New Video Explores Site Building Progress From WordPress 5.0 to 6.0

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Do you remember what it was like to use WordPress 5.0? Three years and ten major releases have radically changed the site building experience, but it’s not always easy to see recognize when focused on some of the smaller, iterative changes that slowly add up. Anne McCarthy, WordPress product liaison at Automattic and co-release coordinator for 6.0, has created a short 13-minute video that shows the immense amount of progress contributors have made on site building features.

McCarthy takes viewers back in time to WordPress 5.0, released in December 2018, which introduced the block editor and the Twenty Nineteen default theme through the work of 400+ contributors. She demonstrates using the Customizer with the default theme. These were simpler days and it’s clear now how limited the Customizer was for implementing the most basic changes.

The video contrasts that experience with the upcoming 6.0 release, which features the work of 500+ contributors on features that didn’t exist three years ago.

McCarthy quickly demonstrates the 6.0 site editing experience, swapping out template parts, and showcasing the breadth of the customization available for images, colors, typography, controlling the posts that are displayed, style variations, and the impressive array of design tools available.

Ten major versions later, nearly every Aspect of a WordPress site is customizable through the site editor. For those who have not yet made the leap into full-site editing – it’s essentially like the old Customizer but with super powers, better instant previews, and the interface is a panel on the right. At this point, I don’t think the usability is at a level where someone can just get in there and immediately know what they are doing. It takes a little bit of exploring, but it’s moving in the right direction.

Videos like this one show what is possible and just how far WordPress has come since it first introduced the block editor. It also indirectly answers Joost de Valk’s recent claims that the full-site editing project not being done yet is partially to blame for WordPress’ recent decline in market share.

While WordPress remains the uncontested market leader among CMS’s, some say this small percentage of a decline is inconsequential. Matt Mullenweg has stated in previous interviews that he views market share stats as a “trailing indicator” in the quest to create the best possible experience for users and developers. A growing market share, in that sense, is a signal of user satisfaction.

WordPress jumped into the block paradigm at the right time, just as many other apps began adopting the concept of composable blocks for creating content and designs. Full-site editing is the extension of that vision but it takes time to make it something polished and delightful to use. McCarthy’s video is a good reminder of the limitations that users previously labored under while trying to edit their sites, and the “why” behind all the effort going into FSE.

“As someone who’s currently on the WordPress 6.0 Release Team, I can attest that the project needs more contributors,” WordPress contributor Nick Diego said in response to the recent market share discussion. “The fact that FSE has taken so long is not a lack of effort. There are many contributors pouring their hearts and souls into the project. We just need more help.”

Looking for outstanding Multipurpose WordPress Themes? Read this

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When it comes to building websites there is probably some truth to the saying that you are only as good as the tools you have. Design experience and an ability to write code can make up for some shortcomings. But what you really want is a WordPress theme that can not only enable you to do excellent work but enable you to build websites quickly and easily as well.

There are good multipurpose themes and not-so-good multipurpose themes. You certainly want to avoid selecting any of the latter.

How can you distinguish between the good and the not-so-good if you don’t have time to do extensive research? And what approach can you take if you have your mind set on investing in a theme that gives you all the flexibility you are ever likely to need. Theme that enables you to power yourself through the building process. The one that gives you an end result that is precisely what you expect, or your client demands – or better?

You can always check out a theme’s sales, ratings, and reviews. But a better approach is to leave things up to those who have the experience and expertise to identify a few top candidates to choose from.

That is where we come in. At least one of the following 8 top multipurpose WordPress themes for 2022 could be the gamechanger you’re looking for.

  1. BeTheme | Responsive Multipurpose WordPress & WooCommerce Theme

This popular multipurpose WordPress theme is the biggest one of them all. BeTheme’s customer-base is large enough (250,000+), but it’s the 40+ core features that give a true picture of how big BeTheme really is.

Be’s most popular features:

1. A Library of 650+ trendy pre-built websites that

  • are customizable and responsive
  • cover all industry sectors and website types and style
  • feature key UX functionalities

2. With BeBuilder, the fastest and most flexible page builder for WordPress you can:

  • import 3,000 pages from Be’s 650+ pre-built websites and customize them to fit your needs
  • drag, drop, and customize everything including 100+ pre-built blocks and 80+ elements
  • set page layout dimensions, positions, and margins and customize backgrounds as you wish

3. With the WooCommerce Builder – an absolute gem

  • you can create shop or single product layouts exactly as you want
  • a host of customer-friendly shopping features and product previews are at your disposal

BeTheme is Elementor ready and is frequently updated. Click on the banner and check out each of Be’s powerful core features.

