By Jeff Starr

June 20, 2024

Prismatic Plugin

Display beautiful syntax-highlighted code snippets with Prism.js or Highlight.js

The only 3-in-1 syntax highlighter!

Display beautiful code snippets with Prism.js, Highlight.js, or plain code escaping:

Prism.js – Code escape + syntax highlight using Prism.js
Highlight.js – Code escape + syntax highlight using Highlight.js
Plain Flavor – Code escape without syntax highlight

Check out a demo post using Highlight.js. I also use this plugin at WP-Mix and Plugin Planet for all code snippets 🙂

Prism.js Features

Supports 60+ coding languages
Choose from all 8 available Prism themes
Provides a Gutenberg block for adding code snippets
Provides TinyMCE/Visual buttons for adding code snippets
Option to enable Prism plugin Line Numbers
Option to enable Prism plugin Line Highlight
Option to enable Prism plugin Show Language
Option to enable Prism plugin Copy Code Button
Option to enable Prism plugin Command Line
Highlights code in post content, excerpts, and comments
Detects language- and lang- class prefixes
Limit syntax highlighting to Posts and Pages
Highlight single-line and multi-line code
Granular control over code escaping
Smart loading of CSS & JS assets
Support for ACF on single post views

Highlight.js Features

Supports 50+ coding languages
Choose from all 90+ available Highlight themes
Provides a Gutenberg block for adding code snippets
Provides TinyMCE/Visual buttons for adding code snippets
Customize the Highlight.js init JavaScript
Highlights code in post content, excerpts, and comments
Limit syntax highlighting to Posts and Pages
Highlight multi-line blocks of code
Detects language- and lang- class prefixes
Enable support for no-prefix class names
Granular control over code escaping
Smart loading of CSS & JS assets

Plain Flavor Features

Enable code escaping for post content, excerpts, and/or comments
Enable code escaping on the frontend, Admin Area, or both
Provides a Gutenberg block for adding code snippets
Provides TinyMCE/Visual buttons for adding code snippets
Escapes single-line and multi-line code snippets
Escapes <code> tags (based on configuration)

General Features

Easy to set up and use
Built with WordPress APIs
Born of simplicity, no frills
Squeaky clean, error-free code
Lightweight, fast and flexible
Focused on performance and security
Loads CSS/JS assets only when required
Adheres to HTML coding best practices
Works with the Gutenberg Block Editor
Regularly updated and “future proof”

Prismatic escapes only the essentials to keep your code clean.

Check out the screenshots for more details!

Privacy

This plugin does not collect or store any user data. It does not set any cookies, and it does not connect to any third-party locations. Thus, this plugin does not affect user privacy in any way.

Prismatic is developed and maintained by Jeff Starr, 15-year WordPress developer and book author.

Support development

I develop and maintain this free plugin with love for the WordPress community. To show support, you can make a donation or purchase one of my books:

And/or purchase one of my premium WordPress plugins:

BBQ Pro – Super fast WordPress firewall
Blackhole Pro – Automatically block bad bots
Banhammer Pro – Monitor traffic and ban the bad guys
GA Google Analytics Pro – Connect WordPress to Google Analytics
Simple Ajax Chat Pro – Unlimited chat rooms
USP Pro – Unlimited front-end forms

Links, tweets and likes also appreciated. Thank you! 🙂

Installation

Installing Prismatic

Make a backup of your database
Upload the plugin to your blog and activate
Visit the plugin settings to configure options

More info on installing WP plugins

Quick Start Guide

Here is a quick guide to get started with Prismatic:

Activate the plugin and visit the Prismatic settings page
Choose Prism.js or Highlight.js for syntax highlighting
Optionally visit the Prism.js or Highlight.js tab to customize options

You are now ready to go. To add a code snippet to any WP Post or Page:

If using Gutenberg Block Editor, click on the Prismatic block
If using Classic Editor, click on the Prismatic TinyMCE button

To get a better idea, view the screenshots on the Prismatic homepage.

The Prismatic block or button makes it easy to add your code snippet and choose a language. The plugin automatically will output the correct markup to display your code with syntax highlighting. No code editing required!

Complete Usage Documentation

Learn more about Prismatic. Check out the extended documentation for complete information and tips.

Like the plugin?

If you like Prismatic, please take a moment to give a 5-star rating. It helps to keep development and support going strong. Thank you!

