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WordPress 5.8 (released last week 🎉) brings the power of GutenbergGutenbergThe 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/ blocks to widgetWidgetA WordPress Widget is a small block that performs a specific function. You can add these widgets in sidebars also known as widget-ready areas on your web page. WordPress widgets were originally created to provide a simple and easy-to-use way of giving design and structure control of the WordPress theme to the user. areas — which means highly customizable layout and styling options, and a more WYSIWYGWhat You See Is What You GetWhat You See Is What You Get. Most commonly used in relation to editors, where changes made in edit mode reflect exactly as they will translate to the published page. editing experience. I made a test site based on oldie-but-goodie Twenty Sixteen theme, which has 3 separate widget areas to work with. In this post, I’ll highlight a few cool things that are now possible to do with your widgets, and a take a look at where things may be heading next.
Create interesting visual effects with overlapping layouts and Duotone images
Appearance-wise, users have a lot more control over widgets areas than ever before — especially through the use of blocks with tons of customization options like the Cover and Image blockBlockBlock 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.. Here’s what I’m able to create in the classic widgets editor (above) versus what I’m able to create in the new block-based widget editor (below).
Intersperse widgets and custom code throughout your visual designs
Container blocks like Cover and Columns make it really easy to weave dynamic or interactive elements into your designs. While dynamic/interactive elements are sort of a given for many types of widgets, the block versions of widgets can be easily wrapped and layered within container blocks to more fully integrate them into your layout.
In the example below, I tried placing a Search block in front of a Cover block, which creates a nice layered effect. I also tried inserting Custom HTMLHTMLHTML is an acronym for Hyper Text Markup Language. It is a markup language that is used in the development of web pages and websites. blocks within a Columns block to display different messaging depending on the time of day. (jQuery script here)
Use traditional widget layouts (or not) with lots of flexibility over title and structure
Classic widgets have always had a lockup that includes a widget title. One cool thing about having blocks in widget areas is that you have complete flexibility over how titles appear. For example, you might choose to have a title over every widget, you might only want one title at the top of each widget area, or your design might not need titles at all.
Note: Some themes, like Twenty Twenty-One, are designed to flow content horizontally within widget areas. If you’re having trouble with a theme splitting your layout into columns, you could try keeping the lockup together by containing it within a Group block.
Ungrouped layouts (left) versus grouped layouts (right)
Copy & paste existing layouts from the WordPress Pattern Directory
While patterns haven’t been fully integrated into the widget editors yet, one thing you can do is copy and paste patterns from the game-changing new WordPress Pattern Directory into your site’s widget areas. I used this horizontal call to action pattern from the directory almost exactly as is, with minor color and copy adjustments:
FYI: Patterns have not been curated for or integrated into widget areas yet, so you may run into some unexpected behavior!
Inserting widget patterns
There is some early discussions about how patterns can begin to be integrated into the widget editors in GitHub issue #26170. Some of the conversation has been around introducing a Patterns tab into the inserter, which would allow users to browse patterns the same way as in the post editor.
A couple of goals for introducing pattern insertion UIUIUI is an acronym for User Interface - the layout of the page the user interacts with. Think ‘how are they doing that’ and less about what they are doing. into the widget editors are:
Display patterns that make sense to use in a constrained sidebarSidebarA 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. or footer area, depending on the type of widget area being edited.
Surface patterns in a extra discoverable way for users (including classic widget users who want to quickly recreate a traditional layout).
Based on this, I’ve been exploring ways that patterns could be surfaced in the quick inserter as a default/resting state as soon as the popover is opened:
Currently, patterns are surfaced below quick inserter options after the user begins typing in the search box. Perhaps a couple of patterns could be visible by default.The quick insterter could display a list of patterns that show a fly-out preview when hovered. A similar style has previously been explored for the block switcher menu.The quick inserter could contain a single large preview with carousel navigation to browse through patterns. This mimics the pattern placeholder setup UI.
Thoughts?
