Update on 26 Jun 2025: This is now built into Bricks since Bricks 2.0 (beta). See my tweet.
Laurent Drapeau shared code in the Bricks Facebook group for quickly setting a Section in the Bricks editor as a “Draft” so it won’t be output in the frontend.
While the same can also be done using the Conditions feature, this method is a little more convenient.
Here’s a slightly improved version that ensures that there are no “Undefined array key” warnings.
Goes in child theme’s functions.php or a code snippets plugin.
// Add Section Status Control & Settings + Render
add_filter( 'bricks/elements/section/control_groups', function( $control_groups ) {
$control_groups['draft_controls'] = [
'tab' => 'content', // or 'style'
'title' => esc_html__( 'Section Status', 'my_plugin' ),
];
return $control_groups;
} );
add_filter( 'bricks/elements/section/controls', function( $controls ) {
$controls['draft_controls_active'] = [
'tab' => 'content',
'group' => 'draft_controls',
'label' => esc_html__( 'Draft section', 'my_plugin' ),
'type' => 'checkbox',
];
return $controls;
} );
add_filter( 'bricks/element/render', function( $render, $element ) {
if ( $element->name === 'section' && isset( $element->settings["draft_controls_active"] ) && $element->settings["draft_controls_active"] == true ) {
$render = false;
}
return $render;
}, 10, 2 );
Update: To add the control to all elements, use this code instead:
// Add Draft status control groups and control to all the elements.
add_action( 'init', function() {
$elements = \Bricks\Elements::$elements;
$names = array_keys( $elements );
foreach( $names as $name ) {
add_filter( "bricks/elements/{$name}/control_groups", 'bl_add_control_groups' );
add_filter( "bricks/elements/{$name}/controls", 'bl_add_controls' );
}
}, 30 );
function bl_add_control_groups( $control_groups ) {
$control_groups['draft_controls'] = [
'tab' => 'content',
'title' => esc_html__( 'Set Draft Status', 'my_plugin' ),
];
return $control_groups;
}
function bl_add_controls( $controls ) {
$controls['draft_controls_active'] = [
'tab' => 'content',
'group' => 'draft_controls',
'label' => esc_html__( 'Draft status', 'my_plugin' ),
'type' => 'checkbox',
];
return $controls;
}
add_filter( 'bricks/element/render', function( $render, $element ) {
if ( isset( $element->settings["draft_controls_active"] ) && $element->settings["draft_controls_active"] == true ) {
$render = false;
}
return $render;
}, 10, 2 );References
https://academy.bricksbuilder.io/article/filter-bricks-elements-element_name-control_groups/
https://academy.bricksbuilder.io/article/filter-bricks-elements-element_name-controls/
https://academy.bricksbuilder.io/article/filter-bricks-element-render/
8 comments
friiitz
After the latest WP update to 6.7.2 the snippet produces a fatal error: Error Message: Uncaught Error: Class "Bricks\Elements" not found in SNIPPET:26
Sridhar Katakam
Still works for me (the second code snippet for adding the draft control to all elements) in WP 6.7.2. How can the problem be reproduced? Is the problem with first code snippet or the second?
friiitz
It is with the second snippet using the plugin Fluent Snippets.
Sridhar Katakam
Just tested it with FluentSnippets and it works fine for me. https://share.cleanshot.com/hb7QFbCK
https://share.cleanshot.com/q6v9kg7X
WordPress 6.7.2 Bricks 1.12.1 PHP 8.2.23
friiitz
Without having changed anything it works again on my end, too. Really strange behaviour.
Philippe Boivin
Thanks Sridhar for this code, it's now way easier to do test. :-) I've added the admin only code and modified the text so it's more clear to users.
Screenshot: https://app.screencast.com/zJ3VlOBDv6Fcs
The code (just to make it easy to use):
// Add Draft status control groups and control to all the elements. add_action( 'init', function() { $elements = \Bricks\Elements::$elements;
$names = array_keys( $elements );
foreach( $names as $name ) { add_filter( "bricks/elements/{$name}/control_groups", 'bl_add_control_groups' );
add_filter( "bricks/elements/{$name}/controls", 'bl_add_controls' ); } }, 30 );
function bl_add_control_groups( $control_groups ) { $control_groups['draft_controls'] = [ 'tab' => 'content', 'title' => esc_html__( 'Set Draft Status for Admin', 'my_plugin' ), ];
return $control_groups; }
function bl_add_controls( $controls ) { $controls['draft_controls_active'] = [ 'tab' => 'content', 'group' => 'draft_controls', 'label' => esc_html__( 'Draft status (only visible to admin)', 'my_plugin' ), 'type' => 'checkbox', ];
return $controls; }
add_filter( 'bricks/element/render', function( $render, $element ) { if ( isset( $element->settings["draft_controls_active"] ) && $element->settings["draft_controls_active"] == true && ! current_user_can( 'manage_options' ) ) { $render = false; }
return $render; }, 10, 2 );
Emma Nuel
This is very useful. Is it possible to make admins see the draft element on the front end?
Sridhar Katakam
Yes. Add && ! current_user_can( 'manage_options' ) in the if condition. Ex.: https://gist.githubusercontent.com/srikat/f65ac768c33fb27200034baef517759e/raw/b18619f898ccd365af78430ffe8630d272aa50f4/gistfile1.txt