Save param values in shortcode string

In order to always save param value in shortcode string, it is required to use param key from vc_map – save_always. This param key has boolean type values with "false" set as default and need to be changed.

Important: If param has dependency it will not be saved if parent param is not triggered to call this dependency by default.

In the example below save_always is applied to full_width param and once the row is added/saved the full_width param will be saved and displayed in shortcode string.

vc_map( [
 'name' => __( 'Row', 'js_composer' ),
 'base' => 'vc_row',
 'is_container' => true,
 'icon' => 'icon-wpb-row',
 'show_settings_on_create' => false,
 'category' => __( 'Content', 'js_composer' ),
 'description' => __( 'Place content elements inside the row', 'js_composer' ),
 'params' => [
 [
 'type' => 'dropdown',
 'heading' => __( 'Row stretch', 'js_composer' ),
 'param_name' => 'full_width',
 'value' => [
 __( 'Default', 'js_composer' ) => '',
 __( 'Stretch row', 'js_composer' ) => 'stretch_row',
 __( 'Stretch row and content', 'js_composer' ) => 'stretch_row_content',
 __( 'Stretch row and content (no paddings)', 'js_composer' ) => 'stretch_row_content_no_spaces',
 ],
 'save_always' => true,
 'description' => __( 'Select stretching options for row and content (Note: stretched may not work properly if parent container has "overflow: hidden" CSS property).', 'js_composer' )
 ],
 // ...
 ],
] );

The common problem with saving standards

The common problem with saving standards is that template is not synced with vc_map values.

Example of template:

shortcode_atts([
 size = big
 color = red
 align = center
])

Example of vc_map:

vc_map([
 ...
 params = [
 [
 type = textfield
 param_name = size
 value = small
 ],
 [
 type = dropdown
 param_name = color
 value = [
 white,
 blue,
 red
 ],
 ],
 [
 type = dropdown
 param_name = align
 value = [
 left
 right
 center
 ]
 std = right
 ]
 ]
]);

As you can see there is the following issue: default in template is different from vc_map resulting in problems when rendering/saving shortcode in version 4.6 or higher.

To avoid this issue use one of the proposed solutions:

1. Sync all defaults
2. In template skip using of shortcode_atts, instead use $atts = vc_map_get_attributes( 'shortcode_name', $atts ); // recommended
3. Update vc_map and add save_always key for all params (not recommended but in some cases it can help if shortcode does not have a default value – for example default value is dynamically received such as LayerSlides, posts_id and etc.)