Yesterday, Ella van Durpe merged a long-awaited feature into the Gutenberg plugin that allows users to select and modify text across multiple Rich Text blocks. It should land in version 13.0 of the plugin and WordPress 6.0 in May. Users can currently select text across multiple blocks, but the editor automatically adjusts that selection to…
The WordPress pattern directory finally opened its gates to the entire community today. Anyone with a WordPress.org account can log in, go to the pattern creator, and start designing. For some of us, this has felt like an unbearably long wait. In reality, it took the development team less than a year since the directory…
One of the features I liked about Automattic’s Archeo theme that I reviewed earlier this week was its split-screen single post header. I loved that an author was doing a little something different with the Featured Image block, giving users some variety. The design was simple. It is a two-column section with an image on…
The day has finally arrived when a block theme does something interesting with the featured image on single post views. One of my biggest pet peeves is when themers simply dump it at the top of the content and call it a day. I nearly always bolt straight for the site editor to remove the…
Over the weekend, web developer Marie Comet released the Lock Reusable Blocks plugin. Since then, she has published a couple of more updates that polish that initial release. The extension blocks users from directly editing reusable blocks from the post-editing screen. Reusable blocks allow users to group one or more blocks in the post editor,…
Yesterday, DeoThemes’ latest block theme, Ona Creative, landed in the WordPress directory. It is the second child of Ona, a theme I initially showcased here on the Tavern in November 2021. When I first reviewed the Ona parent theme, WordPress 5.9 had yet to be released, and users were required to install the Gutenberg plugin…
I have a new favorite WordPress development-related plugin: Theme YAML. Sascha Paukner released it a mere day ago, and it may find its place in many theme developers’ toolboxes before long. It allows themers to write theme JSON in YAML format. To use, theme authors only need to create a new theme.yaml file and begin…
Last summer, I was on a pattern-creating bender. In two months, I had designed just shy of 100 block patterns. Outside of work and necessary household duties, I spent every waking moment building things with the block editor for fun. I had complete creative freedom, no need to roll out a commercial product, and no…
Gutenberg 12.8 landed in the WordPress plugin directory earlier today. I have been tinkering with many of the features as they were committed over the last couple of weeks. There are some things that I am excited about. The Web Fonts API is something I have patiently waited months for, but the ability to quickly…
GiveWP quietly released its new plugin, Donation Form Block for Stripe, in the WordPress directory last week. It is a standalone block that allows users to accept donations almost instantly. No complicated setup. Just install, activate, connect to Stripe, and play. I named the GiveWP plugin my favorite of 2019. The team behind the donation…
I have said it before, but it bears repeating: the next generation of WordPress theme authors will design from the site editor. It seems that Gutenberg project contributors are making good on my promise. Earlier today, I exported a WordPress theme from the site editor. The resulting ZIP file seemed to include all the necessary…
“I have so many design ideas in my head that I am about to make it my mission to singlehandedly fulfill [Matt Mullenweg’s] vision of 5,000 Full Site Editing #WordPress themes in the directory,” tweeted Brian Gardner earlier today. Daniel Schutzsmith responded: I’m just not seeing the need for more than one theme for FSE…
The short answer: probably not. The longer answer… It will depend on many things going right over the next couple of months. WordPress 6.0 is scheduled for launch on May 24, 2022. The 6.0 Beta 1 is on April 12. Even with a slightly extended cycle, major updates come fast. Anne McCarthy opened a discussion…
Block themes continue to trickle into the WordPress theme directory. Classic design submissions still outpace them by margins that make it look like blocks are not even in the race yet. However, some designers seek to pioneer this still-foreign space. Brian Gardner is not new to this. His latest theme, Avant-Garde, plays on the block…
Donna Cavalier announced the vision of WordPress.com’s marketplace earlier today via the site’s news blog. This future will include bringing more premium themes, plugins, and services to users. Automattic, the company behind the site, will be partnering with third-party developers to bring these commercial offerings to its customers. Plugin developers, theme designers, and WordPress service…