Next, we will introduce our new block-based theme for the Full Site Editor early this year. Although the STAX theme is currently under development, the demo links below showcase each block within the new theme. As a result, it provides a preview of the upcoming STAX theme and beautiful examples of Organic Blocks in action.

In this article we provide an overview of the plugin updates, with demo links to examples for each block. So, let’s dive in!

9 New WordPress Blocks

Organic Blocks 2.0 introduces 9 new blocks. The plugin now contains 20 premium blocks for the Gutenberg editor. Each new block is described in detail below.

The Pricing Table Block displays a highly customizable pricing table. It’s a great starting point for creating beautiful pricing sections on your WordPress website. Showcase product subscriptions, services, and memberships using the block.

The Hero Block displays a featured content banner with a custom background image or video. By default, the block displays the page title, excerpt, and featured image as the background. It’s a flexible and powerful block designed to grab the attention of your viewers. In particular, the background video options are perfect for creating stunning website banners.

The Callout Block displays featured content within a customizable container. It’s an excellent tool for highlighting specific information on your site — like a featured service, download link, or limited offer.

The Featured Content Block displays a cover image and custom content within a customizable container. It’s perfect for calling attention to services or related content on your site. Additionally, the block may be scaled to overlap the surrounding content — making it a great tool for designing outside-the-box pages.

The Icon Box Block displays an icon and featured content within a customizable container. The position of the icon and style of the box may be modified in the options. It’s an excellent tool for highlighting product features or a suite of services.

The Position Container Block features options to scale and move the position of any content within the container. It’s a useful design tool for breaking the grid, and designing outside the box. Any combination of moving, scaling, and pulling can be used together. Additionally, the position can be optionally be reset in mobile, so it does not break the layout on mobile devices.

The Link Container Block wraps any block, or group of blocks in a clickable link. It’s an incredibly useful block for converting complex patterns into custom links. The examples in the demo link utilize the Link Container Block to wrap a link around other Organic Blocks.

The Max-Width Container Block is a simple block for defining a specific width for the contents within the container. It’s a simple, but often necessary block when creating custom layouts. Although many themes provide default, wide, and full width options, there are often design scenarios where a custom width needs to be defined.

The Copy To Clipboard Block provides a button or link in which custom content may be copied to a user’s clipboard. It’s used throughout the STAX theme demo for the purpose of copying blocks and patterns that may be pasted into the WordPress block editor. Additionally, the block is a great tool for copying coupon codes or other code snippets for developer websites.

Updates To Existing Blocks

In addition to the new blocks added in version 2.0, several improvements were made to existing blocks in the plugin. We’ll review the major updates:

The Header Block is an essential block for block-based themes, including the upcoming STAX theme. The block provides options for displaying your site logo, existing Custom Menus, social media links, and other header information. It’s a crucial block for anybody that wishes to transfer from a traditional PHP theme to a new block-based theme.

As a result, we poured a lot of energy into making sure the Header Block was packed full of options for changing the header layout, colors, fonts, sizes, position, and more. Viewing the variations in the block demo will really give you an idea of its flexibility.

In short, we added new font and typography options for changing navigation menu text sizes, letter spacing, link spacing, and more. We added options to change the the header position, so it can overlay above images, cover blocks, and other content — or even remain fixed at the top of the page as you scroll down the website. We added new layouts, including an option to display your logo in the middle with navigation menus on each side. We added a new customizable mobile menu, and much more!

The Portfolio Block and Posts Block have been updated with the option to display category and search filters for the post content. As a result, you can add a filterable menu to virtually any post type on your website. This is extremely useful for portfolios, case studies, documentation, or any other information in which viewers may need to refine their results. The filter works in real time, so the results are immediately displayed without refreshing the page or linking to another page. You can see the new option in action within the demo.

While updating the plugin and testing the blocks in several use-case scenarios, it became apparent that there was no need for the Posts Block and Pages Block to be separate blocks. The options in each each block were virtually the same. And since the Posts Block provides the option to select any post type, we just included pages as a post type option in the block.

