Breakdance V2 - New functions and improved experience

Breakdance has released version 2 of the builder. V2 brings some new features and improves the experience with BD, but still lacks some long-awaited functionality.

All new features at a glance:

• Design presets: This allows you to assign a design template (= preset) to the same elements (e.g. icon box). As soon as you change this in the design, the design of each element with this template changes across the entire website. This saves time in the development and maintenance of the website. I personally have known this function for a long time from the Divi world and was surprised that Breakdance didn't have it yet. For me, this is a long overdue function.
• New layount controls for Flexbox and Grid: Extremely flexible and easy to view flawlessly on all different end devices (responsive design).
• New migration mode: With the new Migration Mode, changes can be easily made on the same WordPress installation without affecting the visitor. Even on WooCommerce stores. But it's also extremely simple: by activating the Breakdance Migration Mode plugin, the website is "frozen" for the visitor from the outside, while work can be carried out on the website in the background. The changes only become visible after deactivating the migration mode plugin. Sounds weird? It is. Until now, a complex procedure via a staging page (which I would still recommend for larger changes) was necessary. But it sounds extremely promising for the future.
• Improvements in the Header Builder: In V2, multi-line headers and the prevention of content overlaps in a sticky header are history with just a few clicks.
• New elements - Badge, Content Reveal and Pulse Dot: Badge and Pulse Dot are nice, but my focus here is on the new Content Reveal element. This is a container that can be expanded or collapsed with a click. This means that the typical Read More function, for example, can be implemented easily and in the Breakdance standard. Previously, this was only possible via third-party extensions (e.g. Destiny Elements) or through in-house development in the Breakdance Element Studio.
• Simple class-based design: Similar to design presets, classes can be used to change various elements (with the same class, of course) at the same time.
• Copy & Paste extensions: From now on, entire pages can be copied and pasted from website A to website B (= cross-site). Cross-site copying has been possible in Breakdance for a long time, but not for all content on a page, only section by section. Another new feature is that you can also copy individual property settings and paste them into other elements. This could be, for example, the design settings for the icon from the icon box for the icon element. Or the typography settings from a text-only element to the text of an image box.
• Extensions to the Form Builder: The Form Builder has been enhanced with various small functions. For example, the option to also send the mails to CC and BC or the option to divide forms into sections (a function that is available with every third-party plugin for forms in the paid versions!)
• Performance improvements: The performance in Breakdance is one of the flagships, it's just fun when everything "clicks" immediately and you don't have to wait (mili)seconds until you can do something (as is now often the case with Divi and Elementor). This update has made Breakdance even faster.

A very successful update from my point of view. You can find all the information in detail on the official website of Breakdance to V2 and the Changelog.

Nevertheless, I am missing some essential functions that other page builders have been offering for what feels like an eternity:

• Template Librarywhere I can save my layouts and use them on other pages (with different content). Copy & Paste is super easy and smooth in Breakdance, but in my opinion a template library is a must for a builder nowadays. If you also miss this function, please vote on the Breakdance Canny for this.
• Read ALT text from media library: Breakdance only uses the ALT of an image if it already existed before it was inserted. Subsequent changes are currently not taken into account by BD. This can currently only be solved by reinserting the image. You are also welcome to vote, you can find the link to the canny here.
• Dynamic link builder (as in Divi): Currently, the breakdance is "hard-coded" into the link field. This means that the links do not adapt with changes but must be checked manually. There is a page search, but it inserts the link into the field. Divi has a dynamic link builder that always links to the current URL of a page. This is also an extremely important feature from my point of view: Here go to the Canny.

As you can see, there is still plenty to do. But even without these functions, Breakdance is one of the best page builders in the WordPress world for me.