How To Read A Block Page

Every block in the Canvas library has a page of its own, and they all follow the same shape. Reading this page once means you can skim any of the others and go straight to the part you need, whether you are choosing a block, configuring one, or working out why a setting will not appear.

Finding A Block

Blocks are grouped here exactly as the block inserter groups them, so the group you see in the editor is the section you want in this documentation. The section names drop the Canvas prefix the inserter shows, so the Canvas Interactive group is the Interactive section here. Page titles drop the prefix as well, and name repeatable components in the plural, so the page for the block the inserter calls Canvas Alert is Alerts. The opening paragraph of every page states the exact inserter name, so you can always confirm you are reading about the block you selected.

Some designs bring blocks of their own. Those are documented under Designs, with the design that ships them, because you will only see them in the inserter on a site running that design. Keeping them out of the main library means the library describes what every Canvas site has.

What Each Section Tells You

A block page has three parts, in this order:

• The opening paragraph says what the block is for, names it exactly as the block inserter names it, and gives the id it is registered under, so you can confirm you are on the right page before reading further.
• Settings lists every setting the block exposes, grouped by the panel it sits in, in the same order as the editor sidebar. Where a picture of the panel has been captured, it sits just above the list.
• Related points to the controls every Canvas block shares, and to other blocks in the same group.

Reading A Setting

Each setting is written as its name in bold, then what it does, then a short line of facts: the default, the choices where the setting is a menu, and the condition that reveals it.

Check the condition first when a setting seems to be missing from the editor. Canvas hides settings that do not apply yet, so a setting described as shown when Media Box is on is not missing at all: the switch above it is off, and turning it on brings the setting back.

Where a setting has no explanation, the product carries none for it yet. The wording is written once at the source when it is added, so it reaches every page that shows the setting, rather than being guessed at here.

Settings Every Block Has

Below each block's own panels you will find the same three panels on every Canvas block: Animation, Scroll Effects and Advanced. They behave identically everywhere, so they are documented once in Controls Every Canvas Block Has.

WordPress adds controls of its own to the same sidebar, covering colour, typography, spacing, border, and the Advanced panel with the HTML anchor and additional CSS class boxes. Which of those appear depends on the block, and the sidebar itself is the authority: a control you can see is a control the block supports.

Free And Premium Blocks

The library is part free and part premium. A premium block is always visible in the inserter, so you can see what the product offers before you buy. Without a licence it does not render on the front end, and an administrator sees a notice in its place instead. If a licence expires, everything you have already published keeps rendering and editing is frozen until you renew, so an expired licence never takes a live site down.

What To Read Next

Work through How To Build An Icon Box for a worked example that uses one block three different ways.