Oxygen Builder vs Gutenberg: Customization and Extensibility

Customization and extensibility are critical for users who need specific functionality or design options beyond what’s provided by default. Both Gutenberg and Oxygen offer various ways to extend their capabilities, though they take different approaches based on their design philosophies.

Extending Gutenberg

Gutenberg’s extensibility is built on WordPress’s block-based framework and plugin ecosystem, making it accessible and versatile for users who want to add custom features without complex coding.

Custom Blocks

Developers can create custom blocks to add unique features to Gutenberg. These custom blocks can range from interactive forms to custom post displays. While basic customization is easy to accomplish with plugin-based block packs like Kadence Blocks and Stackable.

Plugin Extensions

Gutenberg’s design allows seamless integration with WordPress plugins, enabling users to add functionalities like SEO (with Yoast or RankMath), e-commerce (WooCommerce), and more. Plugins like Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) enable dynamic content integration within blocks, which is useful for adding customized fields to posts and pages.

JavaScript Filters and Hooks

WordPress offers a set of JavaScript hooks and filters that developers can use to modify the behavior of Gutenberg blocks. These hooks are essential for developers who want to make specific customizations within the block editor without modifying the core files.

Expanding Plugin Ecosystem

Since Gutenberg is part of WordPress Core, there is a large and growing ecosystem of plugins specifically designed to enhance it. This ecosystem provides non-developers access to advanced features, often without needing to code, making Gutenberg a flexible choice for various user needs.​

Limitations of Gutenberg

Dependency on Plugins for Advanced Features: While many plugins extend Gutenberg’s functionality, some customizations still require third-party plugins or custom coding.

Extending Oxygen

Oxygen’s extensibility is deeply rooted in its code-friendly structure, which allows customization through HTML, CSS, PHP, and JavaScript. This level of flexibility caters to developers and advanced users who need precise control over design and functionality.

HTML, CSS, and JavaScript Customization

Oxygen lets users directly add HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, allowing for advanced design elements, animations, and customized layouts. This feature is especially beneficial for developers who want to achieve specific design goals that are difficult or impossible with standard block editors.

PHP for Dynamic Content

With PHP support, users can add dynamic elements to their pages, making it suitable for custom fields, dynamic data from databases, or integrations with external applications. This makes Oxygen ideal for complex websites that require extensive custom content, such as portfolios or data-driven websites.

Developer-Friendly Features

Oxygen includes a range of features for advanced customization, such as code libraries (to save and reuse code snippets), custom attributes (adding unique properties to elements), and support for advanced features like parallax effects and animations. These features are valuable for users creating intricate designs or needing sophisticated functionality.

Add-Ons and Extensions

While Oxygen doesn’t rely on WordPress themes, it does have several third-party add-ons, like OxyExtras and OxyPowerPack, which introduce additional elements (e.g., sliders, accordions) and interactive effects. These add-ons enhance Oxygen’s functionality, though they often require technical understanding to implement effectively.​

Limitations of Oxygen

Vendor lock-in to follow plugin’s patterns: To extend the plugin and create a new block (or component), you must add a code block and develop within the plugin’s structure, using PHP, JavaScript, and CSS to render content. While this approach offers flexibility, it creates vendor lock-in as new blocks must remain within the plugin’s ecosystem. There is no option to package and distribute these custom blocks as independent plugins. This restriction limits opportunities for a wider developer community to create and share extensions for this plugin.