Utility Blocks

This section covers some of the generally useful blocks that are available on most page types in most layout sections. If one of the blocks below is not available where you want it to be, please email templates@caltech.edu and ask for it to be added. Sometimes there is a good reason we are not offering a particular block in a particular layout; but sometimes it is just an oversight on our part.

One of the absolutely most useful blocks is the "Spacer Block". It allows you to add vertical space between elements on your page. Use it. Use it a lot!

We built the new theme to allow people to do a wide variety of things - including achieve some fun effects by placing different blocks right next to each other. The trade off for that flexibility is that we have not added default space around some elements that almost always need it. For example, 99% of the pages built with this template do not want the flame in the footer to overlap with the content. To prevent this, your pages should end with a Spacer Block of 100 pixels.

Note: On mobile, the spacer blocks are collapsed to 0 height.

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The Placeholder Block is intended to represent a different block that will be placed in the page later, once that block's content is determined. This is useful when you want to lay out a page first, and then figure out exactly what content will appear on the page afterward.

The available background colors for Placeholders can be seen to the right.

These are only intended for use on either unpublished draft pages, or sites that are not yet live. Placeholder Block should not be used on live pages.