[Support request] Reusable Block suddenly blank

[Jane]

Hi there

I had a reusable block that was working fine but now I notice the original location of the block in a page (link in private info below) is blank and the reusable block doesn’t appear in any of the posts where I’d previously had it.

When I look at a post in edit, the missing block’s location just has the empty rectangle with the plus symbol in it where the block content used to be. I can still find the reusable block listed when I search in blocks but when I try to reinsert it, it says “Block cannot be rendered inside itself”. It also gives this error message when I try to insert the reusable block in a new location elsewhere in the post.

How to fix?

Thanks in advance,
Jane

[Tom]

Hi Jane,

This means you’ve added the re-usable inside of itself, causing an infinite loop.

What you’ll need to do is go to your re-usable block manager: https://yourwebsite.com/wp-admin/edit.php?post_type=wp_block

Then, open the affected re-usable block and move it outside of itself, so there’s no loop happening.

That should fix it 🙂

[Jane]

Thanks for responding, Tom.

I followed your instructions but when you say open the block and move it outside of itself, I can’t quite see how to do that?

When I open it, all I see is the title. The rest of the page is blank.

[Elvin]

Hi Jane,

What Tom meant is, you have to visit the URL he pointed, which is the re-usable block manager page.

You then find the reusable block on the list of reusable blocks that will appear. Click edit on the problem reusable block.

On the edit reusable block page, you should be able to see the reusable block you’ve placed within itself. Simply remove it so there’s no loop within itself.

[Linda]

Update: I got that last block working again by re-entering all the text and updating it. My current theory is that any time I touch a Reusable Block within a post or page I am in danger of having it erase itself. That makes no sense, but seems to be what is happening. I will try only editing Reusable Blocks directly from Manage Reusable Blocks, and never within a post. I’m up and running, but would appreciate any ideas on why they are so fragile. Thank you.

—–
I am having this same problem, and that solution doesn’t fix it. It’s like any block I touch becomes blank. For instance, my “About the Author” block – there’s nothing in it but the title.

I’ve re-created the blocks several times in the reusable block editor, with a heading, two paragraphs, links, etc., and saved them. I click Edit again to check, and they are still there. But when I try to insert one into a post or page I just get a blank block with a + sign in it. When I go back to Manage Reusable Blocks again and view it, it’s blank again. This has happened with two blocks. I haven’t worked out the exact steps to reproduce it.

I got one of the blocks working, but not the other, and I don’t know what’s different between them. I *think* it may be that the block got erased when I used “Remove Block”, but I didn’t want to edit it or delete it, only not have it be displayed where it was.

I have time to give it one more shot this evening. Hoping I don’t have to leave my key posts without their “About the Author” info.

Thank you for any insights.

*headdesk*

[Tom]

The bug that this topic was originally about has been fixed in GenerateBlocks – so that solution is no longer needed.

The issue you’re facing sounds different. Have you tried editing them without any other plugins activated? It’s possible that a plugin is breaking the core functionality.

Feel free to open a new topic and we’ll be happy to suggest different ways to debug.

Thanks!

[Author]

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