Cinema Stories
A cinematic split story slider with monumental titles, immersive photography and a numbered reader-controlled index for an independent film journal.
Preview patternAbout this pattern
Where The Dispatch fits
The front page of a magazine or journal site, where one cover holds several lead stories and a numbered index lets readers pick.
Use it for
- Online magazine home page
- Quarterly journal issue page
- Newsletter archive front
- Editorial blog landing page
What you can edit
Every word, image and link is a WordPress block
Select any of them in the block editor and change it in place. Colours, type and spacing use the blocks’ own controls.
The layout stays protected while you edit. Unlock layout, in the section’s settings, lets you insert, move and remove any block.
- 3imagesall required
- 4headingsall required
- 16text lines13 optional
- 4buttonsall required
- 3itemsAdd item or Remove last item; 1 always stays
Section settings
- Appearance: Designed or Use my theme
- Animate changes
- Unlock layout
How it behaves
It still works when things are switched off
A numbered index of tabs changes the cover story, image and cover lines in place. Arrow keys, Home and End move through the index.
- Motion off or reduced motion
- It shows its final state at once; anything a visitor can press or drag still works.
- JavaScript off
- All content stays visible and readable; controls the script adds are hidden.
- Plugin missing or older
- It pastes as plain WordPress blocks, in reading order, without the designed layout.
Questions
The Dispatch: common questions
What is The Dispatch for?
The front page of a magazine or journal site, where one cover holds several lead stories and a numbered index lets readers pick. Typical uses: online magazine home page, quarterly journal issue page, newsletter archive front and editorial blog landing page.
Does The Dispatch need a plugin?
Yes. Designed Patterns come with a subscription, which includes the Pattern Paste plugin that runs them; The Dispatch arrived in plugin 0.25.0. Without the plugin, or on an older version, it pastes as plain WordPress blocks: the content reads in order, without the designed layout.
What can I edit in The Dispatch?
As pasted it has 3 images, 4 headings, 16 text lines and 4 buttons, 13 of them optional and removable. The items are a repeatable set: the item controls add one or remove the last. The layout stays protected while you edit. Unlock layout, in the section’s settings, lets you insert, move and remove any block.
Will The Dispatch match my theme?
Choose Designed to keep its own palette and type, or Use my theme to let it follow your theme’s colours and fonts. Either works in any block theme on WordPress 7.0 or later. Choose Use my theme in the preview above to see it follow a theme before you copy.
Can the motion be switched off?
Yes. Turn off Animate changes in the section settings, and visitors who ask their device for reduced motion get the same: the section shows its final state at once and anything they can press or drag still works. With JavaScript off, all content stays visible.
