Executing php on button press

Question

I would like to create a button, which will execute the php code when pressed. The issue here is the construction like this does not work:

<?php
    if($_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'] == "POST" and isset($_POST['someAction']))
    {
        func();
    }
    function func()
    {
        echo 'pressed';   
    }
?>


<form method="post">
    <input type="button" name="someAction" value="press me"/>
</form>

It gives an error: "Expected tag name. Got '?' instead"

Not surprisingly, a solution like this does not work either:

<div class="mydiv"><?php do_shortcode("[shortcode_name]");?></div>

However, the idea of using the shortcode is actually fine, but it has to run the shortcode only when the button is pressed.

I have also tried using JavaScript for the button, which worked, but I don't know an easy way to run the php code from JavaScript.

If you have any idea on how to do this, your answers will be welcome.

Just for context, I am using elementor for this, the html block to be exact.

Answer 1

Php is a server-side language. Meaning the code is executed and the user will receive the compiled html code. The only way to execute php code as user is through 'post' or 'get' requests. So essentially loading a new page. The only workaround is using ajax to load new php code dynamically.

But it may also be that what you plan to do is possible to do with just Javascript. Echoing "pressed" is possible in Javascript using .innerHTML function. Or when you want to show a shortcode-widget on button click you could load it from the beginning and just set it to being visible on button click with Javascript and css.