I get bunches of emails asking what happened to the "Custom Fields" meta box on the "Edit Posts" screen. They're hidden by default with the new Block Editor, so questions like, "do I need to install a plugin to get them back again?" No you don't. To view the Custom Fields for any post click the three dots in the upper-right corner of the screen, and then go to Options. There you will find a checkbox to enable Custom Fields (under "Advanced Panels"). Scroll down the page and you will see the Custom Fields meta box.
I’m not sure how I never knew about these properties! I guess I can see how they might come in handy in the future. There are plenty of times when we need to break up ordered lists here on CSS-Tricks with things like code blocks and having a way to pick a list back up where it left off is a nice convenience.
Yoast, the company behind the popular Yoast SEO plugin, launched its free block editor training course today. The course is available to anyone by signing up for Yoast Academy, which also includes multiple other free and paid courses. Users can learn everything from SEO and copy writing to basic WordPress skills. The Academy team’s latest course promises to get first-time users up to speed on using the block editor.
“At Yoast, we are huge fans of the block editor,” wrote Marieke van de Rakt, CEO of Yoast in the training course announcement. “Admittedly -not right from the start-, but we’re now block-editor fanboys and fangirls. That’s why we created an awesome free block editor course! We hope it will help everybody to use the block editor to the fullest!”
Currently, the course on block editor training has at least two or three hours of content to work through, depending on how quickly users digest the content. The course offers three major sections:
What is the block editor?
Using the block editor
Extras
Each of these is further broken down between one and three sub-sections. At the moment, there are seven lessons in total, which range between 7 and 49 minutes based on Yoast’s estimated time.
The courses are similar to taking a school class. The Academy team provides short videos that cover individual topics around the block editor. The team also provides a PDF version of the lesson for those who prefer text over video format. At the end of the lesson, users take a quiz and move on to the next lesson. A score of 80% or more is considered a passing grade.
The team keeps each lesson digestible enough to complete in a short bout. Even if watching the videos, the PDF version of the lessons, which are high quality and have loads of useful information with links to third-party resources, are recommended reading.
The team has provided a preview of the block editor course via YouTube:
Moving to the Block Editor and Building Training Courses
Joost de Valk, founder and CPO of Yoast, said the team would continue building on the training course over time as new features are added to the block editor. There are no plans to update it on a strict schedule, but the team wants to keep it current.
Yoast, as a company, focuses on SEO. Therefore, some of the advice offered through the course puts focus on creating content that is useful for people and friendly for search engines. One of the primary topics the course touches on is publishing “resources” and how this is made better by the block editor. “Resources are larger articles, evergreen content or in our SEO terminology ‘cornerstone content’: the stuff you want to rank within the search results,” said de Valk. “You can’t just throw some words on a page and expect to rank anymore. You’ll have to try a bit harder. Gutenberg makes that extremely easy.”
The Yoast team has been moving its massive site to the block editor over time. “The post types I deal with regularly are all written with the block editor, but we might have some areas of the site that aren’t there yet,” said de Valk. “It’s a rather large site, with e-commerce, training, jobs, etc. all built into one giant WordPress multi-site install, so that was a bit of an undertaking. We always try to dog-food stuff though, so we moved everything over quite quickly.”
Getting the 11 million users who are using Yoast’s products to make the switch is not quite as easy. Not everyone has embraced the block editor. “The usage of the block editor is definitely improving, but it’s not going as fast as we’d like to see,” said de Valk. “We honestly think a lot of people don’t understand the chances the block editor brings yet, one of the reasons for releasing this course and trying to help more people to start using it.”
The team’s latest SEO course had over 10,000 signups within a week. While that number is a drop in the bucket in comparison to their full user count, it is promising. With a similar turnout for the block editor training course, it may convert more users from the older classic editor.
Putting together full training courses is a large undertaking, but these are the types of resources the WordPress community needs moving forward. “It’s a lot of work,” said de Valk. “We have four people in our Academy team, a crew that records our videos, and our design team designs all the PDFs and slides within the videos. It’s a non-trivial investment, but we’re happy to make that if it helps make more people enthusiastic for the block editor.”
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Dark website designs are where it’s at. Don’t believe me? They’ve become increasingly popular over the past year. Dark designs are thought to be easier on eye strain and make for a more pleasant viewing experience. They can also add atmosphere to your site.
As more and more websites have shifted to dark mode in 2020, we thought it imperative to highlight some designs that really capture the concept of dark designs well. What follows is a list of over 20 delightfully dark website designs you’ll definitely want to check out.
The Serge Thoraval: Atelier website doesn’t just offer a dark design — it also features some really interesting effects. From a mouse hover effect when the site is loading to transition effects when you scroll down the page, this site sets itself apart.