As a result, the Pages Block no longer exists in the plugin. Instead, its functionality has been moved to the Posts Block. So, in the event that you were using the Pages Block prior to the release of version 2.0, you will just need to replace the block with the Posts Block. Then, select your pages to display within the setup options.

Until recently, adding gradients, borders, and shadows to blocks was still in the experimental phase. The latest plugin update adds these options to Organic Blocks. As a result, the colors and styles for each block can be highly customized for creating beautiful and bold content.

Blocks Update Summary

2022 will be an exciting year for WordPress and Organic Themes. For the first time in a couple years, we feel hope for the future of our industry and the world. This major update to Organic Blocks is the first of several upcoming changes, and we’re stoked to share these improvements with our customers!

Our new products will change the way websites are constructed in WordPress. Building websites with WordPress will become fun and easier than ever before, without the need for any code or builder plugins. The future is bright!

First, let’s talk about the changes happening within WordPress. Then, we’ll get to the changes coming to Organic Themes.

Full Site Editing

The next evolution of WordPress introduces Full-Site Editing (FSE).

When using the Full-Site Editor, you can customize every element of your WordPress website directly within the editor. And I mean everything. Your website header, footer, page templates, layouts, global styles, and more — it can all be customized. Pretty cool.

In short, WordPress is finally becoming a complete website builder — like Divi or Elementor, but without the need for such plugins.

In order to take full advantage of the new Full-Site Editor, a block-based theme is required. The above example showcases our STAX block-based theme, which is currently under development. We’ll get to that, but first let’s talk about block-based themes.

Block-Based Themes

Traditional WordPress themes have always been somewhat rigid. While many traditional themes have Customizer options for changing global styles, there are still several limitations to the Customizer. As the name suggests, you can “customize” an existing design, but you can’t change it completely.

For instance, changing the layout of a traditional WordPress theme often involves editing PHP code within theme files. Making granular changes to website elements often requires custom HTML and CSS. Such changes require development skills beyond the average WordPress user.

Full-Site Editing and block-based themes resolve this issue of limited customization. Block themes will not need Customizer options or robust page-builder plugins to change every element of your website design.

Of course, in order to take advantage of the new Full-Site Editor, you will need a good block-based theme. And, since Full-Site Editing is still in the experimental phase, there are only a handful of block-based themes currently available for testing, all of which require the Gutenberg plugin to use, and all of which are likely to change in the coming months.

Knowing this future will soon be upon us, Organic Themes was at a crossroads — continue developing rigid, traditional WordPress themes, or begin working on block-based themes. We opted for the latter.

With our eye to the future, we are currently deep in the development of a new block-based theme called STAX. Which brings us to our first major Organic Themes update:

The Upcoming STAX Theme

Below is the first glimpse of our upcoming block-based theme — STAX.

Unlike traditional WordPress themes, block-based themes are created using mostly HTML files, with a little bit of PHP and JavaScript sprinkled into the mix. But what you really need to know is that it’s an entirely different type of WordPress theme altogether. Consequently, an entirely new approach is required to develop such a theme. At first, that scared the pants off of me.

However, as I’ve been working with the new technology and methodology of building block-based themes, I have found myself enjoying WordPress all over again. In truth, building a traditional WordPress theme is a long and cumbersome process. Despite knowing the process thoroughly, it’s hard to find the motivation to build yet “another” theme. Through the process of building STAX, I find myself excited to build themes once again.

I’ve been deep in the development of this theme for quite some time, and I can say with certainty — it’s awesome! STAX will provide users with ultimate flexibility over their design. We know what a painful process building a website can be. Our goal has always been to remove the frustration of web design, and make the process fast and easy. STAX goes a step further, and makes it fun! It’s a huge step forward for Organic Themes and WordPress, and we’re very anxious to get this theme into your (virtual) hands — when it’s ready.

Block-based themes and the Full-Site Editor are still under development. WordPress 5.9 aims to improve the FSE experience and block-based theme integration, and it’s currently slated for release in mid-December. Our goal is to release STAX shortly afterwards, when the editor and framework is stable. So, expect a release by late December or January.

Additionally, Organic Themes is making other major changes within this time-frame as well. Which brings us to our next major product update.

