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This post is originally published on Designmodo: Blocksy Review – An Innovative, Gutenberg Ready and 100% Free WordPress Theme
If you’re on the lookout for a fresh Gutenberg WordPress theme that will make your website look great but also give you rich customization options, then perhaps you should give Blocksy a look. In this Blocksy review, we take a …
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At first, WordPress users had a bittersweet relationship with the WordPress block based builder. Then as we discovered in our guide to Gutenberg, the new editor comes with amazing features that make creating beautiful content easy and fun. Now, some can’t get enough of the editor. Gutenberg offers you enough features to create remarkable pages […]
The post How to Export and Import Gutenberg Blocks in WordPress appeared first on WPExplorer.
Gutenberg Hub launched the first version of its block template builder last week. The template builder allows users to select from the team’s existing library of nearly 200 templates. It is essentially an online builder that allows users to craft a full page layout by mixing and matching various sections. They can then copy the resulting output at the click of a button and paste it into the editor on their sites.
“I intend to speed up the workflow for WordPress users to spin up beautiful Gutenberg pages, even full websites, faster,” said Munir Kamal, founder of Gutenberg Hub. “So all I am trying to do is headed in that direction.”
Kamal has also released a Chrome browser extension that allows end-users to add templates from the growing library of options.
“The idea is to help DIYers, freelancers, or anyone with creating new website pages faster,” he said. “I have many feature ideas to make this builder great, but I want to hear out the feedback and suggestions from the community about it.”
Currently, Kamal is calling this version of the builder a “prototype” because he wants to validate the idea with the community before moving forward with new features.
Building a template or full page is simple. Users merely need to visit the template builder page. On the page, the builder has an “Add Section” button, which will slide the template library panel open. From that point, users can choose from an extensive list of templates that includes designs for hero sections, testimonials, sliders, and more.
The idea is to build a full page by combining multiple sections. Users will want to add new sections and organize them for their needs. Each section can be trashed, duplicated, or moved up/down using the available buttons.
Trying my hand at building a simple product page, I was able to pick and choose the sections I wanted to add in just a few minutes.
Once everything is in place, users can copy the full template code and paste it their block editor. From that point, they can edit it on their own site.
Sometimes, it may be necessary to copy additional CSS and insert it via the WordPress customizer or through a plugin like Blocks CSS. Some options also require users to install a plugin to use specific blocks.
This is the type of power I want in the hands of WordPress users. Plug-and-play template systems like this will push the platform into the future. However, such systems need to be integrated directly into WordPress. Copying and pasting from a third-party website is merely a stepping stone toward that future, catering to user needs in the here and now.
Long term, Gutenberg Hub’s work may be a better fit into the upcoming pattern system. The team could release a plugin that would integrate seamlessly into the block editor. That way, end-users could build their templates without ever leaving the comfort of the post-editing screen, or at least avoid switching between browser tabs. However, patterns are still months away from inclusion in core WordPress. In the meantime, this feels like a solid stop-gap. Plus, the team can build a nice library and garner feedback and data from users on the most popular templates/patterns.
While Kamal wants to hear feedback before moving forward, he does have some big ideas of his own for the builder. “For example, this builder may let you create projects, and under projects, you may create multiple pages,” he said. “For each project, you may define custom branding (typography, color scheme, etc.), and all the templates from the library will adapt to that branding when you create pages under a specific project.”
The most important thing he wants to accomplish is to build tools that speed up workflows for everyone.
He will also open the template library to third-party developers and designers soon. There will be a public submission process. If enough people contribute, the library could balloon to an untold number of options that would be directly available as part of the builder.
“Besides the templates and builder, I am planning something around the Gutenberg Templates API,” said Kamal. He stresses that it is still in the planning phase. If the previous work that he has put out is any indication, this could be an interesting project. He is also working on a form builder plugin for the block editor, which is currently seeing regular updates.
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.
Direct link to article | View post at DigWP.com
Do you want to bulk convert your old content using classic blocks into the Gutenberg (block) format in WordPress?
After updating to any version above WordPress 5.0, your older post and page content will show up inside a Classic block in the new WordPress content editor. If you have dozens or hundreds of posts, then converting that Classic block content into individual blocks can take a lot of time. Thankfully, there is a bulk convert option.
In this article, we will show how to easily bulk convert classic blocks into Gutenberg blocks in WordPress.
If you have had a WordPress blog for a long time, then chances are that some of your posts were written using the older classic editor.
This older content will now appear inside the Classic block in the post editor.
By converting the classic block into individual Gutenberg blocks, you will gain more control and flexibility over your content.
You can easily edit your post by working with individual blocks. You will also be able to take advantage of the customization options available for each block.
