Block Types
Slate courses are built from blocks: modular content elements you add to lessons. Each block type serves a different purpose, from displaying text and media to creating interactive learning experiences.
Content Blocks
Section titled “Content Blocks”Display information to your learners using text, images, video, audio, and document embeds.
Structure Blocks
Section titled “Structure Blocks”Organize and lay out your content with dividers, accordions, tabs, tables, and flexible layouts.
Interactive Blocks
Section titled “Interactive Blocks”Engage learners with buttons, knowledge checks, embedded content, and custom code.
Present information in visually distinct card formats, including flip cards and carousels.
Special Blocks
Section titled “Special Blocks”Advanced blocks like labeled graphics for detailed visual annotations.
Block spacing
Section titled “Block spacing”Every block has a Spacing control that adjusts the vertical space above and below it, so you can tighten or open up the rhythm of a lesson without changing the theme.
To use it, open a block’s three-dot menu in the editor and choose Spacing. A centered slider runs from -100% (tight) through 0 (default) to +100% (loose), with a small percentage readout above the track. The slider snaps softly to zero when you slide near the centre, and a Reset button appears whenever the value is not zero.
Spacing is saved per block and carries through preview, published courses, and exports. It works in main lessons, cover pages, and conclusion pages.
Blocks with a coloured background (banded blocks) keep a small minimum padding even at -100%, so content never collides with the band’s edge. Two banded blocks placed back to back stay flush by default; if you increase the spacing on the first one, the gap opens up between them.
Shape dividers
Section titled “Shape dividers”Banded blocks (any block with a coloured background) can have a shaped top edge, a shaped bottom edge, or both. Shape dividers carve the band edge into a curve, wave, or geometric outline so sections feel less boxy without any custom CSS.
To add one, open a block’s three-dot menu and choose Shape dividers. The dialog has separate Top edge and Bottom edge tabs. Each edge is configured independently and can use any of ten built-in shapes:
- Wave - flowing horizontal wave
- Curve - single gentle arc
- Tilt - diagonal slope
- Triangle - single peak
- Mountains - multiple peaks
- Clouds - rounded cloud silhouette
- Zigzag - sharp alternating peaks
- Scallops - repeating soft semicircles
- Steps - stair-step blocks
- Fade - soft gradient blend
Each edge also has a Height slider and a Flip horizontally toggle, so the same shape can be tuned to feel subtle or dramatic and mirrored to break repetition between stacked blocks.
If you add a shape divider to a block that doesn’t already have a coloured background, Slate adds a neutral background band automatically so the carved edge has something to cut into. A short notice in the dialog confirms when this happens.
Shape dividers are not available on image-background bands. The divider model carves the band edge to reveal the page surface behind it, which only works on solid-colour bands. To use a divider with an image-styled section, set the band to a colour first.
Shape dividers carry through preview, published courses, and every export format that uses the player (SCORM, xAPI, cmi5, HTML).