Organic Blocks Plugin 2.0

The STAX development process has revealed that a great block-based theme requires great blocks. Fortunately, the Organic Blocks plugin provides a fantastic collection of blocks. However, it’s about to get much better.

We have been thoroughly testing Organic Blocks within the Full-Site Editor and the STAX theme. Throughout the development process, we have been vastly improving our existing blocks, and adding several new blocks.

Some of the new blocks being added to the plugin include:

• Hero Block – Featured banner content with background media, including background videos.
• Callout Block – Quickly add emphasis to your content with bold colors, gradients, and shadows.
• Icon Box Block – Create feature lists with icons and descriptions.
• Featured Content Block – Display featured content in a customizable container.
• Pricing Table Block – Quickly create beautiful pricing tables.
• Link Container Block – Wrap any group of blocks in a clickable link.
• Max Width Container Block – Define the width of content within the container.
• Position Container Block – Move the position of a group of blocks.

Additionally, the existing collection of blocks have all undergone significant improvements.

The updates are almost complete, and the launch will likely coincide with the STAX theme and the new Organic Themes website. Yes, you heard that right. The Organic Themes website and brand are also making a bold change.

The New Organic Themes Website

I’ve been designing and developing websites for a long time — at least 15 years. When I started designing websites I was passionate. I strived to create bold, beautiful designs that were still approachable and user friendly.

Over the years, I watched design trends come and go. Some have been great, some not-so-great. Feeling the pressure, I jumped on the minimal and flat design bandwagons. However, ultimately I felt those design trends lacked soul. They lacked a human touch. Frankly, websites just got boring. And my passion faded.

For the new Organic Themes website design I wanted to feel inspired again. I wanted to design something that I would like to see. I didn’t want the trends of the day bearing major influence over my design decisions. Since Organic Themes is undergoing such major changes in our product development, the site and brand should reflect those changes. As a result, I went back to my roots, and designed something bold again.

The new site won’t look like any other WordPress product company’s website — for good reason. Organic Themes isn’t like any other WordPress company. When we’re at our best, we march to the beat of our own drum.

I was trained in the corporate design industry, but Organic Themes wasn’t born of that world. Instead, our company was born of the desire to escape the corporate world. That’s why we moved to Maui with nothing but our cars, a couple months of survival savings, and a dream of a different life. It’s why we founded our business in Hawaii. It’s why we kept our business small. And it’s why we love helping other people create their own websites, and free themselves from the chains of the corporate world.

When we entered the WordPress industry, it was full of people like us — nerdy tech rebels. People that didn’t want to be another cog in the machine. However, over the years, the industry became more and more corporate. WordPress companies grew and swallowed up smaller companies and the people that built the platform. It’s a natural evolution of any successful industry. But it became the very thing we worked to escape.

The world has changed over the past 2 years. It’s my belief that people are craving authenticity and a human touch again. Not only in their personal lives, but in the products and businesses they use. As a result, I think the WordPress industry needs Organic Themes again.

The new site is our way of letting people know we’re still here, and we’re still the same people, but with much more experience. When you contact Organic Themes, you engage in communication with real humans — my wife, myself, and my best friend. And we just want to help.

The site will launch with the release of the new STAX theme. We’re very excited about these upcoming changes, and what it means for our customers. We’re also excited to put ourselves out there again, and let you get to know us as more than just a WordPress business, but as real people.

We added the new WordPress blocks to replace some popular shortcodes from the retired Organic Shortcodes plugin. The new blocks are a major improvement over the old shortcodes. Additionally, each new block features several customization options. As a result, the blocks can be styled to match your website design and colors — directly within the Gutenberg editor.

Toggle Block

The Toggle Block displays content within an expandable box that may be toggled open or closed. As a result, it’s an excellent tool for creating FAQ and documentation pages.

View Toggle Block Examples

Modal Block

The Modal Block displays content within a dismissible pop-up container. Clicking the modal button or text link will reveal the pop-up content. Which then displays above the rest of your website content.

Pop-up modals are a great tool for displaying content that you would like hidden from the rest of the page content. For instance, a contact or newsletter form, or a list of downloadable files.

