About this plugin
{eac}Readme is an {eac}Doojigger extension which loads and translates a WordPress markdown ‘readme’ file providing shortcodes and embedding URLs to access header lines and section blocks.
Shortcode Usage
The first used shortcode must indicate the file to load…
txt'] # load file from a github repository
After which, headers and sections may be pulled from that file…
[eacReadme]All Headers[/eacReadme] # parses all header lines [eacReadme]headerName[/eacReadme] # gets the value of the named header line
[eacReadme]All Sections[/eacReadme] # parses all section blocks [eacReadme]sectionName[/eacReadme] # parses the content of the named section block [eacReadme]sectionName/sub-section[/eacReadme] # parses the content of the named sub-section within section block
One shortcode can do it all…
txt']Document[/eacReadme] # loads the file and parses the entire document
Or load the entire file as a single code block…
php']Code File[/eacReadme]
Shortcode Examples
Get header values…
[eacReadme]Contributors[/eacReadme] [eacReadme]Donate link[/eacReadme] [eacReadme]Requires at least[/eacReadme] [eacReadme]Stable tag[/eacReadme]
Get unnamed segments…
[eacReadme]Title[/eacReadme] # gets the '=== plugin name ===' line (before headers) [eacReadme]Short Description[/eacReadme] # gets the short description (between headers and first section block)
Get section blocks…
[eacReadme]Description[/eacReadme] [eacReadme]Installation[/eacReadme] [eacReadme]Screenshots[/eacReadme] [eacReadme]Changelog[/eacReadme]
Get multiple blocks and/or sub-sections…
txt']Short Description,Description/Shortcode Examples[/eacReadme]
Get a file as a code block…
css' lang='css']Code File[/eacReadme]
Other Options
php:
define('EAC_README_CACHE_LIFETIME',$seconds); # default: 1-day (DAY_IN_SECONDS).
Override the default cache time-to-live
] # minimum: 1-minute (MINUTE_IN_SECONDS).
Set the default GitHub access token (for private repositories):
define('GITHUB_ACCESS_TOKEN',$token);
Set/override the GitHub access token
]
Override option to parse markdown when retrieving a segment
]
Set class=’language-*’ on code blocks
]
Translating Header/Section Names
Translate header/section names when retrieving All Headers, All Sections, or Document
'] [eacReadme translate='Requires at least=Requires WordPress Version,Screenshots=Screen Shots']
Erase default translation table
[eacReadme translate='no|none|false']
Default translation table
[ 'Headers' => 'Document Header', 'Plugin URI' => 'Homepage', 'Stable tag' => 'Current Version', 'Requires at least' => 'Requires WordPress Version', 'Tested up to' => 'Compatible up to', 'Requires PHP' => 'Requires PHP Version', 'WC requires at least' => 'Requires WooCommerce', 'Requires EAC' => 'Requires {eac}Doojigger', 'Changelog' => 'Change Log', 'Screenshots' => 'Screen Shots', ];
Embedding
{eac}Readme can also be used to embed URLs in a WordPress Post or Page. Simply paste the url in the Embed URL block.
- Navigate to the post or page where the readme content is to be embedded.
- Click the ‘+’ (Block Inserter) icon and search for “Embed” or type /embed.
- Select the “Embed” block.
- Paste the URL to the readme file into the provided field.
- Click the “Embed” button. WordPress will automatically display the unformatted content.
The shortcut to this is to simply paste the URL at the end of the page/post where it says “Type / to choose a block”. WordPress will automatically convert your URL to an embed block.
Files can be embedded from your site, from the WordPress repository or from Github. Embedded URLs are transformed internally to the appropriate format.
From your site
txt
From the WordPress Repository
txt
From a GitHub Repository
md
To load only specific sections of the readme file, append a fragment to the url:
md#screenshots
Readme Format
txt file that follows the WordPress readme file standard …
`
title
header: value header: value short Description<h3>section</h3> = sub-section = `
…but supports some extensions to that standard:
-
Author & Author URI
- Author header may be a simple name or a markdown link:
- [Author](Author URI).
- The Author & Author URI headers, if present, are combined as a markdown [Author](Author URI).
-
Homepage
- Looks for Homepage or Plugin URI.
-
Version
- Looks for Version or Stable tag.
-
Contributors
- profileId – wordpress profile (standard)
- [email protected] – gravatar profile
- profileId@wordpress – wordpress profile
- profileId@gravatar – gravatar profile
- profileId@github – github profile
- [display name](mailto:[email protected]) or [display name](http://www.gravatar.com/profileId/)
- [display name](https://profiles.wordpress.org/profileId/)
- [your name]((http://your/profile/url)
-
A “banner” section may be included between the top title line and the first header line.
[banner](//image_url)](//link_url)
header: value
header: value
short Description<h3>section</h3> = sub-section =
-
The header block may be enclosed in an html <header> or <details> tag, opening and closing each on a single line. These tags are ignored by the eacParseReadme parser but may be beneficial if posting your readme file elseware. See {eac}Readme on Github.
>
Note: these extensions are not supported by the WordPress Plugin Repository.
md) formatting for section identification.
+ === title === and ## title are equivalent
+ == section == and ### section are equivalent
+ = sub-section = and #### sub-section are equivalent
Output HTML
When retrieving the header block with …
[eacReadme]All Headers[/eacReadme] or `\eacParseReadme::getAllHeaders()`
Or when retrieving all sections with …
[eacReadme]All Sections[/eacReadme] or `\eacParseReadme::getAllSections()`
Or when retrieving the entire document with …
[eacReadme]Document[/eacReadme] or `\eacParseReadme::getDocument()`
Additional html tags and classes are added, including wrapping blocks within a <details> tags, adding readme-* class names, and adding <a> anchor links.
WordPress Actions
3rd-party actors may load and use the parser class included in {eac}Readme…
` do_action('eacReadme_load_parser'); // loads \eacParseReadme static class if (class_exists('\eacParseReadme')) { \eacParseReadme::loadFile($readme,$context); $html_document = \eacParseReadme::getDocument(); $title = \eacParseReadme::getTitle(); $version = \eacParseReadme::getVersion(); $donations = \eacParseReadme::getHeader('donate_link'); $description = \eacParseReadme::getSection('description'); } `= Additional Information =
- {eac}Readme is an extension plugin to and requires installation and registration of {eac}Doojigger.
- {eac}Readme uses Parsedown 1.8.0, Copyright (c) Emanuil Rusev
-
{eac}Readme uses Prism syntax highlighter, Copyright (c) 2012 Lea Verou
-
The {eac}SoftwareRegistry Software Product Taxonomy plugin uses {eac}Readme to parse readme markdown files hosted on Github to provide plugin information and automated updates to WordPress for self-hosted plugins.
Copyright
Copyright © 2026, EarthAsylum Consulting, distributed under the terms of the GNU GPL.
This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.
You should receive a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program. org/licenses/.