The signature moment
One column in four is lit
Three frames sit under an 80% veil of your contrast, each carrying a huge numeral and a short title at its foot. The second frame has no veil at all: the photograph shows untouched, as if a light had been switched on in one column of four, and its title moves onto a small plate of your base. The plate is itself a plain-colour cover, so it paints above the photograph.
Theme handoff
What comes from where
Theme and pattern
Inherits: every colour, the typeface, the spacing scale. Decides: the veil's opacity, which frame is lit, the frame heights (a padding that grows with the viewport, so a phone's frames are shorter), and the four, two by two, one column steps: each pair is a grid whose columns are at least half its width, so the band never leaves a hole.
Full pattern notes
Why it works, and how it is built
Open a topic for the complete design reasoning, editing guidance and implementation notes.
Design rationaleComposition, intent and nearest alternatives
Overview
A heading row on your page ground over a full-bleed band of four tall core/cover frames, set edge to edge with no gaps.
The signature moment: one column in four is lit
Three frames sit under an 80% veil of your contrast, each carrying a huge numeral and a short title at its foot. The second frame has no veil at all: the photograph shows untouched, as if a light had been switched on in one column of four, and its title moves onto a small plate of your base. The plate is itself a plain-colour cover, so it paints above the photograph.
Theme behaviourInheritance, fixed decisions and contrast
What it inherits, what it decides
Inherits: every colour, the typeface, the spacing scale. Decides: the veil's opacity, which frame is lit, the frame heights (a padding that grows with the viewport, so a phone's frames are shorter), and the four, two by two, one column steps: each pair is a grid whose columns are at least half its width, so the band never leaves a hole.
Technical notesBlock mechanics, responsive behaviour and constraints
Why type on the photograph is permitted here
At dimRatio 80 with a contrast veil, base type keeps its contrast over any photograph you choose, white or black. The clear frame carries no type on the photograph: its numeral and title sit on the plate, contrast on base. The numerals and the heading are display type, a bare clamp(), because their size is the composition; the frame titles take the x-large rung.
What a buyer changes first
The four photographs, then the titles; keep them to one or two words. To light a different frame, set that cover's overlay opacity to 0 and move the plate into it.
Included images
The copied markup includes WordPress Photo Directory example photographs. The public image URLs keep the examples visible after pasting. Select an image or cover and choose Replace to use your own Media Library files. See image credits for the sources and licenses. Pasting an image URL does not import a Media Library attachment.
Questions
Cover lit column: common questions
Does Cover lit column need a plugin?
No. It is built only from core WordPress blocks (button, buttons, column, columns, cover, group, heading and paragraph), so it pastes into the block editor with nothing to install.
Will Cover lit column match my theme?
Choose by variation. One lit column takes your theme’s palette; Graphite and signal yellow brings its own colours.
How many variations does Cover lit column have?
2: One lit column and Graphite and signal yellow. Each is its own markup; choose one in the toolbar above the preview before you copy.
Can I use my own images?
Yes. Sample images stay in the copied blocks. Replace them in WordPress; pasting does not upload them to your Media Library.
Is Cover lit column free?
It is included with a subscription, with every Core Pattern and variation. 62 Core Patterns are free to copy without one.
The markup
Core block markup and nothing else. Copy it, then paste it straight into the block editor: WordPress reads the delimiters and rebuilds the blocks.
Fetching the markup…Variation: Graphite and signal yellow
Fetching the markup…
