I recently came across a remarkable plugin preview, which seems to align with the hints dropped during the latest WpTuts livestream featuring @thomas. This functionality is quite thrilling, especially considering the possibility of incorporating this feature into Bricks 2.0. Such integration could significantly enhance Bricks usage for Gutenberg reliant editors.
Meanwhile, the plugin is called GutenBricks by Ryan from WireWP
These are Partially Synced Patterns (now called Pattern Overrides) on steroids!
Currently, the plugin is only being teased and has a waitlist, but I am hyped already!
I watched the WPtuts video but the roadmap doesn’t show anything like this on there. I am thinking about buying but don’t want to waste money if a version update will include it. Hope to see some reviews soon.
The way I see it, if you need such functionality now, buy it. It’s like with Advanced Themer, being an R&D department of Bricks Builder. It offers more and now, but features might eventually be reproduced by Bricks Builder. The rationale of waste is only valid if you buy shelfware and not out of an immediate necessity. I like to buy things in advance just to be able to play with them, but the general approach should be to stay informed, keep in mind what it does, and on the next paid build, factor it into your cost structure.
A walkthrough of 1.0 is in the making by Ryan, and he is taking his time with it, which is understandable as it’s his big reveal video. I hope he switches over to more spontaneous update videos, as high production value in video walkthroughs can be demanding and frustrating if one tends to be a perfectionist. I like the approach of @thomas and @maximebeguin on this… they just walk through it and take the audience with them without risking burnout.
Hi MaxZieb, I will take your advice and make a quick walkthrough video. My excuse of making a perfect video is simply because I can’t really talk fluently in English like others and I tend to stutter. Hahaha. So most of my videos are carefully scripted. But hey, thanks for posting this!
If you’re concerned about wasting money if a native feature comes out. That’s a totally valid argument and I would do the same. But as I worked on the product I discovered a few things that users might still need a product like this:
Just like what MaxZieb said, your client might need something like this now and this feature can win you a couple of more clients that can make up for the cost. Gutenberg blocks are very effective when it comes to editing content. My own plugin saved me tons of hours editing my content. I can also add my custom-designed blocks to my blog post to increase the quality of my content. Time = money.
Converting the Bricks template into the Gutenberg block is just half of the game. The actual reason most people will use this feature is to give their clients a better editing experience. Our product will mostly be focusing on client-end editing experience. Converting part is a bare minimum. What about you want to restrict what clients can edit? Or providing them ACF integration that can render dynamic layouts and styles? just like in this video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDiLOMwnMN8
Working with the Gutenberg ecosystem plus third-party add-ons and framework is very time-consuming tricky and technically challenging. It’s doable. But is it worth it for Bricks’ team to take on this? If my add-on gives you a bad experience, it only affects my brand. But when someone says “Bricks is not working well with ACSS and BricksExtra when it comes to Gutenberg editing,” they are talking about Bricks. When I developed this I realized that I’d have to stitch all the frameworks and third-party libraries together manually.
It’s a dirty work. A plugin’s job.
I’m just super lucky to get so much help from people from the community. I think I’ve chosen the right eco-system to thrive in! You guys are awesome!
Hey, thanks for the heads up! Really cool to see you taking the feedback on board and pushing forward with the video. Your points about the plugin totally make sense – it’s all about getting that edge for clients, right? And the technical side sounds like a beast, but it seems like you’ve got it handled. Don’t sweat the English thing too much… we’re all here for the good work you’re doing. Cheers to keeping the community vibes strong!
Ryan is highly active on his YouTube channel! You can now catch a sneak peek of GutenBricks in action — be sure to check it out. His work is awesome for an RC2 version… the 1.0 release promises to be fantastic. Moreover, he mentioned in a comment that version 1.2 will even include support for loops.
I bought GutenBricks because it’s exactly what I’ve been wanting for a few of my clients, and for these particular projects I was considering using Pinegrow - to create some custom blocks - OR go the custom code route.
GutenBricks will save me a lot of time, and I’ll be able to keep using Bricks even for those sites where the client wants to edit in Gutenberg
Sure, Bricks may eventually get this capability natively, but I feel having someone like Ryan focusing on just the feature-set of GutenBricks, rather than working on a complete page builder, means it will be quicker to get the features in this plugin that the users want. Mostly for me though, is that it’s something I can use right now.
Ryan is really responsive and helpful with any issues I’ve run into - I’m so thankful I happened to see a random post about GutenBricks in a FB group while I was on holiday, otherwise I probably wouldn’t have known about it yet
I’m still just testing on a local dev install, but I think the current RC is already stable enough for me to be using it on my next project.
One question about the plugin…
Block are independent instance of the same bricks template ( so I can use multiple of them ) or the bricks template is a singleton (like native Wordpress synced pattern) ?
Same here, I bought it for the exact same reason. I wanted it now and it will probably always have an edge over the native version down the line because of its single focus.
The blocks are synchronized and can be updated centrally from the bricks structure-wise… but much like components, text, and ACF/meta props, each can have their own “overrides”. Furthermore, Ryan has been teasing that they will be able to be looped as well.
Does anyone know if ACF Pro is the only method for creating user controls with GutenBricks? It would be great if there was another way. I love ACF, but on sites that don’t use it for anything else, the yearly subscription is steep just to implement user controls on blocks.
The free version is also an option. It seems that more custom post type plugins are planned. Sidenote: Scott Clark, known for his work on Pods (open-source project), is collaborating with the WordPress core team. They aim to introduce a comprehensive Custom Values API. Initially, this will be integrated into the new admin interface, but the plan is to expand it into a universal interface. This development could effectively resolve the current compatibility issue in such cases.
I think the Pro version of ACF is required to create Gutenberg Blocks and Block controls, but perhaps I’m wrong about that. I’ll have to investigate.
