[Escalated to 2nd Tier] Problem with Toolset and the Media & Text block: Content not saving

[Author]

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[luisA-5]

I am trying to:
I am just trying to use Toolset and the Media & Text block for a content template to display a custom post type, where the Media part is the Featured Image of the current CPT and the Content part is pulled from dynamic sources from the same CPT.

Link to a page where the issue can be seen:
I´m working on a dev local site, but I´m sure you can reproduce this issue.

I expected to see:
Actually, I expected to see what I see when I edit the content template. The problem is that, as soon as I save it by hitting the Update bottom, the Content part dissapears. So what I expected to see, for example for something as simple as a book CPT, where the Media part is just the Featured Image of the current book and the Content part is just the Post Title, is what I see in the attached Screenshot 1.

Instead, I got:
The Content part of the Media & Text block dissapears when shaving the content template. Apparently, it is still in the edit page, but looking at the front end, the content of the block has dissappeared. And as soon as the edit page is refreshed for the content template, it says that the block contains unexpected or invalid content, as shown in the attached Screenshot 2. Then, after hitting the Attempt Block Recovery button, the result is shown in Screenshot : the content has been deleted and is empty again.

No matter what dynamic content I put into the Content part of the Media & Text block, the only code that is saved to the database is an empty div like this:

<div class="wp-block-media-text__content"></div>

This issue is something that must have appeared months ago after some update (whether it was a Toolset or WP update, I could not tell), because I have a quite ellaborated content template built with a Media & Text block on a development site that I was able to save and modify many times. Then I didn´t work on the project for some months and since I resumed its development a couple of months ago I can´t do anything within the Media & Text block anymore. I don´t want to change my layouts because I was happy with what I did and it actually works. The problem is that I can´t modify anything on that content template because, as soon as I try to save the changes, the content of the Media & Text block gets deleted.

[Nigel]

Perhaps you could try switching the source and stop using Dynamic Sources in the sidebar settings, and try the Inline Field settings (see my screenshot), which also offers dynamic sources, but which uses a different system under the hood.

If that doesn't work either then let us know and we can try and find an alternate solution.

[luisA-5]

Hi, Nigel, and thank you for your reply. Unfortunately, I´ve tried your approach but the results are still the same.

[Waqar]

Hi,

Thanks for writing back and I was able to reproduce this on my test website too.

If Toolset’s dynamic source option is enabled either for the image or the text, it breaks the ‘Media & Text’ block.

I've shared this with a concerned team for further review and for now, if you'd prefer to use this same block in your content template, you can use the following workaround:

1. For the text/content part, you can use the inline dynamic field option, as suggested by Nigel in the last reply.
( screenshot: hidden link )

2. For the image part, you can set any placeholder/default fixed image and then use the custom CSS code to override that fixed image, with a dynamic one.

Note: To make each "Media & Text" block unique (in case you have multiple "Media & Text" blocks on a page), you can add a custom class for example “featured-media-text” to it through its “Additional CSS class” settings.
( screenshot: hidden link )

As an example, for replacing the static image with the featured image for this particular "Media & Text" block with the class "featured-media-text", you can include the following CSS code in a "Custom HTML" or "Fields and Text" block:

<style>

.wp-block-media-text.featured-media-text > figure {
    background-image: url([wpv-post-featured-image size="large" output="url"]) !important;
}

</style>

Please note how I've used the "wpv-post-featured-image" shortcode in the CSS code to get the URL of the current post's featured image.
( ref: https://toolset.com/documentation/programmer-reference/views/views-shortcodes/#wpv-post-featured-image )

I hope this helps and let me know if you need any further assistance around this.

regards,
Waqar

[luisA-5]

Hi, Waqar.

Your workaround would not work for me, because I need more than just one single field on the text/content part. So using the inline dynamic field option would not allow me to add more complex layouts to the content part, like columns containing different kinds of fields, for instance.

I just used the Post Title as an example to illustrate the fact that there was an issue with the ‘Media & Text’ block even in such a simple application. It did work before and even with complex layouts, though, as I mentioned on my first post.

[luisA-5]

No answer yet?
So, what can I do?
Do you plan to fix that issue with a plugin update?
Any other feasible workaround to it, in the meanwhile?

[Waqar]

That makes sense and in that case, a more natural workaround would be to replace the "Media & Text" block with the "Grid" block with two columns. You can add an "Image" block in one column and the "Fields and Text" block or the "Single Field" block in the other column, as needed.

I can understand it is not ideal to go back and replace the blocks in the existing content. Although the issue is reported to the concerned team, it won't be possible for us to share any time estimate for a fix.

