Blocks
Short url: https://ewp.guide/go/be/blocks
Each individual bit of content in your page will be a block. Even individual paragraphs will be separate blocks. The Block Editor provides blocks for all your common content such as paragraphs, headings, ordered and unordered Lists (i.e. bullet points), quotes, images, galleries and any other content that you could previously add using the old Classic Editor.
Every block has its own toolbar menu that appears at the top of the block (or at the top of the screen if the Top Toolbar option is turned on). The icons that appear will depend entirely on the type of block. For example, the icons shown on the Heading Block toolbar will be different to the icons for a Gallery Block.
Most blocks will display a Change block type or style icon for converting the selected block from one type to another. The Change block type or style icon is different for every type of block, but for each block though, it will be the leftmost icon in the toolbar and it will be the icon that represents that particular block type.
For blocks that allow you to select and/or upload a file, such as the Image, Audio and Video blocks, the toolbar will display a Replace icon that allows you to edit the block by selecting different files. The Gallery Block has icons on each individual gallery image that allows you to replace or remove images from your Gallery. It also has a separate Upload button and Media Library link which allows you to add extra images to your gallery.
Every block will also display an Options icon (). The Options icon allows you to:
- Show/Hide the Block settings (i.e. the Settings Sidebar)
- Copy the current selected Block
- Duplicate the currently selected Block
- Insert a new Block before the currently selected Block
- Insert a new Block after the currently selected Block
- Move the block to another location within your page
- Edit the HTML for the currently selected block
- Add the currently selected block to your Reusable Blocks
- Add the currently selected Block(s) into a Group Block
- Remove the currently selected Block
When inserting blocks using the Block Inserter panel, you'll notice that they're sorted into different sections based on their type. At the very top of the Block Inserter is a search field that allows you to filter the list of blocks shown to make it easier to find the block you're looking for. The search field will filter the list based on the blocks name and type. For example, typing ‘im' in the search field (without the quotes) will show you a list of blocks that either start with, or are related to images, such as the Image Block, Gallery Block, Media & Text Block etc….
The Block Inserter separates your blocks into different types. These include the following:
- Text – This section contains all the basic text type blocks such as the Paragraph Block, Heading Block, List Block, Classic Block, Quote Block etc..
- Media – This section contains all your image and media type blocks such as the Image Block, Gallery Block, Audio Block, Cover Block etc..
- Design – This section contains more specialised content blocks, primarily used for enhancing the design of your page such as the Buttons Block, Columns Block, Group Block etc..
- Widgets – This section contains special widgets such as the Shortcode Block, Archives Block, Categories Block, Latest Comments Block, Latest Posts Block etc..
- Theme – This section contains special blocks that allow you to add different template parts to your content. These are new blocks that have been added in anticipation of the new Full Site Editing functionality that will introduced.
- Embeds – This section contains blocks for all the familiar Embeds that you're accustomed to using within WordPress. It contains the Tumblr Block, Twitter Block, YouTube Block, Spotify Block, etc…
Not shown by default, is the Most Used blocks section. The blocks that appear in this section will change based on the blocks that you've added to your content. As the name suggests, this section contains your most used blocks. To enable this section in the Block Inserter, click on the Options icon () at the top of the page and then click on the Preferences menu option. In the popup window that is displayed, turn on the Show most used blocks option within the Blocks tab. The Most Used blocks section will now appear in the Block Inserter, just above the Text section.
To access your Reusable blocks, click on the Reusable tab within the Block Inserter. This will show all your Reusable blocks. These are blocks that you've styled a certain way that can be reused on other pages in your site. If you update a Reusable Block, those changes are applied everywhere that Block has been used.