WordPress

July 17, 2023

Full Site Editing for Theme Developers: A Comprehensive Guide

A comprehensive guide to Full Site Editing for Theme Developers, including an overview of WordPress full site editing, block themes, templates, template parts, block grammar, theme.json, full site editing blocks, custom block styles, block variations, block patterns, global styles and style variations.

Full Site Editing is a new feature in WordPress that allows developers to create custom block-based themes using the Gutenberg editor. This article is an overview of WordPress full site editing and block themes for theme developers.

Who is this article for?

This article is designed for theme developers who want to learn about WordPress full site editing and block themes.

Prerequisites

To make the most out of this article, you need to have basic knowledge of theme development. You need to know about basic WordPress functions, PHP, HTML and CSS. You also need a WordPress installation and the Gutenberg plugin.

What you will learn

In this article, you will learn about WordPress full site editing concepts and global styles: Block grammar and attributes; Theme structure; Creating and combining templates and template parts; New full site editing blocks; The new theme.json configuration file; How to create block patterns, block styles and variations; Working with the site editor and template editor.

Full Site Editing in WordPress

Full Site Editing is a new feature in WordPress that allows developers to create custom block-based themes using the Gutenberg editor. It provides a new way of building websites using blocks instead of traditional page templates.

Block Themes

Block-based WordPress themes are best described as an interplay of HTML structure, content blocks and a few styles. Moving forward, WordPress themes will be much simpler, comprising of a functions.php file, stylesheet, theme.json file, and a few HTML files. Those HTML files will employ block grammar to generate blocks within various areas of a page, including headers, footers, and sidebars.

Templates and Template Parts

In FSE, templates are used to define the layout of different pages on your website while template parts are reusable pieces of content that can be included in multiple templates. You can create custom templates for different post types or pages on your website using Full Site Editing.

Block Grammar

Block grammar is the syntax used to define blocks in FSE. It allows you to specify the attributes of a block such as its content or style.

Theme.json

The theme.json file is a new configuration file introduced in FSE that allows you to define global styles for your block-based theme. You can use it to specify colors, fonts, font sizes, gradients, spacing units and more.

Full Site Editing Blocks

Full Site Editing introduces new blocks that allow you to customize different parts of your website such as the header or footer. These blocks provide you with more control over the layout and design of your website.

Custom Block Styles

Custom block styles allow you to create custom styles for existing blocks in Full Site Editing. You can use them to change the appearance of a block without having to create a new block.

Block Variations

Block variations allow you to create multiple versions of a single block with different attributes or content. This allows you to reuse the same block in different contexts with different settings.

Block Patterns

Block patterns are pre-designed groups of blocks that can be inserted into your content in FSE. They provide you with a quick way to add complex layouts or designs to your pages.

Global Styles and Style Variations

Global styles allow you to define styles that apply to your entire website while style variations allow you to create multiple versions of a single style with different settings. This allows you to create consistent designs across your website while still providing flexibility for customization.

In conclusion

Full Site Editing provides theme developers with a powerful set of tools for creating custom block-based themes in WordPress. By understanding the concepts and features introduced in FSE, theme developers can create more flexible and customizable themes for their clients.

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