[luisA-5]

It is not just a question of going back and replacinf blocks. Another problem is that, with a regular "Image" block I can´t get the same behaviour I get with the image of the "Media & Text" block used as a background image cover.

According to your own documentation (https://toolset.com/documentation/dynamic-sources-in-popular-blocks/), Toolset should work without any problems with the "Media & Text" block, so I find totally unacceptable an answer like "it won't be possible for us to share any time estimate for a fix", especially after two days since I reported this issue.

[Waqar]

> Another problem is that, with a regular "Image" block I can´t get the same behaviour I get with the image of the "Media & Text" block used as a background image cover.

- If you'd like to show the image as a background cover image, you can add a "Container" block which does support setting an image background feature, with size and positioning controls.

I'd also like to clarify that I'm sharing these workarounds so that you can achieve the desired functionality and layout until the issue with the "Media & Text" is fixed. I do not intend to cover up that issue, which I've already escalated and I'll keep you updated on its progress through this ticket.

[luisA-5]

Hi again.
Remember me?
I don´t know whether Toolset Support remembers me at all.
For sure, Toolset Renewals does. I just got an email today telling me they will charge me again in a month from now, for "another year of downloads and support". The email begins with this sentence: "Luis Alejandre, Thank you for building sites with Toolset!"
The problem is, I´m not building with Toolset right now because I just can´t. The problem is that my project is stuck because of a Toolset bug I reported two weeks ago.
The problem is that Toolset support said 10 days ago that they´ll keep me updated about the progress on this issue. Now, 10 days is a lot of time to fix a bug. But, much worse than that, 10 days is an eternity for not saying a single word about it. It never in my whole life took me 10 days to keep a customer informed about a reported problem caused by a product or service of mine, whether I was charging for support or not.
Among other reasons, because now I can´t know what should I expect from Toolset support . Should I just wait for a couple more weeks? Should I wait for a month and then happily pay my renewal? Or should I wait for yet "another year of downloads and support"?
So the bottom line is: Should I regret I chose Toolset for my project, after all the time I´ve invested on it? So far, the answer is unfortunately this: Yes, I really do.

[Nigel]

Hello Luis

Let me step in here. I don't have any news for you, but I wanted to help set expectations, particularly in the context of the renewal reminder you just coincidentally received.

You haven't had an update from Waqar because there hasn't been any news to share.

As noted by Waqar the issue was reported, confirmed, and then escalated to the developers, along with some preliminary debugging notes.

The developers have an existing backlog of issues they are already working on. With newly reported issues they are first evaluated. If deemed urgent—i.e. they have a serious impact on sites and affect a large number of users—then, yes, other work is set aside and every effort is made to resolve them as quickly as possible and make the solution available to clients promptly.

But this is not such an issue. Testing reveals the WordPress 5.9 release broke dynamic sources with the Media and Text block, i.e. in January, and you are the first client to report the problem, after 5 months.

In support we have limited influence on how developers prioritise the issues they work on, except to make them aware of how many users are affected by the problem.

I can't say when the developers will work on the problem, except to say that we are in the middle of a development round which probably has a few weeks left to complete. This issue isn't on the development board for this release, but I'll encourage the developers to pick it up for the next cycle.

If there are a couple of weeks left in this cycle, and cycles are rarely shorter than a month, that suggests a minimum of 6 weeks before a plugin update containing a fix, and it could be longer.

What we can do in support is to make available a patch ahead of the plugin update if that is practicable when the developers have produced a fix, and that's what Waqar will be able to communicate with you next, hopefully.

[luisA-5]

> If there are a couple of weeks left in this cycle, and cycles are rarely shorter than a month, that suggests a minimum of 6 weeks before a plugin update containing a fix, and it could be longer.

> What we can do in support is to make available a patch ahead of the plugin update if that is practicable when the developers have produced a fix, and that's what Waqar will be able to communicate with you next, hopefully.

Well, 3 whole months plus one more week have gone by.

How much more time am I supposed to need to wait for?

[Nigel]

Hello Luis

The timescale I described was a best-case scenario, and the current cycle is taking longer than I would hope.

The internal ticket for this issue is on the current board, though, but it isn't fixed yet, so I don't have a patch I can share with you.

I've added a comment to that ticket to nudge the developers.

[luisA-5]

Now a whole year went by, and I still haven´t got an answer from Toolset.
What should I expect now?

[Nigel]

I'm sorry Luis, the developers determine the priorities of which issues they work on, and have not prioritised this ticket, probably because there is only a single report about it.

Even so, this has undeniably been a long time.

I have intervened on the development board to push this ticket to the top of the queue and requested that it be worked on before any other ticket.

We'll report back at the end of this week what the status is.