Guide to Magento 2 Static Blocks

Below, we are going to discuss Magento 2 static blocks. It is hard to overestimate the importance of Magento 2 CMS pages for an average e-commerce website. They play a pivotal role in creating a unique and attractive storefront. Homepage, news blocks, promotions, and other store sections may incorporate CMS pages to deliver a more abundant shopping experience. Also, pages composed within the Magento 2 Page Builder are always associated with various CMS elements. Despite such frequent appearances, Magento 2 doesn’t let you import-export CMS elements: pages, blocks, and widgets. However, you can do that with the Improved Import and Export extension. In this Magento static blocks tutorial, you will learn how to import CMS blocks. We focus on such aspects as a proper import table and an import job that simplifies your daily chores.

Along with the step-by-step instructions, the article provides explanations of every static block attribute. Also, you will find sample files that you can use as a reference for your Magento 2 static block imports. We describe prerequisites for importing/exporting statics blocks in Magento 2. After that, you will learn how to transfer CMS blocks between Magento 2 websites. Additionally, we touch upon the topic of composing and editing static block tables.

What Are Magento 2 Static Blocks?

So, static blocks, or CMS blocks, are snippets of HTML that can be used to add repeating content patterns to CMS pages. Consider them your ‘Lego blocks’ when composing and building store content. Static blocks can be anything: banners, sliders, etc.

When it comes to optimizing workflows, if you are building several typical stores, or want to migrate from one to another, composing static blocks manually takes much more time than intended. That’s why in this article we will describe how to import static blocks. But let’s take a look at their manual configuration first.

How to Create Magento 2 Static Block

Follow these steps to create a new CMS block in Magento 2:

1. Navigate to Admin -> Content ->Blocks.
2. Click the Add New Block button.
   
3. Activate your new Magento 2 Static block.
4. Type its name.
5. Create a unique identifier for this CMS block. You will use it to implement this block into other pages.
6. Choose a store view to display the block.
7. Specify the content elements used in your new Magento 2 static block. You can use templates here to simplify the routine configuration.
   
8. When done, click Save.

Magento 2 Static Blocks Import & Export Tutorial

Below, you will learn everything you need to know about importing and exporting static blocks in Magento 2.

Prerequisites for Magento 2 Static Block Import & Export

For importing and exporting static blocks, including blocks composed with Magento 2 Page Builder, we will be using the Improved Import and Export extension for Magento 2. The module is a full-featured import/export tool that can help you reduce store management time by offering automated product catalog updates, order updates, and import and export of every Magento 2 entity you can think of.

The extension comes with the following features:

• Import and export of all product types, product attributes, orders, categories, static blocks, CMS pages, cart price rules, MSI, and others.
• Import and export of B2B entities, such as companies, requisition lists, shared catalogs, quotes, and negotiable quotes.
• Support of direct file upload, FTP, SFTP, direct URL, Dropbox, and Google Sheets as import sources.
• Support of CSV, XML, Json, XLSX, and ODS file formats.
• Mapping of CSV file separators and attribute mapping.
• Filers and conditions including price, category, and other entity attributes.
• Import speed of ~3000 per minute on a decent server configuration.

This is just a small part of all the features available in the Improved Import and Export extension. For the full feature list refer to the product page.

Sample Tables with Magento 2 Static Blocks

In this section of our Magento static blocks tutorial, we’d like to draw your attention to sample data. There are two ways to get sample tables with static blocks for Magento 2:

• In the Master Import Table for Magento 2 – a Google Sheet table where we have gathered sample tables with every Magento 2 entity. Every attribute of every entity comes with a description, explaining how to use this attribute, and a sample value to give you a better understanding of how the table works.
• In the Firebear Studio GitHub. At GitHub, we have gathered sample tables of different formats including CSV, XML, Json, XLSX, and ODS with every Magento 2 entity you can import and export. You can also find other sample files with XSLT templates and a readme file explaining how everything works.

Alternatively, if you have already installed the Improved Import and Export extension you can try exporting the static blocks you already have at your Magento 2.

