=== Gene Scroll Hero – Video Background Hero that Plays as You Scroll ===

Contributors: onecraftne, freemius
Tags: hero, video background, hero block, scroll, cinematic
Requires at least: 6.4
Tested up to: 7.0
Requires PHP: 7.4
Stable tag: 3.6.2
License: GPL-2.0-or-later
License URI: https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html

Turn your homepage into a scene from a film. Add a background video that plays as visitors scroll — with your headline over it. No code.

== Description ==

You've seen those websites where you scroll and a video plays behind the words — a car being built, waves rolling in, a city at night. It looks expensive. It looks like a movie.

**Gene Scroll Hero** puts that on your WordPress site. Pick a video, type a heading, and the top of your page opens like a film. As people scroll down, the video plays. Scroll back up, and it rewinds.

No page builder, no designer, no code.

= Make it in a minute =

1. Add the **Scroll Hero** block to any page.
2. Choose a background — a video, or just an image.
3. Type your headline.

That's the whole thing. Your hero fills the screen, your video moves with the scroll, and your words sit right on top.

= Where people use it =

* The top of a **homepage**, so the first thing visitors see feels alive
* A **product** or new-launch page
* A **portfolio** or a **photographer's** site
* A **restaurant**, **café**, **gym** or **studio**
* A **wedding** or **event** page
* A **real-estate** listing that shows the place in motion

= Why you'll like it =

* **Dead simple.** A video and a headline — that's the block.
* **Make it yours.** Pick the heading color and the button colors right in the sidebar.
* **It stays fast.** The hero only loads on the pages that use it, so the rest of your site isn't slowed down.
* **Looks right on phones.** It fills the screen and stacks neatly on small screens.
* **Nothing breaks.** If a visitor's browser is old, has motion turned off, or JavaScript is blocked, your video still shows and your words are still there. And if you ever switch the plugin off, your content stays put.
* **It's yours.** No accounts, no watermarks, nothing loaded from someone else's server.

= Want more? =

The free version gives you the full scroll-video hero with one headline and a call-to-action button, the glass-shatter finale at the end of the scroll, and heading/button colors to match your brand. **Pro** goes further: add several headlines that appear one after another as visitors scroll; place each one anywhere on the screen with a frame-synced timeline; chain **chapters** — several videos where each plays with the scroll, then its last frame breaks apart to reveal the next; give phones their own lighter portrait clip; and fine-tune the scroll length, the break style, fonts and button shapes. Learn more at https://gene-wp.com/.

== Installation ==

1. Install and activate the plugin.
2. Edit a page, open the block inserter (the "+"), and add the **Scroll Hero** block (under the **GENE Motion** category).
3. Choose a background video or image, type a heading, and publish.

Tip: a short clip (a few seconds) gives the smoothest result.

== Frequently Asked Questions ==

= Do I need to know any code? =

No. Add the block, pick a video, type a heading. There's nothing to set up.

= What kind of video should I use? =

An **MP4** works best. Keep it short — a few seconds is plenty, since the video is tied to scrolling rather than playing on a timer. Shorter clips also keep your page light and scrub more smoothly.

= Can I use an image instead of a video? =

Yes. Set an image as the background and you get a clean full-screen hero with your heading — no video required.

= Will it slow down my site? =

No. The hero's script only loads on the pages that actually use it, so the rest of your site is untouched.

= Does it work on phones? =

Yes. The hero fills the screen and adapts to small screens. On phones that prefer reduced motion, the video simply plays gently instead of tying to the scroll.

= What happens if I deactivate the plugin? =

Your video and heading stay on the page as normal content. The scroll effect is what goes away — your page doesn't break.

= Can the heading change as people scroll? =

That's the **Pro** feature: add several headings and they appear one after another as visitors scroll, like a short story. The free version gives you one headline.

