FolioBlocks

What’s New in FolioBlocks 1.3

What’s New in FolioBlocks 1.3

FolioBlocks 1.3 is one of those updates that started with a simple question. How can we make image galleries feel more intentional?

Not just better looking, but more useful. More flexible. More aware of the different ways photographers, designers, artists, and creative businesses actually use images on a website.

Sometimes an image should open in a lightbox. Sometimes it should link to a product. Sometimes it should download. Sometimes it should send someone to a related page. And sometimes the image itself should simply sit there, beautifully, without trying to do anything at all.

Version 1.3 is our first big step toward making those choices clearer and more powerful inside FolioBlocks.

This update introduces a new Gallery Click Settings system, improved Image Hover Settings, new image linking options, richer lightbox and overlay content, EXIF display support, and a more organized editing experience for the Image Block.

Let’s walk through what’s new.

One of the biggest changes in FolioBlocks 1.3 is the new Gallery Click Settings panel.

Previously, related controls were spread across separate sections such as Lightbox settings, overlay settings, WooCommerce settings, and download settings. Each feature worked, but the mental model could be clearer.

In 1.3, we’ve brought those decisions together around a single question:

What should happen when someone clicks an image? The new Image Click Behavior control lets you choose from options such as:

  • None
  • Open in lightbox
  • Link image to media file
  • Link image to custom URL
  • Link image to page or post
  • Enable image downloads
  • WooCommerce product

This makes the setup much easier to understand. Instead of turning on several separate features and wondering how they interact, you now choose the primary click behavior first. FolioBlocks then shows the relevant settings for that behavior.

If you choose Lightbox, you get lightbox-related options.

If you choose WooCommerce, you get product-related options.

If you choose Custom URL, you get URL fields and link target controls.

That may sound like a small interface change, but it makes a big difference when building real galleries.

New Lightbox Content Options

For Pro users, the Lightbox is now more flexible.

Instead of a simple on/off option for showing captions, FolioBlocks now includes a Lightbox Content control. Depending on the block and settings being used, you can choose to show:

  • Nothing
  • Image title
  • Image caption
  • WooCommerce product info
  • EXIF data

This is a cleaner system and gives us a stronger foundation for future improvements.

For example, a photographer might want a gallery where the Lightbox shows camera settings. A designer might prefer captions. A store owner might want product information. Another site might want a completely clean lightbox with no text at all.

The new Lightbox Content control makes those choices much clearer.

FolioBlocks Pro now supports linking images directly to their media files.

This is useful when you want visitors to open the selected image file directly in the browser, outside the Lightbox experience. Or if a user prefers to use a 3rd party Lightbox plugin.

The link uses the selected image size, so the behavior follows the image resolution chosen for the block or gallery. That means you are not forced into always linking to the original upload if your gallery is configured to use a different image size.

You can now link images to custom URLs in FolioBlocks Pro. This is one of those features that seems simple, but opens up a lot of possibilities. You might use it to send visitors to:

  • A project page
  • A booking page
  • A client gallery
  • A portfolio case study
  • A product landing page
  • An external website

Custom URL fields are set on the individual Image Blocks. In galleries, this means each image can have its own destination.

If an image does not have a custom URL set, FolioBlocks will not output an empty link for that image. That detail matters because it keeps the front end clean and avoids confusing behavior for visitors.

There is also an option to open custom URL links in a new tab.

FolioBlocks Pro now also supports linking images to existing pages or posts.

Instead of manually pasting a URL, you can search for a page or post directly from the Image Block settings and connect the image to that content.

This is especially useful for portfolio workflows.

For example, a gallery could show a collection of featured projects, and each image could link to a detailed case study. A photographer could use a grid as a visual index for different sessions. A studio could build a landing page where every image leads deeper into the site.

As with custom URLs, FolioBlocks only outputs links for images that actually have a selected page or post. Images without a selected destination remain unlinked.

Page and post links can also be opened in a new tab.

For several click behaviors, FolioBlocks Pro now lets you decide where the link should live.

You can link from the image thumbnail itself, or you can display a Link Target Icon. This applies to actions such as:

  • WooCommerce products
  • Image downloads
  • Custom URLs
  • Pages or posts

This gives you more control over how interactive your gallery feels.

If the thumbnail is the link target, clicking the image performs the selected action.

If the icon is the link target, the image can remain available for another behavior, such as opening in the lightbox, while the icon handles the secondary action.

That is especially useful for galleries where you want visitors to inspect the image in a lightbox, but still provide a download button, product button, or link button.

Improved WooCommerce Behavior

WooCommerce integration has also been cleaned up as part of the new Gallery Click Settings system.

