--- title: "Gutenberg 19.3, Simplified Query Loop and blocks in theme.json -- Weekend Edition #306" date: "2024-09-28" author: "Birgit Pauli-Haack" url: "https://gutenbergtimes.com/gutenberg-19-3-simplified-query-loop-and-blocks-in-theme-json-weekend-edition-306/" categories: ["For Developers", "Full-Site Editing", "News", "Themes", "Updates", "Weekend Edition"] --- Hi there, This was anything but a slow WordPress news week, though, however none of it related to the software and the block editor. There are a few WordPress news places where you get updates and opinions. Official [WordPress news](https://wordpress.org/news/) is one, **Michelle Frechette **over at Post Status has a great summary with links: [Give Back … Deeply](https://poststatus.com/give-back-deeply/), **Matt Medeiros** and the [WP Minute team share what they know](https://thewpminute.com/automattic-vs-wp-engine-heres-what-we-know/), and **Anil Gupta**, Multidots is [taking a stand for the WordPress Ecosystem: why we must all give back ](https://www.multidots.com/updates/taking-a-stand-for-the-wordpress-ecosystem-why-we-must-all-give-back/) Next week, [WordPress 6.7 Beta 1](https://make.wordpress.org/core/6-7/) is on the schedule for October 1, 2024. To refresh what is on the docket for this next version you can consult [Roadmap to 6.7](https://make.wordpress.org/core/2024/09/03/roadmap-to-6-7/). If you want to contribute and learn at the same time, keep an eye out for the “Help to test WordPress 6.7” post from the Make Test team as well. I’ve been battling a nasty cold all week, and it seems I just need to let it run its course. I apologize in advance if my thoughts aren’t entirely coherent. To minimize any potential embarrassment, I’m keeping this weekend’s edition brief. I will be taking a social media break for a few days, too, it’s good for my mental health people tell me. Yours, 💕 *Birgit* **Table of Contents** 1. Developing Gutenberg and WordPress 2. Plugins, Themes, and Tools for #nocode site builders and owners 3. Theme Development for Full Site Editing and Blocks 4. Building Blocks and Tools for the Block editor. ## Developing Gutenberg and WordPress Release lead, **Kai Hao**, shared in his post [What’s new in Gutenberg 19.3? (25 September)](https://make.wordpress.org/core/2024/09/25/whats-new-in-gutenberg-19-3-25-september/) the highlights from the new version: - Zoom Out Mode - Swap the position of the publish buttons - Use custom block names in inspector controls - Allow opting out of the “Choose a pattern” modal when adding new pages - Automatic phone number linking - Allow dropping multiple images to the image block ![Zoom Out view Gutenberg 19.3](https://i0.wp.com/gutenbergtimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Zoomed-out.png?resize=652%2C369&ssl=1) --- **Joen Asmussen** published his 64th [Design Share](https://make.wordpress.org/design/2024/09/24/design-share-64-sep-9-sep-20/) and shows off the work of the WordPress Design team of the last two weeks: - Global styles iA - WP Briefing Landing Page - Adding “Drag” to Image Placeholder Text - WP.org: Moving “Log in” to the secondary navigation - Figma Organization for the new design system - Secondary button appearance concept - Unify DropZones - Updated shadows / elevation in WP Components - Updating ToggleGroupControl - Storybook Improvements ![An early in-the-clouds exploration of how the global styles iA](https://i0.wp.com/gutenbergtimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Screenshot-2024-09-28-at-13.00.18.png?resize=652%2C336&ssl=1) *An early in-the-clouds exploration of how the global styles iA* --- 🎙️ The latest episode is [Gutenberg Changelog #131 – Gutenberg Plugin Releases 23.1 – 23.3, Calls for Testing for 7.1 and more](https://gutenbergtimes.com/podcast/gutenberg-changelog-131/) ![](https://i0.wp.com/gutenbergtimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Screenshot-2026-06-05-at-17.56.38.png?resize=652%2C280&ssl=1) ## Plugins, Themes, and Tools for #nocode site builders and owners **Anne McCarthy** continued in their *Core Improvements* series about the **[Simplified Query Loop block with smarter defaults & intuitive settings](https://make.wordpress.org/core/2024/09/23/core-editor-improvement-simplified-query-loop-block-with-smarter-defaults-intuitive-settings/).