This helps you easily edit the content within the block editor while allowing you to create beautiful content layouts for your posts and pages.
Note: In most cases, switching from the classic to the block editor will not affect your posts on the front end.
That being said, let’s see how to easily bulk-convert classic blocks to Gutenberg in WordPress.
If you want to convert a single post or page from the Classic block into individual blocks, then this method is for you.
First, you need to edit the post and page where you want to convert the blocks. You can do this by heading to Posts » All Posts in your WordPress dashboard and then clicking on ‘Edit (block editor)’ under the post.
This will open your post in the block editor. Then, click on the ‘Convert to blocks’ button in the toolbar at the top of the Classic block.
The Classic block will now be converted into individual Gutenberg blocks.
You can now access all the block settings for individual blocks from the right column. If you cannot see this panel, then click on the gear icon at the top right of the editor.
Once you are done, don’t forget to click the ‘Update’ button to save your changes.
If you want to easily convert the Classic block into Gutenberg blocks for all the posts and pages immediately, then this method is for you.
Important: Make sure to create a complete WordPress backup of your site before using this method because you cannot undo the conversion once it’s completed.
First, you need to install and activate the Convert to Blocks plugin. For more instructions, please see our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.
The plugin works out of the box and automatically bulk-converts any Classic blocks into Gutenberg blocks once it’s been activated.
All you need to do is simply edit a post or page that was written using the classic editor.
You will now notice that the Classic block has been converted into individual blocks.
Remember that the conversion will not affect the layout of your posts on the front end, so the posts will look the same on your website.
This is how the same post looked on our demo site after converting it from Classic to individual blocks.
We hope this article helped you learn how to bulk convert classic blocks into Gutenberg blocks in WordPress. You may also want to see our beginners’ guide on WordPress SEO, and our top picks for the best contact form plugins.
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The post How to Bulk Convert Classic Blocks to Gutenberg in WordPress first appeared on WPBeginner.
Yesterday, the Gutenberg team released version 7.6 of the plugin. Most of the work in this update went toward the upcoming full-site editing feature. The team continues to pump out new dynamic, placeholder blocks for post data. The biggest user-facing feature was the addition of a rotating list of tips in the block inserter.
Version 7.5, released two weeks ago, was the last major release of the plugin that will have features to land in WordPress 5.4, which is currently scheduled for release on March 31. However, bug fixes from 7.6 were ported to the most recent WordPress 5.4 beta updates.
Version 7.6 does not include as many major feature additions as earlier releases. Aside from experimental work on full-site editing, it primarily includes bug fixes.
The announcement post boasts a considerable speed improvement in loading time and keypress events. In comparison to version 7.5, loading time was reduced to 7.7 seconds from 8.5 seconds and keypress event speed was reduced to 48.59 milliseconds from 55.45 milliseconds. These tests are run against a post of approximately 36,000 words and 1,000 blocks.
In the past, the block inserter had a single tip at the bottom right that read, “While writing, you can press / to quickly insert new blocks.” It was a useful tip, but it was easy to ignore because it never changed. After seeing the same message a couple dozen times, it had become little better than wasted space.
Version 7.6 creates a rotating list of tips. Each time a user opens the inserter, a new tip appears. At the moment, the list only contains five messages but more are sure to come in the future.
There are open tickets to add contextual tips based on block search queries and block-specific tips. Both of those tickets could continue to help users learn the block system and provide a path for block creators to teach users how to use custom blocks.
Currently, the list of tips is static. However, it may be possible for plugin authors to extend it in the future. I’m already contemplating writing a plugin to replace the tips with quotes from Joss Whedon’s Firefly.
Gutenberg 7.6 added four new dynamic, placeholder blocks related to post data: featured image, tags, comments count, and comments form. This brings the total to around 12 blocks for full-site editing, which is still a few dozen short of where the platform will need to be before the feature is ready. Most work thus far has gone toward building out blocks that handle post data. Eventually, the team will need to expand to other areas that will need block representation on the front end.
Theme authors looking to test out full-site editing should make sure to check out the block-based theme experiments repository, which continues to see regular updates.
Users can now set the heading level of the site title block. It can also be set to a paragraph. However, it does not include all of the design settings, such as text size or colors, that would come with a regular paragraph block. This is a good first step in recognizing the various ways the site title block will be used, but it will need to evolve into a much more robust block to allow users to do all the things they will eventually want to do with the site title.
At this point, it is hard to gauge what full-site editing will look like. Everything is experimental. It only covers the most basic use cases. I am still cautious about its potential. On the other hand, I am ready to skip ahead a year and see how it all turns out. Every plugin update brings us a step closer, but it is tough waiting to see what the bigger picture looks like as it comes together.