View Modal Block Examples

Alert Block

The Alert Block notifies visitors of important information on your website. It’s a useful tool for notifying visitors of changes, sales, and promotions on your website.

There are two ways of displaying the Alert Block. Directly within your page content, or as a dismissible pop-up upon first loading a page.

View Alert Block Examples

These new WordPress blocks are a useful addition to our growing Organic Blocks Bundle plugin. Additionally, 9 more premium blocks are available in the bundle. Get the plugin today, and spice up your WordPress pages!

As the company grows their theme offerings, we are thrilled to be a part of the expansion. As a result, Organic Themes has released 2 new themes on the WooCommerce website — Threads and Artisan.

The Threads and Artisan themes have undergone extensive reviews to guarantee that they are optimized for both WooCommerce AND Gutenberg. As a result, they are among the first officially Automattic approved WooCommerce and Gutenberg themes available. Meaning, the themes are developed to a standard worthy of the makers of WordPress itself.

It’s a BIG deal.

Organic Themes has long been partnered with WordPress.com. Our new partnership with WooCommerce now ensures that our products are developed at the highest standards of WordPress and WooCommerce. As a result, the knowledge we have gained from working with these companies is incorporated into all of our products.

I don’t want to toot our own horn too much, but it’s an important message to our existing customers and all consumers of WordPress products:

Organic Themes provides some of the highest quality themes available for WordPress and WooCommerce. Period.

Now, let’s get to the themes!

Artisan Theme

The Artisan Theme is designed for makers of DIY goods. Whether you’re sculpting beautiful pottery or creating custom skateboard decks — the Artisan Theme is designed to turn that passion into a profession.

Threads Theme

The Threads Theme is designed for selling t-shirts and apparel online. The shop features a unique full-screen layout, in which products are displayed in a uniform grid. It’s an excellent website solution for launching your clothing brand online!

During these uncertain times, it’s more important than ever to establish an alternative means of income. Our hope is that these new WooCommerce themes will assist your efforts to sell goods online, and pocket some cash doing what you love.

Moving forward, Organic Themes is excited to work with WooCommerce, and release more themes in the future.

In celebration of our 10-years in business, we are offering a 25% discount on all Organic Themes products and memberships. Sale ends April 30th.

To redeem your discount, use the following code during checkout:

10YEARSOT

Unfortunately, our 10-year-anniversary coincides with the global COVID-19 pandemic. It’s a strange time in the world, and we wish all our customers good health and safety.

During this time, many people working from home are motivated to put their ideas into action. This is inspiring at a time like this, and we want you to know we are here to support you!

Stay safe, practice social distancing, and should your attention turn to building a WordPress website, Organic Themes is here to help.

Additionally, we will be taking every precaution possible. We believe it’s better to be overly cautious under the circumstances. As a result, our team will be refraining from any WordPress meetups, conferences, or social gatherings. All meetings will take place online via Skype, Zoom, or Google Hangouts.

We want our loyal customers to know that we’re here, we’re healthy, and we continue to provide our products, services, and support during these trying times.

In recent days we’ve seen an increase in activity on our site. People working from home are motivated to put their long held ideas into action. This is inspiring at a time like this, and we want you to know we are here to support you!

Helpful Resources

The following section includes a few helpful resources regarding the coronavirus.

COVID-19 Tracking Map

The following site from the John Hopkins University is an excellent resource for tracking the global expansion of the coronavirus:

The John Hopkins COVID-19 Tracker

COVID-19 Information and Public Announcements

We’re avid fans of Sam Harris. He is a rational, logical, and moral voice in the best of times. His podcasts with experts on the coronavirus are insightful and informative. The first podcast is somewhat alarming, as it should be. The second is more hopeful. We recommend both:

Podcast #190: How Should We Respond To The Coronavirus?

Podcast #191: Early Thoughts On A Pandemic

Additionally, experts have advised that keeping the growth curve down is vital to getting through this pandemic. This article illustrates real simulations on how to keep the curve down.

In short, extensive social distancing is key. It’s recommended to “shelter in place” if at all possible. Organic Themes is adhering to these practices.

Stay Safe And Healthy

The owners and employees of Organic Themes heed the advice of health and science experts. We take our health, and the health of others seriously at all times, and particularly under these circumstances.

