Difference Between Dynamic Widget Content and Other Gutenberg Blocks

Hi Matthew,

The widget section is something that displays the same thing for all posts. The usefulness of Dynamic Widget Content is to then have different content inside of that widget based on the post you’re looking at.

Does that answer your question?

Kind regards,
Brecht

Hi Brecht,

Thanks very much for the prompt response.

It’s not quite clear to me just yet the usefulness/uniqueness of Dynamic Widget Content.

Perhaps you could tell me what the difference is between these two scenarios:
1) On Post/Page 1: After Post/Page Title, add a traditional Gutenberg Header Block and Paragraph Block –> Enter content into each block that is exclusive to the current Post/Page;
2) On Post/Page 2: Open Dynamic Widget Content meta box –> Enter content into “Widget Title” and “Widget Content” fields that is exclusive to the current Post/Page –> On main body of Post/Page 2, after the Post/Page Title, add Dynamic Widget Content Block (which shows the contest of the “Widget Title” and “Widget Content” fields)

Is there a reason I would choose the second option over the first?

Thanks again,
Matthew

Scenario 2 is not how you’d use the plugin. You wouldn’t be putting the DWC block in the regular post content but rather in the header/sidebar/footer that contains a set of fixed widgets.

You don’t edit the sidebar for every post but rather have 1 sidebar (containing the same widgets) that is used throughout the entire site, always showing the same thing.

Let me give you an example of how we use it on one of our own sites:
https://demo.wprecipemaker.com/adjustable-servings/
https://demo.wprecipemaker.com/nutrition-label/

The post content is the main section on the left, which is always set per post. On the right you have a sidebar that uses fixed widgets, always displaying the same thing (“About WP Recipe Maker Demo” and a search input field at the bottom).

The very first widget in that sidebar is a DWC block. This means that I can set the specific title and content to output in that widget per post as well. On both pages I’ve set the title to “Learn More” but both have their own content, with a different link.

It’s not a plugin you need on every site, but it does solve a specific problem for some sites.

Hi Brecht,

Thank you very much for that clear explanation. I now see the usefulness of the plugin, and in fact, I was just about to message you back with the same (correct) scenario you described.

Just to confirm, this would be the order of operations:

On Appearance –> Widgets –> [specific_global_widget], I add the Dynamic Widget Block, and then, on each respective Post/Page, I enter content into the “Widget Title” and “Widget Content” fields that are exclusive to the current Post/Page, after which it would display that content in the [specific_global_widget] that contains the Dynamic Widget Block.

Is the above correct?

Thanks again,
Matthew Huntley

Yes, that’s correct!

OK, wonderful; thank you!

On a semi-related note, I did want to call your attention to this message in Appearance –> Widgets when attempting to add the Dynamic Widget Content Block to a widget (please note this is when attempting to add the Dynamic Widget Content Block as opposed to the Dynamic Widget Content Legacy Widget:

“This block has encountered an error and cannot be previewed.”

I’m happy to open a separate issue for this if you’d like.

Best regards,
Matthew Huntley

I’ve added it to the todo list to look into that. It should not affect the functionality of the block though!

Thank you very much, @brechtvds.

Just to confirm, other than the legacy Dynamic Widget Content block offering the “Default title” and “Default content” field options, is there anything functionally different between the legacy and non-legacy Dynamic Widget Content blocks?