Howdy,
Next week is going to be a busy week, with two releases, WordPress 6.5 and Gutenberg 18.0, a Hallway Hangout and Developer Hours.
It feels to me that WordPress 6.5, has received a lot of buzz. It’s a powerful release with lots of great new features, especially for extenders and other developers. I also love the new Data views, the drop shadows, revisions, the improvements in Drag and Drop, Listview and template screens.
I hope you are ready for this stokeful release coming to a WordPress instance near you!
Yours, đź’•
Birgit
Developing Gutenberg and WordPress
Short release update:
WordPress 6.5 is upon us on March 26, 2024 –
WordPress 6.5 RC 3 was released this week. In last week’s edition I shared plenty of links on learning more about WordPress 6.5
The next Gutenberg plugin release is scheduled for March 27.
The Gutenberg 18.0 RC is already available for testing.
Upcoming events in the WordPress open-source space
Developer Hours: Exploring Block Hooks in WordPress 6.5 with Nick Diego and Bernie Reiter. They will discuss examples on how to use the new Block Hooks API coming to WordPress with 6.5. You’ll learn how to use it to place a block automatically before or after an existing block. For instance, a like button after the title of your blog posts, or a Back-to-Top link before the next heading in a longer piece. The Developer Hours will take place on March 26, 2024, at 14:00 UTC (9 am EDT)
Exploring WordPress 6.5 with Kathryn Presner and Wes Theron on March 26, 2024 at 21:00 UTC / 4 pm EDT. The Presenters will cover all the new features coming to blocks, List view, the Font Library and Revisions.
Hallway Hangout: Using Site editor in production for client sites with Justin Tadlock and me. On March 27 at 16:00 UTC (11 am EDT) participants will discuss in an informal setting: how agencies and freelancers adjust their workflow and tooling to provide a consistent experience for their clients.
In the event Untangling Templates on March 27 at 15:00 UTC / 10 am EDT, Kathryn Presner invites you to demystify templates together! “Diving into the Site Editor, we’ll explore the key elements that drive the look and layout of your site, clarifying the purpose of each built-in template. We’ll look at some scenarios when it makes sense to create a custom template, and get hands-on to build a couple of them live. By the end of the workshop, you’ll have a better understanding of the potential of WordPress templates, and be excited to play with templates on your own site!” read the description.
Learn.WordPress and Bud Kraus will present “What’s New In WordPress 6.5?” via Zoom on Tuesday, April 9 at 19:00 UTC (2 PM EDT). He will demonstrate the new features coming to WordPress 6.5, such as Font Management Revisions for Styles and templates, and the new data view screens coming to the Site Editor.
🎙️ Latest episode: Gutenberg Changelog #98 – WordPress 6.5, Gutenberg 18.0 Community Theme Project and the Contributor Mentorship Program with special guest Maggie Cabrera
Planned articles for the Developer Blog
Updated April 4, 2024 Added links to published posts.
- How to work effectively with the useSelect hook
- How to use WordPress React components for plugin pages
- Exploring the Block Hooks API in WordPress 6.5
- Introduction to the Interactivity API
If you don’t miss any new article, subscribe to the WordPress Developer Blog
Plugins, Themes, and Tools for #nocode site builders and owners
Eight new Editor Tips by Tammie Lister
- Set color of separator
- Use site logo as a site icon
- Turn on tools for colors
- Press + to see options
- Advanced details on template area
- Click template areas in sidebar
- Contain text cursor inside block
- Open list view by default
Drop Shadow updates in WordPress 6.5 by yours truly on the WordPress Developer Blog summarizes how to use the controls for various blocks and how to remove core presets.
Fabian Kägy, Matias Ventura and Luis Herranz were guest at the Frontend Happy Hour podcast to answer the question of Why does WordPress dominate the web? and shared ‘their experiences and insights in developing and leveraging WordPress.’ An interesting listen.
In time for the Font Library to come to WordPress with 6.5, Csaba Varszegi of LittleBigThings. published his plugin to load Modern-Font Stacks as Font collection.
The Mindspun Responsive Blocks plugin was just published to WordPress plugin repository. It adds fully responsive core-like blocks and allows you to create your custom responsive blocks. They just released their Stripe-based Payment block as well.
In her post Customize Your Store, Patricia Hillebrandt explains a new way to design WooCommerce stores coming to WooCommerce 8.8. The tool aptrly named “Customize Your Store” makes it easier for you to make your shop look just the way you want. You don’t need to be a tech expert to use it. Hillebrandt shared more details about these upgrades and how you can use them to improve your online store.
Brian Coords asked in his latest post Should the “Page” in WordPress be the new default? He also wants to say Goodbye to frontpage.html. “It’s become increasingly clear that block theme developers are by and large not using it. The biggest issue, from what I can understand, is that it places content inside of a template, not inside of page content. That distinction has consequences. It’s really hard for average users to disable or even modify without understanding the intricacies of the site editor.” he wrote. What do you think?