Should you choose to start a WordPress website with your newfound spare time, we would love to help! Please reach out to us with any questions.

More importantly, we want our friends, family, colleagues, and customers to stay safe and healthy during this time. Thank you for your continued trust in Organic Themes, and we wish you all good health.

After upgrading from WordPress version 4 to version 5, previously created content is contained within the WordPress “Classic” block. Converting that content into individual blocks requires editing each page and/or post separately. If you have several posts and pages in need of conversion, it’s a long and tedious process.

The Bulk Block Converter plugin vastly improves the process of converting old content to blocks. The plugin scans all of your WordPress content for posts and pages that contain the “Classic” block. Then, it returns a list of all content available for conversion. Choose to convert content individually, or bulk convert all posts and pages to WordPress blocks.

Who Needs This Tool?

We discovered the need for this tool when updating our theme demos to WordPress 5. Many of our demos were created several years ago, before the release of WordPress 5 or the Gutenberg editor. On average, our theme demos contain 50 posts and pages. With over 40 themes, you can see how editing over 2,000 posts individually could be a cumbersome process. In fact, it would take days.

I searched the WordPress plugin directory for a solution. It didn’t exist. Surely, we couldn’t be the only ones encountering this problem…

WordPress is the most popular platform for websites and blogs — for over 10 years. As a result, there are millions of sites created using the platform. Many of those websites contain hundreds, even thousands, of posts and pages. You can do the math. That’s a ton of content that needs to be converted to blocks!

The Bulk Block Converter plugin is a necessity for WordPress web designers that maintain client websites. Additionally, it’s an excellent tool for users and bloggers that are ready to make the transition from the WordPress classic editor to the new block editor.

Why Convert Content To Blocks?

The fact is, the WordPress block editor IS much better than the classic editor. Plus, it’s gets better with every new WordPress update.

Eventually, you and your clients should use the block editor. Otherwise, it’s stunting the progression of the WordPress platform.

Judging from the 5+ million active installations of the Classic Editor plugin, there are still millions of sites that should transition to the block editor. The Classic Editor plugin is great. However, it should be a stop-gap measure — a short term fix before fully transitioning to the block editor.

If you’re like me, I can’t stand the thought of some posts and pages existing in the old classic content form, while others use shiny new blocks. For consistency, I prefer the same editing experience across the board. Additionally, it’s much less confusing your clients, rather than alternating between two editor experiences.

The Bulk Block Converter plugin provides an easy transition to the WordPress 5 block editor. Plus, it’s totally free! No more excuses! Migrate all your WordPress content to blocks with ease today.

As always, if you like this free plugin, we would greatly appreciate a positive review. It only takes a moment!

Organic Themes is hosting our biggest sales event of the year! Save 30% on all WordPress products, services, and memberships!

Enter the promo code BIGSALE2019 at checkout to redeem your discount.

This Black Friday through Cyber Monday, an Organic Themes membership includes 40+ premium WordPress themes and our 5-star website builder — starting at $69. That’s 40+ themes and a builder for the cost of a single theme!

A Trusted Brand

Organic Themes was founded in 2009, at the dawn of the WordPress premium market. Additionally, our company is partnered with WordPress.com and WooCommerce. Those are two of the biggest names in WordPress. So, you can rest easy knowing that you will receive the highest quality WordPress products at the lowest price.

Save 30% On Everything

Our Black Friday through Cyber Monday sale is an excellent opportunity to save on everything Organic Themes offers — including these new products and services!

Builder Widgets Pro 2.0

Our popular Builder Widgets Pro plugin recently received a major upgrade. We added 8 new widgets. Each widget creates unique content sections on your website. Easily create food and drink menus, toggle and tab sections for FAQ’s, video galleries, and much more!

Learn more about Builder Widgets Pro 2.0.

Artisan Theme

The Artisan Theme is our latest WooCommerce theme. It’s designed for craftsmen, makers, artisans, and creatives selling their products online.

The theme is developed for maximum WooCommerce compatibility. Additionally, it’s been optimized for the WordPress 5+ block editor. In fact, the theme demo is created entirely using blocks within the new WordPress editor.

