Introducing the New Advanced Loop Builder!

We’re thrilled to announce a major upgrade to the popular query loop feature in Spectra Pro, the new Advanced Loop Builder

This powerful upgrade provides unparalleled flexibility to display content in even more engaging ways.

The Advanced Loop Builder adds new customization options, performance optimizations and enhanced flexibility.

It also adds Ajax-powered search and filtering for maximum performance and instantaneous results.

If you’re a content creator, small business, eCommerce store owner or run or build websites that feature lots of content, you’re going to love this!

What’s New in the Advanced Loop Builder?

The Spectra query loop has always been a great option to showcase lots of content in an organized way.

It allows you to create content slideshows or filterable displays for blog posts, creations, products or anything you like.

The Advanced Loop Builder takes it up a gear, with:

  • Instant search: Enable visitors to quickly find what they’re looking for with robust search and instant results.
  • Flexible sorting: Arrange content in the order that best suits your needs. Sort by date, title, category, or any custom field.
  • Powerful filters: Easily filter content based on criteria, such as categories, tags, custom fields, and more.
  • Effortless Ajax pagination: Load content dynamically with smooth Ajax pagination, without needing to refresh the page.

No need to install a separate plugin and no steep learning curve or performance compromises. 

Everything is handled within Spectra and uses the same menus and options you’re already familiar with.

Why the Advanced Loop Builder Is a Game-Changer

We think the Advanced Loop Builder is the ultimate loop builder. It’s fast, optimized for performance, easy to use and built into Spectra. 

It offers extensive customization options, configurable search and filter settings and the superior code quality you expect.

It delivers:

  • Enhanced user experience: Offer a more intuitive and engaging browsing experience.
  • Superior customization: Advanced Loop Builder includes the extensive customization options you would expect from a Spectra block.
  • Increased engagement: Help visitors easily find the content they’re interested in, leading to higher user satisfaction and engagement.
  • Flexibility and control: Customize the look and feel of content loops to perfectly match your brand and website design.
  • Save time and effort: Easily manage and update content displays with a streamlined interface.
  • Performance oriented: Like all Spectra blocks, Advanced Loop Builder is designed to use minimal resources and be as efficient as possible.

This upgrade is incredibly versatile, offering powerful customization options for any type of website.

Here are just 3 of the many uses it can be put to:

Advanced Loop Builder for Portfolios

Whether you’re an artist, photographer or any type of creative, query loops work very well for portfolios

Showcase your work in attractive ways, offer simple search and filter functions and enable visitors to quickly browse and find your work.

Advanced Loop Builder for eCommerce

Loops work exceptionally well for eCommerce stores with large product ranges.

You can sort, search and filter, configure the layout and page design using intuitive tools.

Each feature is fast and responsive, delivering an excellent user experience.

Advanced Loop Builder for Blogs

If your blog covers a lot of topics or has a lot of content, search and filter are your friend.

There’s nothing more frustrating than having to hunt for content as it interrupts the user journey and can cause frustration. 

Adding search and/or filters to blogs takes minutes and can significantly improve the visitor experience.

Advanced Loop Builder for Blogs

These are just 3 of the many ways Advanced Loop Builder could transform your website.

We’re sure you can think of others!

Using the Advanced Loop Builder

Whether you’re new to Spectra or use it regularly, you’ll find the Advanced Loop Builder very easy to use.

Open the page you want to add a query loop too and select the + wherever you want to add the block.

Select the Loop Builder block from the options and insert it into the page.

You’ll see 6 layouts you can use, or you can build your own from scratch.

Select a layout and you’ll be asked to choose the Wrapper. This controls what your content layout will look like.

Using the Advanced Loop Builder

You should see several options. Choose the layout you like and Spectra will build the loop for you.

If you change your mind afterwards, just select the loop reset button at the top of the block.

Using the Advanced Loop Builder

Loop reset enables you to experiment with everything the Advanced Loop Builder is capable of without committing to anything.

Check out the layouts and designs, play around with colors and settings and simply reset if you don’t like what you see.

Once you select a wrapper, the page should look something like this:

Using the Advanced Loop Builder

Notice the Search and Select boxes at the top of the query loop?

Select Search and you’ll see the customization options in the menu on the right.

Customize search however you want using the General, Style and Advanced tabs on the right.

The Select box is where you set the filters.

Using the Advanced Loop Builder

The magic happens in the General tab. This is where you get to choose whether to use a dropdown menu, checkbox or buttons for selection.

It’s also where you choose the taxonomy, or the filter criteria.

Using the Advanced Loop Builder

You can filter using a number of categories, from posts to products.

There’s also a tag option so you could create any taxonomy you need using tags.

Further customization can be performed by selecting individual entries within the query loop.

Scroll to the bottom of the loop and you’ll see the navigation buttons.

Using the Advanced Loop Builder

Select the button element and you’ll see customization options on the right.

Use the General, Style and Advanced tabs until they fit into your page design.

Each button can be styled individually to create something truly unique.

Using the Advanced Loop Builder Button Customize 2

Once you’re happy with your design, publish it like you usually would.

A significant benefit of the Advanced Loop Builder is that it’s built into Spectra and uses the same tools and options as other blocks.

If you know how to use other blocks, you’ll know how to create amazing content loops too!

Start Using the Advanced Loop Builder Today!

We think the Advanced Loop Builder is a significant update over the previous version. 

It makes an already superior feature even better and overcomes the steep learning curve and inflexibility you get with other loop builders.

Ready to experience the power of query loops? Update Spectra to begin exploring this exciting new feature.

We can’t wait to see what you create!

Disclosure: This blog may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase through one of these links, we may receive a small commission. Read disclosure. Rest assured that we only recommend products that we have personally used and believe will add value to our readers. Thanks for your support!

3 thoughts on “Introducing the New Advanced Loop Builder!”

  1. Do you have any plans to port this functionality into the Astra Theme > Customizer > Blog feature? This is effectively a query loop behind the scenes but has very few options for visitors to search/filter/sort, even with the Astra Pro plugin, and what does exist is difficult to configure. Turining the Blog feature into a customisable page template with Spectra Advanced Advanced Loop automatically added would unleash greater creativity and functionality for what is usually a central page of most WordPress-based websites.

    1. Hello David,

      If the Astra blog page feels limiting, you can try using the Spectra Loop Builder for more flexibility and customization.

      We’ll also look into how we can better integrate the two in the future.

      Thank you and feel free to share more ideas anytime!

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