Using Kadence Blocks –
The Advanced Text Block
The Advanced Text block adds features missing from two Gutenberg blocks; the Gutenberg paragraph block and the Gutenberg heading block.
The Gutenberg paragraph block is the basic building block of the block editor. You can change the color of the text and the background color of the entire block. You can change the font size, weight, and style. You also have control over the alignment of the text within the block (left, center, right).
The Gutenberg heading block is the same as the paragraph block, with the additional ability to set the heading level (H1, H2, H3,…).
After using these blocks for a while, you notice what is missing from the Gutenberg paragraph and heading blocks – controls to adjust padding, resize margins, or change the font. Enter the Kadence Advanced Text block.
Kadence Blocks Advanced Text Block
The Advanced Text block is available in the free Kadence Blocks plugin. It offers all the controls of the Gutenberg blocks, and in many cases, it makes those controls more intuitive. Its real strength, however, is the EXTRA controls it provides.
- Advanced Typography Settings
- Highlight Settings
- Spacing Settings
- Text Shadow Settings
- Animate Scroll Settings
- Conditional Display Settings
Advanced Typography Settings
The Advanced Typography control is where you can override the default font for headings and paragraphs and choose the font that’s right for this block. You can also transform the format of the text (UPPERCASE, lowercase, Capitalize).
Highlight Settings
The Highlight Settings control is very similar to the background color control. However, instead of setting the background color for the entire block, you can limit it to selected text within the block.
You also have control over the padding and typography of the highlighted text as if it were a separate Advanced Text block.
Once you have set the defaults in the highlight control on the sidebar, simply select your text and choose the highlight option from the drop-down menu in the control bar.
Spacing Settings
The Spacing control allows you to manage margins and padding for the block.
Text Shadow Settings
Want a shadow to appear behind your text? You can control the size and color of the shadow with the Text Shadow control.
Animate Scroll Settings
The Animate Scroll control allows you to animate the block when it scrolls in or out of view. Try scrolling this text block in and out…
You can choose between several animation styles, including Fade, Flip, Zoom, and Slide.
Conditional Display Settings
Conditional Display allows you to show or hide the block based on whether specific post metadata fields are populated or not. For example, this block is only being displayed because the post has a “wordpess” tag assoiciated with it.
The functionality is very limited and should be used for display purposes, not security.
What is post metadata? Metadata includes the post title, author name, when the post was published, and more.
Conclusions
The Kadence Blocks plugin adds over a dozen extra blocks to the Gutenberg block editor, making it easier to add stunning enhancements to your posts. It does this by building on what is already in WordPress, rather than contributing to code bloat by building out an entire page builder.
The Kadence Advanced Text block adds many features missing from the Gutenberg Paragraph and Heading blocks. It does this without adding bloat, so there is no performance penalty.
I have started using it all the time (well, when I remember).
For about this and other enhanced blocks, checkout the Kadence Blocks plugin.
