Title: CodeColorer
Author: Dmytro Shteflyuk
Published: April 9, 2007
Last modified: March 14, 2026
---
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# CodeColorer
By [Dmytro Shteflyuk](https://profiles.wordpress.org/kpumuk/)
[Download](https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/codecolorer.0.11.0.zip)
[Live Preview](https://pcd.wordpress.org/plugins/codecolorer/?preview=1)
* [Details](https://pcd.wordpress.org/plugins/codecolorer/#description)
* [Reviews](https://pcd.wordpress.org/plugins/codecolorer/#reviews)
* [Installation](https://pcd.wordpress.org/plugins/codecolorer/#installation)
* [Development](https://pcd.wordpress.org/plugins/codecolorer/#developers)
[Support](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/codecolorer/)
## Description
CodeColorer lets you insert syntax-highlighted code snippets into posts, comments,
and feeds.
CodeColorer currently bundles GeSHi 1.0.9.0 from the upstream 1.0.x line, with a
small set of project-local maintenance patches for current PHP and WordPress compatibility.
Plugin based on GeSHi library, which supports most languages. CodeColorer has various
nice features:
* syntax highlighting in RSS feeds
* syntax highlighting of a single line of code (inline)
* syntax highlighting of code in comments
* line numbers
* automatic links to the documentation inserting
* code block intelligent scroll detection (short code would have a short block,
for a long one the block height would be fixed and a scrollbar would appear)
* predefined color themes (Slush & Poppies, Blackboard, Dawn, Mac Classic, Twitlight,
Vibrant Ink, Railscasts, Solarized Light, Solarized Dark)
* syntax colors customization in CSS file
* code protect from mangling by WordPress (for example, quotes, double-dashes,
and others would look just right as you entered)
#### Support
If you have any suggestions, found a bug, wanted to contribute a translation to
your language, or just wanted to say “thank you”, feel free to email me [kpumuk@kpumuk.info](https://pcd.wordpress.org/plugins/codecolorer/kpumuk@kpumuk.info?output_format=md).
I will try my best to answer you.
If you want to contribute your code, see the _Development_ section under the _Other
Notes_ tab.
### Supported languages
Here is the list of languages supported by CodeColorer: 4cs, 6502acme, 6502kickass,
6502tasm, 68000devpac, abap, actionscript, actionscript3, ada, aimms, algol68, apache,
applescript, apt_sources, arm, asm, asp, asymptote, autoconf, autohotkey, autoit,
avisynth, awk, bascomavr, bash, basic4gl, batch, bf, biblatex, bibtex, blitzbasic,
bnf, boo, c, c_loadrunner, c_mac, c_winapi, caddcl, cadlisp, ceylon, cfdg, cfm,
chaiscript, chapel, cil, clojure, cmake, cobol, coffeescript, cpp-qt, cpp-winapi,
cpp, csharp, css, cuesheet, d, dart, dcl, dcpu16, dcs, delphi, diff, div, dos, dot,
e, ecmascript, eiffel, email, epc, erlang, euphoria, ezt, f1, falcon, fo, fortran,
freebasic, freeswitch, fsharp, gambas, gdb, genero, genie, gettext, glsl, gml, gnuplot,
go, groovy, gwbasic, haskell, haxe, hicest, hq9plus, html4strict, icon, idl, ini,
inno, intercal, io, ispfpanel, j, java, java5, javascript, jcl, jquery, julia, kixtart,
klonec, klonecpp, kotlin, latex, lb, ldif, lisp, llvm, locobasic, logtalk, lolcode,
lotusformulas, lotusscript, lscript, lsl2, lua, m68k, magiksf, make, mapbasic, mathematica,
matlab, mercury, metapost, mirc, mk-61, mmix, modula2, modula3, mpasm, mxml, mysql,
nagios, netrexx, newlisp, nginx, nimrod, nsis, oberon2, objc, objeck, ocaml-brief,
ocaml, octave, oobas, oorexx, oracle11, oracle8, oxygene, oz, parasail, parigp,
pascal, pcre, per, perl, perl6, pf, phix, php-brief, php, pic16, pike, pixelbender,
pli, plsql, postgresql, postscript, povray, powerbuilder, powershell, proftpd, progress,
prolog, properties, providex, purebasic, pycon, pys60, python, q, qbasic, qml, racket,
rails, rbs, rebol, reg, rexx, robots, rpmspec, rsplus, ruby, rust, sas, sass, scala,
scheme, scilab, scl, sdlbasic, smalltalk, smarty, spark, sparql, sql, standardml,
stonescript, swift, systemverilog, tcl, tclegg, teraterm, texgraph, text, thinbasic,
tsql, twig, typoscript, unicon, upc, urbi, uscript, vala, vb, vbnet, vbscript, vedit,
verilog, vhdl, vim, visualfoxpro, visualprolog, whitespace, whois, winbatch, xbasic,
xml, xojo, xorg_conf, xpp, xyscript, yaml, z80, zxbasic.
