Hugo loves Markdown because of its simple content format, but there are times when Markdown falls short. Often, content authors are forced to add raw HTML (e.g., video `<iframes>`) to Markdown content. We think this contradicts the beautiful simplicity of Markdown's syntax.
Hugo created **shortcodes** to circumvent these limitations.
A shortcode is a simple snippet inside a content file that Hugo will render using a predefined template. Note that shortcodes will not work in template files. If you need the type of drop-in functionality that shortcodes provide but in a template, you most likely want a [partial template][partials] instead.
In addition to cleaner Markdown, shortcodes can be updated any time to reflect new classes, techniques, or standards. At the point of site generation, Hugo shortcodes will easily merge in your changes. You avoid a possibly complicated search and replace operation.
In your content files, a shortcode can be called by calling `{{%/* shortcodename parameters */%}}`. Shortcode parameters are space delimited, and parameters with internal spaces can be quoted.
The first word in the shortcode declaration is always the name of the shortcode. Parameters follow the name. Depending upon how the shortcode is defined, the parameters may be named, positional, or both, although you can't mix parameter types in a single call. The format for named parameters models that of HTML with the format `name="value"`.
Some shortcodes use or require closing shortcodes. Again like HTML, the opening and closing shortcodes match (name only) with the closing declaration, which is prepended with a slash.
Here are two examples of paired shortcodes:
```
{{%/* mdshortcode */%}}Stuff to `process` in the *center*.{{%/* /mdshortcode */%}}
```
```
{{</* highlight go */>}} A bunch of code here {{</* /highlight */>}}
```
The examples above use two different delimiters, the difference being the `%` character in the first and the `<>` characters in the second.
### Shortcodes with Markdown
The `%` character indicates that the shortcode's inner content---called in the [shortcode template][sctemps] with the [`.Inner` variable][scvars]---needs further processing by the page's rendering processor (i.e. markdown via Blackfriday). In the following example, Blackfriday would convert `**World**` to `<strong>World</strong>`:
The `<` character indicates that the shortcode's inner content does *not* need further rendering. Often shortcodes without markdown include internal HTML:
You can call shortcodes within other shortcodes by creating your own templates that leverage the `.Parent` variable. `.Parent` allows you to check the context in which the shortcode is being called. See [Shortcode templates][sctemps].
## Use Hugo's Built-in Shortcodes
Hugo ships with a set of predefined shortcodes that represent very common usage. These shortcodes are provided for author convenience and to keep your markdown content clean.
### `figure`
`figure` is an extension of the image syntax in markdown, which does not provide a shorthand for the more semantic [HTML5 `<figure>` element][figureelement].
The `figure` shortcode can use the following named parameters:
Bloggers often want to include GitHub gists when writing posts. Let's suppose we want to use the [gist at the following url][examplegist]:
```
https://gist.github.com/spf13/7896402
```
We can embed the gist in our content via username and gist ID pulled from the URL:
```
{{</* gist spf13 7896402 */>}}
```
#### Example `gist` Input
If the gist contains several files and you want to quote just one of them, you can pass the filename (quoted) as an optional third argument:
{{<codefile="gist-input.md">}}
{{</* gist spf13 7896402 "img.html" */>}}
{{</code>}}
#### Example `gist` Output
{{<outputfile="gist-output.html">}}
{{<gistspf137896402>}}
{{</output>}}
#### Example `gist` Display
To demonstrate the remarkably efficiency of Hugo's shortcode feature, we have embedded the `spf13``gist` example in this page. The following simulates the experience for visitors to your website. Naturally, the final display will be contingent on your stylesheets and surrounding markup.
{{<gistspf137896402>}}
### `highlight`
This shortcode will convert the source code provided into syntax-highlighted HTML. Read more on [highlighting](/tools/syntax-highlighting/). `highlight` takes exactly one required `language` parameter and requires a closing shortcode.
#### Example `highlight` Input
{{<codefile="content/tutorials/learn-html.md">}}
{{</* highlight html */>}}
<sectionid="main">
<div>
<h1id="title">{{ .Title }}</h1>
{{ range .Data.Pages }}
{{ .Render "summary"}}
{{ end }}
</div>
</section>
{{</* /highlight */>}}
{{</code>}}
#### Example `highlight` Output
The `highlight` shortcode example above would produce the following HTML when the site is rendered:
To see even more options for adding syntax-highlighted code blocks to your website, see [Syntax Highlighting in Developer Tools](/tools/syntax-highlighting/).
{{% /note %}}
### `instagram`
If you'd like to embed a photo from [Instagram][], you only need the photo's ID. You can discern an Instagram photo ID from the URL:
```
https://www.instagram.com/p/BWNjjyYFxVx/
```
#### Example `instagram` Input
{{<codefile="instagram-input.md">}}
{{</* instagram BWNjjyYFxVx */>}}
{{</code>}}
You also have the option to hide the caption:
{{<codefile="instagram-input-hide-caption.md">}}
{{</* instagram BWNjjyYFxVx hidecaption */>}}
{{</code>}}
#### Example `instagram` Output
By adding the preceding `hidecaption` example, the following HTML will be added to your rendered website's markup:
Using the preceding `instagram` with hidecaption` example above, the following simulates the displayed experience for visitors to your website. Naturally, the final display will be contingent on your stylesheets and surrounding markup.
