A couple of weeks ago, Munir Kamal updated his Block Slider plugin for WordPress. While not as popular as some of the other projects he has spearheaded, such as Editor Plus, he wanted to breathe some fresh life into it. The original plugin allowed users to insert a slider block and create the slides directly from the post or page …
A Pared Back Web Fonts API May Land in WordPress 6.0 or Not at All
Anyone who has been watching or participating in the development of the web fonts API can attest that it has been an emotional rollercoaster. At one point, it seemed to be a shoo-in for WordPress 5.9. Then, it was punted to the next release. Sure that it was landing once again, we find ourselves looking down the track, wondering just …
Phi Phan Launches a Separator Block With an Icon Option
Less than a week after launching Block Enhancements, Phi Phan has released another project: Icon Separator. It is a block plugin for creating custom dividers with an SVG icon. “I’ve tried to support icons in the core/separator,” Phan said when we last spoke about adding icons to core blocks. “But it requires changing the markup. So I may create a …
WooCommerce Plans to Bring Full-Site Editing Support to Single Product Templates
WooCommerce is moving closer to closing the gap on its full-site editing support with the latest features announced on the Q1/Q2 roadmap. While the e-commerce platform already has support for nearly two-dozen core blocks, it’s not yet possible to use full-site editing for customizing every aspect of a store. The concept of “Store Editing” is still in the early stages …
Gutenberg 13.0 Adds Text Selection Across Multiple Blocks, New Stack Group Variation, and Featured Cover Blocks
Gutenberg 13.0 landed earlier today in the WordPress plugin directory. It is one of the heftier releases lately, containing the final features that should ship with WordPress 6.0. The more prominent features include multi-block partial text selection, Cover blocks with featured images, a Stack variation for Groups, and pattern-based page creation. And there is much more to dig through. I …
WordPress 6.0 Might Ship a Feature for Picking a Block Pattern on Page Creation
I once said that full-page patterns were the missing link for block theme development. Theme authors have been able to include such layouts since the patterns feature was rolled out in WordPress 5.5 last year. However, core WordPress has never provided an experience built around them. This may be changing when WordPress 6.0 ships next month. There is a bit …
Phi Phan Launches Block Enhancements WordPress Plugin
WordPress developer Phi Phan has been making small splashes lately, but in a sea of 1,000s of plugins, it is increasingly tough to make a wave. Over the weekend, he released the Block Enhancements plugin, the first pass on a project that he plans to iterate on with new ideas. Adding icons to buttons with Block Enhancements. However, this is …
How To Build a Timeline Page With Blocks
Up next in our Building with Blocks series is a quick tutorial on how to build a timeline page. Timelines give brands and organizations a visual way to introduce themselves and feature highlights from their histories. The block editor makes creating a timeline easier than it ever was with legacy plugins. For this example, I selected the Timeline Block For …
Featured Cover Blocks and the Future of Binding Data to Generic WordPress Blocks
Over the past year, I have been on a mission. I have eagerly awaited each release of the Gutenberg plugin, followed tickets, and chimed in when I could. I have been holding out some sliver of hope for one feature in particular. I wanted to use featured images within a Cover block. That day has finally arrived. In particular, my …
Displaying Post Modified and Reading Times via WordPress Blocks
A couple of weeks ago, Rich Tabor announced a GitHub repository that listed all of his block plugins. These were already publicly available. However, some had yet to land in the WordPress plugin directory. As a fan of his simple approach to block design, I was quick to start tinkering with them. One of those projects, Post Modified Time Block, …