### Development
Sources of this plugin are available both in SVN and Git:
* [WordPress SVN repository](https://plugins.svn.wordpress.org/codecolorer/)
* [GitHub](https://github.com/kpumuk/codecolorer/)
The GitHub repository includes local contributor tooling based on `mise`, Composer,`
pnpm`, and `wp-env`. A typical setup is:
1. `mise install`
2. `mise run bootstrap`
3. `mise run test`
4. `mise run wp-start`
Feel free to check them out, make your changes and send me patches or pull requests.
Promise, I will apply every patch (of course, if they add a value to the product).
Email for patches, suggestions, or bug reports: [kpumuk@kpumuk.info](https://pcd.wordpress.org/plugins/codecolorer/kpumuk@kpumuk.info?output_format=md).
If you’re interested in translating CodeColorer to your language, please check out
the [translation page](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/codecolorer)
for the plugin.
### Customization
Syntax coloring is highly customizable: you could change the color scheme for all
languages or a specific language. You could find CodeColorer CSS in **wp-content/
plugins/codecolorer/codecolorer.css** file. To change colors for all languages edit
lines below _Color scheme_ section.
There is a simple mapping between TextMate color themes and CodeColorer ones:
```
/* "Slush & Poppies" color scheme (default) */
.codecolorer-container, .codecolorer { color: #000000; background-color: #F1F1F1; }
/* Comment */
.codecolorer .co0, .codecolorer .co1, .codecolorer .co2, .codecolorer .co3, .codecolorer .co4, .codecolorer .coMULTI { color: #406040; font-style: italic; }
/* Constant */
.codecolorer .nu0, .codecolorer .re3 { color: #0080A0; }
/* String */
.codecolorer .st0, .codecolorer .st_h, .codecolorer .es0, .codecolorer .es1 { color: #C03030; }
/* Entity */
.codecolorer .me1, .codecolorer .me2 { color: #0080FF; }
/* Keyword */
.codecolorer .kw1, .codecolorer .kw2, .codecolorer .sy1 { color: #2060A0; }
/* Storage */
.codecolorer .kw3, .codecolorer .kw4, .codecolorer .kw5, .codecolorer .re2 { color: #008080; }
/* Variable */
.codecolorer .re0, .codecolorer .re1 { color: #A08000; }
/* Global color */
.codecolorer .br0, .codecolorer .sy0 { color: #000000; }
```
Check the **codecolorer.css** file to get more examples.
## Screenshots
* [[
* Ruby syntax highlighting without scrollbars (Vibrant theme).
* [[
* Ruby syntax highlighting with scrollbars (Twitlight theme).
* [[
* Inline code syntax highlighting.
* [[
* Settings page.
## Installation
1. Download and unpack plugin files to **wp-content/plugins/codecolorer** directory.
2. Enable **CodeColorer** plugin on your _Plugins_ page in _Site Admin_.
3. Go to the _Settings > CodeColorer_ page in _Site Admin_ and change the plugin options
as you wish.
4. Use `[cc lang="lang"]code[/cc]` or `code` syntax to insert
a code snippet into the post (you can skip `lang="lang"` if you want a plain CodeColorer
block without syntax highlighting). You can also use `[cci lang="lang"]code[/cci]`
to format inline code (see the “inline” option description).
5. Have fun!
#### Syntax
To insert a code snippet into your post (or comment) you can use `[cc lang="lang"]
code[/cc]` or `code` syntax. Starting from version 0.6.0
you can specify additional CodeColorer options inside the `[cc]` tag:
```
[cc lang="php" tab_size="2" lines="40"]
// some code
[/cc]
```
Note: You should always use double quotes or single quotes around the parameter
value. Boolean values could be passed using string _true_ or _false_, _on_ or _off_,
number _1_ or _0_.
#### Shortcodes
Starting from CodeColorer 0.8.6 you can use shortcodes to insert code snippets.
