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Phi Phan Launches Block Enhancements WordPress Plugin – WP Tavern

WordPress developer Phi Phan has been making small splashes recently, however in a sea of 1,000s of plugins, it’s more and more robust to make a wave. Over the weekend, he launched the Block Enhancements plugin, the primary cross on a challenge that he plans to iterate on with new concepts.

WordPress post editor with four different buttons in the content canvas.  The inspector panel shows a set of icon related options and the "fill" color is highlighted for an SVG icon.
Including icons to buttons with Block Enhancements.

Nevertheless, this isn’t his first block-related plugin. Final 12 months, he launched Content Blocks Builder, a plugin that enables builders and customers to create blocks from others, patterns, and variations. In February, he launched Meta Field Block. He then adopted it up with the launch of SVG Block and Block Enhancements final week.

I’ve quietly examined every as they strolled into the WordPress plugin listing, however they stored getting relegated to the again of the draft posts checklist. Most appeared like stable plugins on the time, and a reminder from two totally different folks prior to now week to take a look at Phan’s work lit a hearth beneath me. It was time to share what he has been doing with WP Tavern readers.

The SVG Block plugin is a singular take in comparison with some current options. Customers can output the SVG as a picture or implement it as a divider.

Phan shouldn’t be brief on concepts for brand spanking new blocks and enhancements. He rattled off a hefty checklist of options that he plans to construct when questioned.

“A easy separator with an icon,” he famous as an thought. “I’ve tried to assist icons within the core/separator, but it surely requires altering the markup. So I’ll create a brand new tiny block only for it. Possibly a wavy divider designer block. I do know there are already some on the plugin listing, however they don’t seem to be match for some use circumstances. I’m sort of obsessing with SVG stuff. A ‘toggle’ button block for displaying modal, off-canvas, or collapse format.”

BoldBlocks is his upcoming web site, which he’ll finally use to advertise his plugins. He has but to launch it—seemingly as a result of he has been too busy growing new tasks.

“[Content Blocks Builder] is my principal enterprise focus in the long run,” mentioned Phan. “It’s a instrument permitting customers to create blocks from different blocks. It helps to create responsive ‘boring’ grid layouts or carousel layouts simply with out touching code. I used to create layouts like these with the ACF repeater discipline, however I didn’t like that sort of workflow within the Gutenberg world anymore. That plugin has many extra options than the outline on the plugin web page, however I’ve not completed rewriting the outline and consumer guides.”

The Block Enhancements Plugin

Block Enhancements shouldn’t be a block in and of itself. It takes an identical route as EditorsKit and Editor Plus, including options on prime of the system.

The primary model of the plugin provides a single characteristic that enables end-users to stay icons into the core Button, Heading, and Checklist blocks.

WordPress post editor with a Heading and List block in the content canvas. Both have custom icons selected with different fill colors. The inspector panel shows a list of icon-related options.
Inserting icons for the Heading and Checklist blocks.

Possibly the plugin doesn’t supply sufficient options to seize everybody’s consideration, however it’s off to a stable begin. Phan doesn’t go overboard with the UI, preserving it easy and following WordPress requirements. The icons characteristic had simply the correct amount of customizability that I by no means felt like I wanted something extra.

Whereas not listed wherever within the plugin description, the default library seems to be to be a mixture of Ionicons, Bootstrap, and core WordPress icons. In complete, there are over 3,500 choices for customers to select from.

Popup overlay screen in the WordPress post editor that lists a library of icons in a grid.
Block Enhancements icon library overlay.

If the library doesn’t supply sufficient selections, the block permits customers to instantly paste in SVG code.

That is the beginning of one thing new, and Phan has already created what seems to be to be an thrilling to-do checklist for Block Enhancements’ future. Some potential options embody:

  • Field-shadow builder.
  • Multi-border design choices.
  • 2D transformations through translate, rotate, skew, and scale.
  • Fancy border-radius implementation a la 9elements’ project.
  • Responsive textual content alignment.
  • Animated reveal results.
  • Copy/paste types.
  • Little one blocks selector.

If Phan continues iterating on Block Enhancements with these and different options, it is going to be a plugin to control.

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