As per the invitation from WordPress.com, I started a new site with full-site editing. I started, but I haven’t done much yet.
Meanwhile, for those who have self-hosted WordPress sites, here is a list of resources from Birgit Pauli-Haack who write the Gutenberg Times. As she said is her latest newsletter – she is as surprised as anyone that the newsletter she started four years ago is still going strong.
Here is Birgit Pauli-Haack WordPress 5.9 Reading list for Full Site Editing and Block Themes.
A Block Theme is a theme that uses blocks for all parts of a site, including navigation menus, header, content, and site footer.
The Template Editor is a feature that allows block editor users to edit and create templates that a page or posts uses.
In fact, when you activate a block theme, you won’t see the Customiser because the Customiser doesn’t support block themes. Block themes use the Site Editor – and only the site editor. For someone who has been using the Customiser, it’s a big wrench to lose it.
Of course, I don’t have to use a Block theme….
As I said, I am using full site editing on a WordPress.com site using a Block theme that I started precisely for the purpose of using the editor. I am not happy using it yet. I used it to change a header, and it left me feeling frustrated.
Meanwhile, on the self hosted version of WordPress at WordPress.org, WordPress 5.9 has just been released and I am playing with full site editing there on a spare site, using the new Twenty Twenty-Two Block theme.
Basically I am annoyed that the skills I have learned using the customiser are going to have to be unlearned, at least if every theme becomes a Block theme in time. No doubt that feeling will pass as I become more acquainted with the new Site Editor.
There’s an interesting paragraph in a WPTavern article about plugins that include a link to the Customiser when using a Block theme. It says that WooCommerce does this. I am not in a hurry to use a Block theme on a production site. I use GeneratePress, and WooCommerce. So that appears to mean I can go forth and update to 5.9 without problem. Thinking ahead though, will GeneratePress become Block based?
That’s a problem for another day. But I am still holding off upgrading to 5.9 for a couple of days until I see what if any problems it might cause.
A Photograph
In lieu of a photo that has anything to do with full site editing or WordPress at all – here are some Russian pedestrians on the street in St Petersburg. I came across the photo while looking for the Anna Akhmatova portrait (see previous post).
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