What’s new in Gutenberg? (16 September)

GutenbergGutenberg The Gutenberg project is the new Editor Interface for WordPress. The editor improves the process and experience of creating new content, making writing rich content much simpler. It uses ‘blocks’ to add richness rather than shortcodes, custom HTML etc. https://wordpress.org/gutenberg/ 9.0 is out! The main focuses for this release are improvements to the Navigation Screen and to the Query blockBlock Block is the abstract term used to describe units of markup that, composed together, form the content or layout of a webpage using the WordPress editor. The idea combines concepts of what in the past may have achieved with shortcodes, custom HTML, and embed discovery into a single consistent API and user experience..

The Navigation screen has a new and improved look, and now supports drag and drop inside the list view:

Lots of cool features have been added to the Query block, including search, filtering by author and support for tags. Here are some pics of the updated interface:

9.0

Features

  • Query block:
    • add search. (25222)
    • add filtering by author support in Query block. (25149)
    • add order and order by support. (24691)
    • add tags support. (25005)
  • Navigation screen:
    • add drag and drop to List View. (23952)
    • implement redesign of screen. (25178)
    • add support for advanced menu item properties. (25062)

Enhancements

  • Drag&Drop: add drag handle to block toolbar. (24852)
  • Drag&Drop: improve single block case. (25107)
  • Include the block variations on the inserter selector. (25182)
  • List view styling improvements. (25143)
  • Update pencil icon. (25135)
  • Refactor and make consistent post and site headers. (25134)
  • Limit the block slash inserter to 9 items and show most used by default. (25113)
  • Polish menu item icon locations. (25106)
  • Improve the block and patterns search algorithm. (25105)
  • Template part: attribute feature parity with group block. (25029)
  • Allow sharp gradients. (24967)
  • Post content: show placeholder if trying to render itself. (24010)
  • Add reusable block icon. (23552)
  • Let ID-less gallery shortcodes fall to ShortcodeShortcode A shortcode is a placeholder used within a WordPress post, page, or widget to insert a form or function generated by a plugin in a specific location on your site. block. (25144)
  • Mirror WordPress pluginPlugin A plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory https://wordpress.org/plugins/ or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party install text for blocks. (25084)
  • Allow inserting an h1 using # + space. (25075)
  • Widgets screen: add plugin area. (25074)
  • Add title attribute to Navigation Link block. (24993)
  • Add a way to change template parts. (24990)
  • Transform multiple heading blocks to list or paragraphs. (24977)
  • Remove redundant type badges in navigation link control. (24885)
  • Fix multiple trailing inserters for nested InnerBlocks. (24836)
  • Search Block: Add button, label, and width options. (24666)
  • Display labels instead of icons in top toolbar. (24304)
  • Add option to show icon labels. (24234)
  • Add a "reinstall" button when a block type is not found. (22631)

Bug Fixes

  • Template part: fix rename before customize bugbug A bug is an error or unexpected result. Performance improvements, code optimization, and are considered enhancements, not defects. After feature freeze, only bugs are dealt with, with regressions (adverse changes from the previous version) being the highest priority.. (25206)
  • Template part: fix auto-drafting to support sub-directories. (25063)
  • Template part: use cleaned slug to query. (25030)
  • Classic block: optional chain on possibly null editor. (25163)
  • Classic block: show contents on load. (25162)
  • Embed Block: Fix crash in isFromWordPress helper if preview.htmlHTML HyperText Markup Language. The semantic scripting language primarily used for outputting content in web browsers. is false. (25140)
  • Cover block: fix width regressionregression A software bug that breaks or degrades something that previously worked. Regressions are often treated as critical bugs or blockers. Recent regressions may be given higher priorities. A "3.6 regression" would be a bug in 3.6 that worked as intended in 3.5.. (25103)
  • Navigation block: reduce subnavigation arrow padding. (24200)
  • GlobalStyles: fix nested features algorithm. (25215)
  • GlobalStyles: fix settings name. (25040)
  • Widgets screen: convert the toolbar to ARIA toolbar. (25111)
  • Widgets screen: add labels for settings and close button. (25101)
  • Navigation screen: fix creating Navigation from pages or menu with HTML in title. (24673)
  • Element: add and upgrade @types/{reactReact React is a JavaScript library that makes it easy to reason about, construct, and maintain stateless and stateful user interfaces. https://reactjs.org/.,react-dom} dependencies. (25086)
  • Add safeguard to AuthorSelect component until authors are fetched. (25214)
  • Fix PHPPHP The web scripting language in which WordPress is primarily architected. WordPress requires PHP 5.6.20 or higher error when users don’t have access to the Appearance menu. (25073)
  • Polish horizontal movers. (25037)
  • Fix PHP Notice: Check that the query arg exists before using it. (25006)
  • Fix gradient swatches stacking badly with scrollbar. (25002)
  • Fix unlinked padding controls JSJS JavaScript, a web scripting language typically executed in the browser. Often used for advanced user interfaces and behaviors. error. (25000)
  • Show external icon on help button. (24622)
  • Check if block attributes exist before splitting. (25229)
  • Revert "InnerBlocks: Introduce prop to specify render callback for each block.". (25196)
  • CoreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. Data: Bring back support for nested _fields values. (25083)
  • Prevent TypeError for projects without a local Prettier configuration. (25068)
  • Image Block: Properly show errors on drag n drop. (25004)
  • Add block inspector virtual bubbling option. (24991)
  • Remove extra slash from $block_json_file. (24829)
  • Inserter: Test to make sure the Inserter menu is closed. (24610)
  • Date: Update moment-timezone package to support string timezones. (22866)
  • Fix enqueue presets for global styles. (25286)
  • Fix stylesheet generation. (25293)