Uninstalling

Prismatic cleans up after itself. All plugin settings will be removed from your database when the plugin is uninstalled via the Plugins screen. NOTE that uninstalling the plugin will NOT touch any of your post content. Only the plugin options are removed when the plugin is uninstalled via the Plugins screen.

Restore Default Options

To restore default plugin options, either uninstall/reinstall the plugin or visit the Prismatic General Settings > Restore default plugin options.

Screenshots

Prismatic General Settings
Prismatic Prism.js Settings
Prismatic Highlight.js Settings
Prismatic Plain Flavor Settings
Prism.js : Twilight theme (choose from 7 Prism.js themes!)
Highlight.js : Arduino Light theme (choose from 77 Highlight.js themes!)
Highlight.js : Gruvbox Dark theme (choose from 77 Highlight.js themes!)
Cleanly escaped code without syntax highlighting (Plain Flavor)
Gutenberg Prismatic block (under Formatting menu)
Prismatic block showing added code and language select
Prismatic TinyMCE/Visual button for adding code snippets
Prismatic TinyMCE panel showing added code and selected language

FAQ

Can you add another language for Prism.js or Highlight.js?

Yes, feel free to suggest a language

Does this work with Gutenberg Block Editor?

Yes, the plugin provides a “Prismatic” block that makes it easy to add code snippets that will be highlighted on the front-end. Also provides “add code” buttons for the Classic TinyMCE (Visual/Text) Editor. Add code, choose a language, done!

Display syntax-highlighted code inside Block Editor?

If for some reason you want to view syntax-highlighted code inside of the Block Editor, you can do it with the Classic Block:

Select the Classic Block
Click on the Prismatic TinyMCE button
Enter your code and save changes

The code won’t be highlighted initially, but if you refresh the page after making changes, or visit the page again in the future, the code will be displayed with syntax highlighting applied.

How to syntax highlight code inside of ACF field?

As of Prismatic version 2.3, code snippets inside of ACF fields are highlighted automatically. Simply add the required class (e.g., language-php) just like any other code snippet, and the plugin will detect and highlight the code. To also escape the highlighted code, enable escaping for post content via the setting, Prism > Code Escaping > Content. Note: ACF is supported only on single post views.

How to make highlighting work with Autoptimize?

For Prismatic plugin to work with Autoptimize, a script needs to be excluded. For details, check out this post by Nick Coughlin.

How to disable block styles on frontend?

If you are not using Gutenberg Block Editor, you can disable the plugin’s block stylesheet. Simply enable the plugin setting, “Block Styles”. Save changes and done.

FYI: the Prismatic block styles are included via: /prismatic/css/styles-blocks.css

How to escape nested code tags?

Currently the only way to display nested <code> tags is to use the following shortcode:

[prismatic_code][/prismatic_code]

Currently this works only for inline<code> tags. More details here.

Line numbers not working?

Apparently some themes have problems displaying line numbers on highlighted code snippets. A possible solution is to add the following code via theme template or simple plugin:

function prismatic_add_body_class($classes) { $classes[] = 'line-numbers'; return $classes; } add_filter('body_class', 'prismatic_add_body_class');

All that’s doing is adding a class named line-numbers to the body tag of your web pages. Should do the trick to get line numbers working on stubborn themes. Original idea posted here.

How to filter the language menu?

Check out Filtered Language Menus with Prismatic WordPress Plugin.

How to disable highlighting code in comments?

Check out Disable Highlighting in Comments with Prismatic WordPress Plugin.

How I can remember to include the shortcode tags?

Thanks to @hupe13, you can add this snippet to make sure the shortcode is included when working with blocks:

function prismatic_block_shortcode_mod($block_content, $block) { if ($block['blockName'] === 'prismatic/blocks') { if (strpos($block['innerHTML'], 'prismatic_code') === false) { return str_replace('[', '[', $block['innerHTML']); } } return $block_content; } add_filter('render_block', 'prismatic_block_shortcode_mod', 10, 2);

Got a question?

Send any questions or feedback via my contact form

Changelog

Thank you to everyone providing feedback! If you like Prismatic, please take a moment to give a 5-star rating. It helps to keep development and support going strong. Thank you!

3.4.3 (2024/06/20)

Fixes bug with dismiss_notice_link
Updates plugin settings page
Updates default translation template
Improves plugin docs/readme.txt
Tests on WordPress 6.6 (beta)

Full changelog @ https://plugin-planet.com/wp/changelog/prismatic.txt

Prismatic Plugin

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