On September 28, 2026, Brainstorm Force shipped Spectra Legacy 2.20.4. The first line of its changelog is a security fix, credited to Wordfence. It was the fifth security release since the end of June, and the plugin’s own description now says it receives maintenance updates only, with every new feature going into a separate plugin called Spectra Blocks.
If you have client sites built on Spectra, nothing is broken today. But a plugin that only gets patches is a plugin you will eventually plan to leave, and the question is how to do it without a broken homepage. I am going to be upfront about my bias, because this is the Nexter blog: this guide shows the move to Nexter Blocks. The process, though, is the same whichever block plugin you pick, and I tested every step on a WordPress 7.1 site before writing it down.
What Actually Changed With Spectra
Spectra is now two plugins. The original plugin, still installed from the ultimate-addons-for-gutenberg listing on WordPress.org, was renamed Spectra Legacy in version 2.20.0 on July 14, 2026. A new plugin, Spectra Blocks, is where development continues.
Here is where both plugins stood when I checked their WordPress.org pages on September 30, 2026:
| Spectra Legacy | Spectra Blocks | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest version | 2.20.4 (September 28, 2026) | 1.0.10 (September 29, 2026) |
| Active installations | 1+ million | 50,000+ |
| Rating | 4.7 out of 5 from 1,870 reviews | 4.7 out of 5 |
| New features | No, maintenance only | Yes |
| Tested up to | WordPress 7.1.2 | WordPress 7.1.2 |
The gap between those install counts is the story. Over a million sites are still on the plugin that no longer gets new features.
The Legacy changelog shows what maintenance looks like in practice. Security fixes shipped in 2.19.29 on June 30, 2.20.0 on July 14, 2.20.1 on July 31, 2.20.3 on August 26 and 2.20.4 on September 28, 2026. That is responsible maintenance, and it also means every Spectra Legacy site needs updates applied promptly for as long as it runs the plugin.
Do You Have To Move At All?
No, and Brainstorm Force says so clearly. Its Spectra Blocks and Spectra Legacy FAQ states that you do not have to switch, there is no deadline, and Spectra Legacy is not being abandoned. The WordPress.org listing adds that Legacy keeps receiving security updates, compatibility fixes and support.
The same FAQ is also honest about the other side: nothing happens automatically. Even moving to Spectra Blocks means rebuilding existing pages one at a time, because the new plugin is built on a different architecture and some familiar Legacy blocks, such as the Info Box, are not separate blocks there. So the real choice is not between migrating and not migrating. It is between staying put, rebuilding in Spectra Blocks, or rebuilding in another block plugin. I would stay put if:
- The site is small, stable and rarely edited.
- You update plugins promptly anyway, so maintenance-only releases do not add risk.
- The client has no budget for a rebuild this year.
I would plan a move if the site is still growing, if you are about to redesign anyway, or if you want the pages you build from now on to sit on a plugin that is actively developed.
Plan The Migration Before You Touch A Page
A block plugin migration is mostly a planning exercise. The rebuilding is simple once you know the scope, and the risk comes from surprises halfway through. Before the first rebuild, I would answer four questions for each site:
- How many pages, posts and templates contain Spectra blocks? Step 1 below gives you that number.
- Which Spectra blocks does the site use, and do any of them map to a Pro block in the table in Step 3? That decides whether you need a paid license.
- Which pages earn traffic or leads? Those go first and get the most careful side-by-side check.
- Is there custom CSS or JavaScript that targets Spectra markup? Search your theme’s Additional CSS and any snippets for uagb before you start.
Then estimate time from your own numbers. Rebuild one typical page, time it, and multiply by the page count, with extra for templates and for pages with sliders, tabs or popups. Agree on that estimate with the client before you start, and schedule the switch away from a sale or launch week so a problem never lands at the worst moment.
Step 1: Find Every Page That Uses Spectra Blocks
Spectra Legacy blocks are saved in the post content with the uagb/ namespace, left over from the plugin’s original name, Ultimate Addons for Gutenberg. Its source code registers names like uagb/info-box, uagb/container, uagb/tabs, uagb/testimonial and uagb/faq. WordPress’s own search looks inside post content, so the fastest audit needs no extra tool:
- Go to Pages in the dashboard.
- Search for wp:uagb and press Search Pages.
- Repeat under Posts, then check templates, template parts and synced patterns in the Site Editor if your theme uses them.
- Write down each result with its traffic, so you know which pages matter most.
On a large site, a search and replace plugin in dry-run mode, or a WP-CLI search, gives you the same list faster. The goal is a written list before you touch anything.
Step 2: Understand What Breaks If You Just Deactivate It
It is tempting to switch Spectra Legacy off and see what happens. Here is what happens. Your content is not deleted, but every Spectra block becomes a block the editor no longer recognizes. I set up a test page with two Spectra Info Box blocks on a WordPress 7.1 site that does not have Spectra Legacy active, and the editor shows each one as unsupported:
On the front end, the saved HTML still prints (I confirmed the Info Box titles in the page source), but the styling that Spectra generated for each block is gone, and interactive blocks such as sliders, tabs and popups stop working because their scripts no longer load. Spectra’s FAQ gives the same advice I would: keep Spectra Legacy active for as long as any page still uses its blocks.