  1. Total WordPress Theme

Building a website doesn’t have to be hard, and because of Total’s completeness it won’t be. This aptly named multipurpose theme has the tools and design flexibility necessary to make your website building adventures fast, easy, and successful.

48,000+ Total users will agree. They have enjoyed easy access to –

  • 50+ ready to use demos, 8 header styles, 95+ section templates and 75+ post entry cards when they want to get their website building effort off to a rapid start.
  • the WPBakery front-end drag and drop page builder and Total’s 100+ builder elements, 500+ live customizer settings, and built-in font manager when they want to start a page from scratch.
  • Premium plugins like Slider Revolution and Templatera

Total is optimized for speed and is fully compatible with WooCommerce, Gutenberg, and Elementor. Click on the banner; there’s much more to see.

  1. WoodMart

Because it is loaded with features that are not present in most of the other eCommerce oriented theme, WoodMart’s increasing popularity has made it ThemeForest’s most highly-regarded theme.

A quick look at the WoodMart website (click on the banner) should give you all the proof you need.

These features include –

  • highly customizable product page layouts
  • more than 75 premade single-click importable demo websites together with 15 special pages
  • a built-in megamenu that features an intuitive interface and a user-friendly canvas sidebar with shop page filters and widgets
  • an abundance of WooCommerce elements
  • 400+ templates than can also be used for prototyping
  • a full AJAX shop with filters and an AJAX quick shop pagination feature

WoodMart has logged more than 40,000 sales to date and enjoys a 4.95/5-star rating. 

  1. Avada Theme

Avada’s huge following (450,000+) of happy users has made it the #1 best selling theme of all time. Avada’s unique assemblage of powerful website building tools include –

  • 40+ single-click importable demos and 50+ design elements
  • Fusion Page and Theme options that provide virtually unlimited flexibility
  • The Fusion page builder, Fusion slider, and Shortcode Generator

Avada is WooCommerce-ready theme, 100% responsive, and speed optimized.

  1. Uncode – Creative & WooCommerce WordPress Theme

Uncode is a pixel-perfect theme that empowers its users to create pixel-perfect websites. This Envato best seller has logged more than 90.000 sales to date.

Powerful website-building features include –

  • a revved-up Frontend Page Builder that’s a joy to work with
  • a Single Product builder, a wealth of customer-centric design elements and options and other advanced WooCommerce capabilities
  • A Wireframes Plugin with 550+ section templates

Uncode is ideal for creating blog, magazine, and portfolio sites.

6. TheGem – Creative Multi-Purpose & WooCommerce WordPress Theme

TheGem is the best-selling theme on ThemeForest with 60,000 users, which says a lot.

A few examples of what you’ll find in the package:

  • 400+ beautiful pre-built websites and templates for any purpose and niche.
  • Elementor and WPBakery frontend page builders for easy editing & customizing
  • A rich collection of WooCommerce templates and features for creating exceptional online shops.

TheGem Blocks with its 300+ premium pre-designed section templates to speed up your workflow.

  1. Impeka – Creative Multipurpose WordPress Theme

Beginners and advanced users alike find this multipurpose theme an impeccable tool to work with.

With Impeka –

  • You have complete freedom to make your dream of an ideal website happen.
  • Your website will be fast, fully responsive, and professionally optimized for SEO.
  • Your website will be noticed by the right people, and they will get what they are looking for.

You have a choice of Elementor, Gutenberg, or enhanced WPBakery page builder. 

  1. Litho – Multipurpose Elementor WordPress Theme

The fact that Litho is an Elementor WordPress theme says a lot about what you can expect when working with it. With Litho at your fingertips, you can build any website you envision thanks to its Slider Revolution plugin and its host of home pages, creative elements, and templates

  • Litho-created websites are fast, responsive, and SEO friendly

You’ll find the online documentation is highly detailed and extremely helpful, as is Litho’s first-class customer support.

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You have your mind set on selecting a theme that gives you all the flexibility you need. Theme that enables you to sail through the website-building process. The one that gives you a product that is precisely what you or your client expects.

The best approach to satisfying that objective is right in front of your nose. Your search should end with the 8 top multipurpose WordPress themes presented here. Choose one that looks like a best bet, and it won’t let you down. It may even turn out to be a gamechanger.

