Block Directory

[tellyworth]

Context

The Block Directory front-end code has been hidden behind an Experimental flag for some time, since #17431.

This is a tracking issue covering the remaining front-end tasks needed to remove the experimental flag and launch the Block Directory feature in core. This supersedes the old follow-up work issue (#17440).

Required to launch:

• Remove the experimental flag and namespace (Remove the experimental flag for the Block Directory #23384)
• Use plugin API for install & delete (Block Directory: Use plugin API for installing & deleting block-plugins #23219)
• Padding and layout fixes (Block Directory: Missing padding -> layout fixes #23346)
• Add plugins endpoints (Add plugins endpoints #22454)
• Image icon bug (Block Directory: Image Icon does not show up if query string is appended to image icon url. #19264)
• Search blocks when plugin deactivated (Experimental block directory search does not show blocks when plugin deactivated #19906)
• Missing padding in inserter (Block Directory: Menu Inserter missing padding. #21746)
• Layout improvement (Block Directory: Layout Improvement #21963)
• Better UX when installation fails (Block Directory: Throw error if we have an issue registering blocks. #23439)
• Fix regression with searching for deactivated blocks (Block Directory: Return deactivated plugins in search results. #23570)

Directly related to the block directory, but not a blocker for launch:

• Aggressive script tag replacement (Block directory: aggressive <script replacement #23158)
• Provide a way to identify the source of a block (Provide a way to identify the source of a block #16521)
• Iterate the Block directory search results (Iterate the Block directory search results #22149)
• Uninstall unused blocks on save (Block Directory: Uninstall newly installed blocks that are not used on save #22307)
• Inline inserter search bug (Block Directory: Using the Inline inserter breaks searching in the left-sidebar inserter. #23148)

Indirectly related, but not required for launch:

• Block creation documentation (tracking issue Discussion: Next Steps for Block Creation Documentation #22151)
• Improvements to Block Manager (Improvements to Block Manager #15121)
• Extend the block registration API (block.json Block API: Extend the block registration API technical proposal #16209)
• Block collections (Block collections are cool.  #19873)
• Allow dependencies on other script handles (Block Directory: Ensure scripts can depend on another script handles #22703)

[annezazu]

Doing some clean up and closing this out as it seems most initiatives have been handled and active work hasn't continued in a few years. If this is incorrect, happy to reopen!