== Screenshots ==

1. A full-screen scroll hero on the front end — a background video with your headline over it.
2. Editing in WordPress: add the Scroll Hero block, choose a background video or image, and type your heading.
3. Find it in the block inserter — add "Scroll Hero" under the GENE Motion category.

== Changelog ==

= 3.6.2 =
* Headings now show exactly the way you type them. They were forced to UPPERCASE before; if you want capitals, type them. (Headings you already wrote keep their text — only how they're displayed changes.)
* The label line above the heading has been retired: a heading is a heading and a sub-line, nothing else. Labels already on a page still show.
* Pro: write your heading straight on the hero. Click a heading to select it, click again to type — no trip to the sidebar. The sidebar fields still work.
* Pro: the heading and the sub-line each get their own size (60–200%) and alignment (left, centered, right).
* Fixed: clicks on a heading in the free-placement editor no longer get ignored, and a click never nudges it out of place.

= 3.6.1 =
* Pro: in the free-placement timeline, buttons are now their own items — a call-to-action gets its own spot and its own appear/leave timing, separate from any heading. Turn free placement on and an older heading that carried a button splits into a heading and a button automatically; turn it off and the button folds back under its heading.
* Pro: chapters can now be arranged by dragging. Drag each heading (or button) straight onto the chapter to place it, and trim when it appears on the track below — the same hands-on editor the single hero already had, now per chapter.
* Fixed: timeline buttons now sit centered on the spot you placed them (they could drift to the left before), and the Desktop/Phone switch in the editor is now readable on its dark toolbar.

= 3.6.0 =
* One plugin, two tiers. The Pro features now unlock right here with a license — no separate plugin to install. The free tier is unchanged: a background, a heading, and the scroll-scrub still work exactly as before with no license.
* New finale: with a video background, the frozen last frame can break into glass shards that scatter as visitors keep scrolling — scroll back and it reassembles. Free. Pro adds a split-apart style and control over how long the break lasts.
* Headings can now carry call-to-action buttons; only the heading currently on screen accepts clicks.
* Pro: place headings anywhere on the hero and set when each appears and leaves as visitors scroll — a free-placement timeline, with a frame-synced editor for video backgrounds.
* Pro: add several headings that swap one after another as you scroll, and fine-tune the scroll length.
* Pro: chapters — chain several background videos; each plays with the scroll, then its last frame breaks apart to reveal the next. Only the current and next chapter ever load, and each chapter can place its headline somewhere new (bottom left, centered, or bottom right).
* Pro: a separate phone video — small screens load a lighter portrait clip instead of the desktop one, for the hero and for each chapter.
* The scroll-scrub and chapters now run on phones too, not just desktops.
* The editor shows a weight gauge for background videos, with plain advice when a clip is heavy. Nothing is re-encoded without you.
* New design controls: color the heading and the buttons (free), and pick a font preset or a button shape (Pro). System fonts only — nothing loads from outside.
* The editor and the plugin's admin pages now speak Japanese when WordPress is set to Japanese.

= 3.5.0 =
* New focus: the plugin is now a single **Scroll Hero** block — a full-screen background video (or image) that plays as visitors scroll, with your headline over it.
* Heads-up for people upgrading from the earlier gallery/carousel motion blocks: those blocks have been retired. Pages that used them keep their saved content, but the blocks are no longer editable in this version.
* Headline placement (centered or bottom-left), an editorial uppercase headline, an editable heading color, and a lighter default dim overlay.
* On reload, the page now loads at the top instead of restoring the scroll deep inside the hero.
* Renamed the plugin to "Gene Scroll Hero".

= 3.4.2 =
* Added a built-in Getting Started guide on the plugin's admin page.
* Added Community (Discord) and review links to the admin page. No functional changes to the block.

= 3.4.1 =
* Clearer listing so the plugin is easier to find. No functional changes.

= 3.4.0 =
* New direction, built around a single, focused block for the block editor.
* The previous "Complete Site" generator was retired. Pages you already generated are native core blocks and keep working.