How to Export Static (CMS) Blocks from Magento 2

Once installed, the Improved Import and Export extension introduces its sections under System > Improved Import/Export. There you can get access to the import and export jobs – a basic set of settings that let you perform manual or automatic import or export of required entities, in a required file format, on set conditions.

If you proceed to System > Improved Import/Export > Export jobs you will see an export job grid where you can create new jobs and manage existing jobs.

The export job grid comes with a set of filters and mass actions just as every other Magento 2 grid.

To create a new job click the ‘Add New Job’ button.

In the General Settings of the export job, you are suggested to specify the job name and set the job schedule to export static blocks from Magento 2 automatically.

Below the General Settings, you will find Export settings. Here you decide which entity you want to export, in this article, we will be exporting CMS blocks; however, there are more entities available, including Categories, Cart price rules, CMS pages, etc.

You can also set up a Consecutive Export – if it is enabled and the export job is set to run automatically, every consecutive execution of the job will export NEW entities, that have been created in Magento 2 since the last execution of the job.

For example, if you are running the export jobs every week, the consecutive jobs will let you export only the entities that you have created in your Magento 2 store the last week.

In the Export Behavior, you decide on the file format you want to export the data into and set the export file separator values.

In the Export Source configuration section, you select the export source for your Magento 2 static blocks:

• File;
• Dropbox;
• FTP;
• SFTP;
• URL.

And specify the path to the file where the data should be exported. The files are created automatically and can be downloaded right from the export job screen after the export is complete.

There are also other settings available in the export jobs, such as attribute mapping and filters. You can find a description of all these settings in the Improved Import and Export extension Manual.

Once you are done with the export job settings, click the ‘Save & Run’ button and execute the job. The static blocks will be exported from Magento 2.

Magento 2 Static Block Attributes

This part of our Magento static blocks tutorial is the most important because it reveals what attributes are used in a CSV file with static blocks. Below, explain all these attributes and corresponding values. For reference, follow the Static Blocks sample table from the Google Master Import table.

NOTE: you can export and import blocks composed with Magento 2 Page Builder. The corresponding content is stored in the ‘content’ column. You can also edit it manually if required.

That’s it, these are all the static block attributes that can be exported, edited, and imported to Magento 2.

How to Import Static Blocks to Magento 2

You can import Magento 2 static blocks with the Improved Import and Export extension as follows:

1. Proceed to System > Improved Import/Export > Import jobs screen to find the import grid.
   
2. The import grid offers the same functionality as the export grid. You can filter already created jobs, edit the jobs directly from the grid, or create new jobs. Create a new job by clicking the ‘Add New Job’ button.
3. In the General Settings of the job, you are suggested specifying the job name, schedule, and other settings that can be found in the Improved Import and Export manual.
   
4. In the Import Settings, choose CMS blocks as your Magento 2 import entity.
   
5. In the Import Behavior, specify how the extension should treat Magento 2 CMS blocks in the table you are about to upload:
   – Add/Update – new entities will be added to the existing ones, if entities with the same ID and identifier already exist, such entities will be updated;
   – Replace – entities with the same ID and identifier will be replaced;
   – Delete – entities from the imported table will be removed from the store.
   Along with the behavior, you control the allowed error count and can map separators.
   
6. In the Import Source section, specify the format of the file with Magento 2 static blocks: CSV, XML, Json, XLSX, and ODS. Specify the import source: File, FTP/SFTP, Dropbox, Direct URL, or Google Sheets.
   
7. When the table you are importing is uploaded, hit the ‘Validate file’ button and let the extension check the file for proper data format.
8. Next, click the ‘Save & Run’ button and execute the import job.

There are other settings available for import jobs. You can learn more about them in the Improved Import and Export user guide.

Magento 2 CMS Block Import FAQ

Below, we provide answers to questions that Magento 2 users often ask when it comes to the benefits of CMS block import with the Improved Import & Export Magento 2 extension.

Final Words

As you can see, Magento 2 static blocks are easy to create and manage. You can also import and export them if necessary following this Magento static blocks tutorial. If you require further assistance or have any questions – don’t hesitate to contact us. Follow this link to get our Magento 2 importer:

Get Improved Import and Export Extension