Howdy,
This week, there was a lot going on. It started with a great conversation on the DoTheWoo podcast, and ended on a high note again, with the the Live Q & A on how Pew Research Center use blocks for everything on their sites. The recording is on the YouTube channel, post will transcript will follow.
Those shows were the bookends to my work as release lead for the latest Gutenberg plugin 13.7 version. I learned lot and thanks to the help by seasoned contributors, I pushed the release over the finish line. I learned a ton about all the moving parts that need to come together and also lot about what I don’t know.
There was much so much more going on in the WordPress space, and I am so happy to share some of it below.
Stay cool this summer! đ¨ đ§
Yours, đ
Birgit
PS: DoTheWoo Vision Podcast: The Future of Blocks is now available in your favorite podcast app.
Developing and extending the block editor
Video: Gutenberg Times Live Q & A: Block First Approach at the Pew Research Center. Anne McCarthy and I discussed with Seth Rubenstein, Lead Developer, and Michael Piccorossi, Director of Digital Strategy, how they use a mixture of Core and Custom Blocks to streamline their publishing process, and to create powerful charts and quizzes.for the Pew Research Center.
Matt Ratford tweeted: “I highly recommend watching this live-stream with a presentation on @pewresearch‘s superb Block Editor implementation. Lots there that I previously only thought I would do with @wp_acf in making WP work for their editors.”
Gutenberg 13.7
On Wednesday, the plugin version 13.7 was released and is now available as 13.7.2 with a fast turn around fixing two bugs. Gutenberg 13.7 brings an updated modal design, the ability to apply block locking to inner blocks with a click of a button, a myriad of new template types, and plenty of improvements to existing features based on feedback from the community. Here are the highlights from the release post: Whatâs new in Gutenberg 13.7? (20 July)
- Lock inside container block with one click
- Updated and unified modal design
- Create templates now for specific categories, pages and more
- Other notable highlights
Thursday, we recorded Gutenberg Changelog #70. We had great fun talking about the block editor, Gutenberg 13.7 release and what’s in the works. Huge Thank you to our special guest Ryan Welcher and my co-host Mary Job.
đď¸ Latest episode: Gutenberg Changelog #90 â New Testing Call for the FSE Program, Gutenberg 16.7 and WordPress 6.4 with Tammie Lister as special guest, hosted by Birgit Pauli-Haack
Sarah Gooding went into further details on some new features in her article Gutenberg 13.7 Expands Custom Template Capabilities, Adds Estimated Reading Time to Info Panel
Jamie Marsland is back with WordPress Block News. This week he demos how to use the new templates for single post type pages and single category pages that are in Gutenberg 13.7. Marsland also highlight three new block themes from the directory.
For a considerably deeper dive into the matters of creating templates for FSE, Justin Tadlock published Deeper customization with more template options. He outlines various use cases, how you can spruce up your website, online magazine or blog. The how-to section describes the steps to successfully create custom page templates
Building Block Themes and Patterns
Last week we introduced the first Bock Theme in the WooCommerce marketplace. The second Block Theme, called Basti by Ana Segota of Anariel Design landed this week. It shows off beautiful designs, shows great attention to detail by the designer, provides some wonderful patterns and also some great block styles for your buttons, columns other blocks. From a selection of elaborate style variations, you change the character of your site without changing your theme. On installation, youâll find a set of four designs depending on the nature or industry of your business.
In his video, Jamie Marsland gives you a detailed tour of the theme and shine a light on all the little details that make this theme so great. Marsland called it The most beautiful WordPress Gutenberg Block Theme.
Brian Gardner tweeted: “Without question, Basti by @Ana_Segota + @AnarielDesign is one of the most beautiful FSE #WordPress themes. (Easily better than anything I have designed.)”
Ana Segota published the demo site for your perusal. Give it whirl.
Steve Dufresne announced the new beta feature: Pattern Previews for Themes in the Directory. Users can now browse the pattern via the thumbnails on the single Theme page. The first feedback reveals that only patterns using core blocks will be displayed. Patterns that include references to 3rd party blocks won’t be visible in the Theme Directory in this first version. It’s also unlikely that they ever will. It would require for the meta time to install all the possible 3rd party block plugins on the Theme Directory site. That is very unlikely.
In her post on the Make Design blog: Proposal: A new kind of default theme, Channing Ritter suggests a more collaborative approach to building the next WordPress default theme Twenty-Twenty-Three. The design and theme team will work together on a base theme, and once it’s available for further development, community designers will be able to submit Style variations. The teams will then select some to be included into the default theme. The process is not quite refined.
Rae Morey of The Repository wrote in Issue 132: “Responses to Ritter’s proposal have been overwhelmingly positive with designers and developersâincluding Brian Gardner (designer and Principal Developer Advocate at WP Engine), Rich Tabor (Product Manager at Extendify), and Anariel Designâindicating their eagerness to participate.”
