Here is a complete guide to understanding the WordPress Block Editor.
If you’re searching for answers to questions like “What is the WordPress Block Editor? ” This article should provide answers to all the questions.
By the end of this article, you’ll know:
- What is the WordPress Block Editor
- Why Block Editor replaced Classic Editor
- What are WordPress Blocks and Patterns
- The Future of WordPress Block Editor
And a list of related topics.
Without any delay, let’s get started.
Chapter 1
Introduction
Let’s start with our first chapter.
This chapter will establish a foundation for understanding WordPress and the need for a Block Editor.
We’ll also see why you should adapt to the new editor.
Let’s get started.
Brief Overview of WordPress as a Platform
WordPress is an open-source content management system.
It started as a blogging platform around 2004 but has evolved into a simple platform for building business websites.
You can use the WordPress platform to create:
- a simple blog,
- a business website,
- an online store,
- create a course website,
- create multi-language websites,
And so much more.
Now that you know a little about WordPress, let’s quickly understand the WordPress Block Editor.
What is the WordPress Block Editor (Gutenberg)
WordPress Block Editor, aka Gutenberg editor, is the latest content editor that replaced the classic editor. After the WordPress 5.0 update, Block Editor became the default editor with a vision to impact the publishing industry.
Rather than using the WYSIWYG classic editor, the WordPress Block Editor uses blocks to add content. You get individual content elements like text blocks, image blocks, video blocks, and so on.
The block method uses the drag-and-drop approach that improves customization and design flexibility.
Let’s see what the new editor offers.
Importance of Understanding the Block Editor
The rollout of the new editor marked the beginning of seamless advanced features like multilingual websites, co-author editing, and designing without installing multiple third-party plugins.
Here are some key features of the WordPress Block editor:
- Customization: Customizing became much easier by introducing features like full-site editing, patterns, block themes, and more.
- Editing: With the release of Gutenberg in WordPress 5.0, the way of creating and editing posts/pages changed utterly.
- Designing: Like the Elementor plugin, the Gutenberg editor uses a drag-and-drop approach to design pages. This also reduces the need to design all the pages in third-party page builder plugins.
Now that you have basic knowledge of the WordPress block editor, we’ll focus on every vital terminology to understand more about the editor.
Chapter 2
WordPress Blocks: The Basics
In this chapter, we’ll learn “What are Blocks?” and “How to use Blocks in WordPress.”
We’ll see the different types of blocks available and whether it is possible to use third-party blocks.
Let’s get started.
What are Blocks?
Blocks are the draggable content elements used in posts/pages in the WordPress Block Editor.
The old editor, the TinyMCE editor, was more focused on editing text. In contrast, the Block Editor allows you to design the page with visual elements.
Blocks revolutionize the process of adding and customizing content such as images, videos, and embeds. They make these tasks significantly easier than in the classic editor, enhancing your content creation experience.
Let’s understand more about the different types of blocks in detail.
Types of Blocks in Block Editor
Entirely based on the drag-and-drop approach, the WordPress Block editor offers a variety of blocks, such as text blocks, media blocks, layout blocks, and widgets.
Let’s see the different types of blocks available in WordPress.
Text Blocks: Paragraphs, headings, lists
Text blocks allow you to include headings, paragraphs, and other text elements in the content. Some of the primary text blocks available are:
- Paragraph
- Heading
- List
- Quote
- Pullquote
- Classic
- Details
- Preformatted
- Code
- Table
- Verse
Media Blocks: Images, galleries, audio, video
Media blocks enable you to upload various files to the media library and embed them in the content. There are seven types of media blocks:
- Image
- Gallery
- Audio
- Cover
- File
- Media and text
- Video
Layout Blocks: Columns, groups, cover
You can easily customize the content layout with design blocks using the WordPress block editor. Although this block type doesn’t add content, it helps shape how the content will appear to site visitors.
Here are some types of layout design blocks:
- Columns
- Group
- Row
- Stack
- Buttons
- Page break
- Separator
- Spacer
Columns, groups, and rows are also WordPress container block types, meaning they can contain individual blocks.
For example, you can divide the content area into two parts by taking two columns of 50:50 ratio. You can then add text content in one part and an image in another.
This took time to achieve in the Classic editor. But it’s easier to achieve in the WordPress Block Editor.
Widgets: Custom blocks for sidebars and footers
WordPress widgets are elements that let you add features to specific areas, such as sidebars, headers, and footer areas.