Experiments

  • Group block: add padding support. (24966)
  • Control the block editor via theme.jsonJSON JSON, or JavaScript Object Notation, is a minimal, readable format for structuring data. It is used primarily to transmit data between a server and web application, as an alternative to XML.:
    • support for custom link color. (25148)
    • support for custom spacing. (25141)
    • support for custom line heights. (25043)
    • support for custom font sizes. (25038)
    • support for custom gradients. (24964)
  • Navigation component: composition proposal. (25057)
  • Replace accessibilityLabel by label on RadioGroup. (25128)
  • Global styles:
    • add sidebarSidebar A sidebar in WordPress is referred to a widget-ready area used by WordPress themes to display information that is not a part of the main content. It is not always a vertical column on the side. It can be a horizontal rectangle below or above the content area, footer, header, or any where in the theme. at edit site screen. (24250)
    • print minified css. (24924)
    • centralize style & support mappings for blocks. (25185)
    • centralize client side global styles mappings. (25056)
    • set property to change one property accept all lodash paths. (25159)

Documentation

  • Add readme for UngroupButton. (25142)
  • Fix typo in AlignmentMatrixControl readme. (25125)
  • Update AlignmentMatrixControl readme. (25124)
  • Add preview options component readme. (25104)
  • Add block types list component readme. (25066)
  • Fix typo in block base themes tutorial URLURL A specific web address of a website or web page on the Internet, such as a website’s URL www.wordpress.org (25024)
  • Update block inspector component readme. (24998)
  • Add block variation picker component readme. (24995)
  • Update Versions in WordPress doc to include 5.5.1. (24988)
  • Add block parent selector component readme. (24962)
  • Add block icon component readme. (24947)
  • Update dev environment setup. (24871)
  • Correct since version for block parser package. (24819)
  • Add BlockCard component readme. (25150)
  • Fix link to ubuntu docker notes. (25060)
  • Fix/block parent selector component readme. (24997)
  • Update Storybook URL from text to a real link. (24974)
  • Update triagetriage The act of evaluating and sorting bug reports, in order to decide priority, severity, and other factors. doc to include pull request mentions. (23105)

Code Quality

  • Repo: Add .gitattributes to specify text=auto. (25224)
  • Block Directory: Use Array.filterFilter Filters are one of the two types of Hooks https://codex.wordpress.org/Plugin_API/Hooks. They provide a way for functions to modify data of other functions. They are the counterpart to Actions. Unlike Actions, filters are meant to work in an isolated manner, and should never have side effects such as affecting global variables and output. to implement new/unused block selectors. (25211)
  • Data: Remove flowRight call from metadata reducer. (25180)
  • Data: Add a comment about why we normalize resolvers to objects with fulfill method. (25102)
  • Api-fetch: Remove redundant next parameter from middleware calls. (25001)
  • Api-fetch: Simplify the code that executes the handlers. (24999)
  • Block Supports: Ensure consistent output in different PHP versions. (25240)
  • Add regression end-to-end test for the classic block initialization issue. (25169)
  • Update or retire deprecated colors. (25213

Build Tooling

  • Env: Update docker volumes during wp-env start. (24778)

Various

  • Update package-lock.json. (25223)
  • Update gradle-node-plugin to use actively maintained fork. (25208)
  • Bump @storybook/react major version. (25161)
  • Use WordPress Menu APIAPI An API or Application Programming Interface is a software intermediary that allows programs to interact with each other and share data in limited, clearly defined ways.. (25132)
  • Update modularity.md. (25007)
  • Remove Embeds for Facebook and Instagram. (24472)

Performance Benchmark

The following benchmark compares performance for a particularly sizeable post (~36,000 words, ~1,000 blocks) over the last releases. Such a large post isn’t representative of the average editing experience but is adequate for spotting variations in performance.

VersionLoading TimeKeyPress Event (typing)
Gutenberg 9.06.96 s28.99 ms
Gutenberg 8.96.97 s28.98 ms
WordPress 5.56.97 s27.54 ms

Kudos for all the contributors that helped with the release. 👏

#core-editor, #editor, #gutenberg, #gutenberg-new