FlexBlock RoadMap

After releasing FlexBlock back in March, we excitedly listened and observed how you, our community, used this new plugin and powerful design tool to experiment, personalize and expand your websites with new blocks and ideas. The future of FlexBlock is even more thrilling, as it will significantly change and simplify the way you build your website. We want to offer you maximum control over every aspect of your website design, alongside a tool that anyone can easily use and understand.

To offer you some perspective on the upcoming features, we’ve created an internal roadmap for FlexBlock, which you can see below. We also continue to actively listen to your feedback and suggestions, so if you have any, share them via this form.

FlexBlock v.1

Stage One | March 2019

With our first launch, we released a drag and drop designer tool that can be used to create any block with a photo, text, link and button combination. 

Stage Two | July 2019

The second stage will add additional elements and functionality to FlexBlock that will bring it closer to theme functionality coverage:

Version 1.1

• New element added – video, with embed and various available settings
• More auto-positioning tools for desktop and mobile (vertical and horizontal)
• New text editor
• A smart bar

Released. Read more about it here.

Version 1.2

• Block naming
• Block previews
• Notifications
• Self-hosted videos
• Layer Locking

Released. Read more about it here.

Version 1.3

• Parallax
• Multi Select for elements
• Button Hovers

Released. Read more about it here.

Version 1.4

• Image Opacity
• Gradient Background options
• Custom Classes (section for CSS code)
• Various feature enhancements

Released. Read more about it here.

FlexBlock v.2

The two most exciting and main features released with FlexBlock version 2, will be Groups and Templates. See below a brief explanation for what these imply:

Group Functionality 

This will allow you to combine multiple elements into one single complex element called a Group. This functionality will serve several purposes, such as:

• Easy and efficient management of multiple basic elements at once.
• Saving complex elements (a group) for future usage.
• Creating more complex objects, such as headers, sliders, etc. (note: these will be predefined groups, explained below)
• Creating animation effects.

Templates and Predefined Groups

Our team will create a series of pre-designed blocks that will be available within the FlexBlock plugin. They can be used right out of the box, or further tweaked to match your vision and site design. These blocks are called Predefined Groups, and consist out of two categories:

1. Static Groups – groups with static content and no complex functionality. They can be easily broken down into basic elements or you can create them from scratch.
2. Dynamic Groups – these can be static or include movement, but require a more complex functionality and logic (ex: sliders, headers, footers, grid image galleries, newsletter signups, etc). These blocks will be provided by Flo team, and available for further tweaking. They can’t be created from scratch, or taken apart into basic elements. 

Version 2.0

• Ability to select multiple elements and convert them into a group
• Option to move, resize, duplicate, delete and rename a group,
• Extended group management via the Layers side bar.
• Group management on mobile – the group will keep its proportions and structure, and scale on mobile devices, offering a seamless and fast experience of building your mobile view. 

Version 2.1

• Templates Area in FlexBlock’s sidebar – a collection of predefined groups
• The option to save your group as a template for further reuse + a visual interface for template management. 
• First dynamic groups – Image Grids, masonry and non-masonry. These will allow you to quickly upload multiple images on any page/post/gallery on your site.
• Several predefined static groups: About blocks, FAQ blocks, etc.

Version 2.2

• New dynamic groups – Header and Footer.
• More static groups.

Version 2.3

• New dynamic groups
• More static groups.

Version 2.4

• Animations and interactions (hover effects). We will add a more complex logic to how various elements contained within a group respond when site viewers interact with them. Example: If an image is hovered, an overlay with text should appear.
• Shortcode support for FloForms and FloInstagram, which will include a generated preview within FlexBlock.

FlexBlock v.3

We’ll tease you with only one word here FlexThemes. You’ll have to figure out the rest or keep an eye on our updates and announcements. Just know that there are a lot of exciting changes coming soon that will make being a Flothemes user very very exciting.

Haven’t tried FlexBlock yet? Download it for free from here and discover a whole new exciting way of creating new blocks and layouts for your website. 

Share your feedback and ideas for how you think Flex Block should evolve here.