The general form looks like `[ccM_LANG]`, where **LANG** is your programming language,
and **M** is one or more of the following modes:
* **i** – _inline_
* **e** – _escaped_
* **s** – _strict_
* **n** – _line\_numbers_
* **b** – _no\_border_
* **w** – _no\_wrap_
* **l** – _no\_links_
Small letter means **enabled**, capital – **disabled**. Examples:
_PHP code with links enabled and line numbers disabled:_
```
[cclN_php]
echo "hello"
[/cclN_php]
```
_Already escaped HTML code:_
```
[ccie_html]<html>[/ccie_html]
```
_Ruby code without wrapping having tab size equal to 4:_
```
[ccW_ruby tab_size="4"]
attr_accessor :title
[/ccW_ruby]
```
More examples could be found on the [CodeColorer Examples](https://kpumuk.info/projects/wordpress-plugins/codecolorer/examples)
page. You can find modes explained below.
#### Possible parameters
* **lang** (_string_) – source language.
* **tab_size** (_integer_) – how many spaces would represent TAB symbol.
* **lines** (_integer_) – how many lines would be block height without scroll;
could be set to _-1_ to remove vertical scrollbar.
* **width** (_integer_ or _string_) – block width.
* **height** (_integer_ or _string_) – height in pixels; used when the number of
lines is greater than the “lines” value.
* **rss_width** (_integer_ or _string_) – block width in RSS feeds.
* **theme** (_string_) – color theme (default, blackboard, dawn, mac-classic, twitlight,
vibrant, geshi, railscasts, solarized-light, solarized-dark).
* **first_line** (_integer_) – a number of the first line in the block.
* **highlight** (_string_) — a comma-separated list of line numbers or ranges of
line numbers to highlight (e.g. `1,5,8-11`).
* **escaped** (_boolean_) – when _true_ special HTML sequences like `<` or `&#
91;` will be treated as encoded (in this example as `<` and `[` respectively.)
* **line_numbers** (_boolean_) – when _true_ line numbers will be added.
* **no_links** (_boolean_) – when _false_ keywords will be represented as links
to manual.
* **inline** (_boolean_) – when _true_ forces code block to render inside “`. Used
to paste a single line of code into the regular text.
* **strict** (_boolean_) – when _true_ [strict mode](http://qbnz.com/highlighter/geshi-doc.html#using-strict-mode)
will be enabled. By default CodeColorer tries to guess whether strict mode is
needed, so this option allows to force it on or off when automatic suggestion
is wrong.
* **nowrap** (_boolean_) – when _false_ no horizontal scrollbar will be shown;
instead code will be wrapped in the end of code box.
* **noborder** (_boolean_) – when _true_ no border will be shown around the code
block.
* **no_cc** (_boolean_) – when _true_ the syntax in code block will not be highlighted,
code will be rendered inside ``\`\` tag.`
* **class** (_string_) – additional CSS classes to add to the wrapper HTML element.
* **file** (_string_) — when specified, code will be loaded from external file.
Should be a relative to uploads folder path, only files from uploads are allowed
to be embedded.
You can use special tag `[cci]` instead of `[cc]` to force inline mode:
```
[cci lang="php"]some code[/cci]
```
Most of these parameters could be configured via the CodeColorer options page.
To insert an example of CodeColorer shortcodes you can use something like this:
```
[cce_bash]
[cc lang="html"]
CodeColorer short code colorized
[/cc]
[/cce_bash]
```
## FAQ
### How can I customize CodeColorer CSS rules?
Go to the _Settings > CodeColorer_ page in _Site Admin_ and change the “Custom CSS
Styles” option.
### I see < instead of < (or other HTML entities like >, &, ") in my code.
You should use `[cc escaped="true"]` or `[cce]` in the visual editor when inserting
code into the post.
### Does it highlight my code on the server or client side?
CodeColorer performs code highlighting on the server; you could see HTML of the
highlighted code in the page source.
### Does it produce valid XHTML source?
Yes, resulting XHTML is completely valid.
### Could my visitors insert code snippets in comments?
Yes, CodeColorer supports code highlighting in comments using the same syntax, as
you use in your blog posts.
### How can I disable syntax highlighting for a particular ``\` block?`
Use `` option for your code block.
### I have updated the plugin to the newest version and now I keep getting following warnings:
Warning: array_keys() [function.array-keys]: The first argument should be an array
in /home/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/codecolorer/lib/geshi.php on line 3599
Remove all files from the **wp-content/plugins/codecolorer** folder and unpack an
archive with plugin again (thanks to [Anatoliy ‘TLK’ Kolesnick](http://blog.t-l-k.com/)).
