Data source for Post Content - why not "Both"?

Having just spent an inordinate amount of time troubleshooting this (see why in the last paragraph), I have a question about the Data Source property of the Post Content element?

Aside from the existing options of WordPress or Bricks, is there a reason why “Both” isn’t an option? I confess this confused me for quite some time.

I understand it now, but it seems reasonably to me that if I want Bricks content on my page I will add it to the post/page in question - and if I don’t (namely, I only want Gutenburg content) then I simply won’t add any Bricks content to the page/post.

That seems like a page/post-specific decision, not something I should decide in the template. Similarly, if I want ONLY Bricks content then I won’t add Gutenburg content to the page/post.

I would like to understand why “Both” isn’t an option and perhaps even the default behavior. Frankly, I may be missing something, but I don’t even see why I need to specify this at all in the template. If the page/post has Gutenburg content AND Bricks content then display them both. If I don’t want that I will simply not add one of them.

By the way, despite using a template where the Post Content data source is at the default (WordPress), previewing a page with Bricks content displays that Bricks content.

Thus, I could completely edit the content of the page in Bricks for a page, preview and see that Bricks content just fine (despite using a template that, supposedly, doesn’t show Bricks content), but is not displayed by the front end. That isn’t just confusing but also seems like it would just be much more logical with the “Both” behavior.

Thank you.

I think having it separately is actually a brilliant idea. Elementor does the same, but with Bricks you have the option to decide. Think about your clients, maybe they want to publish their content on their own, you design the templates for them with BB, set the “Content area” for them but then let them use the native WP editor (Gutenberg or the classic one) since they don’t need to use Bricks…

1 Like

I am in agreement and understand the value of having them separated. No issues there are all.

But a “Both” option also has real value and I’d propose the options for this setting could be WordPress, Bricks or Both.

Keep in mind, too, that we’re not all freelancers :slight_smile: I use Bricks for my own sites and, from my perspective, the decision whether I want both types of content is always a page/post-level decision, not a template one. If I don’t want both…well, I simply won’t add both types of content to that page/post.

Perhaps the best option here would be to leave what we have right now (including the default), but simply add the Both option, so that we can both be happy :slight_smile:

Then again, preview does seem to be “broken” (currently) since it shows Bricks content even if the template used is set to WordPress.

Yeah, the whole team behind this builder is like three people, I guess. It’s still a great accomplishment what they’ve built for us:) We just have to be patient…

Huh? Not sure why you made that point.

I have immense respect for Thomas and his team and I am merely brainstorming on something that threw me off for quite a time and, I believe, could be improved.

I have made no comment about when this can be added (not my call and I will “be patient”). But, if we can’t bring up ideas and brainstorm a little here I am not sure where we can.

I have complete confidence that Thomas and his team are very able to make their own (and good) decisions about what they are able to take on. I also believe they actively seek and respect suggestions and ideas like this.

1 Like

To preview the post content on the template, you will need to set populate the content from the template setting. And choose the post that you want to populate. You can then see the preview correctly.

Most importantly, you will need to populate the post content that has content in it.

I may possibly have misunderstood your comment but, to clarify, for the example I am describing, I am editing the post/page, not the template. So, an example…

Let’s say I have a template called “Pages”. The Post Content element on that is set to “WordPress”, so I would not expect it to show Bricks content on any page it renders.

I then create a new page called “MyPage”. It is that page, not the template, I am editing and for which I create Bricks content.

My expectation (now that I found/understand the setting on the Post Content element), is that when I preview MyPage, I should not see the Bricks content (since the template I am using isn’t supposed to show Bricks content).

But, in fact, it does show the Bricks content, which confused me for quite some time. Basically, the preview is very different to what is actually rendered.

Make sense?

Thank you again.

Alright. I might be misunderstood your concern too.

If the template named Pages has been assigned to all pages, including “MyPage”, it shouldn’t show Bricks content when you choose WordPress.

I should try to reproduce it when I have time later to confirm if I can see the same.

Thank you. I would be interested, if you happen to get a chance. As a somewhat new user to Bricks (about 2 weeks or so actual use) this messed with my mind for a while!

And, yes, there’s always a chance of human error :slight_smile:

I will do it tomorrow as it’s my bedtime now(it’s 1.30am here). :wink:

1 Like

One more thought on this.

The use case of interest to me is on a page that is almost entirely like most other pages, but where I want to insert some content (let’s call it “fancy” content i.e. where I want the full design freedom of Bricks to design a div). That’s something I have done with other page builders and works well.

But for extra points, perhaps this could be implemented with the following options on the template’s Post Content element.

  • WordPress Only
  • Bricks Only
  • Bricks Top
  • Bricks Bottom

Again, just brainstorming, in case Thomas et al decide to take a look at this. Those options would seem to offer plenty of flexibility.


Dashboard ‹ Požičovňa elektro bicyklov Ždiar — WordPress - Google Chrome - 13 July 2022 - Watch Video

Hi Mark,

You are probably aware but we can add 2 instances of Post Content element - one set to show WP content and the other, Bricks.

The top one for WP content and the bottom one, Bricks content.

You make too many assumptions about my intelligence :slight_smile:

Seriously, since I become so used to only using on Inner Content element is some other builder (!) that I didn’t even think to try a couple if Post Content elements. I am not in front of my PC right now but if this all works then it completely resolves the issue for me, as well as offering the above/below flexibility for which I hoped.

Thank you so much, Sridhar.

PS : Update - works perfectly. But you already knew that! :slight_smile:

A belated thank you for putting this video together. It looks like Sridhar’s comment gives me all I need, I still learned a thing or two from your video so very much appreciate that.

Thank you again.

2 Likes

Hi Mark,

What you could also use for the more one-off ‘fancy’ content items which might need to be placed inside the GB content area is to create an element in bricks and save it as a template, you can then use the GB shortcode and sandwich the bricks designed element in between your GB content :+1:

2 Likes

Sorry for digging out this post - is there a way to hide the WordPress post content with bricks conditions? Saw that posts contain a meta key _bricks_editor_mode but was unable to filter with that.

Desired outcome: Conditionally hide WordPress content inside a general Bricks template so I have more granular control on single pages where to display WordPress content

1 Like

Hey. It is. place both–BB and WP content elements in the template I suppose. Then add to the for example blog post either a regular tag (say Bricks Editor and WP Editor) or you can create a custom post field using ACF that will mark the post either Bricks Editor or WordPress editor.

Then back to the template, set conditions to show the element or whole section if the tag or custom field is either Bricks or WordPress, depending in your need.

Then you edit content using Bricks, tick the custom filed or assign a tag and voila.

Makes sense?

1 Like

Just to add my perspective.

Currently I am designing a very simple website. It has a single landing page and a privacy page. Might have a subpage for contacting in case of additional questions, but the point is: “not many pages”. But the privacy should be editable in Gutenberg if client needs to update it.

I don’t want to install ACF (or similar) plugin just to add one field to these pages. Same with custom taxonomy.

So I ended up creating a separate template of type “single” for landing page with “Post Content > Bricks” (Condition being “Individual > [landing page]”) and another one for privacy policy – accordingly with “Post content > WordPress”.

Not sure I understand your exact setup but I think you could just use one template with two post content elements – one for Bricks and one for WordPress content. If there is no Bricks / WordPress content the corresponding element isn’t output at all.