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RenderWhen for Blocks icon
Actively maintained Tested up to 7.0.7

RenderWhen for Blocks

Show or hide any block when conditions match. Developer-first API and true server-side rendering — hidden blocks never reach the browser.

Active installs<10New
Downloads · 30d55▲ +17% vs prev. 30d
Rating—0 reviews
Health score55/100Fair
All-time downloads278Since May 2026
Support resolved—No recent threads
RequiresWP 6.5PHP 7.4+
Downloads · 7d11▼ -26.7% week over week
Our verdict

Use with caution

RenderWhen for Blocks works, but test it on a staging site before relying on it in 2026. Was last updated 3 months ago, and scores 55/100 on our health check.

  • Small user base (<10 active installs)
  • Very few reviews so far

How does it stack up?

Side-by-side on installs, updates, ratings & support

Daily downloads

258Jul 19Sep 1Oct 16
Yesterday0
Daily average (1y)2
Peak day30May 17, 2026
Last 12 months285

Download spikes usually follow a new release — each site that auto-updates counts as a download.

Rankings

Where RenderWhen for Blocks stands today

WordPress.org search rankings

Live position in the plugin search, top 100
KeywordPositionCompeting pluginsCategory
block-editor >100 10,000 Best block-editor plugins →
blocks >100 10,000 Best blocks plugins →
conditional >100 2,725 Best conditional plugins →
gutenberg >100 7,997 Best gutenberg plugins →
visibility >100 5,300 Best visibility plugins →

About RenderWhen for Blocks

From the official readme · v1.0.0

Description

RenderWhen for Blocks adds conditional visibility to every block in the WordPress block editor. Decide who sees what, and when, with a panel that reads exactly how you’d say it out loud:

Show this block when the user is logged in.
Show this block when the date is between March 1 and March 31.
Show this block when the device is mobile.

RenderWhen is built around two ideas that set it apart from other visibility plugins:

  • Server-side rendering only. When a block is hidden by a condition, it is not rendered into the page output at all. No CSS display: none, no DOM bloat, no leaked content in view-source. Search engines, screen readers, and your page weight all benefit.
  • Public Conditions API. The three built-in conditions are registered through the same public API your plugin or theme can use to add your own. No hacks, no internal-only code paths.

In the editor, a subtle dashed border marks every block that carries a visibility rule, so a rule-bearing block never disappears from the published page as a surprise. A “Preview as audience” sidebar lets you simulate a logged-out visitor, a specific role, or a different device class right in the editor — blocks whose rule would hide them fade out with a clear badge, no save-and-reload cycle required.

Built-in conditions (v1.0)

  • User state — show to logged-in users, logged-out users, or specific roles
  • Date range — show between two datetimes, timezone-aware
  • Device type — show on desktop, tablet, or mobile

Designed for

  • Agencies and freelancers building client sites who want a clean, predictable visibility tool
  • Developers who need an extension point, not another walled garden
  • Anyone who cares about page weight and SEO hygiene

What this plugin deliberately does NOT do

It does one thing well rather than ten things adequately. Out of scope in v1.0:

  • Multi-condition AND/OR groups (planned for v1.1)
  • URL / cookie / referrer / geolocation conditions
  • WooCommerce, ACF, or membership integrations
  • A settings dashboard

If you need those today, Conditional Blocks and Block Visibility are excellent and well-established choices.

For developers

Register a custom condition in three steps. Implement the interface, add it to the registry, ship.

add_action( 'renderwhen_register_conditions', function ( $registry ) {
    $registry->register( new My_Plugin\\Conditions\\Country_Condition() );
} );

Your condition class implements RenderWhen\Conditions\Interface_Condition:

namespace My_Plugin\Conditions;

use RenderWhen\Conditions\Interface_Condition;

class Country_Condition implements Interface_Condition {
    public function get_id(): string {
        return 'country';
    }

    public function get_label(): string {
        return __( 'Visitor country', 'my-plugin' );
    }

    public function get_schema(): array {
        return array(
            'type'       => 'object',
            'properties' => array(
                'countries' => array(
                    'type'  => 'array',
                    'items' => array( 'type' => 'string' ),
                ),
            ),
        );
    }

    public function evaluate( array $settings, array $context ): bool {
        $current = my_plugin_detect_country();
        return in_array( $current, $settings['countries'] ?? array(), true );
    }
}

The full set of public filters:

  • renderwhen_register_conditions — register your conditions here
  • renderwhen_evaluate_{condition_id} — last-mile override of any condition’s result
  • renderwhen_render_block_hidden — fires when a block is hidden, useful for cache busters and SEO tools
  • renderwhen_device_type — swap in your own device detection

The plugin is developed openly on GitHub. Issues, PRs, and architecture discussions welcome: https://github.com/abhishekfdd/renderwhen

Installation

  1. Upload the renderwhen folder to /wp-content/plugins/, or install through the Plugins → Add New screen
  2. Activate the plugin
  3. Edit any post or page, select a block, and find the Visibility panel in the block inspector

There is no settings page. By design.

