Blocs 3.2 is out. Here is what’s new
Blocs 3.2 was released a couple of days ago, and I have been enjoying using its new features. In this post, I want to share with you what’s new in this version of Blocs.
Blocs 3 was released just a few months ago, but it has already received two major updates. This week's update brings us not only lots of bug fixes and stability improvements but also some great new features, which I want to share with you today.
If you prefer to watch a video, take a look at the video below, in which I show my top five favorite features in Blocs 3.2.
Modal Bric & Interaction
Probably the most significant new feature is an addition of Modals, which let you easily create almost any type of pop-up window. The modal won’t be visible until you click on the trigger, for example, a button or link. This opens many possibilities for creating pop-up forms, videos, etc.
Improved Layer Navigator
Next, we have some nice improvements to Layer Navigator, which has been one of my favorite new features in Blocs 3. Now, we can quickly expand and collapse the menu items, as well as switch to solo mode, which helps you stay focused on what you are working on.
Freehand Control for Text
I have been enjoying using freehand controls for element size, padding, and margin, and now we have the same level of control for text. With just a simple drag of circle, we can easily edit its size, and we can do that for each of the breakpoints.
New Project Settings options
Blocs 3.2 also has a couple of nice additions to Project Settings. We can now set the default export parameters for exporting, and we can set the style for the active navigation link. It was complicated before, but now Blocs will automatically apply the style we choose to the link that matches the current page URL.
General UI/UX improvements
And finally, there are lots of small UI and UX improvements. There are new categories for Brics, new organized look for Subclass library, we can now name colors we use, and quickly hide and show sidebars, which will be appreciated by users working in Blocs on laptops.
So, these my favorite new features and improvements of Blocs 3.2. If you are interested in the full list, check the release notes below.
New & Improved
Added support for modals.
Added categories to Bric Bar and Bric Sidebar.
Added Canvas Text Size Freehand Controls.
Added ability to set active page class on links that match current URL.
Added ability to hide sidebars.
Added ability to name Global Swatches.
Added layer tree context menu items that enable Expand/Collapse contents of a layer.
Added Expand all / Collapse all layer tree controls.
Added Solo Mode layer tree option.
When deleting a page, its entry in Menu Manager and navigation is now removed.
Added refresh button for Menu Manager data fed list items.
Added export settings to project settings.
Improved subclass library menu.
Added new developer API classes.
Include UI title label data in Bric Builder layer tree.
Added Custom Bric category selector in Bric Builder.
Fixed
Fixed issue that allowed page scroll when modal is open.
Fixed issue that made selecting nested span tags impossible.
Fixed issue with terms window on MacOS Sierra.
Fixed issue with main prefs styling on Mojave when OS is dark mode and app is light mode.
Fixed various issues that caused missing sections in layer tree.
Fixed issue that broke form redirects if target page had a php suffix.
Fixed various issues with forms settings not refreshing in preview mode.
Fixed issue that caused broken link if success link for form is set to home page.
Fixed light box interactions with clean URLs.
Fixed issue that caused project settings icon to become unselected when clicking currently selected item.
Fixed issue more issues with layer tree and formatted text.
Fixed issue that caused local fonts with spaces in the name to break on export.
Fixed issue with form JS required files being added to page header when exported if a form exists in a code widget our custom Bric.
Fixed missing trailing slash on clean url page links.
Fixed issue that prevented Core Assets being permanently deleted.
Prevent changes to page name settings effecting links to page that have custom titles.
Fixed view subclass resources help button on Class Manager.
Fixed issue with Bric Builder assigned artwork sizes being too big when assigned on a retina screen Mac.
Fixed issue with pre-loader classes being included in style sheet when its switched off.
Fixed issue that caused assets stored on external drives to remain in a project when deleted.
Fixed issue with removing assets that are assigned in project settings remaining in project.
Fixed issue that caused audio players using hosted mp3 files to break on export.
Fixed issue that caused Blocs to crash on export if an audio player has no value set.
Fixed issue that prevented reseting logo image on design canvas when current logo is deleted from project settings.
Fixed issue with active marker displaying in the wrong position.
Fixed issue that caused navigation Bric to not show in Bric library.
Fixed issue with preview style dropdown not being populated correctly in Bric Builder.
Fixed issue with drop downs in navigation not showing in layer tree.
Fixed issue with installing Page Template .bex files.
I will be covering many of the new features in detail here on this blog and my YouTube channel so if you are interested, sign up for my free newsletter below.