Howdy,
So, this was the first week of the second half of the year. I am most excited about meeting people at WordCamp US in San Diego, the WordPress 6.1 release and some downtime around the Holidays. But first it is vacation time in August! We will meet family and friends in Berlin, Munich, Black Forest and Merano, Italy. In between we sprinkle our workdays, too and some weekend editions.
This week, there are some real gems in the list of posts. The list of WordPress events is quite long, with more in-person WordCamps around the world, additional July events on the Social Learning space and more. Check them all out on the bottom of this edition. And don’t forget to reserve your seat for the next Gutenberg Times Live Q & A with the folks from the Pew Research Center. Hope to see you there!
Hopefully, you also get some vacation time and no screen-time in this Summer. Stay safe!
Yours, đ
Birgit
Developing Gutenberg and building Blocks
In his post, turning a Shortcode into a block Jonathan Bossenger, Developer Educator on WordPress Training team, uses the example of a testimonial plugin that provides a Shortcode to add a testimonial to a page. In this hands-on video, you learn how to replicate the functionality in a block.
If you are missing some steps, Bossenger also published an Intro to Gutenberg Block Development workshop on Learn.WordPress
After discussions with a few team reps on Slack and at WordCamp Europe, I published the follow-up proposal on an editorial process for the new Developer Blog on WordPress.org. I am grateful to all the reviewers of the post to make it a good first draft. If you have some time, read it and chime in, especially if you have specific topics you’d like to see the team write about. The comments period end on July 20th, 2022.
Gutenberg 13.6 released
Jorge Costa was the release lead for Gutenberg plugin version 13.6. He wrote in his release post: Whatâs new in Gutenberg 13.6? (6 July). “The Gutenberg 13.6 release comes with four major highlighted features, many smaller enhancements, numerous accessibility improvements, and twenty-six bug fixes.” Costa highlighted the following features:
- Provide patterns to select from when creating any post type
- Create more template types in the editor
- Other Notable Highlights
- Explore the expanding theme.json engine
More details are also available on the WPTavern article: Gutenberg 13.6 Adds Pattern Modal Support for Custom Post Types, Expands Creation of Template Types
Mary Job and I had Jorge Costa as our special guest for the next Gutenberg Changelog episode (69). The episode will hit your favorite podcast player over the weekend.
Theme building with Full-Site Editing
Anders Noren, one of the first theme builders using FSE and also guest on one of our Live Q & As, released a new bock theme. In his post, Introducing Davis Blocks, he also explains his reasons for the rewrite of his classic theme. Then he elaborates on his approach to reduce files and CSS via block themes, and – very interesting – why he still had to use 250 lines of Custom CSS. The last section provides a fabulous list of missing features.
You can try out the new theme for free from the WordPress Repository: Davis Blocks. Tove was Noren’s first block theme to make it into the directory. And, according to his tweets, Noren is already working on his next theme.
Tonya Mork published a Roadmap for the implementation of the Webfonts API. The post has two parts: First she outlined the vision on how this API supports typography features in Styles. Second, she keeps track of ongoing work necessary to build the architecture, tackle performance, provide the features needed, fix identified bugs and write documentation. Mork also shared, that once the issues in the architectural section are resolved, work on features can begin. You can follow along on the development by bookmarking this issue.
For after several months contributors discussed what would be the right moment to Remove the beta label from the Site Editor menu item. This week, Anne McCarthy updated the space with a series of issues to be resolved before the beta moniker can be removed. This is a work in progress and certainly not the end of the discussion. It’s now on a more actionable track, though.
Matias Benedetto, developer on the WordPress Theme team posted the list of changes for Theme developers: Latest changes in Gutenberg + Themes: 13.1 to 13.5 releases. Benedetto lists the merged PRs for Global Styles, Design Tools and Themes for each of the five plugin releases. This should get you caught up on the important pieces.
