Build any block

Build any block#

This guide shows you how to build Volto blocks that plone_client.blocks has no helper for, such as the blocks of an add-on, and blocks that hold other blocks, such as a grid.

Learn the data a block takes#

Each site has its own blocks, and each block its own data. Ask the site before you build one.

print(client.block_types.markdown("gridBlock"))

The plone-client block-types gridBlock --markdown command prints the same text. If the site’s Volto has no @blocks-schema service yet, you get the documentation of Volto’s core blocks instead; see Block types.

Build a block by its type#

Pass the block’s @type and its data to block().

from plone_client import blocks

page = blocks.build(
    blocks.title(),
    blocks.block("listing", querystring={"query": [], "sort_on": "effective"}),
)
client.content.create("/", "Document", title="Everything", **page)

Build a grid of teasers#

A grid shows up to four blocks side by side. grid() holds the blocks you give it, and teaser() links to one item.

paths = ["/news/one", "/news/two", "/news/three", "/news/four"]
page = blocks.build(
    blocks.title(),
    blocks.grid(*(blocks.teaser(path) for path in paths), headline="Latest news"),
)
client.content.create("/", "Document", title="Home", **page)

A teaser shows the title, description, and image of its item. To show your own title instead, pass overwrite=True with a title.

Build another block that holds blocks#

For other blocks that keep their children in their own blocks and blocks_layout, such as an add-on’s accordion, use container(). Its keyword arguments become the data of the block itself.

section = blocks.container(
    "accordion",
    blocks.text("Questions people ask."),
    blocks.teaser("/faq"),
    headline="FAQ",
)

Some blocks keep their children somewhere else, such as inside data. Check the block’s data with client.block_types first, and build those with block().

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