Read More at Looking for outstanding Multipurpose WordPress Themes? Read this

8 Multipurpose WordPress Themes to Use in 2022

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Are you looking for a multipurpose WordPress theme that will best serve your website-building objectives?

You are not the only one. Multipurpose themes tend to be top sellers in that they give users the tools and flexibility needed to build almost any type of website with a minimum of effort, which naturally contributes to their popularity.

Just don’t settle for the first multipurpose theme you come across. Some are poorly coded, although they are definitely in the minority. When you also take into account the fact that not every potential user knows what to look for, the best approach to would be to follow the recommendations of those who are in a position to advise you as to which multipurpose themes would serve you best.

With that in mind, here are 8 top multipurpose WordPress theme picks for 2022.

1. BeTheme: Responsive Multipurpose WordPress & WooCommerce Theme

In terms of size and performance BeTheme is the grandaddy of them all. More than a few of its 250,000+ customers would be happy to tell you how this multipurpose WordPress theme’s 40+ core features have enabled them to create virtually any website type in record time (according to GTMetrix).

Key features:

  • Be’s library of 650+ customizable pre-built websites
  • The new Live Builder – The fastest page builder on the market with its 3000+ importable pages, 100+ pre-built blocks you can access with a single click, and its growing library of 80+ design elements you can add, edit, and move around as you like.
  • Be Builder Woo – with its customer-centric shopping features that will enable you to create any shop or single product layout you have in mind.

As powerful as the above features are, they are just the tip of the iceberg. Grab a cup of coffee, click on the banner, checkout Be Builder and Be’s other core features, and you’ll get a good idea of what BeTheme can do for you.

2. Total WordPress Theme 

Trying to satisfy a fussy, demanding client does not have to be all that difficult if you have a multipurpose theme like Total to work with. Total was designed with ease in website creation in mind.

Total’s design tools, aids, and options make it happen.

  • Each of Total’s 50+ ready-to-use demos, 95+ section templates, 8 header styles, and 75+ post entry cards is designed to help you get any project off to a quick start.
  • Want to start from scratch? Total’s 100+ builder elements, and 500+ customizer settings together with the front-end drag and drop WPBakery page builder will speed things up as well.
  • It’s not just the styling options than make Total a wise choice. This multipurpose theme is optimized for speed, it’s compatible with the most popular plugins, and it’s a developer friendly as well.

Click on the banner to learn more about this high-performance theme.

3. WoodMart

Woodmart enjoys the distinction of being ThemeForest’s best-rated eCommerce theme. It’s loaded with features you won’t find in most other eCommerce-oriented themes, features that allow virtually unlimited customizations and include a drag and drop builder that will help you keep your workflow to a minimum.

Key features include –

  • 75+ premade websites, a 400+ templates, and 15 special pages
  • Woodmart’s intuitive setup wizard
  • A variety of product page display options
  • A full AJAX shop plus a comprehensive collection of AJAX shop filters 

If you are not sure what you want your finished product to look like, WoodMart’s template library will serve admirably as a source for rapid prototyping items. 

Click on the banner to visit the site and see for yourself why Woodmart might be the right choice for you.

4. Uncode – Creative & WooCommerce WordPress Theme

You’ll experience a level of superior performance that can only be achieved through great attention to detail when you choose a leading multipurpose WordPress theme like Uncode.

  • Performance that has been experienced by more than 90.000 buyers.
  • Performance that has made Uncode an Envato best seller with its souped up page builder, advanced WooCommerce capabilities, and Wireframes plugin with its 550+ section templates.

Uncode is ideal for building blog, magazine, and portfolio sites.

5. TheGem – Creative Multi-Purpose & WooCommerce WordPress Theme

What does The Gem have to offer?

  • How about its unique TheGem Blocks tool with 300+ premium pre-designed section templates to speed up design workflow?
  • Or the flexible templates builder for building headers, footers, products etc. with Elementor or WPBakery?
  • Not to forget a rich collection of WooCommerce templates and tools for building online shops.

There’s plenty more included in this Swiss Army knife of multipurpose WordPress themes.

6. Avada Theme

Sales figures mean a lot when you’re looking for a top of the line WordPress theme. When you choose Avada you’ve chosen the #1 best-selling theme of all time.