đď¸ Latest episode: Gutenberg Changelog #98 â WordPress 6.5, Gutenberg 18.0 Community Theme Project and the Contributor Mentorship Program with special guest Maggie Cabrera
When Should You Use WordPress Full Site Editing? is a question many asked. Eric Karkovack has some answers for you. As always with technology, it’s an elaborated “It depends.” He looks at three scenarios: how much flexibility in design is needed, who maintains a site, and the level of complexity. If you are on the fence if you should start a new project with FSE, this is a relevant post to think it through the decision
Block editor updates for #Nocode Site builders and Owners
If you are new to using the Block editor or know someone new to using it Anne Katzeff wrote a Beginnerâs Guide to Gutenberg Blocks. Katzeff introduces you to the basic Gutenberg blocks so you can edit existing pages and posts, and create new documents. Anne Katzeff is a good friend, WordPress Meetup Co-organizer, and designer in Massachusetts and wrote this post for her design clients.
Laura Byrne commented on Twitter: “This is hands down the best Gutenberg 101 for content creators Iâve seen. Seriously, bookmark this now and use as a reference: logical progression, great screen caps, user-friendly language.”
Sarah Gooding reviewed a new plugin which offers Beautiful Block Patterns for Food Bloggers. “Food blogs commonly have a strong focus on category and tag-driven grid layouts with big featured images and multiple sections showcasing different types of recipes. Prior to the block editor, customizing these types of layouts would be beyond reach for most WordPress users. They would have to rely on the theme to provide the right layout or enough user-friendly options to change it.” Gooding wrote. The plugin Block Patterns for Food Bloggers is available in the WordPress repository,
Today, 93 Block Themes are now available in the WordPress Directory. Some of the newestthemes are:
- Davis Blocks by Anders Noren
- Gutenify Magazine by Gutenify Dev
- Intrace by Jegstudio
- Lawson by ThemeZee
Need a plugin .zip from Gutenberg’s master branch?
Gutenberg Times provides daily build for testing and review.
Have you been using it? Hit reply and let me know.
Live Streams and Podcasts
Sarah Gooding picked up on our upcoming Live Q & A and wrote about it: Gutenberg Times to Showcase the Pew Research Centerâs âBlock First Approachâ in a Live Q&A on July 22, 2022.
Nathan Wrigley hosted This Week in WordPress episode #215 with Remkus De Vries, Mark Westguard and yours truly. You can watch the recording on YouTube.
Upcoming WordPress Events
Don’t miss it! A Block-First Approach at Pew Research Center with lead developer Seth Rubenstein, head of digital strategy, Michael Piccorossi and co-host Anne McCarthy on July 22, at 11am EDT / 15:00 UTC
November 2 + 3, 2022
WordPress Accessibility Day
October 10 â 14, 2022
WooSesh is a âvirtual conference for WooCommerce store builders that will help grow your business.â Event host, Brain Richards, is currently looking for speakers for pre-recorded 25-minutes sessions. Apply to speak. Deadline July 15, 2022.
WordCamps around the World
September 2 + 3, 2022
WordCamp Jinja 2022, about 2 hrs West of Kampala, Uganda. Calls for sponsors, speakers, and volunteers are open now.
September 3 + 4, 2022
WordCamp Kathmandu, Nepal
September 9 – 11, 2022
WordCamp US in San Diego
September 15 + 16, 2022
WordCamp Netherlands at the Royal Burger’s Zoo in Arnhem
September 24 + 25, 2022
WordCamp Pontevedra
Social Learning Spaces
July 11, 2022 3 pm EDT / 19:00 UTC
Your First Ecommerce Website with Chris Badgett and Destiny Kanno
July 12, 2022, 5 pm EDT / 21:00 UTC
Explore the Block Directory with Wes Theron
July 14, 2022 10 am EDT / 14:00 UTC
Let’s code! Creating your first WordPress Child Theme with Jonathan Bossenger
July 15, 2022 4am EDT / 8 am UTC
Writing content with the 10 Text blocks with Ben Evans.
July 18, 2022 4pm EDT / 20:00 UTC
Building With Free Wireframe Templates And Advanced Blocks with Kadence blocks and Maestro Stevens
July 19, 2022 5pm EDT / 21:00 UTC
Explore the Template Editor with Wes Theron
July 26, 2022 5pm EDT / 21:00 UTC
Styling your site with global styles with Wes Theron and Alycia
Meetups
July 20, 2022 7pm EDT / 23:00 UTC
Gutenberg Blocks for Devs – Part 2 with Rick Radko Ottawa Meetup
July 21, 2022 6 pm EDT / 22:00
What’s in WordPress 6.0 and in the works for WordPress 6.1 with Birgit Pauli-Haack at West Orlando WordPress meetup