Step 3: Map Each Spectra Block To A Nexter Blocks Equivalent
This is the part most migration guides skip. I took the free block list from the Spectra Legacy WordPress.org page and matched each one against the Blocks screen in Nexter Blocks, which labels every block as Free, Freemium or Pro. Freemium means the block is free with some options reserved for Pro.
| Spectra Legacy block | Nexter Blocks equivalent | Tier |
|---|---|---|
| Container | Container | Free |
| Heading | Heading or Advanced Heading | Free |
| Image | Image or Advanced Image | Free / Freemium |
| Icon | Icon | Free |
| Buttons | Button or Advanced Button | Free |
| Info Box | Infobox | Free |
| Price List | Pricing List | Free |
| Counter | Number Counter | Free |
| Inline Notices | Message box | Free |
| Blockquote | Blockquote | Free |
| Countdown | Countdown | Freemium |
| Google Maps | Google Map | Freemium |
| Tabs | Tabs Tours | Freemium |
| Post Grid, Post Carousel | Post Listing | Freemium |
| Team | Team Member | Freemium |
| Testimonials | Testimonials | Freemium |
| Forms | Form | Freemium |
| FAQ | Accordion | Freemium |
| Instagram Feed | Social Feed | Freemium |
| Call To Action | CTA Banner | Pro |
| Sliders | Carousel Anything | Pro |
| Content Timeline, Post Timeline | Timeline | Pro |
| Taxonomy List | Taxonomy Listing | Pro |
| Modal Popup, Popup Builder | Popup Builder | Pro |
| Social Share | Social Sharing | Pro |
| Table of Contents | Table of Contents | Pro |
Two honest gaps. First, Spectra’s FAQ block outputs FAQPage schema (I checked its source code), its changelog references Review schema, and the Nexter Accordion block does not add FAQ schema by itself. If those pages rely on rich results, add schema separately. Nexter SEO, the free SEO module in Nexter Extension, includes a schema builder with FAQ Page and How-To types among its 18 structured data types. Second, Spectra’s Coming Soon mode is a site tool, not a block, so plan for it separately.
Step 4: Install Nexter Blocks And Run Both Plugins Side By Side
Install Nexter Blocks from Plugins, Add New, and leave Spectra Legacy active. Each plugin registers its blocks under its own name, so the two run side by side: old pages keep rendering while you rebuild. Nexter Blocks was at version 5.0.7 on WordPress.org when I checked, updated on September 22, 2026, tested up to WordPress 7.1.2 and rated 4.8 out of 5.
Running two block plugins for a few weeks does add some CSS and JavaScript on pages that use both. That cost is temporary, and you can switch off any Nexter block you never plan to use from the Blocks screen.
Step 5: Rebuild One Page At A Time
There is no converter here. I checked the Nexter Blocks source for any Spectra importer and found none, and Spectra’s own FAQ says moving to its new plugin is also a manual rebuild. So treat it like a small redesign and work in this order:
- Start with shared parts: headers, footers, archive templates and any synced patterns. One rebuild fixes many pages.
- Duplicate a page, rebuild the copy with Nexter blocks, and compare the two side by side on desktop and mobile.
- Copy text and images across rather than retyping, and recheck links and anchor IDs, because other pages may link to a section by its anchor.
- Move any custom CSS that targeted Spectra classes such as uagb-block. Those selectors will not match the new markup.
- Swap the rebuilt copy into place, keep the original URL, and move on to the next page on your list.
Here is the Info Box from the test page rebuilt with the Nexter Blocks Infobox block. The layout picker in the sidebar offers six starting styles, so most Spectra info boxes map to one of them in a few clicks:
If you duplicate pages as part of this, our guide on how to duplicate a page in WordPress walks through the options.
Step 6: Remove Spectra Legacy Only When The Search Comes Back Empty
When the search for wp:uagb returns zero results across pages, posts and templates, you are ready. Before you deactivate:
- Take a full backup, files and database, from the day before the switch.
- Clear any page cache and CDN cache, then check your ten most visited pages on a phone.
- Deactivate Spectra Legacy first and wait a few days before deleting it, so rolling back is one click.
- Open the Blocks screen in Nexter Blocks and use Scan Unused Blocks to find blocks the site never uses, then switch them off.
The same safe order applies if you are moving away from a different block plugin. We walk through a similar process in our GenerateBlocks alternatives guide, and the general checks in how to vet a WordPress plugin are worth running on any replacement before you commit client sites to it.
Nexter Blocks, Spectra Blocks Or Another Plugin?
I would be doing you a disservice if I pretended Nexter Blocks is the only sensible destination. Spectra Blocks is free, it is where Brainstorm Force now puts its effort, and if you also run the Astra theme it keeps you inside one company’s ecosystem. Our Spectra alternatives roundup compares Kadence Blocks and Stackable as well.
Where Nexter Blocks makes sense is when you want a large library of ready-made blocks in one plugin, including forms, post listings, pricing tables and WooCommerce blocks, rather than composing those layouts yourself from a small core set. The head-to-head details are in our Nexter Blocks vs Spectra comparison and our Spectra review. Whichever you pick, the six steps above are the same.
What This Doesn’t Cover
I ran these steps on a WordPress 7.1 test site on September 30, 2026. That site does not have Spectra Legacy installed, so the unsupported block screenshot comes from a test page containing Spectra’s block markup, which is exactly what a site shows after Spectra is switched off. I did not migrate a large production site for this post, and I did not benchmark page speed before and after. Spectra Pro Legacy blocks, such as its loop builder and login forms, are outside the scope of the mapping table. Install counts, versions and ratings come from WordPress.org on September 30, 2026 and will change, so recheck them before you plan a client migration.
Suggested Reading
- Best Spectra Alternatives [With Comparison Table]
- Nexter Blocks vs Spectra: 20+ Feature Comparisons
- Best GenerateBlocks Alternatives For Building WordPress Sites Without Writing CSS
- Do You Still Need a Gutenberg Blocks Plugin?
