Aludra

Aludra is a page builder for the WordPress block editor — not a separate editing app bolted on top of it. 32 native blocks, 21 ready-made sections and 8 whole page layouts, built and edited in the editor you already have. No shortcodes, no proprietary markup, and nothing that turns into a wall of broken tags the day you switch it off.

A theme gives you the palette, the type, the header and the footer; Aludra gives you everything between them — the bands a page is actually made of: heroes, stat rails, trust bars, feature grids, pricing tiers, comparison tables, FAQs, reviews, contact sections and CTA bands.

That holds whatever the site is for. The same sections build a portfolio, a services site, a one-page launch, or a straightforward online presence for a business — the bands are the same, the copy is not.

You rarely start from an empty block. You pick a section — a hero that already has its eyebrow, heading, lead and buttons, in the right style variation — drop it in and replace the copy. Or you pick a whole page pattern and delete the parts you do not need.

What you get

• 21 section patterns — one page band each, grouped into Heroes, Proof, Features & Services, Layout and Convert. Every content block has one
• 8 page patterns — homepage, landing, service, services overview, pricing, about, team and contact, offered when you create a new page
• 32 blocks — grouped into six inserter categories that follow the order a page gets built in, and individually enable/disable-able under Settings → Aludra
• 13 more patterns — five pre-configured carousels and eight mega menu layouts for menu template parts

Building a site with Aludra

That division is the whole idea, and Aviendha (https://github.com/imagewize/aviendha) is the theme built to it — a starter FSE theme developed alongside this plugin that ships no blocks or patterns of its own and composes its pages entirely from Aludra sections. Ixian (https://github.com/imagewize/ixian) is the opinionated sibling: forked from Aviendha, with finished page patterns for service businesses and SaaS, every one of them built from Aludra blocks.

None of that is required. Aludra is theme-neutral — blocks resolve colours from the active theme’s palette with fallbacks, so they render correctly on any FSE, block, or classic theme.

External Services

The Instagram Embed block (aludra/instagram-embed) is the only part of Aludra that connects to a third-party service. No other block, pattern or admin screen makes outside requests, and Aludra does not track visitors or send data to its authors.

Instagram (Meta Platforms, Inc.)

• What it is used for: showing a live feed of a public Instagram profile through Instagram’s own embed page, https://www.instagram.com/<username>/embed.
• When it loads: only after a visitor clicks the “Load feed” button. Until then the page contains no iframe and makes no request to instagram.com, so the block can sit behind your own consent flow.
• What is sent: the Instagram username you entered in the block, in the iframe address. Once the iframe loads, Instagram receives the visitor’s IP address, browser details and any Instagram cookies, as with any Instagram embed.
• In the editor: the same gate applies. The block editor loads the feed preview only when an editor clicks “Load Instagram feed”. The plugin’s own server never contacts Instagram and stores nothing.
• Availability: this is an undocumented Instagram endpoint that Meta may change or remove. Each block shows a plain link to the profile as a fallback.
• Instagram Terms of Use: https://help.instagram.com/581066165581870
• Meta Privacy Policy: https://privacycenter.meta.com/policy

If you do not use the Instagram Embed block, nothing is ever sent to Instagram. You can also turn the block off under Settings → Aludra.

Source Code

This plugin ships no obfuscated or minified-only code.

Every block ships its human-readable source in blocks/<block>/src/ next to the compiled output the plugin actually loads in blocks/<block>/build/, along with the package.json carrying its exact scripts and dependency versions. The build is standard @wordpress/scripts; each block has isolated dependencies and is built from its own directory:

cd blocks/<block-name> && npm install && npm run build

The mega-menu block additionally passes --experimental-modules to wp-scripts.

The one third-party compiled asset is Slick Carousel, vendored under blocks/carousel/slick/. Its uncompressed source (slick.js) ships beside the slick.min.js the plugin enqueues — see == Third-Party Libraries == below for version, license and the one local modification.