  • Avada’s Fusion Core features an assemblage of powerful website building tools that include the Fusion Builder, Fusion Slider, and a Shortcode Generator
  • 40+ customizable demos, 50+ design elements, and Fusion Page and Theme options are also featured.

Avada is 100% responsive, speed optimized, and WooCommerce ready.

7. Impeka – Creative Multipurpose WordPress Theme

The name says it all. This impeccably designed WordPress theme is easy for beginners to use yet features those things that advanced designers require to create websites that match their expectations.

  • Impeka-built websites are fast, responsive, SEO optimized, and WooCommerce friendly
  • Impeka users have Elementor, the Gutenberg editor, and an enhanced WPBakery page builder to choose from

Coding and design skills are not required.

8. Litho – Multipurpose Elementor WordPress Theme

This modern, creative, and highly customizable Elementor WordPress theme can be used to build any website type you can envision.

  • It’s ideal for creating any type of business niche, portfolio, blog, or eCommerce site
  • A Slider Revolution plugin is included together with a host of home pages, creative elements, and templates
  • Litho-created websites are fast, responsive, and SEO friendly

The online documentation is excellent, and the customer support is fantastic.

Our intent is to help you do away with any fear and trepidation you may be experiencing in your attempts to find a great multipurpose theme. A theme that not only won’t let you down but will actually be fun and easy to work with.

You don’t have to settle for a multipurpose WordPress theme that “looks like” it might be a good choice.

If you’re not sure what you should be looking for you can relax. Any of these 8 top multipurpose WordPress themes will serve you perfectly well in 2022.

The post 8 Multipurpose WordPress Themes to Use in 2022 appeared first on Codrops.

WordPress Performance Team Puts Controversial WebP by Default Proposal on Hold After Critical Feedback

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WordPress’ Performance team has put its WebP by Default proposal on hold after the community voiced critical feedback and significant technical concerns. The new feature would generate WebP images on upload by default for new JPEG uploads and would use WebP images by default for website content. WordPress’ Performance team proposed this update for the upcoming 6.0 release.

“The performance team has heard the feedback and takes the community’s concerns seriously,” Google-sponsored contributor Adam Silverstein said in an update on the status of the proposal. “With the help of the community, we will work on conducting additional data-driven research. Based on our findings, we will reassess our proposed approach to enabling WebP by default.”

Vocal opponents to the feature characterized it as “heavy handed” and pushed for it to be “opt-in” only or introduced with a more user-friendly way to disable it. One of the chief concerns is that the proposal has the potential to double the amount of disk space used for images, as it would generate WebP thumbnails in addition to the JPEG sub sizes.

Viktor Nagornyy summarized storage concerns in a comment on the proposal:

This is not just about image formats. You’re going to drastically increase disk space usage by generating more images. This will affect anyone hosting WordPress on managed hosts with storage limit, their own servers with limited storage, anyone offloading images to S3, etc. This is why there needs to be an option to disable this under Media options. Hidden images generated by WP because of plugins and themes already cause problems. I’ve seen a site generate 20 images for every uploaded image. Uploads directory was 20GB. Can you imagine adding webp images in addition to this? 

This directly affects hosting cost. You will cause a lot of billing issues.

The Performance Team said they are working closely with the hosting community but this change directly benefits hosts that sell plans with tiered storage space limits.

“There are also significant conflicts of interest,” WordPress agency owner Andrew Wilder said. “WebP is a format that Google Created — and it’s Google Engineers who are leading the Performance Team. WordPress agency owner Andrew Wilder said. “This proposal is designed to serve Google’s interests (making it easier and cheaper for them to crawl the web). And the increased cost for all the additional storage space needed will be borne by site owners, not by Google.”

Hosting companies may also experience complications as the result of enabling WebP by default that may not be worth the increased billing for customers who are forced to upgrade. Charles Smith, Managing Director at WordPress hosting company WPopt AB, articulated a litany of these concerns for hosts in a comment on the proposal, especially as it relates to support and backup costs:

Disk space – a vast majority of our users have very large image libraries. While they might not be hitting limits yet, effectively doubling the media library size is going to cause issues for many people. I can see that ending in one of several ways – either they’ll ask us to delete the webp files (so, more work for us, thanks!), or they’ll be forced to upgrade (so, higher fees for them), or they’ll get upset that we don’t offer more disk space for free, and then potentially leave us

Backups are already one of our major expenses. We invest in multiple solutions, and multiple storage locations. A decision like this will *directly* increase our costs. It will also make account restorations, account migrations and similar actions more time consuming.”

