Display Visual Composer shortcode if a post belongs in specific categories

Question

I have a PHP template file that requires some Visual Composer shortcode to be added. I only want the shortcode to display if a post belongs to certain categories. At any one time, at least three child categories will be chosen for the post.

How can I use echo do_shortcode to fire only when these categories are selected? What I want is a specific shortcode to be added to the content when the post is in a certain category. Ideally, it will get stripped when the user selects another category that isn't in the series. I'd add it as a div within the template file.

Answer 1

Sounds like you're looking for has_category(), which

Checks if the current post has any of given category.

You would use it, for example in single.php, like so,

<?php if ( has_category( array( 'cat-a', 'cat-b', 'cat-c' ) ) ) : ?>
    <div>
        <?php echo do_shortcode( 'some_shortcode' ); ?>
    </div>
<?php endif; ?>