If you’re a newcomer to WordPress or have been away from it for a long while, you’re probably a little bit mystified by the interface surrounding a simple blog post. Shouldn’t it be simple? Intuitive? and straightforward?
Absolutely! And it is. But what’s all this “blocks” stuff? Blocks are a relatively new addition to WordPress and have completely changed the way bloggers and site builders interact with WordPress. No more struggling with column widths and layout limitations to create a decent looking web page. No more guesswork around the very basics of web design like headers, footers, and image display, or having to remember HTML or CSS codes for lists, video embeds, or fonts. All of that is handled for you with blocks.
When you opt to add a new post in WordPress, the interface asks you to “choose a block” from a big list of choices. Blocks for everything! Want to write a paragraph of text? There’s a block for that. Add a cool image to your post? Yep, it’s a block. How about a gallery of images? There are several blocks for your use.
Blocks are stackable too. You can put them side by side in a row (using the “row” block of course) or on top of each other in a stack (you guessed it, with the “stack” block). You can pull rows, stacks, or random blocks together to build a custom block that you can reuse anywhere. It’s the “group” block for that.
In other words, the days of not being able to make WordPress pages look the way you want them to look are long gone. And so are the days of laborious page building. Simple, quick, and easy is the new modus operandi. So give blocks a try. Fire up a new post. Start with the simple “paragraph block” then click the “+” to add another block and pick “image”. For a strong finish, choose the “list” block and put a few items from your “to do” list on it. Your sample post will look something like this:
Here’s my paragraph followed by an image block and ending with a short list.
Special edition brew from the Craft Brewers Conference in Portland 2015.
- Use more blocks
- Don’t forget to try new blocks
- Blocks can do pretty much anything
In case you were wondering, blocks can be tweaked and adjusted. Each block has a settings panel with a variety of options such as sizing, spacing, color choice, placement, typography and other features that can be customized. Next month, in this WordPress series, we’ll be taking a deep dive into block adjustments. We’ll also take a look at the superpower that blocks have aka Patterns. Stay tuned.