With the invention of the WordPress Block editor, widgets are now available as blocks you can insert on a page, in the sidebar, headers, and footers.
Here is a list of the widget blocks available in WordPress Block Editor:
- Search
- Latest comments
- Latest posts
- Archives
- Calendar
- Categories List
- Custom HTML
- Page list
- RSS
- Shortcode
- Social icons
- Tag Cloud
Custom and third-party blocks
Apart from the default WordPress blocks, the Block Editor architecture can be extended so that developers can extend the code and create more blocks.
These are generally called third-party blocks. Plugins that offer custom blocks are called block plugins.
Several block plugins are available in the WordPress plugin repository.
Installing a block plugin is the same as installing any other plugin.
Although many block plugins exist, we’ve developed our own that works seamlessly with the most popular WordPress themes.
Responsive Blocks – WordPress Gutenberg Blocks
Responsive Blocks is a free WordPress Gutenberg Blocks plugin that provides a library of over 50 fully functional native WordPress blocks and more than 100 WordPress website templates and sections. This plugin lets you easily create impressive pages using the default WordPress editor without coding.
Key Features of Responsive Blocks Plugin:
- 50+ free WordPress Blocks
- 100+ ready-to-import WordPress Block Templates
- 250+ ready-to-use Block sections
- WooCommerce Blocks
- Cross-Browser Compatible
- Priority Support
- Seamless integration with WordPress editor
Created by the Cyberchimps team, the Responsive Blocks plugin delivers top-notch WordPress features.
Additionally, the Responsive Blocks plugin seamlessly integrates with the Responsive Plus – Starter Templates plugin to provide a library of fully functional, professionally built websites that you can import and launch your website with just a few clicks!
Chapter 3
How Does the WordPress Block Editor Work?
In this chapter, we’ll learn how to use the WordPress block editor.
By the end of this chapter, you’ll know how things work in the new editor.
We’ll drag and drop blocks, use customization settings, and see tricks to speed up the workflow.
Without much waiting, let’s begin.
How to Add a Block on the Editor
From your WordPress dashboard, open a page or a post.
From the post interface, you will see a Title block already on the post or page.
Below is a “+” icon that lets you add a block.
It will open a Dropbox with the standard blocks and a Browse All button. Click on the Browse All button to open the list of all the blocks.
You can access all the blocks using the blue button at the top left. There, you’ll find all the categorized blocks and a search bar to find particular ones.
The last method to add a new block is typing a slash /. Type the block required and hit the Enter button on the keyboard.
That’s how easy it is to add a block on the block editor.
You can start typing in the heading and paragraph blocks. Upload the image to the image block.
How to Move and Arrange Blocks
Moving content elements around is one of the everyday actions you’ll perform in the Gutenberg editor.
To rearrange blocks, click on a block and select the six-dot icon on the toolbar. Then, drag it to your desired position.
You can also select multiple blocks and move themes at a time.
To connect the blocks, click on the first block and hold down the other blocks with the Shift key.
Then, choose the block above or below as needed and drag the blocks together with the size-dot icon.
Customization Options for Each Block
Customizing blocks in the WordPress Block Editor is simple. Clicking on a block within the content editor makes its toolbar appear at the top.
Besides, every block offers customization options in the right sidebar. Click on the settings icon at the top-right corner of the editor to open the right-side panel.
Navigate to the Block tab.
Here, you will find settings to modify styles, change typography and colors, adjust dimensions, and so on.
Advanced options are also provided to add HTML and CSS to customize the block with code.
How to Add Text, Headings, Images, and Media Elements
Let’s start with the text part.
Adding Text
You can add text content by using paragraph and heading blocks.
Start writing directly on the editor, which will be converted into a paragraph block. You can also type /paragraph or select a paragraph from the blocks list.
Once you finish writing, you’ll see a blocks toolbar. It provides basic settings for aligning text, adding bold and italic styles, and embedding links.
Additionally, you can click on the right-side paragraph block settings for more options, such as colors, typography, and dimensions, to change the appearance of paragraph content.
Adding Headings
Similar to a paragraph block, a heading block helps structure the content.
To insert a heading, follow the same procedure as the paragraph block. You can choose the correct heading from H1 to H6 from the heading blocks toolbar.
Just like the paragraph block, the heading block supports modifications such as width, alignment, and other attributes from the side panel settings.
Adding Images and Media
Like the heading and paragraph, the Block editor lets you insert media types such as Images, Audio, Videos, and so on.
