Run Wordpress plugin shortcode on home/index - php

Question

We found a wordpress plugin that worked well with a few modifications. Everything is working on a page, but we want to move the plugin shortcode to the homepage. When we do, the shortcode is displayed, not the plugin output. I read that there are limitations on when a plugin can be executed (ie, not in the sidebar) and there was some code that was suppossed to allow the shortcode to work, but no matter what, we see the shortcode on our index instead of plugin output.
Does anyone have any experience with getting plugin shortcode to work on the home/index page of a wordpress install?
Thanks,
UPDATE: Below is the index.php which I believe generates the homepage. We make changes to this file to update the homepage, this is where I put the shortcode in standard HTML (which may not be the right way to do it).
<?php get_header();?>
<div id="content">
<h1 class="hidden">Haute Inhabit</h1>
<div class="wrapper clear">
<div class="main section" id="main" role="main">
<div class="widget Blog" id="Blog1">
<div class="blog-posts hfeed">
<!-- google_ad_section_start(name=default) -->
<?php
$paged = ( get_query_var('paged') ) ? get_query_var('paged') : 1;
$query = new WP_Query( array( 'paged' => $paged, 'cat'=>'-460' ) );
//$query = new WP_Query( 'cat=-460&posts_per_page=5' );
if ( $query->have_posts() ):
/*$tmp = $wp_query;
$wp_query = null;
$wp_query = new WP_Query('showposts=3');*/
//$paged = (get_query_var('paged')) ? get_query_var('paged') : 1;
//$my_query = new WP_Query('showposts=3&paged=' . $paged);
while ($query->have_posts() ) : $query->the_post(); ?>
<div class="post hentry">
<a id="6576135133677080233" name=
"6576135133677080233"></a>
<h3 class="date-header"><span><?php echo get_the_date(); ?></span></h3>
<h2 class="post-title entry-title"><?php the_title();?></h2>
<div class="post-lead entry-content">
<?php echo get_first_paragraph() ?>
</div>
<div class="post-image">
<a href="<?php the_permalink();?>">
<?php
if ( has_post_thumbnail() ) { // check if the post has a Post Thumbnail assigned to it.
the_post_thumbnail('full');
} else {
?>
<img src="<?php echo catch_that_image() ?>">
<?php } ?>
</a>
</div>
<div class="post-utility">
<div class="inner clear">
View More
<div class="comments">
<?php if ( comments_open() ) : ?><span class="comments-link"><?php comments_popup_link( '<span class="leave-reply">' . __( 'Comment', 'hautein' ) . '</span>', __( '<em>1</em> Comment', 'hautein' ), __( '<em>%</em> Comments', 'hautein' ) ); ?></span>
<?php endif; // End if comments_open() ?>
</div>
<span>Share</span>
</div>
<?php include('inc/social.php'); ?>
</div>
</div>
<?php endwhile;?>
<?php
// $wp_query=$tmp;
//hautein_content_nav( 'nav-below' );
endif;?>
<div class="pagination clear">
<?php
global $wp_query;
$big = 999999999; // need an unlikely integer
echo paginate_links( array(
'base' => str_replace( $big, '%#%', esc_url( get_pagenum_link( $big ) ) ),
'format' => '?paged=%#%',
'current' => max( 1, get_query_var('paged') ),
'total' => $wp_query->max_num_pages,
'prev_text' => 'Prev',
'next_text' => 'Next'
) );
?>
</div>
</div>
<script type="text/javascript">
window.___gcfg = {'lang': 'en'};
</script>
</div>
</div>
<?php get_sidebar();?>
</div>
</div>
<?php get_footer();?>

Answer 1

you can use a plugin that converts the shortcode in a widget
https://wordpress.org/plugins/shortcode-widget/

Answer 2

or use this shortcodes
https://wordpress.org/plugins/shortcodes-ultimate/
shouldnt have any problems like shortcodes not showing up...
unless your index is pulling the excerpt of your posts then shortcode will prob not be working as intended.
To better solve your issue, you did need to know which file is displaying your index page and show us the code here.