ZHD Elementor Blocks

ZHD Elementor Blocks is now an AI copilot for Elementor. It turns briefs and screenshot references into saved design drafts, then compiles approved drafts into native Elementor library templates.

Current scope

• OOP plugin bootstrap with internal autoloading
• Single Elementor workspace widget: ZHD AI Copilot
• Custom Elementor category: ZHD AI Copilot
• Admin area for overview, AI Studio, settings, updates, and tools
• Public GitHub Releases updater
• Screenshot-aware OpenAI Responses API generation
• Structured AI draft storage inside the plugin
• Elementor compiler that saves approved drafts into the Elementor library

Plugin structure

zhd-block-wp/
├── zhd-elementor-blocks.php
├── includes/
├── widgets/
├── assets/
├── docs/
└── languages/

Requirements

• WordPress 6.5+
• PHP 8.1+
• Elementor 3.20+

Installation

1. Copy this repository into wp-content/plugins/.
2. Activate ZHD Elementor Blocks from WordPress admin.
3. Ensure Elementor is active.
4. Configure OpenAI in ZHD Blocks -> Settings if you want direct AI generation.

Admin pages

Open ZHD Blocks in WordPress admin to access:

• Overview: dependency status, installed widgets, version details
• Settings: manage operational plugin settings like AI and updater preferences
• AI Studio: generate drafts from briefs and screenshots, validate structured payloads, and save drafts to the plugin or the Elementor library
• Updates: inspect GitHub release metadata used for updates
• Tools: clear caches and export a debug snapshot

GitHub updater notes

The updater reads public GitHub Releases from:

• zhd-block-wp

Recommended release flow:

1. Bump the plugin version.
2. Tag the release as vX.Y.Z.
3. Push the tag to GitHub.
4. The GitHub Actions workflow creates the GitHub Release automatically, builds zhd-elementor-blocks.zip, and attaches it to the release.
5. Install the plugin from that release ZIP on the first site install, then future releases can be updated directly from WordPress.

Direct WordPress updates

This repo now supports WordPress-native updates from GitHub Releases.

• First install: use the packaged release ZIP asset named zhd-elementor-blocks.zip
• Ongoing updates: WordPress will detect newer GitHub Releases through the built-in updater
• Important: use the release ZIP asset, not GitHub's autogenerated source ZIP, because the release ZIP is packaged with the correct plugin folder name for updates

Documentation

• Release checklist
• QA checklist
• AI extension notes

Next recommended steps

• Test screenshot-driven draft generation on a live Elementor site
• Add direct in-editor insertion from the AI Copilot workspace widget if you want a tighter Elementor workflow
• Push the first tagged release and verify the workflow-created GitHub Release
• Add automated PHPUnit/WordPress integration tests once a local WP test harness is in place