The full development repository is public: https://github.com/imagewize/aludra

Third-Party Libraries

Slick Carousel

• Version: 1.8.1
• License: MIT License
• Source: https://kenwheeler.github.io/slick/
• Used in: Carousel block
• Files: blocks/carousel/slick/
• Purpose: Powers the carousel/slider functionality
• Source included: slick.js, the uncompressed 1.8.1 build, ships beside the slick.min.js that is enqueued. slick.css is upstream’s uncompressed stylesheet
• Local modification: one line of slick-theme.css — the .slick-loading .slick-list rule drops upstream’s url('./ajax-loader.gif') background, as that image is not vendored. Every other file is byte-identical to the official 1.8.1 release

The MIT License is GPL-compatible.

Credits

Plugin Icon and Logo

The plugin icon (.wordpress-org/icon.svg) and the logo displayed in README.md (assets/logos/h-fireworks.svg) are the Hugeicons fireworks icon from Blade UI Kit (Blade Icons) — a nod to the Nightflower fireworks of the Illuminators in The Wheel of Time, Aludra’s namesake. The icon is drawn in an ember gradient on a dark tile; the README logo is a flat ember orange (#D9480F).
* Fireworks icon source: https://blade-ui-kit.com/blade-icons/hugeicons-fireworks
* Blade Icons license: https://github.com/driesvints/blade-icons/blob/main/LICENSE.md (MIT License)

Homepage Pattern Client Icons

The bike and noodle-bowl icons used in the homepage pattern’s “Our Clients” carousel are from Blade UI Kit (Blade Icons), sourced from the Tabler Icons and Maki Icons sets respectively.
* Bike icon source: https://blade-ui-kit.com/blade-icons/tabler-bike
* Restaurant icon source: https://blade-ui-kit.com/blade-icons/maki-restaurant-noodle
* Blade Icons license: https://github.com/driesvints/blade-icons/blob/main/LICENSE.md (MIT License)

Review Avatar Placeholder

The bundled review-avatar placeholder (assets/placeholders/avatar.svg) is the eos-face icon from Blade UI Kit (Blade Icons), sourced from the EOS Icons set and recoloured into Aludra’s warm sand/terracotta neutrals.
* Face icon source: https://blade-ui-kit.com/blade-icons/eos-face
* Blade Icons license: https://github.com/driesvints/blade-icons/blob/main/LICENSE.md (MIT License)

Mega Menu Implementation

The mega menu block was originally inspired by the HM Mega Menu Block by Human Made and substantially enhanced.
* Original Source: https://github.com/humanmade/hm-mega-menu-block
* License: GPL v2 or later
* Enhancements: Added multiple layout modes (dropdown/overlay), advanced JavaScript-based positioning for full-width panels, mobile responsive state management, comprehensive focus trap and keyboard navigation, body scroll lock, animation controls, and extensive accessibility improvements. The implementation is approximately 181% larger with substantially different functionality.

Carousel Block Implementation

The carousel block was originally inspired by the Carousel Block Plugin by Virgiliu Diaconu but completely reimplemented.
* Original Source: https://wordpress.org/plugins/carousel-block/
* License: GPL v2 or later
* Reimplementation: Completely rebuilt using Slick Carousel library (vs original Swiper.js), with distinct features including thumbnail navigation, center mode with peek, variable width slides, lazy loading, adaptive height, advanced arrow customization with multiple SVG styles, custom SVG support, 5 block patterns, and extensive styling controls. Different codebase and functionality from the original.

Developer Information

Block Registration

The plugin uses dynamic block discovery. At runtime:
1. Scans /blocks directory during init action
2. Looks for build/block.json in each subdirectory
3. Auto-registers all discovered blocks via register_block_type()

This means blocks are auto-discovered – no manual registration needed when adding new blocks.

GitHub Repository

• Repository: https://github.com/imagewize/aludra
• Issues: https://github.com/imagewize/aludra/issues
• Documentation: See CLAUDE.md in repository for detailed development guide

Copyright

Aludra WordPress Plugin, Copyright 2025 Jasper Frumau
Aludra is distributed under the terms of the GNU GPL v3 or later.

This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
(at your option) any later version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
GNU General Public License for more details.