You have the following media blocks:
- Image
- Gallery
- Audio
- Cover
- File
- Media & Text
- Video
The steps to add media blocks are similar. Choose the desired element from the Block library and upload the media from the library. You can also insert images, audio, and video via URLs.
The Block editor allows you to add multiple images at once, saving you time.
Each block has its settings in the right sidebar.
Here are a few examples of dedicated blocks for embedding content:
- Images from Flickr, Imgur, Instagram, and Pinterest.
- Videos from YouTube, Vimeo, Dailymotion, TED, and TikTok.
- Posts from Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit.
- Audio files from Spotify, SoundCloud, and Mixcloud.
And many more.
Just use the blocks and embed the URLs.
What are Reusable Blocks
Reusable blocks are collections of content that can be used across your site.
Previously called reusable blocks, they are now termed Synced Patterns. These blocks or patterns help streamline your workflow and maintain consistency in design across pages and posts.
Here is how to create a reusable pattern:
1. Choose a section you want to save as a synced pattern.
2. Right-click to see the Options button and click on Create Pattern.
3. Add a name for your Pattern and click on the Synced menu.
4. Click on the Create button.
To use the Pattern, navigate to the block inserter and the synced pattern icon on the far right.
You can also access “Manage My Patterns” from the block inserter to navigate to the block manager, where you can configure and perform bulk actions on multiple synced patterns.
To use a block pattern in a page or post without affecting other instances, open the three-dot menu on the block’s toolbar and click “Detach pattern.“
This action will make the block independent, so changes made here won’t affect other pages or posts.
Benefits
Suppose you want to create a call to action section; here’s what you would typically do:
1. Select a section
2. Add a background color and add a button
3. Add a button color and add a link
4. Style the section by adjusting padding, margin, border, etc.
Since it’s a crucial call to action section on your website, you’ll want to maintain style and consistency across all the pages.
To replicate the section, you must follow the same steps on all pages, which can be tiring.
But fear not, there’s a solution to this problem-Reusable Blocks.
When updating a reusable block(synced pattern), any changes will automatically apply to all block instances across your site.
So you don’t need to change sections everywhere manually.
By using Reusable Blocks, you can save a significant amount of time and design efforts.
Chapter 4
Benefits of Using the Block Editor
Improved User Experience
The WordPress Block Editor is designed to be user-friendly. It makes it easier for both new and experienced users to create content.
The visual layout and drag-and-drop feature simplify editing. Users can see how their content looks in real-time, which reduces frustration.
Intuitive Interface for Beginners
The block editor offers an approachable interface for newcomers. It separates the content into distinct blocks.
This organization helps users understand how elements fit together. Beginners can easily add
text, images, and media without feeling overwhelmed.
Enhanced Design Flexibility
The block editor provides excellent flexibility in designing layouts. Users can mix and match different block types, such as text, images, and buttons.
Each block can be customized with alignment, color, and spacing settings. This allows for personalized designs without needing coding skills.
Faster Content Creation
The block editor streamlines the content creation process. Users can add, rearrange, and customize blocks quickly.
Creating reusable blocks for frequently used elements saves time. This feature helps users produce posts and pages more efficiently.
Streamlined Workflow
The block editor promotes an organized workflow. Users can see all their content at a glance on
the editing screen.
The sidebar allows easy access to settings, categories, and tags, reducing clicks and making managing posts smoother.
Greater Accessibility
Accessibility is a crucial focus of the block editor. It supports screen readers for users with visual impairments.
Keyboard navigation allows editing without a mouse. This ensures that everyone can use the platform effectively.
Chapter 5
What are Patterns?
In this chapter, we will learn “What are Patterns in WordPress Block Editor?”
The different types of patterns – Regular Patterns vs. synced Patterns
How do you use patterns, and should you even use patterns?
Let’s begin.
WordPress Block Patterns
WordPress Block Patterns are predefined block layouts comprised of WordPress blocks.
Users can insert images into a post or a page with just a few clicks to create a more complex content structure.
There are two types:
1. Regular Block Patterns (Not Synced Patterns)
2. Synced Patterns
Regular block patterns and synced patterns allow users to add pre-made layouts quickly. The critical difference lies in how edits affect these elements.
When you modify a synced pattern, those changes will update every post or page where it’s used. In contrast, edits to a regular block pattern won’t impact previously created pages or posts.
For example, if you want to add a CTA button to your posts, you might choose:
– Regular pattern: This lets you duplicate the basic design while customizing the content for each post.
– Synced pattern: This adds the same CTA across all posts. You only need to update the CTA block once to change it everywhere.
