Improve the overview of the list of available blocks

Created on 2 December 2022, over 2 years ago
Updated 10 July 2025, 5 days ago

Problem/Motivation

During several presentations for the proposed changes in 🌱 [meta] Reorganize Block items in the administration menu Active one problem and key desire gradually manifested (see https://www.drupal.org/project/drupal/issues/2862564#comment-14789469 Move Custom block library to Content Fixed ). For one there was a lack of clarity about the difference of what blocks in core/contrib, custom blocks (reusable) and custom blocks (based on the button label in layout builder - which actually are none reusable inline blocks) actually are. And when we were elaborating about the different types of blocks and how they are distinguished everyone realized that only reusable custom blocks are shown and listed in the custom block library. But the desire was to be able to see each and every block available in a Drupal site even though the number of options available for each block might differ.
The ability might in particular be helpful and keep users in control if you have a complex site with hundreds of blocks of different types and you are coming new into a project, or you are revisiting a site of a client were the team kept on editing existing blocks as well as adding new ones - things turn into sort of a scavenger hunt understanding the current state of blocks.

The issue spun off a discussion about https://www.drupal.org/project/drupal/issues/2862564#comment-14789469 Move Custom block library to Content Fixed and https://drupal.slack.com/archives/C04AWT6FNEA/p1668714523873719 in #3323771: Drupal Usability Meeting 2022-12-02 . For the record the participants in the usability meeting were @antoniya, @aaronmchale, @benjifisher, @rkoller, and @simohell.

Steps to reproduce

  • create a custom block in admin/structure/block/block-content
  • activate layout builder for one or more content types and enable layout overrides for those
  • create a few custom blocks for a few nodes within layout builder (notice that in the sidebar the category types entail fields, core blocks, contrib blocks, and reusable custom blocks).
  • go to /admin/structure/block/block-content and you will only see the single custom block you've created in step one

Proposed resolution

  • The initial idea during the discussion with meetup groups was to extend the scope of blocks be shown in the custom block library to every block available in the system. the options available for editing and alike might differ between blocks and block types but the desire and consensus was to be in control about the state of blocks available on the site. and with an expanded set of filters compared to the one currently available for the custom block library it would be easy to govern all available blocks.
  • During the UX meeting there was a doubt if it would be a good idea to make all the different types of blocks available within the custom block library. But the group has recognized the need to provide an overview but the fact that core and contrib blocks aren't actual entities might entail potential confusion again for the users. Two potential steps were suggested instead. First if you go to admin/structure/views/view/block_content and check the expose filter checkbox for the custom block reusable filter criteria you already have the option to filter by a boolean - either show the reusable OR the none reusable. it might be worth a thought to make such an exposed filter the default for the custom block library view and instead of either or also leave the default option to display both (reusable and not reusable). it might be also worth to consider to add a reusable column to the list view ( that way a user could see the state for each block in case it isnt filtered by reusable). and second to still being able to provide a holistic overview of all the available blocks in every context, @irinaz brought up a suggestion in a chat, to consider adding a reports page at /admin/reports similar to the one backdrop is using:

We've agreed that the topic is definitely in the follow up territory to the meta issue, worth to pursue and discuss, but nothing that should derail the meta. Therefore i've added the issue only as related.

Remaining tasks

User interface changes

API changes

Data model changes

Release notes snippet

Feature request
Status

Active

Version

11.0 🔥

Component

block_content.module

Created by

🇩🇪Germany rkoller Nürnberg, Germany

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  • Usability

    Makes Drupal easier to use. Preferred over UX, D7UX, etc.

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  • 🇦🇺Australia acbramley

    The initial idea during the discussion with meetup groups was to extend the scope of blocks be shown in the custom block library to every block available in the system

    I strongly disagree with this. Look at 🐛 Inline blocks shouldn't be editable via the normal block content UI Active - inline blocks should never be edited outside of the context of the layout they are placed in.

    Having them listed in the block library is just going to add confusion. What purpose would they serve? We would probably have to add a new column to show which page they are embedded in, but there would be no way to edit or delete or manage the blocks in any way from that screen. That must be done in layout builder directly.

    Seeing as this is a view, and users are free to edit these filters after installation, I think what we have now is a good default setup.

    the fact that core and contrib blocks aren't actual entities might entail potential confusion again for the users

    I'm not sure what you mean here, they are entities.

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