Running Banner

Running Banner is a custom WordPress plugin that adds a scrolling banner block and shortcode for repeated text-and-image marquees.

Features

• Gutenberg block: running-banner/running-banner
• Shortcode: [running-banner]
• Repeated text items with optional image
• Adjustable item count and animation speed
• Text color and background color controls
• Font size, weight, style, and family controls
• Google Font loading for selected font families
• Server-side rendering for block output

Installation

1. Copy the plugin folder to wp-content/plugins/running-banner
2. Activate Running Banner in the WordPress admin
3. Add the Running Banner block in the editor or use the shortcode

GitHub Updates

This plugin now checks GitHub releases for updates using the repository URL in its Update URI header.

To publish an update that WordPress can install:

1. Bump the plugin version in running-banner.php and blocks/running-banner/block.json
2. Create a Git tag that matches the version, such as v1.0.3
3. Publish a GitHub Release for that tag
4. GitHub Actions will build and attach running-banner.zip automatically

The workflow validates that the release tag matches the plugin and block versions before uploading the ZIP.

If you hit GitHub API rate limits, define RUNNING_BANNER_GITHUB_TOKEN in wp-config.php or filter it with running_banner_github_token.

Block Usage

Add the Running Banner block from the block inserter, then configure:

• Repeated text
• Items per track
• Animation speed
• Optional image
• Image alt text
• Font size
• Font weight
• Font style
• Font family
• Text color
• Background color

Shortcode Usage

Basic example:

[running-banner label="Latest" repeatCount="8" speed="18"]

Example with image and styles:

[running-banner label="News" imageUrl="https://example.com/icon.png" imageAlt="News icon" repeatCount="10" speed="20" textColor="#ffffff" backgroundColor="#111111" fontFamily="Space Grotesk" fontSize="18" fontWeight="700" fontStyle="italic"]

Shortcode Attributes

• label
• imageId
• imageUrl
• imageAlt
• repeatCount
• speed
• textColor
• backgroundColor
• fontFamily
• fontSize
• fontWeight
• fontStyle
• textTransform

Notes

• repeatCount is limited to values between 2 and 20
• speed is limited to values between 8 and 60
• fontSize is limited to values between 12 and 48
• fontStyle supports normal and italic
• textTransform supports none, uppercase, lowercase, and capitalize
• The plugin includes a curated built-in Google Fonts list for the editor control

Files

• running-banner.php - plugin bootstrap, block registration, shortcode rendering
• blocks/running-banner/block.json - block metadata
• blocks/running-banner/editor.js - editor UI and preview behavior
• assets/banner.css - front-end and editor styling