Troubleshooting

If you encounter issues while using the [user_role] shortcode, please refer to the common solutions below.

If you see the literal text [user_role] on your page instead of a user role, it means WordPress is not processing the shortcode.

Check functions.php: Ensure you have successfully pasted the code from app.php into your active theme's functions.php file.
PHP Opening Tags: Verify that the code is placed after the opening <?php tag. If you pasted it at the very end of the file, ensure it isn't accidentally placed after a closing ?> tag.
Theme Activation: Confirm that you are editing the functions.php file of the active theme (or child theme). Changes to inactive themes will not take effect.

If the shortcode renders nothing (an empty string), this is usually intentional behavior based on the user's session.

Logged-out Users: By default, WordPress does not assign a "role" to anonymous visitors. If you are viewing the page in an Incognito window or while logged out, the shortcode will return an empty value.
User Without Roles: In rare configurations, a user might exist without a specific role assigned. Ensure the user you are testing with has a role assigned in the Users section of the WordPress Dashboard.

The shortcode retrieves the internal slug of the WordPress role.

Expected Behavior: The output will typically be the lowercase slug (e.g., administrator, editor, author, subscriber).
Formatting: If you wish to capitalize or style the output, you can wrap the shortcode in HTML tags within your editor:
```
<span style="text-transform: capitalize;">[user_role]</span>
```

This usually happens due to a copy-paste error resulting in a PHP syntax mismatch.

Remove the snippet: Use FTP or your hosting File Manager to remove the code from functions.php to restore site access.
Check for duplicates: Ensure you didn't accidentally copy the <?php tag into a file that already has one at the top.
Re-copy: Ensure you have copied the entire contents of app.php without missing any brackets {} or semicolons ;.

If you have recently changed a user's role but the frontend still shows the old one:

Object Caching: If you use plugins like W3 Total Cache or WP Rocket, clear the "Object Cache" or "Page Cache."
Browser Cache: Hard refresh your browser (Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + R).