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When I started getting further into software development and WordPress, I noticed that not a lot of page builders I come across with have that “page builder standard” I was looking for: fast, easy, convenient.

Page Builder Sandwich, then, was created with the goal of having a builder meet these same standards.

I wanted- and still want it– to be the best page builder out there, and the best way I could accomplish that, I figured, was to add in features in a way in which page building becomes helpful and accessible to everyone –developers and noobs alike.

I’d like to note though, that I didn’t simply create PBS with the intent of merely bombarding it with features just for the sake of it.

I want to add in features that people would want to work with; features that hopefully, would make the experience of page building feel a little bit more like magic.

בשבועות האחרונים, צוות PBS הוסיף אלמנט מפה, וגם אלמנט לשוניות.

כעת, זה היה נראה כמו שגרה די קלה ופשוטה עבורנו להמשיך להוסיף אלמנט חדש מדי כמה ימים.

But I think it’d be better if we take it to the next level; to take a bigger leap, do something more drastic, something drizzled with a little more awesomesauce.

And so we came up with an idea: “How about we start supporting 800+ plugins along with their 2000+ shortcodes?!?!”

I know what you’re thinking: “How the heck can you support that much shortcodes? Is that even possible?”

Well, the simple answer is yes. Yes it is.

And we’ve managed to achieve this feat through shortcode mapping.

What is Shortcode Mapping?

Put more simply, shortcode mapping is like letting Page Builder Sandwich memorize all the shortcodes available on your site: their names, descriptions, their attributes, and what each of these attributes do.

היתרונות של מערכת כזו הם משמעותיים למדי:

1.) Since PBS already knows what your shortcodes are, you get to spend less time going through the documentation of each plugin you use, and check how to use their shortcodes.

2. ) In other words: Say goodbye to the grueling task of manually typing in your shortcodes!

3.) With shortcode mapping, you can also say goodbye to manually checking post type ID’s. How? PBS can give you a list of all your contact forms through a drop-down list, so instead of looking for ID’s while on admin mode, you can pick from the list we made instead.

4.) You’ll get to use dropdowns, colorpickers, image uploaders, and even number sliders when adjusting shortcode attributes.

5.) Overall faster page building time!

מיפוי שורטקודים אינו דבר חדש, ולמספר בוני עמודים כבר יש אותו. אך מה מייחד את שלנו?

כיצד מיפוי שורטקודים עובד בבוני עמודים אחרים

Other page builders have a dedicated admin page for shortcode mapping. You go inside your admin page, and then their admin page. You put in your shortcode, edit a number of text fields, then hit save. Finally, when you go to your page builder editor, the shortcode is now there in element list.

בתרחיש זה, נטל מיפוי השורטקודים נותר עליך, המשתמש. אם ברצונך שכל השורטקודים שלך ימופו במלואם עם כל המאפיינים (ועם בוררי הצבעים היפים ודברים נוספים), תצטרך לוודא שאתה מזין כל פרט ופרט של כל שורטקוד ושורטקוד.

What’s more, all your mappings only reside on your site. So when the times comes that you need to work on another site, you’ll have to copy your mappings all over again. Additionally, if and when you install a new plugin that has shortcodes, then you’re going to have to map those too.

כיצד מיפוי שורטקודים עובד ב-Page Builder Sandwich

Unlike the norm, shortcode mapping in Page Builder Sandwich is done on a global scale. The most used and popular plugins are gathered first, and all their shortcode mappings are created and updated in a central area. These will then spread out to all users depending on what they have installed. In other words, PBS studies and reviews all the shortcodes you have, including your activated plugins. Afterwards, it gives you the mapping of basically everything you need.

זה מעניק לנו המון יתרונות נהדרים:

1. Maximum coverage. Since we’ll be mapping out the shortcodes of the popular plugins, PBS will be able to support a majority of the shortcodes available on your site.
2. Constant and frequent additions, updates and corrections. And since it’s in a central area, changes can be made quickly, and can be disseminated to all users.
3. It basically works like magic. Let’s say you just installed a new plugin. Then you activate it, all mappings for its shortcodes will automatically get sent to you right away.
4. Gone are the days when you have to personally map shortcodes yourself. PBS will do that for you.
5. Your site remains lean and fast, and will only contain shortcode mappings that are relevant to you.
6. Plugin zip size remains small. Even though PBS supports thousands of shortcodes, the plugin file size is still small. Your site and your backups remain small too!

In case you’re interested in reading into how we made all of this possible,  we actually have a second part to this article in which things might start sounding a little more technical (if that’s your drift).

הירשמו לניוזלטר שלנו!

You can also opt to sign up to our mailing list, which will automatically notify you when we officially release this feature, (you can get future updates from us too, if you want). The shortcode mapping functionality will be out for our customers tentatively on August 12 August 15 2016. Not all shortcodes will be mapped by this time (our estimate is maybe 100 plugins), but mapping will be continuously done and customers will get them as soon as new ones roll out.

So sign up to our newsletter to get news on shortcode mapping, when we’ll release it, and when we open shortcode mapping to the public! Until then, we hope you enjoy this new feature of ours, and that you have fun exploring it!