Developer Tools

Full Developer Control Without Hacking Core

BF Blocks is built to be extended. Hooks, filters, a REST API, WP-CLI integration, and PHP template overrides give developers complete control — without modifying the plugin.

Read Developer Docs

Extensibility

Hooks & Filters

All BF Blocks hooks are prefixed bf_blocks/ for easy discoverability. Hook into block saving, rendering, field registration, and more.

Action
bf_blocks/before_render

Fires before a block renders on the front end.

Action
bf_blocks/after_render

Fires after a block renders.

Filter
bf_blocks/register_field_type

Register a custom field type class.

Action
bf_blocks/block_saved

Fires when a block definition is saved or updated.

Filter
bf_blocks/field_value

Modify a field's value before it is passed to the template.

Registering a custom field type via filter

add_filter(
  'bf_blocks/register_field_type',
  function( array $types ): array {
    $types['star_rating'] = Star_Rating_Field::class;
    return $types;
  }
);

class Star_Rating_Field extends BF_Field_Base {
  public function get_type(): string {
    return 'star_rating';
  }
  public function render_editor(): void {
    // Outputs the Gutenberg editor control
  }
  public function get_value( mixed $raw ): int {
    return absint( $raw );
  }
}

REST API

Manage Blocks Programmatically

The BF Blocks REST API supports WP Nonce and Application Password authentication. Base URL: /wp-json/bf-blocks/v1

MethodEndpoint
GET/wp-json/bf-blocks/v1/blocks
GET/wp-json/bf-blocks/v1/blocks/{id}
POST/wp-json/bf-blocks/v1/blocks
PUT/wp-json/bf-blocks/v1/blocks/{id}
DELETE/wp-json/bf-blocks/v1/blocks/{id}

Templates

PHP Template Overrides

Override the default front-end output of any block by creating a PHP template in your theme. BF Blocks follows a template hierarchy — your override takes priority automatically.

Template path (in your theme)

themes/your-theme/bf-blocks/{block-slug}.php

Three variables are available inside every template: $fields (associative array of field values), $block (block metadata), and $is_preview (bool).

themes/my-theme/bf-blocks/testimonial.php

<?php
/**
 * BF Blocks template override: testimonial
 * Available vars: $fields, $block, $is_preview
 */
$quote  = $fields['quote_text'] ?? '';
$author = $fields['author_name'] ?? '';
$role   = $fields['author_role'] ?? '';
$photo  = $fields['author_photo'] ?? [];
?>
<figure class="bf-testimonial <?php
  echo esc_attr( $block['className'] ?? '' );
?>">
  <blockquote>
    <p><?php echo wp_kses_post( $quote ); ?></p>
  </blockquote>
  <figcaption>
    <?php if ( ! empty( $photo['url'] ) ) : ?>
      <img src="<?php echo esc_url( $photo['url'] ); ?>"
           alt="<?php echo esc_attr( $author ); ?>"
           width="48" height="48">
    <?php endif; ?>
    <strong><?php echo esc_html( $author ); ?></strong>
    <span><?php echo esc_html( $role ); ?></span>
  </figcaption>
</figure>

WP-CLI

Command-Line Control

Command
wp bf-blocks list
wp bf-blocks export --block=<slug>
wp bf-blocks import <file>
wp bf-blocks flush-cache
wp bf-blocks version

Jump Into the Developer Docs

Full reference for every hook, filter, endpoint, and CLI command.

Developer Reference →Start Building Free