Gamer Theme

The Gamer Theme is the ultimate WordPress theme for gaming and tech related websites. It features a sleek and highly customizable design styled for the tech industry. Additionally, it’s fully compatible with WordPress 5, WooCommerce, and Builder Widgets.

Site Shield

Maintaining a WordPress website is time consuming. Particularly, if you’re not a web designer.

Your WordPress business website, themes, and plugins need to be updated, monitored, and maintained regularly. Otherwise, your site will become susceptible to malware and fall into disarray.

That’s why Organic Themes provides our Site Shield services. We will monitor, update, and enhance the speed of your website. If something is wrong, we’ll notify you and help you fix it. Plus, we’ll even spend an hour a month fulfilling any customization requests you might have. It’s like having a web designer on retainer!

This Black Friday through Cyber Monday, save 30% for the entire year on our Site Shield packages. Let us handle your WordPress maintenance!

Don’t miss the opportunity to give Organic Themes as a unique gift at a discounted price. Also, if you’re a web designer, developer, or freelancer, this sales event is a great opportunity to save on tools for your business!

Mele Kalikimaka and Happy Holidays from Organic Themes!

Before I dig into the details, I’ll share a brief history of the plugin. If you’re already familiar with the plugin, skip ahead to the new features in 2.0.

A Brief History of Builder Widgets

When creating Builder Widgets, it was never our intention to compete with popular WordPress page builders like Divi and Elementor. Honestly, those are fantastic plugins. However, they are a significant departure from the WordPress user experience. They are better suited as tools for experienced web designers.

In contrast, we wanted to create a page building experience that was much more simple for the average WordPress user. As a result, we re-thought the concept of visually building web pages within WordPress. Builder Widgets was the result. It’s an entirely different approach to solving the same problem.

Builder Widgets integrates seamlessly with the existing WordPress interface. It allows users to build dynamic page sections directly within the WordPress Customizer. The Customizer is a familiar interface for changing the visual appearance of a WordPress theme. Builder Widgets simply elevates the Customizer to the next level.

It provides a collection of “widgets” that can be added to a page directly within the Customizer. Each widget serves a unique purpose — like creating a slideshow, portfolio, or testimonials section on any page of your website.

A Well Received Plugin

The free version of the plugin was released 2 years ago. It’s continually grown in popularity, and consistently receives glowing 5-star reviews within the WordPress plugin directory.

The plugin’s growth has been organic. We have yet to run any advertising campaigns or major promotions for the plugin. As a result, the customer feedback has been phenomenal in such a competitive WordPress builder market. We’re confident the plugin provides a great new way to create custom WordPress pages. Try it!

We’re stoked to receive feedback like this:

“I am so glad that I subscribed to the Organic Builder Widgets. They are amazing and so easy to use. I am also very happy with my Organic Themes! Thank you for making such great products!”

Builder Widgets Pro launched one year ago. The premium version of the plugin introduced many more options for the existing 12 widgets. Plus, an additional 4 widgets for adding events, business contact information, image slideshows, and split content.

It was a major step forward over the free version of the plugin. Builder Widgets Pro 2.0 is yet another major step in the plugin’s progression.

New Features In Builder Widgets Pro 2.0

Version 2.0 improves upon the plugin in virtually every way. However, the biggest improvement is the introduction of 8 brand new widgets. That’s a total of 24 widgets available with Builder Widgets Pro!

8 New Builder Widgets

I’m excited to introduce each new widget individually:

  Toggles & Tabs Widget

View Example →

There are countless cases for displaying toggle and tab content on your website. For instance, an FAQ section or documentation regarding your business or services. Unfortunately, adding toggles and tabs within WordPress is easier said than done.

Several plugins exist for adding toggles and tabs using shortcodes. However, shortcodes are a messy solution. Plus, the visual result of shortcodes are often unpredictable. It’s still “code” after all.

Wouldn’t it be nice to see your toggles and tabs in action before publishing? Well, now you can!

The Toggles & Tabs Widget makes it easy to add toggles, tabs, and accordion content on any page of your website — no code required.