Frequently asked questions

Does this work with the Site Editor?

Yes. Conditions apply to blocks anywhere they render — posts, pages, template parts, navigation menus, and patterns.

Does this work with third-party blocks?

Yes. The visibility attribute is registered on every registered block, including blocks from other plugins (ACF Blocks, GenerateBlocks, Stackable, etc.).

Will hidden blocks affect SEO?

Hidden blocks are never rendered into the page HTML. Search engines see what your visitors see — not the hidden content. This is the opposite of CSS-based hiding, where the content is still in the DOM.

Can I combine multiple conditions on one block?

Not in v1.0 — one rule per block. AND/OR condition groups are planned for v1.1.

What does the dashed border on some blocks mean?

The dashed left border indicates a block has a visibility rule attached. It’s editor-only — visitors never see it. The cue helps prevent confusion when blocks disappear from the published version.

Why do role-restricted blocks appear hidden when I preview as “Any role”?

The preview can’t know which roles an arbitrary visitor would have. When you preview as “Any role,” role-restricted blocks appear hidden because the safest assumption is that an unknown visitor doesn’t have the required role. To verify a role-restricted block actually shows for that role, pick the specific role from the preview dropdown.

How does this compare to Block Visibility or Conditional Blocks?

Both are excellent, mature plugins with broader feature sets. RenderWhen is intentionally smaller in surface area, server-side-only in rendering, and built around a public extension API. If you need ACF/WooCommerce/cookie conditions today, use one of those. If you want a small, fast, extensible foundation, this is for you.

How does device detection work?

By default, via wp_is_mobile() plus a user-agent check for tablets. The result is filterable via renderwhen_device_type so you can plug in a more sophisticated library.

Is this caching-friendly?

Mostly yes — visibility is evaluated at render time, so server-side page caches will cache whatever was rendered for that request. For varying-by-user content (login state, role), you’ll want a cache layer that varies on cookies. The renderwhen_render_block_hidden action is provided so cache plugins and edge integrations can hook in.

Changelog

Initial release.

1.0.0

  • Initial release.
  • Three built-in conditions: user state, date range, device type.
  • Public Conditions API.
  • Editor indicator and “Preview as…” mode.

Full changelog on WordPress.org →

Screenshots

The Visibility panel in the block inspector
The Visibility panel in the block inspector
User State condition with role selector
User State condition with role selector
Date Range condition with start/end pickers
Date Range condition with start/end pickers
Device type condition with three checkboxes
Device type condition with three checkboxes
Editor indicator showing dashed border on rule-bearing blocks
Editor indicator showing dashed border on rule-bearing blocks

For developers

Is this your plugin? Show off the numbers.

Add a live badge to your site, docs or GitHub README. It updates on its own — no account needed.

Active installs badge Rating badge Health score badge

Best RenderWhen for Blocks alternatives

All block-editor plugins →
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FAQ

RenderWhen for Blocks: quick answers

Straight answers, pulled from live WordPress.org data.

Live data from WordPress.org · checked Oct 17, 2026

Is RenderWhen for Blocks free?

Yes. RenderWhen for Blocks is free to download and use from the official WordPress.org plugin directory.

Is RenderWhen for Blocks safe to use in 2026?

RenderWhen for Blocks works, but test it on a staging site before relying on it in 2026. Was last updated 3 months ago, and scores 55/100 on our health check.

How many websites use RenderWhen for Blocks?

RenderWhen for Blocks is active on <10 WordPress websites and has been downloaded 278 times since it launched in May 2026. It was downloaded 55 times in the last 30 days.

Does RenderWhen for Blocks work with WordPress 7.1?

RenderWhen for Blocks is officially tested up to WordPress 7.0.7, while the latest release is 7.1.3. It may still work, but try it on a staging site first.

What PHP version does RenderWhen for Blocks need?

RenderWhen for Blocks requires PHP 7.4 or higher. Most hosts run PHP 8.x today, so it works on any modern WordPress hosting.

When was RenderWhen for Blocks last updated?

The latest version, 1.0.0, was released on August 2, 2026 (3 months ago).

Who makes RenderWhen for Blocks?

RenderWhen for Blocks is developed and maintained by Abhishek Kumar.

What are the best alternatives to RenderWhen for Blocks?

The most popular alternatives to RenderWhen for Blocks are Classic Editor (8M+ installs), Advanced Editor Tools (1M+ installs) and Disable Gutenberg (500K+ installs).

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