When it comes to getting dynamic information to display on a WordPress page, there are two basic options:
1. Super simple: Using shortcodes in the text editor
2. Kinda Hard: Customizing a WordPress template using PHP
But sometimes you actually need to make use of both options. Is it possible to use a WordPress shortcode in a PHP template file? The answer is, yes. And here’s how:
echo apply_filters('the_content',"[shortcode]Content[/shortcode]");
That’s it. Seriously. Not kidding.