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Block Editor: Add a way to absorb inspector controls from the parent #34261

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@gziolo gziolo commented Aug 24, 2021

Description

Exploration for #26313.

One apparent difficulty that has risen with more and more blocks leveraging child blocks for controls (Buttons, Social Icons, Navigation, etc) is a general lack of intuitiveness when it comes to modifying attributes of the parent. Example: changing the alignment of Buttons when editing a single Button; changing the color of Navigation (a parent block attribute) when editing a single Navigation Item.
To address this, I'd like to explore ideas around when and how the toolbar and sidebar controls of a parent block could be exposed on their children. There are many challenges around clarity to overcome. This should not be a default true property, since groupings like Group, Columns, Cover, etc, should not present this behaviour.

Complementary solution for #33955 that implements absorbing block controls.

I enabled this new functionality for the Social Icons block that has already opted-in for the experimental supports flag that exposed controls to the block's children blocks:

"__experimentalExposeControlsToChildren": true

Inspector controls get exposed by using the new prop in the code that defines inspector controls in the edit implementation:

<InspectorControls __experimentalExposeToChildren>
   { ... }
</InspectorControls>

Controls are rendered in their own group parent that gets introduced to combine all parent controls together:

<InspectorControls.Slot __experimentalGroup="parent" />

How has this been tested?

See the screencast:

Screen.Recording.2021-08-24.at.12.28.43.mov

Types of changes

New experimental feature (non-breaking change which adds functionality).

Checklist:

  • My code is tested.
  • My code follows the WordPress code style.
  • My code follows the accessibility standards.
  • I've tested my changes with keyboard and screen readers.
  • My code has proper inline documentation.
  • I've included developer documentation if appropriate.
  • I've updated all React Native files affected by any refactorings/renamings in this PR (please manually search all *.native.js files for terms that need renaming or removal).

@gziolo gziolo requested review from ellatrix and mkaz as code owners August 24, 2021 10:31
@gziolo gziolo self-assigned this Aug 24, 2021
@gziolo gziolo added [Package] Block editor /packages/block-editor [Feature] Block API API that allows to express the block paradigm. [Type] Experimental Experimental feature or API. labels Aug 24, 2021
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Size Change: +22 B (0%)

Total Size: 1.04 MB

Filename Size Change
build/block-editor/index.min.js 118 kB +14 B (0%)
build/block-library/index.min.js 150 kB +8 B (0%)
ℹ️ View Unchanged
Filename Size
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compressed-size-action

@gziolo gziolo requested review from jasmussen and mtias August 24, 2021 10:48
@@ -166,7 +166,7 @@ export function SocialLinksEdit( props ) {
) }
</ToolbarDropdownMenu>
</BlockControls>
<InspectorControls>
<InspectorControls __experimentalExposeToChildren>
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I didn't think too much about whether it makes sense to expose these two inspector controls present in the Social Links blocks. Let's assume it's only for demo and testing purposes. I'm happy to expose other inspector controls from different blocks as part of this PR or keep it outside of the scope.

@gziolo gziolo requested a review from youknowriad August 24, 2021 10:52
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Nice work staying on this. Here's before:

before

Here's after:

after

Ultimately I think it's going to be okay to blur the line between which controls originate from the parent, and which are from the child block. All that matters is that you organically arrive at your destination by making intuitive changes to blocks as you go. It's possible we might find a need for delineation in the future — for example when you want to make a change that applies only to the selected block but find that it's applying to the whole block — but I'm not yet sure we'll encounter this, and it's a bridge that we can definitely cross when we get there.

However just for testing purposes, and probably useful for block developers as well, it seems like it would be helpful to have a bit more clarity about which controls propogate and which do not. For example in comparing the two, the alignment and justification controls from the parent block toolbar are usefully available in the child block toolbar, but the Size control is not. Similarly, "Open links in new tab" and color options are available in the child block inspector (which is really nice 👌) — but the style variation picker is not. Do we, on a per-block basis, choose which parent controls propogate and which do not? This branch feels like a powerful example of how useful it can be to see parent options even with just a child selected, something I think can benefit the navigation block tremendously. But I wonder if the toolbar groups and inspector controls that do not propogate become less discoverable by being left out.

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Nitpick: the contrast checker is bumping up against the edge of the panel:

Screenshot 2021-08-24 at 13 59 43

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gziolo commented Aug 24, 2021

It's possible we might find a need for delineation in the future — for example when you want to make a change that applies only to the selected block but find that it's applying to the whole block — but I'm not yet sure we'll encounter this, and it's a bridge that we can definitely cross when we get there.

I agree that it can be confusing, whether a given control applies changes only to the selected block or to the parent block plus child blocks. Another aspect to consider is that some folks might want to see the same changes to get applied only to the selected block. In the case of the Social Link block, I immediately thought that it would be nice to be able to apply changes to the color of the currently selected block but instead, it applies modifications to all siblings, too 😅

For example in comparing the two, the alignment and justification controls from the parent block toolbar are usefully available in the child block toolbar, but the Size control is not.

Good point, Size was in a different toolbar group so I missed it. We can always expose it, but it will land in a single toolbar group for parent controls. So that's a limitation of the current experiment.

@mcsf mcsf changed the title Block Editor: Add a way to absporb inspector controls from the parent Block Editor: Add a way to absorb inspector controls from the parent Sep 6, 2021
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gziolo commented Jul 27, 2022

@jorgefilipecosta continues similar exploration in #42684 so I will close this one as it is less advanced. He takes a different approach where you can navigate between blocks in the sidebar:

Jul-25-2022.2018-53-10.mp4
Jul-25-2022.2018-54-45.mp4

@gziolo gziolo closed this Jul 27, 2022
@gziolo gziolo deleted the try/absorb-parent-inspector-controls branch July 27, 2022 11:31
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