How would you like to see patterns incorporated into the new block-based widget editors? Join the discussion by opening a new issue on GitHub or commenting below!
Welcome to a new installment of the series where I look at the current state of GutenbergGutenbergThe 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/ blocks and propose improvements.
In my previous post, I talked about the Table blockBlockBlock 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.. This time I’ll be discussing another important component: the Search block.
Since search is a central activity for blogs and other sites that index content, it’s essential to give users the ability to customize the appearance of their search bars so that they don’t look alien or feel disconnected from the design of their sites.
The Search block options are pretty limited at the moment, and the block can only offer a short range of styles. The good news is that just by adding a small group of settings (many of which already exist for other blocks), users will be able to customize their search boxes in many different ways:
With that in mind, let’s have a look at this block.
Toolbar
The current toolbar has three main buttons that perform the following actions:
Showing and hiding the search label.
Changing the position of the search button (outside, inside, or no button).
Toggling between a search button with text or an icon.
To be more consistent with the way other blocks present the options and also to simplify the toolbar, we could move the second and third buttons (“Change button position” and “Use the button with icon”) from the toolbar to the sidebarSidebarA 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.. In the case of “Use button with icon”, I think this is not a primary action, and also the icon itself doesn’t convey the actual operation behind the button.
We could also add a setting to modify the alignment of the text inside the input field and the position of the text button. Controlling the alignment would allow users to create bars like these ones:
For languages that use right to left scripts like Arabic, Hebrew, or Urdu, we automatically switch the alignment of the text and the position of the search button.
To allow having styles that use the writing direction defined by the language, we could offer four alignment options:
Default (it uses the direction of the selected language)
Left
Center
Right
The last three options would overwrite the direction defined by the selected language.
Sidebars
Let’s review how the sidebar could look like and the sections that it would include:
This section would replace the “Change button position” that we removed from the sidebar, and add a new option: Button only. There’s an open issue that discusses this option here.
When users add a new search bar, they’ll get the default setting (Button outside), but will have the other styles visible on their sidebars for a quick switch.
Display settings
This section would allow adjusting the general width of the block (a feature that is currently present) and also toggling the following settings:
The icon inside the search input.
The icon inside the search button.
Here is a list of variations that those two settings would produce:
Spacing
In this section, users could change the padding of the item and also affect the spacing (the distance between the button and the input field).
There’s an interesting conversation around contextual padding controls in this GitHub issue, which could probably be applied to this block.
Depending on the style (button outside or button inside) the padding could behave differently:
If the style button outside is selected, the padding will affect both the input field and the button.
If the style button inside is selected, the padding will affect the outermost element.
The spacing setting could also be adjusted using a handle in the block itself. The control between the input field and the button would change the spacing, whereas the control in the button would allow resizing the whole block (which is the current behaviour).
Border
I think we should allow users to modify the border of the input field and the button independently for each of the four sides. That would give them great control to create different styles. For instance, they could create search bars with just a bottom border.
There’s an open PR that deals with border color support and border style here.
Typography
Depending on what element is selected, the typography section would affect the font and style of the input field, the text button, or the label.
Color
Like in the typography section, this one would affect the text and background colors of both the input and the button (again, depending on the selection).
As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, if we implement these changes, users will be able to customize their search bars in many different and exciting ways and have more control over the design of their sites.
Drag and drop is known for being one of the most intuitive interaction patterns there is. One behavior that users might expect to find in GutenbergGutenbergThe 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/ is the ability to create side-by-side images by dragging and dropping an image next to an existing one.
Note: This behavior has previously been explored in GitHubGitHubGitHub is a website that offers online implementation of git repositories that can easily be shared, copied and modified by other developers. Public repositories are free to host, private repositories require a paid subscription. GitHub introduced the concept of the ‘pull request’ where code changes done in branches by contributors can be reviewed and discussed before being merged be the repository owner. https://github.com/ issue #13202 and perhaps elsewhere!
