WoodMart 8.5 update

The release of WoodMart 8.5 brings several functional updates focused on streamlining your site-building process and enhancing the control you have over product presentation. With significant performance optimizations, this update is packed with tools to help you create a more engaging, high-converting shopping experience. Below are the details regarding the new builders and content integration tools. This update also introduces three new demo versions to explore:

• EDC: A rugged, minimalist layout perfect for everyday carry items, focusing on fast access to product details.
• Jewellery 2: An elegant and refined design with spacious layouts meant to showcase premium jewelry accessories.
• Keyboards: A modern, tech-oriented look optimized for highlighting keyboard features and specs.

Custom Label Builder

Managing product identification has been simplified with the introduction of the Custom Label Builder. This feature allows for greater flexibility in how you display labels (such as “Sale,” “New,” or “Hot”) on your product grids. Instead of relying on pre-set styles, you can now create custom designs that match your store’s branding more closely. This tool is designed to help highlight specific products without needing custom CSS or external plugins.

This feature is supported by a robust conditions system, enabling the creation of tailored display rules for various merchandising strategies. You can configure labels based on specific criteria, such as applying a brand-specific icon to products from a selected manufacturer, or displaying promotional badges exclusively to items within a defined category or those assigned a particular tag. By leveraging these context-aware controls, you can automate the presentation of key product information, ensuring that visual cues remain consistent and relevant across your entire catalog.

Also with the addition of “Product label” and “Product labels” elements to the layout builder, you can now seamlessly incorporate custom visual markers into your product page designs. This allows you to configure labels in a manner similar to the functionality previously available in the Product Loop Item Builder. Find more details about the Custom Label Builder in our documentation here.

Important note: Although the Custom Label Builder is available on sites using any page builder supported by the theme, custom labels can only be created using the native WordPress Gutenberg blocks. 

Dynamic Content for Gutenberg

We have added the integration of dynamic content within the Gutenberg blocks. This update allows for a more seamless connection between your store’s database and the editor. You can now pull and display information — such as titles, prices, metadata, images, or custom fields — directly into your page layouts. By utilizing these dynamic blocks, you can ensure that your content updates automatically as you make changes to your products, significantly reducing the manual work required to maintain individual page templates. Find more details about the Dynamic Content in our documentation here.

Important note: To add dynamic content to your pages, simply look for the “database” icon located next to image upload button or within text input areas inside any WoodMart-specific Gutenberg blocks.

Performance & Technical Excellence

The stylesheet loading architecture has been refactored to eliminate render-blocking requests, ensuring critical styles are applied immediately during page parsing. Beyond this core optimization, the update introduces several additional performance enhancements:

• Streamlined asset delivery: We have replaced monolithic stylesheets with a modular system that injects CSS directly alongside relevant HTML components, significantly reducing the critical rendering path.
• Deferred CSS loading: Non-critical styles are now loaded only after the primary content has rendered, ensuring a faster initial page display and improved performance metrics.
• CSS size reduction: Reduced the main CSS file size by 30%, from 46.5 kB to 32.7 kB.
• Inlined small CSS files into the HTML: We have integrated smaller CSS files directly into the HTML to eliminate unnecessary external requests and expedite the initial rendering process.
• Fonts management: Local Google Fonts are now enqueued inline within a style tag, reducing the number of external requests required during the initial page load.
• Code cleanup: To improve the theme’s footprint, we have removed several deprecated WPBakery styles, the WPBakery CSS Generator, and unused legacy options, leading to a lighter, more streamlined codebase.

Find more details about the perfomance improvement in the separate article here.

Enhanced Design Controls

We’ve added a suite of new styling options to give you pixel-perfect control over every element on your store:

• Backdrop filters: Apply modern “frosted glass” effects to popups, floating blocks, and various page builder elements for a sleek, contemporary look.
• Refined typography & spacing: New “Padding” options for buttons, text decoration settings in WPBakery, and advanced highlight controls for text blocks ensure your brand’s voice is perfectly styled.
• Smart layouts: Breadcrumb customization (including separators and typography for the current item) and better control over shop filter visibility across different devices allow for a more intuitive user navigation.

Other

This release includes over 40 fixes and improvements, many of which were driven by our dedicated community in the Xtemos support forums. Key highlights include:

• WordPress compatibility: WoodMart 8.5 includes official support for WordPress 7, ensuring your site remains compatible with the latest core environment.
• Workflow Improvements: A new “Reset translations” button has been added to the status page for easier localization management.
• Header and Cart Enhancements: The Header Builder now supports background colors and box shadows for the cart dropdown. We have also added a “Hide if empty” option for WooCommerce hook blocks, providing cleaner output on your pages.
• Bug fixes: We have addressed critical issues regarding product variation swatches in catalog mode, Google login conflicts with Dokan, and sticky “Add to Cart” quantity syncing, among others.

