ContentBlocks ContentBlocks 2.x Plugins Publishing

The Publishing plugin enabled block-level publishing controls to the manager. Enable it on the whole canvas, or individual block configuration.

Editor guide: Publishing Blocks

{
    "plugins": {
        "Publishing": {}
    }
}

On a canvas, the plugin injects a publishing toolbar button on every block. On a block definition, it applies only to blocks of that type.

Table of Contents

Core fields

Each block instance stores three core publishing fields:

Field Purpose
active Effective published state used at render time
activate_on Unix timestamp to publish the block; 0 means not scheduled
deactivate_on Unix timestamp to unpublish the block; 0 means not scheduled

Blocks are published by default (active: true). Only blocks where active is true are included in generated frontend HTML.

Repeater rows are also stored as cbCanvasBlock records and support the same publishing fields. Repeaters let you control the publishing state of each individual row. Inactive rows are excluded from rendered output, but remain visible in the manager so editors can manage them.

Manager UI

The plugin adds an eye icon to the block toolbar. Repeater rows include the same publishing control on their row toolbar. Clicking it opens a minimal modal with:

  • Published — toggles active
  • Publish on — optional schedule for future activation
  • Unpublish on — optional schedule for future deactivation

Saving the modal calls Block.setPublishing() and marks the canvas dirty. Publishing state is persisted when the resource is saved.

Unpublished blocks appear with a slated background in the manager. Scheduled blocks show an amber indicator of when they will be published/unpublished.

Automatic publishing

ContentBlocks mirrors MODX resource auto-publishing to automatic (un)publish blocks when the stored date occurs.

  1. On save, PublishingService evaluates schedules and updates active
  2. The next scheduled event timestamp is cached under contentblocks/block_auto_publish
  3. On frontend requests (OnHandleRequest), the cache is checked if any blocks need to be auto (un)published, due blocks are activated/deactivated, affected resources are re-rendered, and the cache is refreshed

This keeps frontend HTML static without requiring a cron job.

Core fields remain the single source of truth for rendering and auto-publishing, but we hope this system allows extensions to implement more powerful publishing rules on top of it.