We’re excited to introduce an important update to the WordPress Tooltips Pro Plus Plugin. 36.2.8, focused on modern WordPress compatibility, multilingual stability, and future-proof performance.
This release refactors the internal widget system to be 100% block-safe, fully compatible with Gutenberg, Polylang (including Polylang Pro), and modern themes such as Salient.
How to add a Tooltip Widget (from Gutenberg’s Legacy Widget) into a WordPress Sidebar
This step-by-step guide will walk you through using a Tooltip widget that lives in the Gutenberg legacy widgets. The Legacy Widget approach lets you reuse an older, familiar widget inside the new block-based widget editor.
Prerequisites (what you’ll need)
– WordPress that supports block-based widgets (the new Block Widgets Editor). If you’re using a recent WordPress version, you’ll see a Block Editor in Appearance > Widgets.
– A Tooltip widget provided by wordpress tooltips plugin. You’ll typically need the WordPress Tooltip plugin that adds a widget to your Appearance > Widgets area (for example, Tooltips for WordPress or similar plugins). Install and activate the plugin, then confirm you have a Tooltip widget available in the widget list.
– A theme with a sidebar area (most themes include a Sidebar widget area). If you’re unsure, look for a “Sidebar” area under Appearance > Widgets.
Step-by-step guide
1) Install and activate our WordPress Tooltip plugin
– In your WordPress dashboard, go to Plugins > Add New.
– Upload and Install and activate it.
– Confirm that the Tooltip widget appears when you go to Appearance > Widgets. This is the widget you’ll place in your sidebar.
2) Open the Block-based Widgets Editor for your sidebar
– In the WordPress dashboard, go to Appearance > Widgets. You’ll see your theme’s widget areas (like Sidebar, Footer, etc.). Click the Sidebar area you want to edit. This is where we’ll place the tooltip. ([wordpress.org](https://wordpress.org/documentation/article/block-based-widgets-editor/))
3) Add a Legacy Widget block to the sidebar
– In the selected widget area (e.g., Sidebar), click the + block inserter to add a new block.
– Search for and select the “Legacy Widget” block. This block lets you insert a classic (pre-block) widget into the block-based widget editor.
4) Choose your Tooltip widget inside the Legacy Widget block
– After adding the Legacy Widget block, you’ll see a dropdown or selector inside the block’s settings to pick
Then, you can insert tooltips widget into the sidebar
🔍 Why This Change Was Necessary
WordPress has changed a lot in recent years.
Widgets are now block-based
Content is rendered through Gutenberg’s block engine
Multilingual plugins like Polylang rely on block-level rendering to show the correct language
However, older widget APIs—especially wp_register_sidebar_widget()—were designed long before Gutenberg existed.
The result?
In some setups, especially multilingual sites, this could cause:
❌ Multiple languages appearing at the same time
❌ Footer or sidebar widgets ignoring the language switcher
❌ Unexpected duplication of content
❌ Conflicts with block-based themes
It was a limitation of legacy widget architecture.
✅ What We Changed in This Version
1️⃣ Migrated to the Modern Widget API
We replaced the legacy widget registration system with the modern WP_Widget class, which is:
Fully supported by WordPress
Compatible with block-based widgets
Safely handled by Gutenberg
This ensures WordPress can correctly process widget output using its native rendering pipeline.
2️⃣ Block-Safe Rendering (No Forced Content Processing)
The widget now:
Outputs content only
Does not manipulate or rewrite block markup
Does not bypass block rendering
This allows Gutenberg and Polylang to do their job correctly.
3️⃣ Polylang-Friendly by Design
Polylang determines which content to display at block render time.
With the new architecture:
Language-specific blocks (pll_lang=”de”, pll_lang=”fr”, etc.) are respected
Only the correct language content is rendered
The language switcher behaves exactly as expected
🌍 Real-World Example
Before (Old Behavior)
A multilingual site with a footer widget like this:
German contact info block
French contact info block
When WordPress Tooltips plugin was active:
❌ Both German and French content appeared together
❌ Language switcher stopped working in the footer
After (New Behavior)
With the updated widget system:
🇩🇪 German visitors see only German contact info
🇫🇷 French visitors see only French contact info
✅ Language switcher works correctly
✅ No duplicated content
✅ Clean, predictable output
🧩 Common Use Cases That Benefit
This update is especially helpful if you are running:
🌐 Multilingual websites (Polylang / Polylang Pro)
🧱 Block-based themes (Salient, Astra, GeneratePress, etc.)
🦶 Footer widgets with language-specific content
📚 Tooltip-heavy knowledge bases or documentation sites
🛍️ Multilingual WooCommerce stores with tooltips in sidebars
🔐 Future-Proof & Stable
This refactor ensures the Tooltips plugin:
✔ Works with current WordPress versions
✔ Is ready for future Gutenberg updates
✔ Avoids deprecated APIs
✔ Plays nicely with other plugins
✔ Delivers consistent output across themes
🧠 In Simple Terms
Widgets should display content — not rewrite it.
By letting WordPress and Gutenberg handle rendering, we ensure:
Better compatibility
Better performance
Better multilingual support
🎉 Summary
✔ Modern widget architecture
✔ Full Gutenberg compatibility
✔ Polylang & Polylang Pro friendly
✔ No duplicated content
✔ Cleaner, safer, future-ready code
This update is a big step forward in making WordPress Tooltips more reliable for modern WordPress sites.
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