Full changelog

• NEW VERSION: Jewellery 2
• NEW VERSION: EDC
• NEW VERSION: Keyboards
• NEW FEATURE: Custom label builder.
• NEW FEATURE: Dynamic content for Gutenberg page builder.
• ADDED: Official support for WordPress 7.
• ADDED: “Product label” and “Product labels” elements to Single Product Layout Builder. (Screenshot)
• ADDED: “Padding” option for accent and default buttons in Theme Settings. (Screenshot)
• ADDED: “Aspect ratio” and “Custom height” options to Image and Image Gallery elements. (Screenshot)
• ADDED: “Backdrop filter” option for page builder elements. (Screenshot)
• ADDED: “Backdrop filter” option for Popup and Floating Blocks builders. (Screenshot)
• ADDED: Ability to keep the “Shop filters area always open” independently for different devices. (Screenshot)
• ADDED: “Items” option for Product categories navigation. (Screenshot)
• ADDED: New controls for highlighted text. (Screenshot)
• ADDED: “Highlight” option for the Text Block element. (Screenshot)
• ADDED: Text decoration option to element typography settings in WPBakery. (Screenshot)
• ADDED: Style options for the close button in popups and floating blocks. (Screenshot)
• ADDED: “No results found” notice in Theme Settings search. (Screenshot)
• ADDED: New method for synchronizing carousels by group ID. (Screenshot)
• ADDED: Reset translations button on the status page. (Screenshot)
• ADDED: Background color and box shadow options for the “Cart” dropdown in the header builder. (Screenshot)
• ADDED: “Hide if empty” option for WooCommerce hook block. (Screenshot)
• ADDED: “Separator” option for breadcrumbs in Theme Settings. (Screenshot)
• ADDED: Typography option for current item in Breadcrumbs. (Screenshot)
• ADDED: Login prompt text for the review reminder email when review verification is required.
• ADDED: “ShortPixel” plugin support. (Link)
• ADDED: Breadcrumbs support for SEOPress plugin. (Screenshot)
• ADDED: “No products” warning during product loop item layout builder creation. (Screenshot)
• ADDED: “Use simplified WPBakery styles” option for the WPBakery page builder. (Screenshot)
• FIXED: Opened search results dropdown animation after clicking the clear button.
• FIXED: Email template issues when product images are missing.
• FIXED: Variation swatches not showing on single product pages in catalog mode. (Topic)
• FIXED: Issue with importing dummy content via Starter Templates plugin. (Topic)
• FIXED: Search issue caused by improper character escaping/encoding. (Topic)
• FIXED: PHP error related to social login. (Topic)
• FIXED: Advanced typography for product loop title.
• FIXED: Cart and checkout WooCommerce block styles.
• FIXED: Conflict between background color and gradient options in Floating Blocks.
• FIXED: Waitlist subscribe form issue with multiple forms on one page.
• FIXED: Registration via Google with Dokan plugin. (Topic)
• FIXED: Sticky Add to Cart quantity sync issue with Single Product Layout. (Topic)
• FIXED: Thumbnails per slide conditions in Theme Settings.
• FIXED: Unnecessary SQL queries in the sold counter during sales volume calculation.
• FIXED: Input fields in popup forms on mobile devices. (Topic)
• FIXED: Product archive layout import issue with the Gutenberg page builder. (Topic)
• FIXED: Product review likes count issue. (Topic)
• FIXED: Infobox and button elements issue in Header Builder with WPBakery. (Topic)
• FIXED: Waitlist form issue in single product layouts with the WPC Product Bundles plugin. (Topic)
• FIXED: Issue with outputting the author name in the page title. (Topic)
• FIXED: Free Gifts compatibility with the WooCommerce Price Based on Country plugin. (Topic)
• FIXED: Duplicate product prices on single product pages. (Topic)
• FIXED: Page styles not enqueuing for the custom 404 page. (Topic)
• FIXED: Incorrect output from the WooCommerce hook element.
• FIXED: “Add to cart” URL issue when the AJAX shop is enabled. (Topic)
• FIXED: Error in the WPBakery frontend editor. (Topic)
• FIXED: Issue with outputting WoodMart layout templates when using WPML. (Topic)
• FIXED: Fatal error in wishlist promotional plain text emails with a coupon placeholder. (Topic)
• FIXED: HTML tags rendering issue in the product short description. (Topic)
• FIXED: Issue where the hidden mini-cart sidebar did not update quantities before navigating to the cart page. (Topic)
• FIXED: Stretch slider issue in the Elementor editor. (Topic)
• FIXED: Incorrect product price rendering in the Gutenberg cart table element caused by the Dynamic Discounts module. (Topic)
• FIXED: Slider animation issue in the Elementor editor. (Topic)
• FIXED: Persistent object cache key isolation and invalidation issue. (Topic)
• FIXED: “Show selected option name” functionality on variation product pages. (Topic)
• FIXED: Incorrect display of “Overall delivery dates” in the Estimate Delivery option. (Topic)
• FIXED: Warning in the WoodMart Products Tabs Elementor widget. (Topic)
• FIXED: Compatibility between the FunnelKit mini cart and the header menu cart. (Topic)
• FIXED: Issue with incorrect translation of category links.
• FIXED: “Load more” products functionality when filters are active.
• FIXED: Prevent duplicate “wd-last” class on product attribute taxonomy breadcrumbs.
• FIXED: Fonts labels in WPBakery controls.
• REFACTORED: “Categories” header element.
• IMPROVED: Local Google Fonts are now enqueued inline within a style tag.
• IMPROVED: Stylesheet loading to reduce render-blocking time.
• IMPROVED: Security for “Products per page” on product archive pages.
• UPDATED: Google Fonts list.
• REMOVED: Deprecated “Sticky notifications” option.
• REMOVED: Deprecated WPBakery “Reset margin” option.
• REMOVED: “Base (deprecated styles)” selector from Advanced Typography.
• REMOVED: WPBakery deprecated styles.
• REMOVED: Theme styles for Elementor video element.
• REMOVED: Theme styles for WPBakery tabs & accordion elements.
• REMOVED: Theme styles and options from WPBakery video element.
• REMOVED: Theme styles and options from WPBakery single image element.
• REMOVED: Option “Deferred block rendering in Gutenberg” in Theme Settings.
• REMOVED: WPBakery CSS Generator.
• REMOVED: Social authentication with VKontakte.
• REMOVED: Option “Delete outdated images” from Theme Settings (functionality remains active in the background).