I built four block plugins last week. It was not something I had set out to do. I did not wake up one day and declare, “I think I will build a suite of custom block types over the next few days.” It just happened. The first plugin I built was to address an old ticket for Gutenberg that had …
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 …
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 …
Grigora Blocks Has the Potential To Be a Solid Starter Theme
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 for. I genuinely love starter-type …
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, …
FSE Outreach #13: Building an Author Template from the WordPress Site Editor
Anne McCarthy announced round #13 of the FSE Outreach Program on March 31. This call for testing focuses on creating an author template via the site editor. Several of the new features used during this round were only added in Gutenberg 12.9 last week. The call asks volunteers to test and provide feedback on features related to Full Site Editing …