Using Blocks

Owned by Peder Klockmann (Unlicensed)
Last updated: May 05, 2020
3 min read

Blocks are boxes of content that can be displayed in regions on a page. You can adjust the size, shape, appearance, position, and which page or pages the block appears on.

Instructions

Creating a New Block

  • Go to Structure > Blocks > Add Block

  • Set Machine name

Machine names must be written using only lower case letters and numbers, no punctuation is allowed, words are separated with underscores. Make the Machine name and Block description match except for the formatting restrictions.

  • Leave Block title blank unless you want to add a visible title users can see

  • Set Block description

  • Add your desired content to the Block body

  • If you are adding HTML or embedding JavaScript:

    • In the Block body editor, toggle Source mode, all other editor options will be grayed out and the body displays line numbers

    • Set the Text format field to Full HTML

  • Assign desired CSS class(es) separated by spaces. As an example, center the text in the block with the “text-center” class

  • Under Region settings, assign a region

If you are creating the block for strictly JavaScript, it should be set to the Footer region.

  • Under Visibility settings > Pages > Show block on specific pages, select which pages you wish to add the block to or exclude the block from

    • All pages except those listed

    • Only the listed pages, the example image below will make the block appear on the students page, and all the pages under the students area

  • Under Visibility settings > Pages > Show block for specific content types, you can select content types and your block will appear on any page that uses that given type. Selecting no types, means there will not be a specific type limitation.

  • Click Save block

  • Review your site to make sure your new block is appearing only on the intended pages. See the section Configure Existing Block to make adjustments. In the example below, the red Request More Information button below was added as a new block on the GWCC website.

Configuring an Existing Block

  • Go to Structure > Blocks

  • Scroll down to your block

  • Click the configure link under the Operations column

  • Make your changes adhering to the Create a New Block steps above

  • Click Save block

Changing Block Order

  • Go to Structure > Blocks

  • In the Region column, select your desired region if you need to change it

  • On the left column find your block, then drag-and-drop the Maltese cross icon above to the desired order, it is also possible to jump regions with drag-and-drop

  • Click Save blocks

Deleting a Block

  • Go to Structure > Blocks

  • Scroll down to your block

  • Click the delete link under the Operations column

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