Embed YouTube Block – Fast Loading Videos, Shorts & Playlists vs GT Table Block

The default embed block for YouTube videos sucks. It slows down your site. The more videos on the page the more it slow. This single-block plugin fixes that. Why this block is better than the default one: Instead of loading the entire iframe, only the video thumbnail is loaded, resulting in significant performance improvements Ability to play multiple different videos as a custom playlist or input a playlist ID to play the whole playlist Ability to use a custom image as the video thumbnail Ability to set a custom aspect ratio value for displaying any kind of YouTube videos Ability to loop continuously once it finishes playing Ability to show related videos from the same channel as the initial video Automatically load the video title as the caption The same UI as the default core/embed, and you can use the video title as the caption of the block with one click It can be transformed from/to the core embed block. Automatically convert all default core embed YouTube blocks to this block with one line of code. This plugin also provides a PHP API for developers to render a YouTube video URL as this block; or to automatically transform core/embed YouTube videos into this block. The simplest example is: better_youtube_embed_block_render_block( ['url' => 'https://youtu.be/paSXmpHU9K4'] ); The example with all the parameters is: better_youtube_embed_block_render_block( [ 'url' => 'https://youtu.be/paSXmpHU9K4', 'aspectRatio' => '16/9', 'isMaxResThumbnail' => false, 'thumbnailFormat' => 'jpg', 'caption' => 'My awesome video', 'caption_kses' => false, 'customThumbnail' => 'https://example.com/bg.jpg', 'settings' => ['loop' => 1, 'rel' => 0], 'echo' => false, ] ); To automatically transform all core/embed YouTube videos on your site to this block, you need to put the following code to the wp-config.php file or your theme/plugin: define('BYEB_SPEED_UP_YOUTUBE_VIDEOS', true); or add_filter( 'byeb_speed_up_youtube_videos', '__return_true' ); On iOS, browsers like Safari and Chrome require two clicks to play videos. If you want to allow users to play videos with a single click, you need to add the following code to the wp-config.php file or your theme/plugin: define('BYEB_FORCE_IFRAME_ON_UNSUPPORTED_BROWSERS', true); Please check out this page to see how fast it helps. The page contains around 30 embedded YouTube videos but they don’t slow down the page. If this plugin is useful for you, please do a quick review and rate it on WordPress.org to help us spread the word. I would very much appreciate it. Please check out my other plugins if you’re interested: Content Blocks Builder – Build custom layouts and blocks visually in the Block Editor without needing a code editor, using only core blocks and native Gutenberg features. Meta Field Block – A single block to display custom fields in the Block Editor without coding. It supports ACF, MetaBox, WooCommerce, meta, rest field, shortcode and more. Works everywhere: in the Site Editor (FSE), the Block Editor, inside Query Loop, WooCommerce Product Collection, Term Query blocks, and even in template files. SVG Block – A block to display SVG images as blocks. Useful for images, icons, dividers, and buttons. It allows you to upload SVG images and load them into the icon library. Icon separator – A tiny block just like the core/separator block but with the ability to add an icon. Breadcrumb Block – A simple breadcrumb trail block that supports JSON-LD structured data and is compatible with WooCommerce. Block Enhancements – Adds practical features to blocks like icons, box shadows, transforms, etc. Counting Number Block – A block to display numbers with a counting effect The plugin is developed using @wordpress/create-block.

GT Table Block extends the built-in core/table block with optional features that compose cleanly — each feature is an independent toggle, not a block style, so any combination can be active on the same table. Available in this release: Sticky header row — the row pins to the top of the viewport while the table body scrolls. Includes a numeric offset control for sites with a fixed admin bar or site header. Pure CSS at runtime (no frontend JavaScript). The sticky background is an opaque CSS variable with full theme.json customization support (see FAQ below). Styled first column — gives the first column the same visual weight as the header row (bold, optional themeable background) and adds scope="row" to those cells in the saved markup so screen readers announce them as row headers. Addresses Gutenberg core issue #1470 (open since 2017). Pure CSS for the styling; the a11y attribute is added at save time only, so the editor preview stays unchanged. Planned for future releases: Sticky first column for wide tables with horizontal scroll — v0.3.0. Merge / unmerge cells via a block toolbar control — v0.4.0. Why a variation, not a replacement block? The plugin deliberately extends core/table rather than forking it, so existing tables stay compatible with core as it evolves. Independent boolean attributes also let any combination of features be active at once — which block styles (a mutually exclusive radio group) cannot offer. Source code Source code, build tools, issue tracker, and development log: https://github.com/bph/gt-table-block The plugin is built with @wordpress/scripts (see the repository’s README for build instructions). Each tagged release on GitHub corresponds to the stable tag published here.