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  • What is a block?
  • Why are blocks special?
  1. Getting Started

Blocks

Pieces of content on Are.na

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Last updated 1 year ago

What is a block?

Blocks are the individual pieces of content on Are.na.

A block can be:

  • a file (like an image, a PDF, a text file, etc)

  • a URL (link to a webpage, a YouTube video, a SoundCloud link, etc)

  • a piece of raw text

Why are blocks special?

When a block is saved to Are.na, we try to extract as much metadata as we can from it.

For example:

  • If the block is an image, we will save the original source, extract any text, get the dimensions, etc.

  • For webpages and links, we extract the text of the page, take a screenshot, etc.

Blocks can also be connected to an infinite number of channels, which means that a public block on Are.na accumulates context over time (see Connections).

A view of blocks in a grid