How to put custom admin setting field into a shortcode

Question

I set up an admin settings menu and I'd like to output the fields as a short code.

The way I learned to output the fields from a tutorial was with:

<?php $input_examples = get_option('sandbox_theme_input_examples'); ?>
<?php echo sanitize_text_field( $input_examples[ 'textarea_example' ] ); ?> 

But putting that into the shortcode doesn't work:

function shortcode()
{

return '<?php $input_examples = get_option('sandbox_theme_input_examples'); ?>';
return '<?php echo sanitize_text_field( $input_examples[ 'textarea_example' ] ); ?>';

}
add_shortcode('shortcode', 'shortcode');

I'm guessing there is a specific way to put php code into the shortcodes that I'm not understanding?

I've looked all over and can't find a solution to this.

Answer 1

Your issues aren't shortcode-related, just some PHP syntax problems. I suggest enabling debugging so you can see PHP errors being generated.

Opening <?php and closing ?> php tags are for switching between html and php output. See escaping from html in PHP documentation.

A function can only return once, as it immediately ends execution and exits the function. See return in PHP docs.

It also couldn't hurt to familiarize yourself with strings and the proper use of single and double quotes.

function shortcode()
{
    $input_examples = get_option('sandbox_theme_input_examples');
    return '<img src="' . sanitize_text_field( $input_examples[ 'textarea_example' ] ) . '">';
}
add_shortcode('shortcode', 'shortcode');