In this guide, we’ll walk through how to resolve a common WordPress issue where shortcodes appear on the front end instead of rendering the intended content. This problem often affects sites using the Foundry theme and WPBakery Page Builder and can result from plugin conflicts, caching, or theme compatibility issues.
Issue background
A client site built with the Foundry theme began displaying raw shortcodes on the front end—such as
Shortcodes are snippets used by plugins like WPBakery to generate complex content dynamically. When they appear directly on the front end, it typically means the shortcode handler is missing, disabled, or incompatible. Common causes include:
- A plugin update that breaks compatibility (often WPBakery)
- Caching conflicts with tools like WP Rocket
- Theme deactivation or function conflicts during updates
Diagnosis
After a thorough review, we identified that the issue stemmed from a version mismatch between the Foundry theme and WPBakery plugin. The Foundry theme was relying on an older implementation of WPBakery shortcodes that the latest plugin version no longer supported.
We took the following diagnostic steps:
- Confirmed shortcode visibility: Verified that shortcodes were appearing directly in the page source and not being processed.
- Checked plugin versions: Compared the installed WPBakery version with the theme’s supported version.
- Reviewed caching and minification: Confirmed WP Rocket was active and may have been serving cached output from before the issue occurred.
Resolution steps
To resolve the shortcode display issue, we followed this structured approach:
- Downgrade WPBakery
Installed a previous stable version of WPBakery that was confirmed compatible with the Foundry theme. You can download earlier versions from your theme bundle or WPBakery’s official support portal. - Temporarily disable caching
Deactivated WP Rocket to ensure no outdated cached pages were being served. This prevents browsers and the server from showing the broken, pre-update content. - Clear all caches
Cleared both the site cache and browser cache. If using a CDN (such as Cloudflare), purged its cache as well. - Reactivate the theme
Deactivated and reactivated the Foundry theme to reload its shortcode definitions. This ensured all functions were reinitialized properly after plugin changes. - Handle related plugin errors
During testing, the WPLESS plugin triggered a critical error while updating custom fields. The plugin was disabled temporarily, allowing updates to proceed successfully. - Verify resolution
Reloaded affected pages and confirmed that the shortcodes were now properly rendering into structured content.
Final outcome
After implementing these steps, the shortcode issue was fully resolved. Pages once displaying
This resolution confirmed that the WPBakery downgrade and cache clearing were key to restoring compatibility between the Foundry theme and page builder.
Going forward, it’s recommended to:
- Test theme and plugin updates on a staging site first
- Review compatibility notes before updating WPBakery
- Keep caching plugins disabled during major theme or plugin updates
If your WordPress site is showing shortcodes on the front end—or if you’re dealing with plugin conflicts—contact Freshy for expert troubleshooting and optimization support.