In the most recent update, Silverstein said the Performance Team’s primary objective in enabling WebP by default is to bring WordPress’ image processing to the level of its competitors.

“The main goal of this feature is to set the foundation for WordPress to be able to process and deliver more performant formats in the same way other CMS like DudaWix, and Shopify are already doing,” Silverstein said.

This reasoning is grossly disconnected from the concerns voiced by people who are in the trenches supporting and maintaining WordPress sites. The team’s initial approach at selling the benefits of WebP, without adequately addressing the disk space issue, has generated significant community pushback in a short amount of time.

As Performance Team representatives responded to concerns in the comments of the proposal, several participants in the discussion grew more irritated, saying they felt proponents of “WebP by default” do not fully grasp the real-world implications of the proposal for users. The timeline for bringing it into core also seemed rushed and premature, given that WordPress already has support for WebP images for those who choose to use them.

“Bottom line is pretty simple,” WordPress agency owner Sergio Scabuzzo said. “We are being asked to double the number of images for no good reason.

“There is a small bandwidth benefit in forcing all images to have a WebP version. But we will then have a crap show on our hands in the back end. How manageable are media libraries now? Cool, now double that with another media format. Oh, wait, let’s add AVIF later too…

“This is a problem looking for a solution, not a decision. This change is great only from a web crawler, search engine, supported device/medium. But for the WordPress ecosystem, it will create a huge headache in maintenance and hosting costs.”

The Performance Team is now reassessing its approach and seeking to bolster its case with more data and research. Silverstein referenced two GitHub issues where the team is tracking research on the impact of enabling WebP by default:

  1. Research: Impact of additional WebP images on upload [Issue #289]
  2. Research: WebP compatibility [Issue #290]

“Once we have completed our investigation and determined next steps on these two issues, we will work with the community to reassess two other concerns that were raised – having the feature on/off by default, and having a UI-based control to turn the feature on/off,” Silverstein said.

WP Force SSL

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The emphasis on safe websites is probably more prominent than it’s ever been. Because content on the web is more accessible than ever, the sheer amount of information that’s available, shared and interacted with raises...

The post WP Force SSL appeared first on 85ideas.com.

WordPress Community Designers Create the Museum of Block Art

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Anne McCarthy announced the launch of the Museum of Block Art earlier today via the Gutenberg Times blog. The site’s goal is to showcase creative uses of blocks and inspire the WordPress community to push the limits of what is possible with the block editor.

The site showcases 22 pieces of block art from 11 people in the WordPress space. Ann McCarthy, Tammie Lister, Beatriz Fialho, Allan Cole, Rich Tabor, Nick Hamze, Brian Gardner, Javier Arce, Mel Choyce-Dwan, Channing Ritter, and Francisco Vera all contributed to this first outing.

A 6-column grid showcasing various art designs created via the WordPress block editor.
Multiple block art styles.

The concept builds upon an earlier project by Lister. In October 2021, she announced Patternspiration, a site where she created and released a new block pattern every day for the entire month.

“She was showing me those, sharing problems she was running into, the intent around ‘how quickly can I create a pattern/what can I create in 30 minutes per day,’ etc.,” said McCarthy. “I brought it up on a hallway hangout, and the idea just hit me as we were chatting (that’s the moment in the video). I found her approach to be so beyond creative and beautiful compared to some of the necessarily practical items in the block pattern directory.”

The pattern directory on WordPress.org must take a lot of factors into consideration to ensure patterns work across themes for millions of users. This limits what designers can do. However, such limitations are unnecessary on third-party sites.

“I wanted to take it a step further because it felt so compelling to look at something and not have an ‘I bet that was made with WordPress’ feeling that many of us have had,” said McCarthy.

Because the Museum of Block Art allows for more artistry in its showcase, it can also create inconsistent results if end-users blindly copy/paste the code. For example, one of my favorite patterns is the It’s Me (Super Mario) design by Hamze, which brings back at least a decade of childhood memories:

Super Mario "pixelated" image made out of Button blocks in the WordPress editor.
Super Mario block art.

However, it relies on color names that are not likely to exist in every theme. Copying the pattern code and pasting it into the editor should create the correct layout, but the colors might be off.

Other patterns require users to download the correct images and add them to their posts. Abstractions Study No.8 by Cole relies on custom CSS, which is provided via a downloadable Blockbase child theme.

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Abstract block art.

