Title: Broadside Blocks Author: Shadow Software LLC Published: Septanm 22, 2026 Last modified: Oktòb 26, 2026 --- Search plugins ![](https://ps.w.org/broadside-blocks/assets/banner-772x250.png?rev=3706852) ![](https://ps.w.org/broadside-blocks/assets/icon-256x256.png?rev=3706852) # Broadside Blocks By [Shadow Software LLC](https://profiles.wordpress.org/shadowsoftware/) [Download](https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/broadside-blocks.1.4.5.zip) * [Details](https://hat.wordpress.org/plugins/broadside-blocks/#description) * [Reviews](https://hat.wordpress.org/plugins/broadside-blocks/#reviews) * [Installation](https://hat.wordpress.org/plugins/broadside-blocks/#installation) * [Development](https://hat.wordpress.org/plugins/broadside-blocks/#developers) [Support](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/broadside-blocks/) ## Description Broadside Blocks is the companion plugin to the **Broadside** theme. It provides the seventeen blocks that make a WordPress site read like a newspaper. **Why a plugin and not part of the theme?** Because WordPress is right about this. The Theme Directory forbids a theme from registering blocks, and the test behind that rule is a good one: > Themes handle presentation. Plugins handle content. > **Anything you lose when > you switch themes belongs in a plugin.** A Short Answer, an FAQ, a Sources list — that is _content_. It lives in your post. If it shipped inside a theme, changing theme would silently blank it and you would have no way to get it back. So it lives here, where it is safe. #### The editorial blocks * **Short Answer** — a direct, quotable answer at the top, for the reader in a hurry and the search engine that wants to cite you. * **Key Takeaways** — the three or four things a reader should leave with. * **Table of Contents** — builds itself from your headings. Rename a heading and the contents follow; there is nothing to keep in sync by hand. * **FAQ** — questions and answers that also emit valid FAQPage structured data. * **Sources & References** — the receipts. * **Disclosure Table** — a comparison table whose partner links are always marked rel=”sponsored nofollow” and which always prints a disclosure line. #### The masthead furniture Nameplate, folio rule, utility bar, colophon, byline, author bio, editorial standards, the newsletter panel, the section grid, related stories and the lead-story well. #### It needs the Broadside theme These blocks render the theme’s Customizer settings and call its template tags. Under any other theme they render nothing at all — deliberately, and without a fatal error. Install [Broadside](https://github.com/shadow-software/broadside-theme-for-wordpress); WordPress 6.5+ will offer this plugin alongside it. ### Copyright Broadside Blocks, Copyright 2026 Shadow Software LLC. Distributed under the terms of the GNU GPL v2 or later. It bundles no third-party code, no images, no icons and no JavaScript libraries. ## Installation 1. Install and activate the **Broadside** theme. 2. WordPress will offer to install this plugin alongside it. Accept. 3. The blocks appear in the editor under the **Broadside — editorial** category. ## FAQ ### I activated the plugin and nothing appears. The blocks need the Broadside theme. Under any other theme they render nothing, on purpose, rather than fataling. An admin notice will tell you so. ### The site editor says a Broadside block is not supported. The blocks render in PHP, and the editor has to be told about each one. Update to the current release. A template that still shows the warning is running a build where the editor script was loaded once per block and never registered the masthead blocks. ### The table of contents is empty. It builds itself from the `h2` and `h3` headings in the post. A post with no headings has no contents to list. Add a heading and it appears. ## Reviews There are no reviews for this plugin. ## Contributors & Developers “Broadside Blocks” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin. Contributors * [ Shadow Software LLC ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/shadowsoftware/) [Translate “Broadside Blocks” into your language.](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/broadside-blocks) ### Interested in development? [Browse the code](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/broadside-blocks/), check out the [SVN repository](https://plugins.svn.wordpress.org/broadside-blocks/), or subscribe to the [development log](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/broadside-blocks/) by [RSS](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/broadside-blocks/?limit=100&mode=stop_on_copy&format=rss). ## Changelog #### 1.4.5 * The colophon prints the podcast directory link, the YouTube link, and the publisher’s legal name again. 1.4.4 had dropped them while restoring the editor registration. #### 1.4.4 * The site editor can open Broadside templates. Every block is registered in the editor, from one script, so byline, author bio, standards, related stories, the newsletter, and the rest no longer show as unsupported. * The front page’s lead-column promo block is registered again. * The section grid can be limited to chosen categories, in order. Leave the list empty to keep ranking sections by readership. Queries respect the current Polylang language. #### 1.3.3 * Prefix: all plugin functions, hooks, and usermeta use the `broadside_blocks_` prefix (WordPress.org uniqueness requirement). Theme helpers such as `shadow_digest_get()` are unchanged — they live in the Broadside theme. * Filter `shadow_digest_emit_faq_schema` renamed to `broadside_blocks_emit_faq_schema`. * Usermeta `shadow_digest_role` migrated to `broadside_blocks_role` (legacy key still read until saved). #### 1.3.2 * FAQPage JSON-LD uses default wp_json_encode() flags so solidus is escaped (no script breakout). * Plugin URI points at this plugin’s public repository. * Removed load_plugin_textdomain(); WordPress.org loads translations automatically. #### 1.3.1 * Moved into its own repository, with its own CI and its own signed release zips. * Version brought back into step with the Broadside theme, which it ships with. #### 1.2.0 * Initial release, split out of the Broadside theme: WordPress.org does not permit a theme to register blocks, and it is right not to. * Fixed: the blocks were never in their own editor category. The theme registered one slug while all 17 block.json files asked for another, so every block quietly landed in the editor’s default bucket. ## Meta * Version **1.4.5** * Last updated **2 jou ago** * Active installations **Fewer than 10** * WordPress version ** 7.0 or higher ** * Tested up to **7.0.7** * PHP version ** 8.5 or higher ** * Language * [English (US)](https://wordpress.org/plugins/broadside-blocks/) * Tags * [blocks](https://hat.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/blocks/)[editorial](https://hat.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/editorial/) [faq](https://hat.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/faq/)[schema](https://hat.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/schema/) [table of contents](https://hat.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/table-of-contents/) * [Advanced View](https://hat.wordpress.org/plugins/broadside-blocks/advanced/) ## Ratings No reviews have been submitted yet. [Your review](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/broadside-blocks/reviews/#new-post) [See all reviews](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/broadside-blocks/reviews/) ## Contributors * [ Shadow Software LLC ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/shadowsoftware/) ## Support Issues resolved in last two months: 0 out of 1 [View support forum](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/broadside-blocks/)