Announcing QuotesDLX - A WordPress Quote Block

I'm pleased to announce my latest WordPress Plugin: QuotesDLX.

It is a Quotes block for WordPress with an emphasis on design, usability, and sharing functionality.

The block was going to be included as part of my free plugin Highlight and Share. I was encouraged, however, to spin it off into its own plugin.

It's finally at the RC-1 stage (i.e., it's almost ready for release). If you like, you can download the RC-1 on my Google Drive.

I've included a brief teaser video below if you want a quick overview:

Another Click to Tweet Block?

Yes, and no. This block is specifically designed for the block editor.

As you can see, the bulk of the block interface is right in the block itself. While the block does have sidebar options, they aren't really necessary. The block is designed to be inserted, with all of the options only a click away.

Things that set this block apart from others are:

1. Built-in character counter
2. The ability to customize the quote for Twitter (in case your quote is too long)
3. Four beautiful themes
4. A contextual menu (meatball menu) where users can take additional action on the Quote
5. A robust admin panel where you can set defaults
6. Thorough documentation

Unlike other "Click to Tweet blocks", the emphasis is on the Quote. When designing how the block would look, I decided to make the social-sharing functionality as unobtrusive as possible.

I've done my best to document the block, and I put loads of examples on my landing page.

I am selling the block, but I decided to make the licenses pretty cheap. A ton of work has gone into the block, so I decided not to release it for free on the WordPress plugin directory.

Development

The development of the block began in January 2022.

As I was checking out "Click to Tweet" blocks on my site, I was dismayed that most of them just tack on a block that is just a wrapper for a shortcode. A standalone Quote block was what I wanted/needed. So I decided to build it.

The Quote block involved a lot of JavaScript, and I decided to put the bulk of the interface on the block itself.

I coded the block first. In my experience, admin panels are a rabbit hole, so I decided to have sane defaults and then marry that to an admin panel. This approach worked rather well.

The admin was done completely in React. This was a hard project, and anyone who knows React development can attest to its quirks.

If you would like access to the code, please message me with your GitHub username and you can check it out.

The Future

If this plugin takes off, I plan for more themes. There are also some features I'd like to add such as Facebook sharing, block overrides, and possibly presets.

Thank you so much for reading.