Additionally, users can register block patterns in the Pattern directory or include them in a theme or plugin. These pre-made patterns expand your design options when creating posts or page layouts.
Chapter 6
Customization and Extensibility
Introduction to the Block API
Examples of popular plugins that enhance the block editor
Chapter 7
Best Practices for Using the Block Editor
– Tips for organizing content
– Recommendations for optimizing performance
– Using reusable blocks effectively
Chapter 8
WordPress Block Editor: What’s Coming Up Next
We have seen “What is WordPress Block Editor?”
At last we’re seeing what does the future of developments look like..
Let’s see what the future holds.
Future of the WordPress Block Editor
WordPress Block editor is here to stay.
Although you have the option to disable the WordPress Block Editor, we suggest using the block editor.
Recent updates have brought major changes to the way WordPress editor works.
The editor is easier to use, provides better collaboration settings, and is improving when it comes to editing features.
Here are a few things that we might see coming in the editor.
Trends in Web Design that Influence Future Development
1. Easier Editing
The WordPress Block Editor continues to evolve, with enhancements to simplify the editing process for users of all skill levels. This includes:
- Streamlined User Interface: The editor is designed with a more intuitive layout, making it easier for users to find and utilize blocks without confusion.
- Enhanced Accessibility Features: Ongoing improvements focus on making the editor more accessible to all users, including those with disabilities, ensuring everyone can create and manage content effectively.
- Live Preview and Customization: Future updates may include enhanced live preview options, allowing users to see changes in real-time as they edit, leading to a more seamless experience.
- Performance Optimizations: As the editor gets more powerful, backend optimizations will help ensure it runs smoothly, even with large and complex pages.
2. Customization
Customization options in the Block Editor are expanding significantly, allowing users to tailor their sites to fit their unique needs:
- Site Editing: Users can modify site-wide settings directly within the Block Editor, facilitating a more cohesive design experience.
- Block Patterns: Introducing predefined block patterns will allow users to easily insert groups of blocks that share a common layout or style, speeding up the design process.
- Block Directory: A centralized block directory will enable users to discover, add, and manage blocks from various developers, enhancing the editor’s functionality.
- Block Themes: The rise of block-based themes will allow users to leverage the full power of the Block Editor, creating highly customized and visually appealing sites without needing to code.
3. Collaboration
WordPress is increasingly focusing on enhancing collaboration features to support co-authoring and teamwork:
- Real-Time Editing: Future iterations may introduce real-time collaborative editing, allowing multiple users to work on the same post simultaneously, similar to platforms like Google Docs.
- Commenting and Feedback: A built-in commenting system may allow users to leave feedback or suggestions on specific blocks, making it easier to discuss changes and edits.
- Version Control: Enhanced version control features may allow users to track changes, revert to previous versions, and manage contributions from multiple authors more effectively.
- User Roles and Permissions: Improved user role management will enable site administrators to customize collaborators’ permissions, ensuring secure and organized content creation.
4. Multilingual
As the web becomes increasingly global, WordPress is prioritizing multilingual support to cater to diverse audiences:
- Core Implementation: A robust core implementation for multilingual sites will streamline creating and managing content in multiple languages, making it easier for users to reach broader audiences.
- Language Switching: Future updates may include more user-friendly language-switching options within the Block Editor, enabling content creators to switch between languages easily while editing.
- Localized Block Content: Creating blocks with localized content will allow users to display different content based on the selected language, enhancing the user experience for multilingual sites.
- Integration with Translation Plugins: Improved compatibility with popular translation plugins will ensure that users can seamlessly integrate multilingual capabilities into their sites, making WordPress more appealing to global businesses and organizations.
Focusing on these areas makes the future of the WordPress Block Editor look promising. It has the potential to empower users and elevate the overall content creation experience.
Chapter 9
Conclusion
By now, you know most of the things about the Gutenberg editor.
The block-based approach has significantly reduced the design time and empowered you to change how content is edited on WordPress, giving you more control and flexibility.
While the block editor is still evolving, you might face challenges like the learning curve and hurdles in creating complex designs.
One thing is sure: the new editor is evolving rapidly and is poised to grow, opening up exciting possibilities for your website design and content creation.
We encourage you to use the block editor, check its features, and start creating your websites with the WordPress Block editor. Also, remember to check the Responsive Blocks plugin along with the Responsive Plus—Starter Templates plugin to import ready-to-use Gutenberg websites.
Let us know what you are building in the comment section below.
If you liked this article, you might also like reading:
