Imagine cracking open the door to Gutenberg and discovering the treasure troves it houses for your WordPress site! This beginner-friendly guide named “Gutenberg WordPress Tutorial” carefully navigates you, step-by-step, through the process of utilizing Gutenberg to its full potential and even beyond. The tutorial not only unveils the mystery behind using Gutenberg’s Blocks feature, the heart of WordPress site development, but also introduces you to a noteworthy collection of free block plugins, essential for ingenious site building.
While Gutenberg may initially appear daunting, especially if you’re a novice, the knowledge this tutorial presents will help you become proficient in building visually appealing, swiftly loading websites. Additionally, you’ll be privy to a host of handy add-ons and free tools tailored to augment the usability and effectiveness of Gutenberg. So, sit back, relax, and get ready to dominate the world of WordPress with Gutenberg!
This image is property of i.ytimg.com.
Understanding Gutenberg
Overview of Gutenberg
Gutenberg is a relatively new feature developed by WordPress that has now become an integral part of its interface. For those unfamiliar with Gutenberg, it’s a Block Editor that introduces a flexible way of building WordPress content. It replaces the outdated TinyMCE as the default content editor and comes with several innovative features to help users create effective pages and posts.
Importance of Gutenberg for WordPress users
For WordPress users, adapting to Gutenberg is essential as it is designed to improve how users interact with content. It introduces a modern, media-rich editing experience while preserving the flexibility of WordPress. With the rollout of WordPress 5.0, Gutenberg officially replaced the classic editor, making it the default editor of the WordPress industry leader. WordPress users should understand how to use Gutenberg to fully leverage its features.
Introduction to Gutenberg’s Blocks feature
Gutenberg primarily operates using a block system. A block can be as simple as a paragraph of text, an image, or a video, or complex like a dynamic snippet of JavaScript. Each piece of content added to a post or page is a block. Each block is essentially an editable chunk that you can move around to design your content exactly the way you want.
Setting Up Gutenberg Interface
Initial configuration of Gutenberg
The first step in using Gutenberg is setting up the interface. Gutenberg’s interface is clean and minimalistic, focusing on your content and reducing distractions. When you install Gutenberg, it opens up with a welcome guide that gives you an overview of the editor and its features. From there, you can start setting up and fine-tuning Gutenberg to your liking.
Exploring the Gutenberg interface
The Gutenberg interface splits into two main sections – the editing window and the settings panel. The editing window is where you add and arrange your blocks to create posts and pages. The settings panel, which can be toggled on or off, contains document settings (like status and visibility, permalink, and categories) and block settings (like formatting and advanced options for the selected block).
Using the settings option for page view and block view switching
Within the Gutenberg interface, you have access to comprehensive settings options. These options allow you to switch between viewing your page settings and your block settings. This feature is beneficial as it lets you swap between two different views at a glance from the same interface.
Working with Editor Modes
Switching between edit and select mode
Gutenberg offers two primary modes for editing: the Edit mode and the Select mode. The Edit mode lets you insert, write, and format your text. In contrast, the “Select” mode, which you can activate by clicking the arrow icon in the toolbar, allows you to move, copy, or delete a block.
Managing features such as undo/redo and document details
Gutenberg comes packed with editing features that make it friendly for beginners. For instance, it has an undo/redo feature that allows you to correct errors or review and examine changes. It also gives you the ability to manage document details like word count, blocks used, and structure directly in your editor.
Utilizing the list view for page hierarchy inspection
For complex documents that contain nested blocks or those intricately designed, the list view is a great utility. The list view displays all the blocks present on a page in a neat hierarchical list, making it easier to handle each block individually.
Utilizing Gutenberg Blocks
Adding blocks to a page or post
Adding a block in Gutenberg editor is a simple process. The editor provides you with multiple options to add a block, either by pressing the plus icon in the upper left corner or within the content area itself or just by typing /
in a new line and beginning to type the block name.
The vast range of blocks offered by Gutenberg
Gutenberg introduces a vast range of blocks. This extensive range of blocks consist of commonly used items like paragraphs, images, and headings, as well as more complex elements such as tables, columns, and buttons. This wide variety allows you to create diverse and rich content with ease.
Adjusting and repositioning blocks
One of the significant advantages the Gutenberg editor has over the Classic editor is how easy it is to adjust and reposition blocks. You can easily move your blocks up and down, nest them within columns or group blocks, and even turn blocks into reusable ones for quick addition in future posts.