{{<instagramBWNjjyYFxVxhidecaption>}}
### `ref` and `relref`
These shortcodes will look up the pages by their relative path (e.g., `blog/post.md`) or their logical name (`post.md`) and return the permalink (`ref`) or relative permalink (`relref`) for the found page.
`ref` and `relref` also make it possible to make fragmentary links that work for the header links generated by Hugo.
{{% note "More on Cross References" %}}
Read a more extensive description of `ref` and `relref` in the [cross references](/content-management/cross-references/) documentation.
{{% /note %}}
`ref` and `relref` take exactly one required parameter of _reference_, quoted and in position `0`.
#### Example `ref` and `relref` Input
```
[Neat]({{</* ref "blog/neat.md" */>}})
[Who]({{</* relref "about.md#who" */>}})
```
#### Example `ref` and `relref` Output
Assuming that standard Hugo pretty URLs are turned on.
To embed slides from [Speaker Deck][], click on "< /> Embed" (under Share right next to the template on Speaker Deck) and copy the URL:
Extract the value from the field `data-id` and pass it to the shortcode:
{{<codefile="speakerdeck-example-input.md">}}
{{</* speakerdeck 4e8126e72d853c0060001f97 */>}}
{{</code>}}
#### `speakerdeck` Example Output
{{<outputfile="speakerdeck-example-input.md">}}
{{<speakerdeck4e8126e72d853c0060001f97>}}
{{</output>}}
#### `speakerdeck` Example Display
For the preceding `speakerdeck` example, the following simulates the displayed experience for visitors to your website. Naturally, the final display will be contingent on your stylesheets and surrounding markup.
{{<speakerdeck4e8126e72d853c0060001f97>}}
### `tweet`
You want to include a single tweet into your blog post? Everything you need is the URL of the tweet:
Pass the tweet's ID from the URL as a parameter to the `tweet` shortcode:
{{<codefile="example-tweet-input.md">}}
{{</* tweet 877500564405444608 */>}}
{{</code>}}
#### Example `tweet` Output
Using the preceding `tweet` example, the following HTML will be added to your rendered website's markup:
{{<outputfile="example-tweet-output.html">}}
{{<tweet877500564405444608>}}
{{</output>}}
#### Example `tweet` Display
Using the preceding `tweet` example, the following simulates the displayed experience for visitors to your website. Naturally, the final display will be contingent on your stylesheets and surrounding markup.
{{<tweet877500564405444608>}}
### `vimeo`
Adding a video from [Vimeo][] is equivalent to the YouTube shortcode above.
```
https://vimeo.com/channels/staffpicks/146022717
```
#### Example `vimeo` Input
Extract the ID from the video's URL and pass it to the `vimeo` shortcode:
{{<codefile="example-vimeo-input.md">}}
{{</* vimeo 146022717 */>}}
{{</code>}}
#### Example `vimeo` Output
Using the preceding `vimeo` example, the following HTML will be added to your rendered website's markup:
{{<outputfile="example-vimeo-output.html">}}
{{<vimeo146022717>}}
{{</output>}}
{{% tip %}}
If you want to further customize the visual styling of the YouTube or Vimeo output, add a `class` named parameter when calling the shortcode. The new `class` will be added to the `<div>` that wraps the `<iframe>`*and* will remove the inline styles. Note that you will need to call the `id` as a named parameter as well.
Using the preceding `vimeo` example, the following simulates the displayed experience for visitors to your website. Naturally, the final display will be contingent on your stylesheets and surrounding markup.
{{<vimeo146022717>}}
### `youtube`
The `youtube` shortcode embeds a responsive video player for [YouTube videos][]. Only the ID of the video is required, e.g.:
```
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7Ft2ymGmfc
```
#### Example `youtube` Input
Copy the YouTube video ID that follows `v=` in the video's URL and pass it to the `youtube` shortcode:
{{<codefile="example-youtube-input.md">}}
{{</* youtube w7Ft2ymGmfc */>}}
{{</code>}}
Furthermore, you can automatically start playback of the embedded video by setting the `autoplay` parameter to `true`. Remember that you can't mix named an unnamed parameters, so you'll need to assign the yet unnamed video id to the parameter `id`:
Using the preceding `youtube` example, the following HTML will be added to your rendered website's markup:
{{<codefile="example-youtube-output.html">}}
{{<youtubeid="w7Ft2ymGmfc"autoplay="true">}}
{{</code>}}
#### Example `youtube` Display
Using the preceding `youtube` example (without `autoplay="true"`), the following simulates the displayed experience for visitors to your website. Naturally, the final display will be contingent on your stylesheets and surrounding markup. The video is also include in the [Quick Start of the Hugo documentation][quickstart].
{{<youtubew7Ft2ymGmfc>}}
## Create Custom Shortcodes
To learn more about creating custom shortcodes, see the [shortcode template documentation][].
