Block Manager

Description

The Block Manager is an intuitive tool for site admins to globally remove blocks and block patterns. It also provides functionality for updating the category of individual blocks to help organize the admin editing experience.

Features

• Blocks: Globally disable blocks from being displayed in the Block Inserter and Block Editor.
• Patterns: Remove unwanted block patterns with the click of a button.
• Block Categories: Organize the Block Inserter by updating the category of each block.
• Hooks: Use hooks to remove blocks and patterns from functions.php.
• Search and Filter: Quickly locate blocks and patterns with the search functionality in the sidebar.
• Embed Blocks: Choose the Embed blocks you actually want to include on your site by removing the vast majority of useless options.

Hooks & Filters

Use Block Manager hooks to controls blocks via code and sync options across multiple WordPress environments.

gbm_disabled_blocks

Use the gbm_disabled_blocks hook to remove blocks via backend code.

// functions.php
add_filter( 'gbm_disabled_blocks', function() {
    return [
        'core/buttons',
        'core/columns',
        'core/freeform',
        'core/table'
    ];
});

gbm_disabled_patterns

Use the gbm_disabled_patterns hook to remove block patterns via backend code.

// functions.php
add_filter( 'gbm_disabled_patterns', function() {
   return ['gbm/core-patterns', 'core/query-standard-posts', 'core/query-medium-posts'];
});

gbm_block_categories

Use the gbm_block_categories hook to update block categories via backend code.

// functions.php
add_filter( 'gbm_block_categories', function() {
    return [
        [ 'block' => 'core/html', 'cat' => 'design' ],
        [ 'block' => 'core/cover', 'cat' => 'design' ],
        [ 'block' => 'core/details', 'cat' => 'design' ]
    ];
});

block_manager_user_role

Update the minimum user role allowed to access the Block Manager plugin.

// functions.php
add_filter(
    'block_manager_user_role',
    'edit_theme_options' // Default: activate_plugins
);

Screenshots

Installation

How to install Block Manager.

Using The WordPress Dashboard

1. Navigate to the ‘Add New’ in the plugins dashboard
2. Search for ‘Block Manager’
3. Click ‘Install Now’
4. Activate the plugin on the Plugin dashboard

Uploading in WordPress Dashboard

1. Navigate to the ‘Add New’ in the plugins dashboard
2. Navigate to the ‘Upload’ area
3. Select block-manager.zip from your computer
4. Click ‘Install Now’
5. Activate the plugin in the Plugin dashboard

Using FTP

1. Download block-manager.zip
2. Extract the block-manager directory to your computer
3. Upload the block-manager directory to the /wp-content/plugins/ directory
4. Activate the plugin in the Plugin dashboard

Then navigate to wp-admin -> Settings -> Block Manager to use the plugin.

Reviews

Life Saver

magicratfish February 4, 2024 1 reply

Great plugin, thank you. Let me tame my plug in beast and bring order to the Press. I combined it with the php filter ‘block_categories_all’ to move them to my own categories as well. Together, they have made a world of difference.

Clean and handy

lanche86 October 3, 2023

Extremely useful plugin and one of the first I added to all of my installs. Thank you, Darren!

Block listings not displayed

skylabb November 19, 2022 2 replies

I wanted to like this plug for the nice UI design. When I open the block manager screen, the two grey tabs where block listings are suppose to display are empty. It looks like some kind of glitch. Update: I added a couple more review stars for author’s response. Hopefully the issue gets fixed soon.

Incredibly useful plugin

tomreed25 September 15, 2022 1 reply

Having the ability to disable some of the more obscure, unnecessary blocks is essential and this plugin features on every site I work on. Thanks!

Good Job

wp2019s January 17, 2022 1 reply

It makes the job done! Thanks

Great

anonmeimei August 15, 2021 3 replies

I love this plugin! I already had my own code to whitelist certain blocks in the editor, but I couldn’t figure how to remove certain core-embed blocks. But with this plugin, I’m able to remove those blocks as well! I abandoned my custom code and just used this instead. It would be nice to see it have a feature to restrict blocks to certain roles. PublishPress Blocks has this, but it’s very clunky and also adds its own blocks. I prefer a simple Block Manager like this one //updated my review again because it now works

Contributors & Developers

Changelog

3.0.1 – November 3, 2024

• UPDATE: New admin UI.
• UPDATE: Various changes for upcoming Block Manager Pro plugin.

3.0.0 – April 3, 2024

• NEW: Added support for disabling block patterns and core block patterns.
• FIX: Fixed incorrect number of filtered blocks display in Blocks sidebar.
• FIX: Fixed issue with return value in admin_footer text.
• UPDATE: Updated plugin installer vendor file.
• UPDATE: Various code refactoring and organization.
• UPDATE: Various security updates.

2.1.1 – November 1, 2023

• HOTFIX: Fix for undefined React key warning when WP_DEBUG is enabled.

2.1.0 – November 1, 2023

• NEW: Adding notification system for feedback after an action is performed.
• UPDATE: Added display indicators for variation blocks.
• FIX: Fixed potential upgrade issue with disabled blocks throwing admin error due to object vs array data.
• FIX: Fixed issue with missing loading animation.
• FIX: Fixed issue with block variations not counting towards block count.

2.0.0 – October 20, 2023

• NEW – New admin interface and interactions for the Block and Block Categories pages.
• NEW: Added block category export and hook gbm_block_categories to allow for changing block categories at the theme level.
• UPDATE: Updated build scripts and dependencies to use wp-scripts.
• UPDATE: Block Manager is now supported on Widget screen.
• FIX: Fixed issue with some missing block definitions.
• FIX: Fixed issues with block icons not rendering for some blocks.
• FIX: Fixed issue with various blocks crashing the Block Manager edit screen.
• FIX: Other various bug fixes and overall improvements.

1.2.5 – May 23, 2023

• FIX – Fixed potential issue with JS errors on Site Editor screens.
• UPDATE – WP version bump and testing.

1.2.4 – November 30, 2022

• HOTFIX – Fixed issue with plugin not working on edit screens.

1.2.3 – November 19, 2022

• FIX: Added fix for blank screen when users have JetPack plugin enabled.
• FIX: Fixed issue with missing semi-colon in Block Manager export functionality.
• FIX: Added fix for only loading the block removal script on New and Edit screens.

1.2.2 – August 17, 2021

• NEW – Added new Reset option that will clear all disabled blocks.
• FIX – Added fix for possible issue with icon width on blocks admin page.
• UPDATE – Updated tab navigation inside the plugin to make it more clear which section was being edited.

1.2.1 – February 28, 2021

• UPDATE – Added Category Switcher support for all block including core Gutenberg blocks.

1.2 – February 27, 2021

• NEW – Added new Category Switcher.
  • The Category Switcher provides functionality for changing the category core Gutenberg blocks.
  • Changing a block category will update the location of the block in the Gutenberg Block Inserter while editing posts.
• FIX – Fixed issue with missing semi-colon in export code.
• UPDATE – Various admin UI/UX updates.

1.1 – January 19, 2021

• NEW – Added new gbm_disabled_blocks filter to allow for disabling blocks via functions.php
• NEW – Added Export option to dynamically build a pre-populated gbm_disabled_blocks filter.
• NEW – Added Grid/List view toggle.

1.0.1 – January 2, 2021

• NEW – Added support for Embed blocks (Twitter, Facebook, Spotify etc). These blocks were changed in WP 5.6 and the handler had to be updated to manage the active/inactive states.
• FIX – Fixed REST API warning for missing permissions_callback.

1.0 – January 6, 2020

• Initial release