Since the release of version 1.9.0 at the beginning of June, Block Visibility has surpassed 1,000 active users and is growing steadily! Thank you to everyone that has given the plugin a try and provided feedback. The generous reviews on WordPress.org have helped immensely, as have the followers on Twitter.

For users with more advanced needs, the Pro add-on was launched in mid-June. On July 28th (tomorrow), Pro will get even more power with the release of version 1.1.0. Full details coming soon…

The latest core release, version 2.0.0, was designed to tackle a number of feature requests, refine some functionality, and introduce advertising for the Pro add-on. Yes, nobody likes ads in their WordPress products. But with that in mind, it’s my hope that we have created the most unobtrusive content possible.

Pro Ads

In version 2.0.0, advertising for the Pro addon-on will now appear on plugin settings pages in a right-hand column. This column will also feature help and support resources. All advertising will match your WordPress admin theme color and will only ever be visible to users with Administrator access. The goal is to inform you about the Pro offering while maintaining an impeccable user experience. Of course, all ads will be disabled for Pro users.

Here’s a look at the plugin settings using two different admin themes.

Feature Requests

Visibility for Specific Users

One of the most commonly requested features was the ability to display blocks to specific users. While the plugin did feature many user-related conditions in the User Role control, there was no way to restrict content to an individual(s).

So with version 2.0.0, the “Users” option has been added to the User Role control. With just a few clicks, you can create exclusive content for whomever you like!

WP Fusion Logic

The WP Fusion control was one of the first integrations included in Block Visibility. It allows you to create dynamic content based on CRM and LMS tags, which WP Fusion provides. It was discovered that the display logic for the control was unintuitive when multiple settings were applied at once. Each setting operated independently in determining visibility, and it was requested that they work in unison. Thank you @marlonsabala for reporting this.

Such an approach would match other controls in Block Visibility, and therefore version 2.0.0 includes this logic switch. If you are using the WP Fusion control, you will likely not be impacted, but please be aware of this change.

Contextual Indicator Colors

Contextual indicators are meant to visually inform the user when a block has applied visibility controls. Without indicators, it’s very difficult to know what content is dynamic. That said, adding visual elements to blocks in the Block Editor is tricky to get right, and every theme is different. Some themes have light backgrounds, and some are dark. It’s not optimal for indicators to be the same color for every user.

I am pleased to announce that in version 2.0.0, you can now customize the color! By default, the indicators will be the color of your WordPress admin theme.

Refinements

Contextual Indicators

As mentioned in the section above, you can now choose your own contextual indicator color. Fulfilling this feature request provided an opportunity to improve how indicators were implemented.

Indicators were switched from SVG icons to a custom icon font in version 1.9.0. This improved performance and squashed a number of bugs that would occasionally occur, notably with the Cover block. The downside was the requirement for additional font files.

In version 2.0.0, we’ve switched back to SVG icons but with a different approach that actually improves block compatibility and further enhances performance. Now that users can also change the indicator color to better match their themes, the icons themselves have been reworked to better resemble core WordPress icons.

Miscellaneous

A number of other refinements were included in version 2.0.0. Here are a few highlights:

• Control toolbar styling was changed to match the upcoming dimensions panel UI in Gutenberg.
• A direct link to the plugin Knowledge Base was added in the plugin settings masthead.
• The Getting Started tab in the plugin settings has been removed, and users are directed to this website for help and documentation.

The complete changelog is available on WordPress.org.

Next Steps

Work will continue on the backlog of feature requests that have been piling up. Many are planned for inclusion in the Pro add-on. Thank you to everyone that has been patiently waiting! Enhancements to the WooCommerce and Easy Digital Downloads controls are also in the works.

If you do give Block Visibility a try and are finding it useful, please consider leaving a review over on WordPress.org. And of course, let us know if you have a feature request, you would like added to the development roadmap.

Until next time…