Are you a GenerateCustomer?

Do you have an active GP Premium or GenerateBlocks Pro license key?

Create a GenerateSupport account for GeneratePress and GenerateBlocks support in one dedicated place.

Create an account
Already have a GenerateSupport account? Login

Just browsing?

Feel free to browse the forums. Support for our free versions is provided on WordPress.org (GeneratePress, GenerateBlocks).

Want to become a premium user? Learn more below.

Change from v1 to v2: how do I preserve the work of the last years?

  • Hi team,

    I have a large collection of my own patterns that I have built over the last 2 years and use often.
    At the beginning of december last year I decided to subscribe to GP-One and started transferring many of these patterns to the cloud. After doing this for some time, I realized that I was basically doing it all for nothing, because all these patterns use the blocks from GB V1 and are becoming obsolete.

    Since then, my work on the cloud has been on hold and I’m pretty much at a loss as to how to proceed now. Do I have to discard all my patterns from the last few years and build new ones?

    Or is there a way to prevent this? As I understand it, there will be no way to quickly convert the blocks. And both the grid-block and the query-loop block are completely different in v2, so the old ones can no longer be used.

    What can I do to preserve all my work from 2 years?

  • Hi there,

    First off, I totally get where you’re coming from—it’s frustrating to feel like your hard work might be at risk of becoming obsolete. Let us reassure you: your existing Version 1 blocks are not going anywhere, and your websites will continue to function exactly as they are with GenerateBlocks 2.0. You don’t need to take any action to keep things running smoothly. Your patterns using GB V1 blocks will still work just fine, and you can keep using them as-is.

    That said, I understand the concern about future-proofing your work. While V1 blocks aren’t disappearing, the new features and improvements in V2 are designed to make your workflow even better. The Grid Block and Query Loop Block, for example, have been completely reimagined in V2 to be more powerful and flexible. Unfortunately, this means they’re not directly backward compatible with the V1 versions.

    So, what can you do? Here are a few options:

    Keep using V1 blocks where they work for you. If your existing patterns are doing the job, there’s no rush to change them. Your sites won’t break, and you can update them at your own pace.

    Gradually transition to V2 blocks for new projects. As you create new patterns or update existing ones, you can start incorporating V2 blocks. This way, you’re not throwing away your old work but still taking advantage of the new features.

    Recreate key patterns in V2 over time. If there are specific patterns you use frequently, you could rebuild them using V2 blocks when you have the time. This might feel like extra work upfront, but it’ll pay off in the long run with more modern, flexible designs.

    We know backward compatibility is super important, and we’ve done our best to ensure that V1 blocks remain functional. However, with major updates like this, there’s always a balance between maintaining old systems and pushing forward with new improvements. In this case, we prioritized making the blocks more powerful and future-proof, even if it meant some breaking changes.

    So, no, you don’t have to discard your old patterns. Your work from the last two years is safe, and you can transition to V2 at your own pace.

  • Hi Alvind,

    Thanks for your response!

    your existing Version 1 blocks are not going anywhere, and your websites will continue to function exactly as they are with GenerateBlocks 2.0.

    Yes, Thanks, I know that.

    Your work from the last two years is safe, and you can transition to V2 at your own pace.

    You mean I should continue to build my cloud with old v1 blocks? But that would mean that if I incorporate these blocks from the cloud into my new projects, I would always have a mix in the UI, right?
    (The new v2 blocks from the current project and then the old v1 blocks that I inserted from the cloud in between?)

    That seems to me to be a major obstacle to working consistently later on.
    I either work with the UI from V1 or with the UI from V2, but mixing the two…? 🤔

  • You mean I should continue to build my cloud with old v1 blocks?

    No, for new patterns in your cloud, you should start using the V2 blocks. As for the existing patterns still in V1, we strongly recommend converting them to V2 whenever possible. V2 is the future, and transitioning will help avoid the hassle of mixing both versions.

    A quick tip: use the Block Transform feature. It’s super simple and can save you a lot of time. We actually converted the entire V1 Site Library to V2 blocks with minimal effort—just by transforming the blocks. Give it a try and see how it works for your patterns.

  • A quick tip: use the Block Transform feature.

    Thank you very much, Alvin, a good tip!
    I didn’t know that!
    Can I use this function to convert all blocks from v1 to v2 with minimal effort?

    I read somewhere that the grid-block, query-loop, tabs, accordions, … (I can’t remember what else) were built with a completely different technique. Can this be converted without effort?

  • Hi again,

    I have just tested it. Indeed, Headlines and Containers can be transformed with this function without any problems.

    But unfortunately this does not work for Buttons, Grids and Loops. (I have not yet tested Accordion and Tabs.)

    For example, Grid: is there a way to quickly convert a grid of 3, for example?
    Or do I have to build it from scratch?
    If so, what settings do I have to make so that it looks the same again?

    At the moment this seems like a task I will be working on for the next few weeks 😢
    But maybe there is a way I don’t know?

    Thank you!

  • I read somewhere that the grid-block, query-loop, tabs, accordions, … (I can’t remember what else) were built with a completely different technique. Can this be converted without effort?

    No, those can not to be transferred via the tool, unfortunately.

    You can keep them as v1, v1 will still work. You just need to make sure you use v2 for new layouts 🙂

  • You just need to make sure you use v2 for new layouts

    Yes, I understood that. But in order to use v2 in new projects, I have to convert or recreate all my patterns that I have created in the last 2 years into v2 first, because they can’t be transformed. And I just wanted to ask you which is the fastest way to do this.

    Alvin wrote:

    Use the Block Transform feature. It’s super simple and can save you a lot of time. We actually converted the entire V1 Site Library to V2 blocks with minimal effort

    The Block Transform Feature works only for Headline and Container, not for all the other blocks. How did you converted all the other blocks “with minimal effort”? Is there a particular method that you need to know?

    Thank you!

  • I forgot to mention that not all V1 blocks can be directly transformed, unfortunately. This particularly applies to the Query Loop block and certain container blocks with specific characteristics, such as containing shapes, etc.

    Here’s the method to use the block transform feature to convert V1 blocks to V2: https://cln.sh/9hnbpHBf

Viewing 9 posts - 1 through 9 (of 9 total)
  • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.