This sort of hodge-podge of methods is OK for a project like this. The goal is to inspire, not necessarily to make downloadable patterns. When designers experiment and push the boundaries, it can also help evolve the block system’s tools as they report limitations upstream.

Aside from Lister’s Patternspiration work, I had caught Ritter’s blog post in January sharing how she had created block art. At the time, I was unaware that it would be a part of the then-unknown Museum of Block Art project.

WordPress block art made from a gallery of various city images.
City Textures block art.

McCarthy added that she encouraged Ritter to publish the post, noting that it helps to “demystify” how it was done.

“I started pinging people who I thought would be interested in doing it,” said McCarthy of the block art included on the site. “It was all very grassroots and sometimes would just randomly come up in conversation. I tried to keep the ask very small since so much is going in with WordPress and the world. Probably less than half of the people I contacted actually submitted art pieces.”

The initial plan was to launch the site alongside the WordPress 5.9 release. However, it was pushed back as contributors needed more time.

There is no submission form for third-party contributions to the museum. However, McCarthy encourages designers to use the #WPBlockArt hashtag across social media to share their work. It could get picked up for inclusion on the site.

“I’m mainly looking for pieces via the hashtag, but if I see a big demand for folks wanting to submit, I’d be game to open up something more official,” said McCarthy. “This has been a side project on top of 5.9, the FSE Outreach program, etc., so I wanted to be mindful about the opportunity cost of sinking more time into an off-the-wall idea.”

WordPress 6.0 to Introduce Performance Improvements for Custom Pages

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WordPress core committer Jonny Harris merged a patch into WordPress core for a 12-year-old ticket that he says has the potential to bring “a massive effect on performance for custom pages.” The change, which will be included in the upcoming 6.0 release, stops unnecessary queries when developers are using the do_parse_request filter, thanks to a refreshed patch from contributor Paul Bearne.

Harris summarized the problem and how the change improves performance in the commit message:

Developers of plugins and themes can use the do_parse_request filter to hot-wire requests and hook in early to render custom pages. However, even through these request may not need post queries and 404 lookups to be run, they run anyway. This can results in unnecessary SQL queries running on these requests. By adding a return value to the parse_request method of the WP class, these queries can now be skipped.

WordPress core contributor Konstantin Kovshenin detailed the need for this change in a Twitter thread he published in 2021, when soliciting help for the ticket:

Harris performed a quick review of plugins that use the filter and said he does not anticipate breakages. The search found 133 plugins using the filter. Some of the most popular ones include Google’s Site Kit plugin (1M+ installs), The Events Calendar (800K installs), and AMP (500K installs). Harris suggested the change requires a dev note, as it may have unanticipated side effects. The dev note is likely to be published closer to the time of release. WordPress 6.0 is currently scheduled for release on May 24, 2022.

Basic Tutorial On Creating Dynamic Menu Items In WordPress Pages

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WordPress is well-known for providing a wide spectrum of functionality, enabling users to set up their website consisting of a rich suite of features. One great feature of WordPress is its menu system, which helps in managing a website menu in an effortless manner. In fact, the menu system became even better with the release...

The post Basic Tutorial On Creating Dynamic Menu Items In WordPress Pages appeared first on DesignrFix.

WordPress 5.9 to Introduce New API for Locking Blocks

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The advent of block themes delivers more creative power into the hands of users, but there are times when theme authors may want to lock down key elements of a design and its designated content areas. First introduced in Gutenberg 11.6, the upcoming WordPress 5.9 release will include a new API for locking blocks.

Template level locking has been available in Gutenberg for a few years, allowing developers to lock the template on the UI so that users can’t manipulate the blocks. This new API offers more granular control that can be applied on the block level and override template locking.

“Instead of applying a lock to all inner blocks, you can apply it selectively to individual blocks via the lock attribute,” Marcus Kazmierczak said in the dev note. “The block level locking would supersede the inherited templateLock value. You can choose to lock moving or removing a block.”

One of the primary use cases for locking individual blocks, cited in the ticket proposing the new API, is where one might lock the “post-content” block of a single template so users can’t remove it.

“Another use case that we’re building for is having a Checkout Block with different blocks that act as fundamental steps, we don’t want people to delete or move those steps since they’re fundamental and their order is also important, but we want to allow people to select them, access settings, and insert blocks in between them,” WooCommerce engineer Seghir Nadir said.