This site offers a dark design that makes each portfolio piece really stand out. Plus, when you hover over each item, they color shift and descriptive text scrolls across it from right to left.
DevArt is another site with a dark design that helps to make the artwork it features stand out. It’s also easier on the eyes than sites with brighter backgrounds.
The Creative Park website offers up a delightfully dark design that allows the subject of photos to really stand out. It also has some really interesting transition effects for changing slides, clicking links, and opening menus.
The 3D Hubs website leverages its dark design to make the components it features stand out. This also works well for displaying video and individual items the company offers.
Welford Media is a web design firm that uses a dark design on its website to engage visitors. This design choice allows the company’s tagline stand out at a glance and builds immediate interest.
The website for the Meaning 2020 Conference has a dark design as well. The gray background allows the colorful logo to stand out and offers a subdued backdrop onto which videos and photos are placed.
This is a website dedicated to the work of Rich Brown, an art director and UX/UI designer. The site itself features a dark design onto which video backgrounds play seamlessly.
The design on this website is super interesting. Artem Pivovarov has a dark design with a prominent photo background. It also has interactive elements in this background that react on hover.
Formigari Srl is another site you should check out for dark design inspiration. It highlights videos and photos on a deep gray background that makes the entirety of the content feel immersive.
Still another site you should check out is Canvas United. This site is for a New York-based digital agency that provides some cool transition effects and an immersive experience.
The Resoluut website offers a dark purple background with images that appear as though they’re hovering on top of it. There is a lot of play with depth of field here.
Still another option is the Fantassin website, which features a dark background and tons of cool scroll effects that draw the eye further down the page.
The Cody Petts Studio website highlights the work of Cody Petts, including print and packaging designs as well as photography. It’s dark, gritty, and extremely compelling.
The design for the Kazuma Kurata website offers a dark background that’s intimately inviting. It makes the colorful Aspects of featured photos stand out even more. The design and function of the site make it clear why it’s deserving of its AWWWARDs Nominee status.
The Bachoy website highlights a creative and tech studio. The dark design featured here uses a cool spotlight hover effect and interesting interactions with photos as you scroll down the page.
Last on our list is the website for Arara, which offers battery-free bicycle lights. This site is dark but not brooding, and instead uses the darker background to make the bright colors featured in images and videos “pop.”
Dark Website Designs Can Serve You Well
As you can see from the examples listed above, dark website designs can really take the overall look of your website to the next level — whatever that means for you. Whether you want to make colors look more vibrant, ease eye strain, or provide a mood, dark designs offer flexibility in both form and function. Have fun playing with them!
Creating child pages in WordPress is simple to do. The only problem is, creating a child page doesn’t do anything for the front end of your blog and your viewers. You can’t just easily check a box or two and display child pages automatically on the parent page. This leaves your homepage, well… childless. Read on for the simple solution.
Parental Guidance Recommended
This article is rated PG, meaning that — like a parent — I’ll be offering some guidance on how you can better index your child pages with the help of some free WordPress plugins.
More specifically, showing you how to get a list of Child Pages to appear both on a Parent Page, and also in your sidebar.
By the time you read this article, you’ll have a nice idea of several options to set up your WordPress site and child pages.
From there you’ll be able to make a grown-up decision on what works best.
Having an option to showcase your child pages on your website is important if you have some vital information that you want prominently displayed.
Why?
If you don’t, many viewers might not realize a lot of what you want them to see is accessible.
If child pages are in the future for you, your life, er — website — is about to change.
Is a super child (page) in Dev Man’s future?
Good Parenting Means Good Plugins
Like a good parent, a good plugin can raise your child pages to be well-displayed.
Not only that, but they can also simplify the process, assist with customization, and – as you’ll see – much more.
These free child page plugins each have various features and benefits. I’ll be going over all of them in detail.
Plus, I have a “bonus” plugin that I’ll mention that deals with a child of a different magnitude.
It’s so easy to use, even a child can add child pages to their WordPress website.
Everything is achieved by using a shortcode. The shortcode is relatively simple and can be used wherever you’d like the child pages to appear (e.g. the homepage).
Example of child pages shortcode.
The child pages are displayed in responsive boxes, which include a page title, excerpt, and even a “Read more…” link.
I like how you can choose your layout with this plugin. It can be 1, 2, 3 or 4 columns.
If you choose to go with a three or four-column layout, it will resize to two columns on mobile devices, which makes them easy to read when viewing on the go.
Example of a one-column layout.
You can also choose the depth of pages to be displayed. All of this can be configured as a widget in the Sidebar area.
As you can see, there are a lot of options. This is where you can add the shortcode, exclude pages, show siblings pages, and choose the depth.
