How to Use Dynamic Data in Breakdance Builder

Website building can be likened to the art of digital crafting, and dynamic data is your magic wand. When we talk about dynamic data in WordPress, we're referring to data that's stored in your website's database and can be pulled out to use in your website design.

For beginners, this might sound complex, but it's actually an incredible tool that makes your website smarter and more interactive.

For instance, let's say you're building a real estate website. Instead of manually adding every property listing, imagine a system where you can pull in the data (that you set) of your property listings into the same template or theme.

This is dynamic data at work, and tools like the Post Loop Builder in Breakdance make this possible by visually designing custom post loops. What's a loop? It's just a fancy way of saying that the website will keep showing a series of posts, or property listings in this case, until there are none left to display.

With dynamic data, your website can adapt and change to meet different conditions. For example, you can choose to show or hide certain parts of your site based on whether the user is logged in, what day of the week it is, or how many times the user has visited a page. There's tons of creative use cases here.

If you're building a site with Breakdance, integrating these within your site is a fairly easy thing to do.

Adding Dynamic Data to a WordPress Site Using Breakdance Builder

So you can actually add data on pages, posts, themes, wherever you want. And it's very simple. To add dynamic data, find the field you want to be dynamic (a text label, image, video, etc) and click on the small server rack to the right of it.

This will open up a Dynamic data menu with tons of options. If you click on any of these, they'll automatically be inserted into the block (in this case, will replace the sample text).

Breakdance supports tons of category types of dynamic data. These include: Post, Featured Image, Archive, Site Info, Author, Current User, URL & Query, and Utility fields.

Uses Cases of Dynamic Data when Building WordPress Websites

I could go on forever. These are some ways you can use dynamic data in Breakdance + WordPress to design a more personalized and custom site.

1. Personalized Welcome Message: You can use dynamic data to create a personalized user experience. If the "User Logged In" data type is set to true, you could display a special welcome message like, "Welcome back, [username]!" This is absolutely great if you're building a Breakdance site that focuses on ecommerce (or something where somebody will login)
2. Limited-Time Offers: Utilizing the "Current Time" or "Current Date" data types, you can show or hide certain elements based on the time or day. For example, you could display a special discount or offer that only shows up on Fridays, or a late-night special that's only visible between 10 PM and 2 AM. This is a lot more complicated in other builders.
3. Progressive Web Experience: The "Page View Count" data type could be used to provide a progressive experience to users. For instance, if a user visits a certain page for the third time, you could show them a hidden piece of content that wasn't there during their first or second visit, enhancing the sense of discovery and interaction. This works with popups too!
4. Tech-Specific Tips: Using the "Browser" or "Operating System" data types, you can display helpful information or tips based on the user's technology. For example, if a user is browsing your site from a mobile device, you could provide tips for navigating the mobile version of your site, or if the user is on a macOS, you could show keyboard shortcuts specific to that operating system. Or just specific visual elements that are only shown to them.
5. User Role-Based Content: With the "User Role" data type, you can customize the content seen by different types of users. For instance, if you have a membership-based site, premium members could be shown additional content or exclusive offers that are hidden from regular users. This approach can enhance the user experience for your premium members and could serve as an enticing perk to persuade regular members to upgrade. All done within Breakdance.

I think where this is most useful for the everyday Breakdance website maker is within the custom blog template. You might want to add dynamic data to customize the layout of a blog post, adding an author name in a certain place, etc. Set that template for all your blogs & now you'll have an adaptive template for any user that writes on your site.

You'll see the new dynamic data option (whichever you selected) get set replaced as the text or input you were going to have manually.

You also have a few options if you decide to click in. You can add text before and after the custom data (preprend/append), limit the total character count, or have a default message/data if what you're trying to pull is unavailible.

ACF, Metabox, and Toolset Integrations

Breakdance is also compatible with third-party plugins to further use dynamic data. These plugins give you extremely great control over pretty much anything on your site.

I use ACF to add custom code, manage custom post types, and insert specific copy on certain pages of my site. Very powerful stuff.

Have you used dynamic data in Breakdance or have any questions regarding it? Drop a comment below!