Simply add, subtract, and re-order your toggle items within the widget options. Then, view the changes in real-time within the Customizer. Additionally, the widget features options to change the toggle type, toggle icon, style, alignment and more for each section.

  Food & Drink Menu Widget

View Example →

If you own a restaurant or cafe, displaying a menu on your website is a necessity. Unfortunately, most restaurant websites resort to uploading PDFs or using unresponsive tables for displaying their menu and prices. That’s far from ideal.

Now, you can add multiple pages of multiple menu types with ease using the Food & Drink Menu Widget. Each menu is responsive, and displays beautifully on mobile devices.

For instance, your restaurant probably has separate menus for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Simply create a Builder Widgets page for each menu. Then, add multiple Food & Drink Menu Widgets to each page for your appetizers, entrees, dessert, beverages, etc.

It’s all accomplished within the WordPress Customizer. So, you can see exactly how your menu will appear on your site as you’re creating it. Plus, you can re-order and edit each menu item with ease. It’s the best way to add a menu to your restaurant website!

  Search Widget

View Example →

The Search Widget is perfect for listing or directory websites, like a car dealership or vacation rentals. Now, you can prominently feature a search section on any page of your site. Plus, you can choose to have the search only return results from a specified custom post type.

Within the widget options, choose to search any post type currently installed on your site — including any added by a plugin, such as events or property listings. Additionally, you can change the style of the search field, add background videos, and more!

  Login Widget

View Example →

The Login Widget is perfect for membership sites, client login pages, or as a landing page while your site is being created or under maintenance.

The widget features multiple options for changing the style and alignment. Plus, there is the option to display the login section at full browser height — so it always fills the browser window.

  Audio Playlist Widget

View Example →

The Audio Playlist Widget is the perfect solution for musicians, entertainers, and podcasters that want to showcase audio tracks on their website.

Audio files are easily managed within the WordPress media window. Simply click the “Add or Upload Audio” button within the Audio Playlist Widget options. Then, you can upload, edit, and organize the tracks you want displayed in your playlist. It’s that simple!

  Featured Video Widget

View Example →

Promotional videos are great way to market your business, product, or brand. If you have such a video, you probably want to display it front and center on your website. Well, the Featured Video Widget was designed specifically for that purpose.

Prominently display a featured video from virtually any source. Add some copy, a call to action, and choose your style and alignment within the widget options. Then, your video will be ready for the world!

  Image Gallery Widget

View Example →

The Image Gallery Widget is another example of improving upon default WordPress functionality.

Manage images for the Image Gallery Widget within the WordPress media window. As a result, it’s easy to upload, re-order, and edit your images. Additionally, the widget includes many options for changing the style and layout of your gallery.

Images within the gallery display in a responsive masonry layout. So, even if your images are different sizes, they will fit together like the pieces of a puzzle. Plus, they will arrange and scale according to the browser size.

  Video Gallery Widget

View Example →

The Video Gallery Widget is the perfect solution for an animator showcasing their portfolio online — or a YouTube entertainer displaying content on their website. The widget features options for changing the layout and style of the gallery.

Add each video as a separate item. Simply paste the URL of the video source, and add an optional caption. Then, repeat the step for any additional videos. The video gallery can display videos from virtually any source such as YouTube, Vimeo, Twitch, etc.

Widget Area Block

Traditionally, Builder Widgets are used by applying the “Organic Custom” page template to any page. That action converts the entire page into a Builder Widgets page, and directs the user to the Customizer for adding widgets. It’s a great solution for building an entire page using Builder Widgets.

However, what if you wanted to apply a single Builder Widget to a post or a page with existing content?

Well, that’s where the Widget Area Block comes in. It’s a custom block for the Gutenberg editor that registers a new widget area. After adding the block and moving it to your desired location on the page, you can then enter the Customizer to add Builder Widgets to the page. So, your Builder Widgets and blocks can live together in harmony.

We first introduced the Widget Area Block as a plugin in the WordPress plugin directory. However, it made sense to include the block with the Builder Widgets plugin. As a result, the Widget Area Block is now integrated into the free and premium versions of the Builder Widgets plugin.