### How do I insert code from an external file?
You can upload this file with the WordPress uploader or put it somewhere in the
uploads folder, and then specify the relative path with the `file="relative/path/
to/file"` attribute:
```
[cc_ruby file="test_project/main.rb"][/cc_ruby]
```
This snippet will insert code from the UPLOADS_DIR/test_project/main.rb file.
### Google Website Translator breaks my code blocks
The solution is to add `notranslate` class to the list of “Custom CSS Classes” on
the admin plugin settings page.
### Is this plugin GDPR compliant?
Yes. We do not store or process any user information.
## Reviews
### [Still working in WordPress 5.5.3…](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/still-working-in-wordpress-5-5-3/)
[hummdis](https://profiles.wordpress.org/hummdis/) November 5, 2020
This is a great plugin and despite some quirks, which I think are in WordPress,
it works great, even in WordPress 5.5.3.
### [Great Plugin](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/great-plugin-22430/)
[rob101011](https://profiles.wordpress.org/rob101011/) July 17, 2019
I use this plugin to display code snippets in service documentation and it looks
great. To maintain support with wordpress 5+ use this plugin alongside the classic
editor plugin created by wordpress: https://en-gb.wordpress.org/plugins/classic-
editor/
### [Great Awesome Work](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/great-awesome-work/)
[mariushosting](https://profiles.wordpress.org/marius84/) January 18, 2018
Hope the author continue to update this plugin. IS the best plugin for code style.
Work perfect on wordpress 4.9.2.
### [Beautiful code](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/beautiful-code/)
[Steffen Voß](https://profiles.wordpress.org/kaffeeringe/) August 13, 2017
Very nice plugin, that makes my shitty code look great. 😀
[ Read all 11 reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/codecolorer/reviews/)
## Contributors & Developers
“CodeColorer” is open source software. The following people have contributed to
this plugin.
Contributors
* [ Dmytro Shteflyuk ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/kpumuk/)
“CodeColorer” has been translated into 29 locales. Thank you to [the translators](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/codecolorer/contributors)
for their contributions.
[Translate “CodeColorer” into your language.](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/codecolorer)
### Interested in development?
[Browse the code](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/codecolorer/), check
out the [SVN repository](https://plugins.svn.wordpress.org/codecolorer/), or subscribe
to the [development log](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/codecolorer/) by
[RSS](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/codecolorer/?limit=100&mode=stop_on_copy&format=rss).
## Changelog
#### 0.11.0
* Fixed comment protection for suffixed shortcodes such as `[cc_php]` and `[cci_php]`.
* Modernized admin asset loading and hardening around settings sanitization, nonce-
protected dismissals, and direct-access guards.
* Improved documentation and release metadata, including clearer usage docs and
safer WordPress.org asset publishing.
#### 0.10.2
* Fixed stored XSS in shortcode attributes, including comment-rendered shortcodes.
* Improved compatibility coverage across supported PHP and WordPress versions with
real WordPress integration tests.
* Modernized local development, CI, and release tooling for more reliable maintenance.
#### 0.10.1 (May 28, 2023)
* Addressed a script injection in custom CSS classes and custom CSS block.
#### 0.10.0 (April 28, 2023)
* Addressed compatibility issues with PHP 8.0+ and tested with the latest WordPress
version.
#### 0.9.16 (July 23, 2018)
* Fixed a bug when iOS would adjust the text size for line numbers and code differently,
leading to non-consistent line numeration.
* Added scrollbars on Webkit (especially important for iOS).
* CodeColorer block width can be number, percent, or em.
* Added integration with Simple Download Monitor.
#### 0.9.15 (February 24, 2017)
* IMPORTANT: Fixed a bug with CodeColorer breaking admin pages without editor.
#### 0.9.14 (October 25, 2017)
* IMPORTANT: Another line numbers column width issue for numbers bigger than 1000.
#### 0.9.13 (October 24, 2017)
* IMPORTANT: Fixed line numbers column width issue, introduces in the previous
version.
* Fixed line numbers column position on RTL pages.
#### 0.9.12 (October 12, 2017)
* Fixed XML syntax highlighting colors.
* Fixed line highlighting color for dark themes.
* Added support for TablePress plugin.
* Line highlighting affects the whole block width, not only the code text.
#### 0.9.11 (August 8, 2017)
* Fixed an issue with TinyMCE when CodeColorer options were removed in the editor(
thanks to [Jonathan Stassen](https://github.com/TheBox193) for the suggestion).
* New art for the WordPress plugins page.
* Moved translations to https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/codecolorer.
WordPress should automatically download language packs now.
