On the heels of the Block Visibility 2.3.0 release, we are pleased to announce version 1.4.0 of the Pro add-on. This release was focused on enhancing Visibility Presets with conditional settings. We have also introduced the concept of “Local Controls” and have provided a way to disable them. Topping off version 1.4.0, a number of bug fixes and performance improvements were made.

Conditional Presets

Visibility Presets were introduced in version 1.3.0 of the Pro add-on. A preset allows you to configure a global “set” of visibility controls that can then be applied to as many individual blocks as you like. If a preset is changed, any block that is using that preset will also be updated. This is incredibly handy when multiple blocks all need the same visibility controls.

Before this release, if a block had more than two presets applied, all presets had to be satisfied in order for the block to be visible. While this was a good first step, there are limitations to this approach.

What if you want a block to be visible if any one preset applies? Or what if you want to hide a block if a certain preset applies?

Version 1.4.0 answers these questions with the introduction of conditionals, just like you see on other visibility controls in Pro. You can now choose to display a block if At Least One, All, or No selected presets apply. Of course, you can also opt to hide the block with the same conditionals.

The last few releases have focused significantly on Visibility Presets, and a couple of customers asked if it was possible to manage everything through presets. If so, was it also possible to disable the visibility controls on individual blocks, leaving only presets?

The answer is yes! Enter the concept of “local controls”.

Local Controls

Local controls is a newly defined term for visibility controls that can be configured “locally” on an individual block, excluding Visibility Presets and the universal Hide Block control. In looking at the image below, they represent everything below the Visibility Presets settings.

For some users, the amount of customization that local controls offer can be overwhelming. Alternatively, Visibility Presets offers a curated option that allows website Administrators to pre-define a collection of controls that website Editors can easily select from. To accommodate this use case, local controls can now be entirely disabled in the plugin settings.

Note that future releases will also provide more user permissions control over both local controls and presets.

All other improvements in version 1.4.0 can be viewed in the changelog.

Next Steps

As mentioned in the last post, keen observers may have noticed a slower pace in development, both for Block Visibility and the Pro add-on. We’ve been doing a bit of restructuring and expect more frequent releases in the future, but with a smaller list of enhancements in each. Ideally, each release will include a singular new feature and any bug fixes that might be pertinent.

If you haven’t already, give the core Block Visibility plugin a try. It’s available for free in the WordPress plugin repository. If you would like access to every feature, including Visibility Presets, consider purchasing the Pro add-on today!

Until next time…