The Current Behavior
Right now in Gutenberg, you can drag an image on top of an existing Image blockBlockBlock 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., which will upload the new image and replace the current one. The drop zone covers the full area of the block and is indicated by a blue overlay color with a CTA.
Image block and Gallery block with drop zone overlay shown at 75% opacity.
The drop zone looks exactly the same on the Gallery block, covering the full area of the block, but the behavior is slightly different there. Instead of replacing, the new image is added to the gallery.
The current overlay behavior works great for each of these singular interactions. The key design challenge is finding a way to offer both options so that a user can replace an image or add another image within a single drag motion.
Transforming an Image block into a Gallery block
The blue overlay color could be reserved for replacing an image, with a new treatment introduced for transforming the Image block into a Gallery block to achieve a side-by-side effect. I used a 4px vertical line to indicate the position of the new image — this is the same visual treatment used for the “move to” indicator (but I can also see a conceptual argument for using a 1px line like the sibling inserter).
We could show a snack bar after the user completes the transform via drag and drop, as it’s not explicitly clear that this action will change the block type. A snack bar offers the opportunity to undo the transform, and could also be a way to call more attention to the new block type through the use of a block icon.
Adding and replacing images in the Gallery block
It would be nice to extend the same behavior to the Gallery block so that a user can seamlessly go from one image to two images, and from two images to three images, using the exact same interaction pattern. This could be a part of larger efforts to unify the Image block and Gallery block more closely.
Implementation
I imagine this could work by identifying separate drag zones within the area of the existing image for replacing/transforming but it would be helpful to play around with this in a PR to see what feels right.
Another option that would introduce slightly more friction to this interaction would be for the transform-related drop zones to only “unlock” after a long hover over the area. In this scenario, a quick drag and drop would always default to an image replacement with a longer hover opening up additional options (but I think the simpler interaction described above is closer to the expected behavior).
On GitHub
Use drag and drop to transform an Image block → Gallery block #32819
Unify drag and drop behavior across Image block and Gallery block #32820
Thoughts?
Please feel free to leave a comment below or drop a message in the #design channel on the Making WordPress SlackSlackSlack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/.. Looking forward to hearing your feedback, thanks for reading!
In this post I’d like to talk about the Table BlockBlockBlock 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. and propose several improvements and enhancements. Many of these changes require implementing one important feature: multi-cell selection. Others, like improving the initial placeholder state, could be addressed independently.
If you want to check out all the designs mentioned in this post, here’s the Figma file that contains all the designs covered below, along with some explorations and references. I’ve also opened a tracking issue on GitHub to organize the work around this block.
I’ve centered my work around these five main areas:
The current placeholder state is simple: users can set the number of columns and rows they want their table to have.
But these two numbers don’t give a clear picture of the kind of table the user is about to create, and since we don’t have a quick way to add new columns or rows (more on that later), creating the right table from the start is really important.
To solve this problem, we could offer an automatic preview that reflects the information entered by the user so that they can immediately see what the shape of their table will be.
Here’s an example of how this interface could look like:
The table in the preview gets updated whenever the user adds or removes rows and columns.
The height of the preview window is fixed, so the input elements below won’t move.
If the user creates a large table, we can show an ellipsis implying that the table contains rows or columns that are not being shown.
Another idea based on this UIUIUI is an acronym for User Interface - the layout of the page the user interacts with. Think ‘how are they doing that’ and less about what they are doing. is the possibility to resize the table using the preview interface itself: if the user hovers the cells and then clicks one of them, the table gets resized automatically.
This is the biggest change in the Table block and would allow creating more complex designs than the ones that are possible right now.
Adding this feature would require refactoring the block and use inner blocks, so that cell is a block of its own. There’s been some talk around this topic in this issue.
To illustrate how this feature could work, here’s how Google Docs and TinyMCE do multi-cell selection.
Google Docs
The nice thing about multi-cell selection in Google Docs is that it’s possible to select one single cell. However, it’s not possible to select the entire table in an easy way (except, obviously, by highlighting all the cells with the mouse cursor).