* Lots of code style issues, should resolve all warnings in PHP logs.
#### 0.9.10 (July 28, 2017)
* Fixed a bug with large code blocks margins.
* Added Portuguese translation (thanks to [Luis Coutinho](http://lfscoutinho.net/)).
* Added Indonesian translation (thanks to [Masino Sinaga](http://www.openscriptsolution.com/)).
* Fixed PHP 7 compatibility issues (thanks to [Steve Kamerman](https://github.com/kamermans)
and [Robert Felty](https://github.com/robfelty)).
* Fixed WordPress 4+ compatibility (editor button, settings page layout).
* Added “Solarized Light” and “Solarized Dark” themes (thanks to [Matt Kirman](https://github.com/mattkirman)).
You can find complete changelog on the [CodeColorer history](https://kpumuk.info/projects/wordpress-plugins/codecolorer/history/)
page.
## Meta
* Version **0.11.0**
* Last updated **3 weeks ago**
* Active installations **1,000+**
* WordPress version ** 4.0 or higher **
* Tested up to **6.9.4**
* PHP version ** 7.0 or higher **
* Languages
* [Arabic](https://ar.wordpress.org/plugins/codecolorer/), [Chinese (China)](https://cn.wordpress.org/plugins/codecolorer/),
[Chinese (Taiwan)](https://tw.wordpress.org/plugins/codecolorer/), [Czech](https://cs.wordpress.org/plugins/codecolorer/),
[Danish](https://da.wordpress.org/plugins/codecolorer/), [Dutch](https://nl.wordpress.org/plugins/codecolorer/),
[English (Australia)](https://en-au.wordpress.org/plugins/codecolorer/), [English (Canada)](https://en-ca.wordpress.org/plugins/codecolorer/),
[English (UK)](https://en-gb.wordpress.org/plugins/codecolorer/), [English (US)](https://wordpress.org/plugins/codecolorer/),
[French (France)](https://fr.wordpress.org/plugins/codecolorer/), [Georgian](https://ka.wordpress.org/plugins/codecolorer/),
[German](https://de.wordpress.org/plugins/codecolorer/), [Hungarian](https://hu.wordpress.org/plugins/codecolorer/),
[Indonesian](https://id.wordpress.org/plugins/codecolorer/), [Japanese](https://ja.wordpress.org/plugins/codecolorer/),
[Malay](https://ms.wordpress.org/plugins/codecolorer/), [Persian](https://fa.wordpress.org/plugins/codecolorer/),
[Polish](https://pl.wordpress.org/plugins/codecolorer/), [Portuguese (Brazil)](https://br.wordpress.org/plugins/codecolorer/),
[Romanian](https://ro.wordpress.org/plugins/codecolorer/), [Russian](https://ru.wordpress.org/plugins/codecolorer/),
[Slovak](https://sk.wordpress.org/plugins/codecolorer/), [Spanish (Argentina)](https://es-ar.wordpress.org/plugins/codecolorer/),
[Spanish (Chile)](https://cl.wordpress.org/plugins/codecolorer/), [Spanish (Colombia)](https://es-co.wordpress.org/plugins/codecolorer/),
[Spanish (Spain)](https://es.wordpress.org/plugins/codecolorer/), [Swedish](https://sv.wordpress.org/plugins/codecolorer/),
[Turkish](https://tr.wordpress.org/plugins/codecolorer/), and [Ukrainian](https://uk.wordpress.org/plugins/codecolorer/).
* [Translate into your language](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/codecolorer)
* Tags
* [code](https://pcd.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/code/)[comments](https://pcd.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/comments/)
[highlighting](https://pcd.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/highlighting/)[snippet](https://pcd.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/snippet/)
[syntax](https://pcd.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/syntax/)
* [Advanced View](https://pcd.wordpress.org/plugins/codecolorer/advanced/)
## Ratings
4.9 out of 5 stars.
* [ 10 5-star reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/codecolorer/reviews/?filter=5)
* [ 1 4-star review ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/codecolorer/reviews/?filter=4)
* [ 0 3-star reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/codecolorer/reviews/?filter=3)
* [ 0 2-star reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/codecolorer/reviews/?filter=2)
* [ 0 1-star reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/codecolorer/reviews/?filter=1)
[Add my review](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/codecolorer/reviews/#new-post)
[See all reviews](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/codecolorer/reviews/)
## Contributors
* [ Dmytro Shteflyuk ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/kpumuk/)
## Support
Got something to say? Need help?
[View support forum](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/codecolorer/)