Options, Performance & Fixes

As with any software, the Builder Widgets plugin needs to evolve. So, we improved the functionality and performance of Builder Widgets Pro 2.0.

We use the plugin ourselves, and we help customers use Builder Widgets to create amazing sites like these. During that process, we learn what additional options are necessary, and what needs improvement. As a result, we’ve made several tweaks to Builder Widgets Pro. It’s faster and smoother. The Customizer refreshes more efficiently. Javascript has been optimized. Plus, there are new options for existing widgets like the Feature List Widget.

Builder Widgets Pro 2.0 is a better version of an already awesome plugin. It’s only going to get better from here.

The Problem With Most Photography Themes

Many WordPress photography themes suffer from a number of pitfalls:

1. Full-browser width images that lose quality on large screens and retina devices.
2. Large images that take considerable time to load, losing the interest of prospective clients.
3. Flashy design elements and animation that distract viewers from the work.
4. Website navigation that is difficult to locate and use.

We sought to avoid these mistakes with the Photographer Theme. The recent update is no exception. Instead, the theme features a minimal design with a focus on the photography.

Focus On Photography

It’s important that the imagery is the primary focus of a photographer’s website. The images should be high quality and load quickly. Additionally, the website should feature a minimal design and simple navigation. As a result, the website is free of distraction.

We updated the Photographer Theme with these principles in mind.

We kept the minimal design of the previous version. However, we gave it a shave and a haircut. Meaning, we tightened up the design with cleaner lines, better fonts, and ample spacing to let your work breathe. The clean design lends itself to customization. So, with a few simple changes, your website will match your brand.

In order to retain image quality, the images throughout the theme do not exceed certain widths. This also improves load time. As a result, the Photographer Theme utilizes the browser window to frame your work. Giving your photography a sophisticated presentation.

The theme update also avoids flashy design elements and animation. Instead, it features an elegant and minimal design that’s easy to navigate. As a result, your work is appreciated without distraction.

Hover Titles And Excerpts

In the previous theme version, the post title and excerpt displayed beneath the featured image on portfolio pages. Often, customers requested to hide that information.

With the recent update, post content is hidden until hovering over the image. It’s a subtle change, but one that keeps visitors focused on the photography. View a portfolio page in the demo here.

Endless Content Slideshows

The Photographer Theme has always featured endless image slideshows using the “Slideshow” page template. On the other hand, content slideshows were limited.

Not anymore.

With a content slideshow, each slide links to a page. Now, you may create endless content slideshows.

This updated feature utilizes the Jetpack portfolio custom post type. Each portfolio “Project Type” may be added to your menu as a content slideshow. As a result, there is no limit to your slideshow ambitions. View an example in the demo here.

Absolute Centered Slideshows

Once upon a time, photographers used Flash websites to showcase their online portfolios. Eventually, and for good reason, HTML websites replaced Flash. Although, I did miss one aspect of Flash websites. The ability to easily center all content within the browser window.

With an HTML website, centering content both horizontally AND vertically has always been a challenge, until recently. Now, all modern browsers support CSS flexbox layouts. So, designers, artists, and photographers can have their work centered once again!

The latest version of the Photographer Theme centers all slideshow pages within the browser window. As a result, the images within the slideshow are always the center of attention.

Improved Theme Options

In the latest theme update, we stripped out non-essential options and functions. As a result, the setup is fast and simple.

There are a few added options. Now, you can change fonts throughout the theme. Additionally, there are options to change the header layout. As with all Organic Themes, options are managed in the WordPress Customizer.

Additional Improvements

The updated Photographer Theme vastly improves upon the previous WooCommerce integration. As a result, selling your photography and services online is easier than ever. Plus, your shop will blend in perfectly with the rest of your site.

The theme is also optimized for the Gutenberg editor. It features support wide and full alignment blocks, and custom block styles. Plus, the editor styles and fonts match the front-end of your site.

Last but not least, the home page slideshow features new options. Now, multiple posts can display on each slide. So, your home slideshow can be used as a tool to guide visitors through your website.

It’s the ultimate WordPress for photographers that take their work seriously. So, purchase or update the theme for your photography website today!

If you need help with setup, please refer to the documentation or our Theme Setup Service.