It is no secret that I have been excited about global style variations. The upcoming feature will allow theme designers to bundle multiple design presets. In turn, end-users can cycle through them, selecting their preferred look without changing their active theme. I have been writing about the feature since November 2021, holding out some hope…
On its face, Grigora Blocks by Latracal Solutions seems almost pedestrian. It feels like a theme you would use as a starting point to build your own thing. It will not have enough personality for everyone to give it a shot. However, for others, a base layout to customize is what they might be looking…
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…
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…
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…
Patchstack has published its State of WordPress Security whitepaper with a summary of threats to the WordPress ecosystem recorded in 2021. The whitepaper aggregates data from multiple sources, including the Patchstack Vulnerability Database, the Patchstack Alliance (the company’s bug bounty platform), and publicy reported CVEs from other sources. In 2021, Patchstack recorded nearly 1,500 vulnerabilities,…
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…
Automattic’s Skatepark landed in the WordPress.org theme directory on Monday. It was designed for modern events and organizations, but it should work well for many sites with a small amount of customization. For those keeping count, it is number 52 on the long path toward the 3,000 themes project lead Matt Mullenweg hopes for before…
After being involved in web design for almost 19 years now, there are grinding days where nothing feels fresh. However, there are also moments where you look at another web developer’s approach to problems and feel like there is a whole world of possibilities that you have yet to step into. And, it is rarely…
Ellen Bauer, developer and co-owner of ElmaStudio, posed the question on Twitter last week that many have been asking. What do we call these new types of WordPress themes made from blocks? She was not the first to ask. The question also came up via the Post Status Slack chat earlier this week. The short…
I have been fascinated by the concept of Carolina Nymark’s Miniblock OOAK theme for a couple of weeks now. It has served as inspiration for a design idea I have been working on, and I am happy to see Nymark pushing boundaries in a space where few pioneers are left. Her design style always dares…
WordPress is hosting a live online event tomorrow called “Beginner’s Guide to Full Site Editing.” Within three minutes of WordPress’ Twitter account tweeting about it, all 70 spaces were booked and the waiting list kicked in. As part of the project’s big picture goals for 2022, WordPress will be ramping up community efforts to help…
It was a busy week, and I almost missed one of my most-wanted components landing in Gutenberg 12.5 RC 1. The global style variations feature quietly snuck its way in as everyone else was getting acquainted with WordPress 5.9. The official release of version 12.5 is not expected until next week, but that did not…