Block Editor
WordPress uses the Block Editor (also called “Gutenberg”) by default. The Block Editor launched in 2018 and replaced the Classic Editor (if you’re more familiar with the classic editor, you can switch to it via your site settings). It allows you to do everything you could do with the classic editor plus build more complex designs without having to touch the HTML code.
Everything you add to a page or post is a block such as paragraphs, images, lists, tables, and more. Each block is its own entity that you can edit, move, and style. Since each block is self-contained, you can add things like custom backgrounds or adjust colors and other options to specific blocks using pre-canned styles such as a color palette optimized for the UC San Diego brand.
The editing screen lets you add blocks via the blue plus sign block inserter icon on the top left side of the screen and style each block with the settings menu icon on the top right side of the screen. Clicking either lets you toggle those menus on and off:
WordPress top menu
The left icons are:
- Block inserter – Add Blocks, Patterns or Media
- Tools – Edit and Select
- Undo
- Redo
- Document Overview – Useful to see what block are on your page and move or delete them
The right icons are:
- Preview – see your page on a variety of screen sizes
- View Page
- Update (or Publish)
- Settings – opens a slide out menu on the right that lets you edit the settings for the page or active block
- Options (not shown above)
Types of blocks
There are 3 main types of blocks:
- Blocks (text)
- Patterns (pre-design layouts of blocks)
- Media (images and videos)
Page/ Block Settings
The settings sidebar on the right side of the page lets you control how the page or block behaves. Page settings include:
- Visibility (public, private, password-protected)
- Publish (when the page was last published or schedule it to publish immediately or at a later time)
- URL (can change the page title part of the page link)
- Author (investigate)
- Discussion (allow comments)
- Customizations:
- Turn off left nav (if you have it set at the site level)
- Toggle off the Page Title/Hero
- Adjust page margins
The block options will vary depending on what block you’re editing. Additionally, a small contextual toolbar will appear about your active block. This will provide options for changing the block, ordering the block on the page (drag, up/ down) and basic formatting (depending on the specific block).
Publishing/ viewing the page or post
Once you’re done editing, click the blue Update button to publish the page. If this is a new page, the button will say “Publish” instead of “Update.”
You can preview it first by clicking the Preview icon and view the live page with the View Page arrow box icon.
Additional Resources
Use the ‘Need Help?’ button on your edit page to search the Help Center.
Consult the Knowledge Base entry for the Block Editor. Here are some additional articles on common blocks you may use: