto, dest]...[/goto]	Jump to a named destination inside the document

Nesting

Tags can be nested to combine effects:

{ "p": "[b][color, #CC0000]URGENT:[/color][/b] Review [i]before[/i] [u]end of day[/u]." }

This renders: URGENT: (bold red) Review before (italic) end of day (underlined).

Where Shortcodes work

Shortcodes are supported in any text element:

• Paragraph text (p)
• Headings (h1 through h5)
• Table header cells (th)
• Table data cells (td)