Kazmierczak’s dev note demonstrates how developers can lock a specific block in a pattern and explained how block level locking is not inheritable.

“If a block is locked from being removed, its children can still be removed,” Kazmierczak said. “If you want to apply locking on children as well, add templateLock to the inner block component, or templateLock attribute to supporting blocks.”

For more information on the new locking mechanism, check out the Block Editor Handbook and the code examples in the dev note.

WordPress 5.9 to Fix Lazy Loading Performance Regression, Resulting in 30% Faster Page Loads in Some Cases

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WordPress sites may soon see a slight performance improvement on page loads, thanks to a fix for a performance regression in the core lazy loading feature. An analysis published in July 2021 showed that lazy loading applied too aggressively can have a negative impact on performance and that it’s better to eagerly load the images within the initial viewport.

WordPress’ default of lazy loading all images was causing slower performance on the Largest Contentful Paint metric (LCP) metric, which Google defines as “the render time of the largest image or text block visible within the viewport, relative to when the page first started loading.”

Google-sponsored WordPress contributors wrote a fix that avoids lazy-loading images above the fold and thoroughly tested it as part of their efforts to evaluate the impact of various past performance initiatives. The delayed LCP will be fixed in WordPress 5.9.

“This can be improved by skipping addition of loading='lazy' for the first content image or iframe, which in the vast majority of cases will appear within the initial viewport,” Felix Arntz said in the dev note. “WordPress can only make educated guesses around that and not be 100% certain, but an analysis taking into account 50 popular themes showed that the enhancement brought LCP improvements across the board, up to 30% faster page load.” 

In the future, this implementation may be able to drill down further into the block content on the page and eagerly load whatever images the theme identifies as being within the viewport.

“Have you thought about how we could have more precise heuristics going forwards that can take the semantics and structure of blocks into account to get a sense for what is actually deferrable?” Matias Ventura commented on the ticket in process. “For example, an image block or a site logo used in a header template part would be strong indicatives of being above the fold. ‘The first image of the content’ seems instead like a rudimentary measure, that varies a lot depending on preceding layout. With block themes we should have some ahead-of-time awareness of layout which we can use to produce more meaningful instructions.”

Felix Arntz said he already has detecting the header template part on his radar and is willing to refine the implementation as the world of block themes expands.

“The refinement of the lazy-loading implementation should notably improve LCP performance for most sites that rely on it, while not having adverse effects for sites where the default heuristics described above do not apply to,” Arntz said. “That is only a solid starting point though. In the future, specifically with the more semantic content specification that block-based themes will facilitate, we will be able to further fine tune the lazy-loading implementation by using the available block information.”

WordPress 5.9 Go/No-Go Update: All Proposed Features Are Moving Forward

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The go/no-go deadline for deciding on features for WordPress 5.9 was set for October 12 but the conversation was pushed back two days. Today, the core leadership for this release announced that everything in the previously-proposed scope for 5.9 will be moving forward.

Users can expect block themes, template and template part editing flows, the new default Twenty-Twenty Two block theme, the Styles interface, design tools, the Navigation Block, all manner of UI improvements, and pattern insertion directly from the Pattern Directory. Héctor Prieto, who is assisting with technical project management on the release, emphasized that many of these features are still in progress:

To note, not all of the above are currently ready, but there is some level of confidence that they can be by the time of 5.9.

A new WordPress 5.9 Must-Haves project board on GitHub shows a broad overview of the issues contributors are focusing on to get the release ready.

Prieto also published an exhaustive transcript of the meeting. There were no strong objections on specific features moving forward but there seemed to be a general acknowledgment that some features are still in a beta state. Those present at the meeting agreed that some kind of beta label might be advantageous where users could be directed to the Gutenberg plugin for faster updates to features that are still not fully polished.

One particularly challenging feature has been navigation. “I think from my perspective, the thing I was a bit worried about was the navigation menu flows, which I think we did a lot of progress over the last few weeks,” Gutenberg lead engineer Matías Ventura said. “And I think we need to set some good boundaries there.

“There has been a lot of work in also supporting sort of mega menus where you have in your sub-menus, you have images and paragraph any sort of block, which is cool. But there’s also like the 80% of cases where you just have a few links, and we need to ensure that that experience is as best as we can make it. I think we’re in a better place. And I think we’ll get there.”

Beta 1 is expected November 16, and the official release is scheduled for December 14. If you want to see an early demo of WordPress 5.9, check out the recording of the meeting below: