As many have noticed, WordPress recently came out with a new update. One of the biggest changes that came with the update is ‘Blocks’. In fact, more than that, the entire creation tool for adding new posts has changed and as such, it requires a little bit of learning.
What are blocks?
Long story short, each block is one ‘thing’. The title up at the top is its own block. Each paragraph is one block. The subheading found above is also one block. Images, videos, quotes — everything now has its own block.
The purpose of blocks is to make it easier to edit the layout of your posts. With this new change, you can edit entire blocks in a variety of ways.
How is it used?
Firstly, on the left of a new block click the little + button. You’ll want to change what type of block you’re going to be making. There are a multitude of different options so pick the one that works best for the content you’re trying to add.
After you’ve done that, we’re going to take you to the right. If you don’t already see a document/block menu, click the settings icon (the gear) in the top right corner. Next, click the block you want to edit and you’ll see just how much you can really do. For instance…
I can make my background gray and my text pink, or any other colors for that matter. I can change the font size to be really small and add a Drop Cap to it like what you see on the right.
And that’s all done using just the basic tools. Another helpful thing is that you can move your blocks up and down simply by dragging and dropping! Simply hover over the block you want to drag and on the left you’ll see a small set of dots accompanied by arrows. Drag the dots and presto, you’re moving your block wherever you want.
If you’re interested in more options, you can even put your information in columns using blocks.
There’s a whole host of different options available now that work with beginners.
Well, I don’t like the new blocks.
And that’s a totally fine opinion. Luckily for you, there is a free plugin to change the editor back to your old Classic Editor. I should say though that I will always recommend moving towards the future over holding onto the past.
Give it a try before you make up your mind, at least. Who knows, maybe you’ll love it once you learn it! There are tons of block types, settings, and customizable options, so hopefully the variety of it all might just win you over.