** The enhancements streamline how you create dynamic post lists, making it more user-friendly and customizable. McCarthy explains how stronger defaults help with the first time usage, a toggle switch lets you change from default query to using a custom query, and the block’s filtering options include post formats now. ![](https://i0.wp.com/gutenbergtimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Query-Loop-Post-format-support-1024x753-1.png?resize=652%2C479&ssl=1) ## Theme Development for Full Site Editing and Blocks **Fabian Kägy,** director of editorial engineering at 10Up, documentation release lead for WordPress 6.7 was a guest on the [ShopTalk Show 634th podcast episode](https://shoptalkshow.com/634/), with hosts **Chris Coyier **and **Dave Ruppert**. “Fabian Kägy helps us understand the modern WordPress development process, Gutenberg vs Block editor vs full site editing, building with blocks or pages, what’s coming in the Twenty Twenty-Five Theme, and whether the theme authoring process has been made too difficult in 2024?” they wrote in the description. --- In the article, [What WordPress developers need to know about the blocks property in theme.json](https://kinsta.com/blog/theme-json-blocks-property/), **Jeremy Holcombe** breaks down the “blocks” property in the `theme.json` file for WordPress. This lets developers set up block settings globally. It makes customizing Gutenberg blocks a breeze by centralizing design options like colors and typography. Plus, it keeps everything consistent and boosts site performance by cutting down on custom CSS. Holcombe also includes easy-to-follow implementation tips, practical examples, and code snippets to help theme developers get the most out of this feature. It really streamlines the development process and amps up overall site optimization. ** [“Keeping up with Gutenberg – Index 2024”](https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/references/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index/) ** A chronological list of the WordPress Make Blog posts from various teams involved in Gutenberg development: Design, Theme Review Team, Core Editor, Core JS, Core CSS, Test, and Meta team from Jan. 2024 on. Updated by yours truly. The previous years are also available: **[2020](https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/references/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index-2020/) | [2021](https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/references/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index-2021/)** | **[2022](https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/references/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index-2022/)** | **[2023](https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/references/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index/gutenberg-index-2023)** ## Building Blocks and Tools for the Block editor. **JuanMa Garrido** published [Actions from Data Views: Adding images to the Media Library](https://developer.wordpress.org/news/2024/09/23/actions-from-data-views-adding-images-to-the-media-library/). It’s a continuation of the tutorial, he published earlier this month: [Using Data Views to display and interact with data in plugins](https://developer.wordpress.org/news/2024/08/27/using-data-views-to-display-and-interact-with-data-in-plugins/) in which he walked you through on how to create a plugin that displays a React app in the WordPress admin to list a dataset of pictures using Data Views. In this second part, you learn how to provide users with tools to directly add any listed images to the Media Library. --- In this week’s Live Developer Hours[, ](https://www.meetup.com/learn-wordpress-online-workshops/events/303330393/?eventOrigin=group_events_list)**JuanMa Garrido, André Maneiro **and **Nick Diego **gave** **[An Introduction to Data Views](https://www.meetup.com/learn-wordpress-online-workshops/events/303330393/?eventOrigin=group_events_list) and answered a ton of questions. They covered, the fundamentals of the DataViews component, how to add a React app to a custom WordPress admin page and how to display a custom dataset using Data Views. --- **[Need a plugin .zip from Gutenberg’s master branch?](https://gutenbergtimes.com/need-a-zip-from-master/)** Gutenberg Times provides daily build for testing and review. Now also available via [WordPress Playground](https://playground.wordpress.net/?blueprint-url=https://gutenbergtimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/playnightly.json). There is no need for a test site locally or on a server. Have you been using it? [Email me ](mailto:pauli@gutenbergtimes.com)with your experience ![](https://img.shields.io/github/downloads/bph/gutenberg/total?style=for-the-badge) *Questions? Suggestions? Ideas? * *Don’t hesitate to send [them via email](mailto:pauli@gutenbergtimes.com) or* * send me a message on WordPress Slack or Twitter @bph*. --- For questions to be answered on the [Gutenberg Changelog](http://gutenbergtimes.com/podcast), send them to [changelog@gutenbergtimes.com](mailto:changelog@gutenbergtimes.com) --- Featured Image: “Mitchell Library, Sydney (#24)” by Christopher Chan is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 --- **Don’t want to miss the next Weekend Edition? ** Type in your Email address to subscribe.Subscribe We hate spam, too, and won’t give your email address to anyone except Mailchimp to send out our Weekend Edition Thanks for subscribing. ---