Instead of living in a separate E-Commerce Settings panel, WooCommerce now fits into the same click behavior model as the other image actions.

When WooCommerce Product is selected, FolioBlocks shows the relevant product controls. You can still connect images to WooCommerce products and choose the default product link behavior.

We also improved how WooCommerce works with link targets. You can decide whether the product action belongs on the thumbnail or on an icon. This helps WooCommerce galleries feel much more polished on the front end.

Image Downloads Fit the Same Model

Image downloads have also been moved into the new Gallery Click Settings system.

When Enable Image Downloads is selected, the related download controls appear in the same place as the rest of the click behavior settings.

Like WooCommerce and custom links, downloads can use a Link Target Icon. This keeps the interface consistent and gives users the choice between making the whole thumbnail interactive or offering a smaller download icon.

This is especially helpful for photographers who want visitors to browse images normally while still making downloads available in a controlled way.

Custom Icon Styles

FolioBlocks Pro now includes custom styling controls for image click icons.

The same visual system is used for WooCommerce, download, and link icons, which keeps galleries more consistent.

You can adjust icon color and background color from the Styles panel, making it easier to match your site design.

Image hover behavior has also been reorganized in FolioBlocks 1.3 and is now grouped into a panel called Gallery Hover Settings.

Previously, hover overlays started with a toggle to show the overlay, followed by another control to choose the hover style. In 1.3, this has been simplified into a Hover Style control.

The first option is None. Choosing any other style activates the overlay.

This makes the setting easier to understand because the control now answers the question directly. What hover style should this image or gallery use?

Available hover styles include:

  • Fade
  • Blur
  • Gradient
  • Chip
  • Color

The helper text also changes based on the selected overlay style, giving a little more context as you work.

New Overlay Content Options

FolioBlocks Pro now includes a more flexible Overlay Content control.

Instead of only showing an image title on hover, overlays can now display different types of content depending on your setup.

Options include:

  • Show image title
  • Show image caption
  • Show product info
  • Show EXIF data

* Product info appears when WooCommerce is being used.

This gives hover overlays more purpose. A gallery can be informational, commercial, technical, minimal, or editorial depending on the content you choose to display.

EXIF Data Support

FolioBlocks 1.3 introduces EXIF metadata support for the Image Block. When available, FolioBlocks can store and display camera-related information such as:

  • Camera
  • Focal length
  • Shutter speed
  • Aperture
  • ISO

This opens up a really nice workflow for photographers who want to share more than the image itself.

EXIF data can be displayed in the Lightbox and in hover overlays.

If EXIF data is missing from an image, FolioBlocks handles that gracefully, giving the user the option to hide Unknown data fields.

Better Chip Overlay Styling

The Chip overlay now has its own style controls.

You can adjust the text color and background color for the chip overlay from the Styles panel.

This is separate from the Color overlay settings, which gives you more precise control and prevents one overlay style from accidentally inheriting another overlay’s colors.

The default chip styling uses a clean light background and dark text, but it can be customized to fit your site.

Image Block Improvements for WordPress 7.0

WordPress 7.0 introduced a new Content area in the Image Block inspector.

FolioBlocks 1.3 adds support for that newer editing pattern in our own Image Block.

When running on WordPress 7.0 or newer, image content fields such as the image title, caption, alternative text, and metadata are organized inside the Content inspector area.

The image preview and change image button also appear there, keeping the editing experience closer to the direction WordPress itself is moving.

For earlier WordPress versions, the Image Block keeps its previous layout, so the experience remains compatible.

A lot of this update is about making the controls feel more consistent across blocks.

The Image Block, Grid Gallery, Masonry Gallery, Justified Gallery, Carousel Gallery, Modular Gallery, and Filmstrip Gallery all received updates as part of this work.

Not every block supports every feature in exactly the same way. For example, Filmstrip Gallery has full-screen mode rather than the standard lightbox. But the overall goal is the same: make image interaction settings easier to understand and more consistent from block to block.

Updated Tutorial Guides

As a part of this release we have gone ahead and updated the tutorials to reflect the features as they are now available. Check out the tutorials here:

Final Thoughts

FolioBlocks 1.3 is about giving the user more control. While most of the these features have already existed with FolioBlocks this re-grouping and re-organization of the controls gives us a better structure for future updates.

We are now begining to work on the next phase which is allowing for per-image overrides, where individual images inside a gallery could behave differently from the gallery default. This feature will make FolioBlocks the most flexible and customizable gallery plugin on the market.

That is the direction we want FolioBlocks to keep moving in: powerful gallery tools, with lot’s of customizability, that feel natural inside the WordPress block editor.

We’re excited to get this update into your hands.