Joeleen Kennedy, senior web engineer, wrote about three things HumanMade loved about the Harvard Gazette WordPress website. “We decided early on that we would be early adopters and went all-in on full site editing, using the Gutenberg plugin to get new features that hadn’t yet made it to WordPress core.” she wrote. Head on over the read what was and how the new site was built and in the embed video you learn how the customer’s experience was.
Theme Development for Full Site Editing and Blocks
Beatriz Fialho, theme designer at Automattic, shared her Pattern design tips and tricks for developers on the WordPress Developer Blog. What makes a well-designed pattern? And what ensures that a pattern integrates flawlessly into any WordPress site? A designer shares some of the lessons they’ve learned while building themes and websites.
In his post WordPress Theme Composition and Interoperability, Rich Tabor emphasizes the need for themes to be flexible and easily adaptable to the evolving WordPress ecosystem, ensuring that themes can work seamlessly with various page builders and extend functionality without compromising on design or user experience. “Today’s themes—or rather, today’s block themes—inherit the newest additions to WordPress out-of-the-box, as blocks carry much of the “weight” themes were once required to do. And historically, many theme designers—including myself—relied on a framework that covered the basics of their theming approach; but now, WordPress is that framework.” Tabor wrote.
Nadia Maya Ardiani, editor at Hosting blog and co-host on the Gutenberg Changelog episode 89 interviewed Maggie Cabrera, designer/developer on the Twenty-Twenty-Four theme. Here is the post: Maggie Cabrera: Turning a WordPress Passion Into a Professional Pathway. “I think there’s a shift of the people who are usually building themes. Before, theme-building was something that only developers would do, or designers who knew how to code to some extent. It’s different now. People who don’t know how to code can create block themes, too. The only thing that you need to know is how to use WordPress and the block editor,” Cabrera explains.
Maggie Cabrera will be my special guest on the next Gutenberg Changelog we will record Wednesday. If you don’t want to miss the episode, subscribe to the podcast on your favorite pod catcher. Here are a few suggestions.
Apple Podcasts | CastBox | Google | Podcasts | PocketCasts | Podbean
Podchaser | RSS | Spotify
Congratulations to Tammie Lister and her editor, Jessica Lyschik, for publishing the new book about WordPress Styling with Blocks, Patterns, Templates, and Themes. “Guided by examples that demonstrate effortless customization entirely suited to your preferences, you’ll master the design tools, patterns, and full site editing capabilities to shape impactful websites that mirror your distinct vision and creativity.” is written on the back of the book.
Building Blocks and Tools for the Block editor.
If you, like me, missed this year’s DE{CODE} event, you can watch all the sessions from WP Engine’s De{code} YouTube Playlist. Definitely on my watch list is Empower your development: the breakthrough features of WordPress 6.5 unleashed with Damon Cook, Nick Diego and Fabian Kägy, and a virtual appearance by Anne McCarthy. They cover Data views, Block Bindings, and the Interactivity API with short demos.
If you are not so firm or up-to-date with your JavaScript, Aurooba Ahmed created a free course to explain the basics of JavaScript you will need to work with Blocks in WordPress. The course is called JS Essentials for WP Devs and you can sign up here, and you receive 15 lesson via emails.
Ahmed also published an excellent mini-course on how to plan and make decision about the blocks you start to build. It’s a deeper dive into the Block editor UI philosophy and how to make your decisions on where to add options and settings, as well as how to use WordPress components to build your interfaces.
Thoughtful Block UI for WordPress – Learn to plan out your custom WordPress block for a great editing experience within the Block Editor in under an hour and at a very reasonable price.
A new update is coming to WooCommerce, which is version 8.8. Brent MacKinnon, developer experience lead at Woo, posted about Making Product Onboarding and Product Tours Extensible for product builders. This update is going to help people who are new to WooCommerce by making it easier for them to learn how to use it. Now, people who make websites can change the guides and instructions to better fit what their customers need. This makes it simpler for new users to get started and for developers to guide them through WooCommerce.
In his latest Live stream, Ryan Welcher Reviewed Gutenberg 17.8 & 17.9. He covers, among other features, grid layouts, with row and columns span, bulk export of patterns and setting alternative templates in the sidebar.
Need a plugin .zip from Gutenberg’s master branch?
Gutenberg Times provides daily build for testing and review.
Now also available via WordPress Playground. There is no need for a test site locally or on a server. Have you been using it? Email me with your experience
Questions? Suggestions? Ideas?
Don’t hesitate to send them via email or
send me a message on WordPress Slack or Twitter @bph.
For questions to be answered on the Gutenberg Changelog,
send them to changelog@gutenbergtimes.com