Exploring Predefined Block Components
Understanding what patterns are
Patterns are predefined block layouts that ship with Gutenberg. They allow users to insert complex design structures into their pages and posts with just a few clicks. Patterns can range from a simple pair of text and image blocks to more complex layouts involving multiple block types.
Using predefined templates beneficially
Predefined templates, similar to patterns, can save a lot of time and energy when it comes to designing your site. Using these templates requires you to only populate them with your content, and voila – the rest of the styling is taken care of!
Incorporating patterns to create various layouts
Patterns are extremely flexible since they can be modified just like individual blocks. You can use multiple patterns in a single post and even mix and match different patterns to create intriguing designs that would otherwise require more technical abilities to design from scratch.
Understanding View Options
Using three dots option for switching views
On the Gutenberg toolbar, you will notice a three-dot menu button. This button provides additional editing options, including switching views. These views include Top Toolbar, Spotlight Mode, and Fullscreen Mode, each offering a slightly different editing experience.
Converting blocks into reusable blocks
A powerful feature of Gutenberg is the ability to convert custom blocks into reusable blocks. These reusable blocks can be saved and used throughout your website, a feature that can save a significant amount of time if you find yourself using the same customized layout frequently.
Features of managing blocks
Managing blocks in Gutenberg involves various actions like moving, editing, duplicating, inserting before or after, and removing blocks. All these actions can be found in the block toolbar, which shows up as you select a block.
Editor Options and Features
Choosing between visual editor or code editor
While Gutenberg’s main selling point is its highly visual, intuitive page builder interface, it still understands that sometimes you might need to code directly. So, you have the choice between Visual editor, where you add and organize blocks visually, and the Code editor, where you can write and edit your content in HTML.
Understanding how to copy content
Gutenberg has introduced a quick way of copying all content, whether it be text, media, or both. With a single click in the Tools option, you can copy all content straight to your clipboard, making cloning and replicating pages simpler than ever.
Introduction to Gutenberg’s welcome guide for newcomers
Gutenberg has a in-built welcome guide that appears when you first load the editor. This guide provides a useful walkthrough of the editor basics to newcomers, helping them understand the primary tools and functionality.
Exploring Gutenberg Preferences
How to access Gutenberg Preferences
To access Gutenberg preferences, you need to click on the three vertical dots present at the top right corner of the interface, just near the cogwheel icon. Hitting this will open a dropdown menu with all the preferences and settings.
Fine-tuning the Gutenberg interface
Within the preferences, you can choose to fine-tune the Gutenberg interface to your liking. This involves managing the appearance, block settings, and general editing settings. A few options include choosing to keep the Top Toolbar fixed, spotlight mode, fullscreen mode, and so on.
Best practices for setting up Gutenberg preferences
The best practice for setting up Gutenberg preferences is to optimize the interface based on your workflow. This personal customization will streamline your work process, making it easier for you to create and manage posts and pages.
Free and Premium Block Add-Ons
Introduction to block add-ons
Block add-ons are one of the exciting features of Gutenberg. Add-ons are additional blocks that you can use on your website. They enhance the functionality of the editor and bring additional features and designs to your content creation process.
Exploring recommended free and premium block add-ons
The WordPress plugin directory offers many free and premium Gutenberg block add-ons. Some are single blocks, while others are collections of blocks. These range from simple to complex blocks, enhancing the functionality and catering to virtually any site-building need a user might have.
How to implement these add-ons into your website
Implementing block add-ons into your website is simple. Once you’ve installed and activated the add-on plugin, these blocks become available directly from the block inserter or the ‘/insert’ command, just like your regular blocks.
Conclusion
Summary of the importance of Gutenberg and its features
In conclusion, Gutenberg has become an essential part of WordPress. Its block-based approach makes content creation more accessible, quicker, and more efficient, all while bringing modern design techniques to your WordPress experience.
Final thoughts and additional resources for Gutenberg
While there might be a bit of a learning curve transitioning to Gutenberg, the effort is well worth it. It’s a powerful tool that, once understood, can significantly improve your work process. Additional resources, such as tutorials, FAQs, and forums, are available in the WordPress community to assist you in your Gutenberg journey.
How to reach out for further support and queries
If you need further support or have queries about Gutenberg, you can always reach out to the WordPress support team, post on the WordPress forums, or reach out to the community on social media. Gutenberg is here to stay, and the WordPress community is dedicated to helping each user understand and leverage this incredible tool.