In his article, You Can Now Create Your Own Block Theme Within WordPress Eric Karkovack walks you through the features of the WordPress Create a Block Theme plugin, developed by the WordPress themes team. “The ability to create a block theme from within WordPress and then use it anywhere could be a game-changer for your workflow. It potentially cuts out a lot of time spent dealing with code and makes for a complete visual design experience.” Karkovack wrote.
Brian Gardner‘s new block theme Bright Mode is now available in the Theme Directory. It is “for those who love modern design and vibrant colors.” reads the theme description.
Sarah Gooding posted a review on WPTavern: Bright Mode: A New Block Theme with Vibrant Colors, Patterns, and Custom Block Styles. “If you look closely, you can see subtle hints of Gardnerâs trademark style. Itâs forthright and minimalist with meticulous attention to typography and spacing. The colors are bright but harmonious and balanced, so it doesnât preclude Bright Mode from use in professional contexts.” Gooding wrote.
Plugins and other NoCode tools for site owners and builders
Nick Diego also gave a talk at West Orlando WordPress Meetup: Here is the recording. Introduction to WordPress Full Site Editing. “In this presentation, Nick provided a thorough overview of FSE and discussed how you can leverage these changes to build better websites. FSE is the future of modern theming in WordPress Core, and we could not be more excited!”
The team of GenerateBlocks changed the name of âTemplate Libraryâ to âPatterns Library’ and provide 218 patterns (69 free and 149 paid) to their users
The team of Stackable added a new Map Block for displaying the map with the location marker. It comes with customization options for height and size and zoom level as well as choice to display additional buttons for Street View, full-size view or to offer different map types.
Ivica Delic just released the Blocks Detector Finder plugin, and it joins the league of other block finder tools. It analyses your website to find all the Gutenberg Blocks that are in use. It also detects the blocks that don’t work any more because plugins were removed.
Find my Blocks by Eddy Sims offers similar insights in the usage of blocks around your site.
WordCamp Europe Talks on WordPress TV (Part 3)
This is the last part of the 3-part series of listing WordPress Europe talks that were uploaded to WordPressTV. More recordings are listed in Part 1 and Part 2
Ryan Welcher: Creating a pre-publish checklist for Gutenberg (Workshop)
In this workshop, geared towards developers, participants created a custom plugin that will define a configurable pre-publish checklist that must be met before content can be published.
Tammie Lister: Growing the WordPress design system
In this talk, Lister showed why one needs the system and how important it is for the project, why if one doesnât build on those foundations, it’ll make an unstable base. Lister dreams beyond today at what could be, where could we go, and what can we learn from the existing design systems? She covered processes and tools to look at possible solutions to our problems today.
Paul Halfpenny, Imran Sayed, Evan Mullins, Ryan Welcher, JuanMa Garrido: Lightning talks
- Creating interactive blocks: old, new, and good ways, JuanMa Garrido
- Extending Gutenberg with SlotFill, Ryan Welcher
- Blockity McBlock Blocks, Oh My! w/ Evan Mullins
- Block Themes â The Future of FSE, Imran Sayed
- Delivering Personalised Experiences using WordPress, Paul Halfpenny
Matt Mullenweg, Josepha Haden: In Conversation – a Town hall style Q & A with Matt Mullenweg, co-founder of WordPress and Josepha Haden Chomphosy, executive directory of the WordPress open-source project.
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Upcoming WordPress Events
July 27 , 2022 – 3 pm EDT / 19:00 pm UTC
Webinar: Call for Testing WordPress Full Site Editing: Category Customization with Courtney Robertson, presented by GoDaddy Pro
November 18, 2022
WordFest Live 2022
Call for speakers ends August 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 â 11, 2022
WordCamp US in San Diego
September 15 + 16, 2022
WordCamp Netherlands at the Royal Burgerâs Zoo in Arnhem
September 24 + 25, 2022
WordCamp Pontevedra
February 17 â 19, 2023
WordCamp Asia, Bangkok, Thailand
Call for speaker was just published. Deadline: September 15th, 2022 (UTC +7)
Contributor Day is planned for February 17, 2023 (Day 1)
Learn WordPress Online Workshop
July 26, 2022 â 12 pm EDT / 16:00 UTC
The ABCs of Blogging: Advanced Blogging (Part Two) with Bud Kraus
July 26, 2022 5pm EDT / 21:00 UTC
Styling your site with global styles with Wes Theron and Alycia
July 28th, 2022 – 3 pm EDT / 19:00 UTC
Builder Basics: Letâs Build a Custom Theme (No Coding Required) â Part 2 with Nick Diego
July 28, 2022 5 pm EDT / 21:00 UTC
Theme Development Workflows for Different Types of Developers with Daisy Olsen
Virtual WordPress Meetups
July 26 at 6:00 PM EDT / 22:00 UTC
âMega Meetupâ â Block Intro & Project Frameworks with Vito Peleg showing off Atarim.io and with Anne Katzeff providing a Beginnerâs Guide to Gutenberg Blocks.
