Blockader ships with three custom blocks built to fill genuine gaps in the native WordPress block library.
Each custom block is designed to work within the theme’s visual language — bold, high contrast, and editorial — while remaining fully configurable from the block editor.
Blockader Banner
The Blockader Banner is a full-width split hero block designed for high-impact page headers. It divides the viewport into two panels — a content panel on the left and a media panel on the right — with each side independently configurable.
The content panel supports an editable heading, supporting paragraph text, and a call-to-action button with a configurable URL. Button colours are controlled via the block inspector, with separate settings for default background, text colour, and hover state — all driven by CSS custom properties so changes apply instantly without a page reload.
The media panel accepts any image from the WordPress media library. A replace button appears in the editor for quick swapping. On mobile, the panels stack vertically with content above image.
Drop the banner at the top of any page or post for an immediate editorial statement.
Live REST Search
The Live REST Search block queries your WordPress content as the user types — no page reload, no form submission, no plugin required. Results appear below the input field within 300 milliseconds of the user pausing, powered by the WordPress REST API.
From the block inspector you can configure which post types are included in the search — posts, pages, or both. A result limit controls how many matches are shown at once. An optional excerpt can be displayed beneath each result title, with a word count slider to control how much text appears.
Each result displays the post type label, title, and optional excerpt as a styled strip consistent with the theme’s design language. Clicking a result navigates directly to that post or page.
The block is centred by default and works in any context — drop it into a page, a post, or a template part.
Associated Posts
The Associated Posts block solves a problem the native Query Loop block cannot — surfacing editorially hand-picked content that cuts across categories and taxonomies.
Where the Query Loop can only filter by shared taxonomy, Associated Posts lets an author explicitly select any combination of posts and pages regardless of where they sit in the site’s content structure. If you write a post about architecture and want to reference a page about your services and another post from a completely different category, this block handles it.
In the block editor, a search field in the inspector panel lets you find and select content by title. Selected items appear in the block canvas as a preview. Each item can be removed individually. The heading is editable inline.
On the frontend, each associated item renders as a full-width strip showing the content type, title, optional featured image, and optional excerpt. Background and text colours are configurable from the block inspector, with support for both theme palette colours and custom hex values.
The block is designed to sit at the foot of a post as a contextual “read more” section — surfacing related content that an algorithm would never find.
