What’s New In ConvertForce 1.1.0: Backdrop Blur, A Redesigned Advanced Targeting Panel, And New Patterns

ConvertForce 1.1.0 is out. Three things stand out in this release.

Lightbox popups now have a Backdrop Blur control, so the page behind the popup can be softened instead of only dimmed. The Advanced Targeting panel has been redesigned, which makes the Pro targeting rules much faster to set up. And pre-built patterns now exist for Lightbox Popups and Slide-Ins, not just for Notification Bars.

Three fixes round out the release, all of them related to how patterns and embedded content behave once they land in your campaign.

Here is everything that changed, one item at a time.

What’s New In ConvertForce 1.1.0

Backdrop Blur For Lightbox Popups

Backdrop Blur is a new control that blurs the page content sitting behind a lightbox popup. You set it in pixels, and 0 means no blur at all.

Until now, a lightbox popup darkened the page behind it. That works, but the page content is still fully readable through the overlay, which competes with the popup for attention. Blur removes that competition. The background becomes a soft, unreadable surface, and the popup is the only thing the eye can settle on.

Where To Find The Backdrop Blur Control

1. Open your lightbox popup campaign in the editor.
2. Select the Conversion block (the root block of the campaign).
3. Open the Block tab in the right sidebar.
4. Find the Layout section.
5. Set a value in the Backdrop Blur field, or drag the slider.

Tip: Small numbers do a lot here. A value of 2px to 4px is usually enough to push the background out of focus. Anything above 8px starts to look heavy and can feel disorienting on image-rich pages.

Backdrop Blur sits next to the Item Gap control in the Layout panel, so you can adjust both while you are shaping the popup layout.

Advanced Targeting Has Been Redesigned

This one deserves a proper introduction, because we have never covered Advanced Targeting on the blog before.

Advanced Targeting is a ConvertForce Pro feature that controls which visitors see a campaign. Display conditions (available in the free version) decide where a campaign appears on your site: which pages, posts, categories, and archives. Advanced Targeting decides who it appears for: which device, which browser, which referral source, which login state, and more.

It covers 37 conditions across eight categories:

Every condition has a Match and Don’t match toggle, which turns any rule into its own opposite. Match plus “Is Logged In” targets members. Don’t match plus “Is Logged In” targets logged-out visitors. Conditions stack with AND logic, so each rule you add narrows the audience further.

What Changed In The Panel

The rules themselves are the same. The way you pick them is not.

The toggle group controls have been redesigned. These are the small grouped buttons used throughout the editor for things like Match and Don’t match, layout type, orientation, justification, and alignment. The active option is now clearly marked, so a glance tells you which mode a control is in.

The pop-out controls have also been rebuilt. The condition dropdown is a two-level menu: the top level lists the eight categories, and choosing one opens its conditions in a panel beside it. Selecting URL, for example, opens URL Is, URL Contains, URL Begins With, URL Ends With, URL Matches Regex, Query Argument Exists, and Query Argument Is. Previously these nested menus were harder to read and easier to lose your place in.

How To Add An Advanced Targeting Condition

1. Open the campaign and select the Campaign tab in the right sidebar.
2. Expand the Advanced Targeting section.
3. Open the Condition dropdown and pick one of the eight categories.
4. Choose a condition from that category’s panel.
5. If the condition needs a value, type it into the Text field that appears.
6. Set the toggle to Match or Don’t match.
7. Click + Add Condition to stack another rule, then save.

Full documentation for every condition is in the Advanced Targeting docs, including worked examples for each category.

Pre-Built Patterns For Lightbox Popups And Slide-Ins

Patterns are ready-made campaign designs you can insert and edit instead of building a campaign from an empty canvas.

Until 1.1.0, patterns existed only for the Notification Bar campaign type. Lightbox Popups and Slide-Ins started blank every time. That is a lot of work for something you often just want to launch quickly.

Now both types open with a pattern picker.

Lightbox Popup Patterns

• Black Friday: a bold dark sale popup with a copyable coupon code and a start shopping button.
• Important Notice: a plain, calm announcement layout for shipping delays, maintenance windows, and policy updates.
• New Arrival: an image-led collection announcement with a discount badge and a shop button.
• Simple Popup: a clean two-button popup with a headline, a short line of copy, and an accept or dismiss choice.

Slide-In Patterns

• Customer Support: a support card with a staff photo, an availability line, and a call button.
• Cyber Monday: a compact sale slide-in with a coupon code and a deadline.
• Owner’s Pick: a personal recommendation card with a quote, a photo, and a single product.
• Summer Sale: a discount-led slide-in with an end date and a shop button.

Every picker also keeps a Start From Scratch option, so nothing is forced on you.

How To Use A Pattern

1. Create a new campaign and choose your display type (Lightbox Popup or Slide-In).
2. The pattern picker opens automatically.
3. Click the pattern you want, or choose Start From Scratch.
4. Edit the text, colors, images, and buttons like any other block content.
5. Set your display conditions and triggers, then publish.

Patterns are a starting point, not a template lock. Once inserted, every element is a normal block you can delete, restyle, or replace.

Fixes In This Release

Full width now applies only to figures holding an iframe. Embedded content such as videos and maps is wrapped in a figure element and needs the full width of the campaign. Ordinary images use the same wrapper, so they were being stretched too. Now only figures containing an iframe get full-width treatment, and images keep the size you set.

Pattern titles display correctly. Pattern names containing apostrophes and other special characters could show raw character codes instead of the character itself. Owner’s Pick is the obvious example. Titles now render as written.

Patterns keep their spacing across themes. Patterns used to store padding and margins as theme spacing variables. Because every theme defines those variables differently, the same pattern could look cramped on one site and airy on another. Patterns now store real values, so a pattern looks the same wherever you insert it.

How To Update To ConvertForce 1.1.0

Go to Dashboard > Updates or Plugins and update ConvertForce. Pro users should update the free plugin first, then the Pro add-on.

Clear your page cache afterwards. Backdrop Blur is a style change, so a cached stylesheet can hide it on the front end.

What’s Next

Patterns are the area we plan to keep expanding. Four designs per campaign type is a start, not a finished library, and seasonal and industry-specific designs are next on the list.

We are also working through the campaign editor interface the same way we did with the targeting panel in this release. Support threads and feature requests shape these releases directly, so if a control feels awkward, tell us.

Frequently Asked Questions

Full ConvertForce 1.1.0 Changelog

• NEW: Blur control for lightbox backdrop.
• IMPROVE: Redesigned toggle group and popped-up controls.
• IMPROVE: Updated patterns.
• FIX: Only do full width on figures having iframe.
• FIX: Title encoding in patterns.
• FIX: Resolve theme spacing variables to values in patterns.

The complete version history is on the ConvertForce changelog at WordPress.org.