Once you have edited it how you’d like, it’s ready to go! You just paste the shortcode wherever you want to display it on your site.
Another example of what it can look like on your website.
Though there’s not a ton of customization options, the simplicity of this plugin makes it efficient and does the job.
With over 10,000 downloads and a solid 5-star review, this plugin has what it takes to add your child pages to your WordPress site.
It uses the parent and child relationship of your WordPress pages or categories and generates menus in specific areas.
You just assign a page or category to a parent and the plugin does the rest for you.
This plugin has solid reviews along with good support.
Let’s check it out!
To set it up, it’s all located in the widgets area from your dashboard.
Advanced categories menu.
Here you can add a title, display the highest level parent category, display menu, and use built-in styling.
Everything is located here and there are no additional places to customize.
Once you have configured it the way you want, it’s ready to go.
Example of what the child pages on your website can look like.
It is as simple as that.
There’s not much when it comes to additional customization, but like our previous plugin, it might not be necessary to suit your needs.
They have an option to Go Pro, which features advanced styling, priority support, custom link text, excluding pages, and more.
However, for just the basics, the free version does the trick.
Though there are not many advanced options, if you have some CSS knowledge, you can customize as much as you’d like in your theme’s style sheet.
This plugin is great when it comes to including a clean and usable menu for child pages.
It’s nice to be able to feature only what you want and have full control over your options. Plus, the ease of use makes for a quick fix when adjusting your website.
It’s a well-updated plugin that’s 100% responsive and mobile-friendly. I love how you can customize almost every Aspect of the pages; including arranging by keyword, images, recent pages, and more.
The layout of this plugin in your dashboard is a breeze to figure out.
It gives you an option for either a page or post right in the dashboard under Content Type.
Everything is clearly labeled and you can quickly set up your child pages however you’d like.
From the dashboard, you can choose what to include, exclude, and limit. There are also more advanced options for sorting and display.
The dashboard for adding a new view for a child page or post.
The Display Settings has all the options you need for setting it up the way you want it to look.
You have options for layout, format, and field settings. It also goes as far as allowing you to set up excerpts, HTML tags, pagination, opening child pages in the current tab or a new tab, and more.
The display settings area.
Once you have your child pages display all set up — you’re all set!
There’s a simple shortcode to embed it into your website. You can use it in a widget or for a theme file. They give you both options.
Code options.
When you save your new view, it’s listed on the dashboard. You can easily retrieve the code from there, too.
Views from the dashboard.
Want to see it in action? Here is a quick set up I created from a basic WordPress website.
The child pages featured below the parent page.
Like a lot of the other plugins, there is a Pro option. If you upgrade, you can get advanced customization options, more layouts, and options for Google Adsense.
I found the free version suitable as-is. The clean layout, design, and ease of functionality make this a pretty amazing free plugin for child pages.
I think it’s worth including because sometimes users want to edit a child theme. Or, you might not even be aware that this is an option for your WordPress site.
And since we’re talking about child stuff, well…why not include it?
Let’s dive in and take a look.
Once uploaded into your dashboard, you have four options to choose from:
Creating a new child theme.
Configuring an existing child theme.
Duplicating an existing child theme.
Resetting an existing child theme.
The child theme configurator.
One great quality of this plugin is how it’s step-by-step. There’s no overly complicated language or confusion, making configuring very simple.
The next step is setting up a theme.
You can customize however you’d like.
This includes where to save the stylesheet, ensuring plugins work with specific themes, and verifying the theme directory.
Selecting parent theme stylesheet handling.
This plugin has a lot to offer and it’s worth exploring for yourself if you’re interested in child themes.
The child theme example I set up.
There is an upgrade option that includes customizable plugin stylesheets, quick preview, color palettes, new styles, adding child theme files, and tutorials.
Depending on your skill level, it might be worth the upgrade. The free version is quite impressive as is.
Prefer To Take The Coding Route?
Now even though we’re mostly talking plugins in this article, with a little bit of coding knowledge, you don’t need a plugin to create child pages that are displayed on your homepage.
An example of this is adding the below code to your theme’s sidebar.php file.
Code for setting up child pages.
From there, you can edit accordingly by resizing, adding fonts, colors, etc.
Plus, a plugin can give you more options for functionality, displays, and features.
(No) Problem Child
To avoid problems with your site’s viewers seeing your content, a great child page plugin will do the trick. As you can see, you have a lot of options.
Each plugin is uniquely different, but they all make setting up child pages on a parent page much easier than, let’s say, parenting.
And if you need babysitting, we have 24/7 support, hosting, and security to keep your WordPress site and child plugins in good hands.