TinyMCE
In contrast, in the TinyMCE editor it’s possible to select the whole table by clicking on it. Strangely, you can’t select just one single cell.
I believe our tables should support these two basic use cases: single-cell selection and the highlighting of the whole table. That would make the styling process much easier.
Two other handy features we could offer would be: merging and splitting.
Merging
Some apps like Google Spreadsheets offer several types of merging: horizontal, vertical, or full merge, depending on the direction in which the cells get merged.
I think we could start by offering the full merge (which combines a group of cells into one single element), as shown in the example below.
Google Spreadsheets also offers the option of “unmerging” a previously merged group of cells, which is a way to reconstruct the previous structure of a table. This is an advanced use case that we don’t probably need to cover, at least initially.
Splitting
Microsoft PowerPoint also allows to customize the splitting of cells. In our case, we could offer two options for splitting: horizontal or vertical. The reason to offer two ways and not automatically divide rows horizontally and columns vertically is to support the case where a user just want to split a single cell. In that case, it makes sense to give them the option to pick the method they prefer.
SidebarSidebarA 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.
Right now is only possible to change the text and background colors of all the cells at the same time. If we had mulit-cell selection in place, users would be able to customize their tables in many different and interesting ways.
These are the sections I think we should include in the sidebar:
This section could show four several common table styles. Instead of using gray to color the cells, we could use the default main color defined by the current theme (which means that those previews should be generated using code).
These styles set and combine basic elements like stripes, and the presence of headerHeaderThe header of your site is typically the first thing people will experience. The masthead or header art located across the top of your page is part of the look and feel of your website. It can influence a visitor’s opinion about your content and you/ your organization’s brand. It may also look different on different screen sizes., and footer rows. In the case of the last one (‘Left column’), it also sets the background color of a group of cells.
Table settings
In this section, I would add a controller to modify the dimensions of the table, since the only way to do this at the moment is using the toolbar (and that requires two clicks to add or remove a column or row of cells), which makes the process of modifying the dimension of a table a bit tedious.
Besides this section, another handy way to add more rows to a table could just be pressing the tab key in the last cell, as other apps do. I would also allow using the Tab key to traverse the cells.
Border Settings
This section would allow users to change the border settings for each cell or if it’s selected, the whole table.
With the idea to allowing to style tables in many different ways, we could also offer a special control (similar to the padding one) that would allow setting the width of each of the selection borders independently.
Color settings
Instead of changing the color settings of the whole table, this section would only affect the selected cells. This section would also offer the possibility to create a zebra-striped table (important thing though: the user could still overwrite the stripe color setting the background color with the control above).
Typography
Nothing shocking or revolutionary here: we should allow changing the style of the text for each cell and the table caption.
If we were to implement all these changes we would end up having at least 10 actions that could go in the toolbar. Instead of having one single option that gives access to all the available actions, we could group them by categoryCategoryThe 'category' taxonomy lets you group posts / content together that share a common bond. Categories are pre-defined and broad ranging..
We could have three categories: insert, remove, and cell operations.
Insert would give access to all the additive operations: insert row before, insert row after, insert column before, and insert column after.
Delete would give access to all the destructive operations: delete row, delete column, and delete selected cells.
Cell operations would give access to merge, and split horizontally & vertically.
Icons
I’m also proposing to update several icons to make them faster to read and use the same kind of design language (i.e.: border radius, line widths, etc.) as other current icons. Here’s a first exploration:
Notice that, in the case of the four insert icons, the weight of the elements indicates the direction (before or after) in which the action will take place, while the current icons use the plus symbol instead. This is a delicate distinction that probably requires some careful consideration. Please, share your opinion and ideas in the comments of this post or in this GitHub issue.
And here’s the full set of icons (again, an initial exploration) that also include the Split, Merge, and Remove cells icons.
GutenbergGutenbergThe 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/ is diving deep into customization leading into 2020. With customization, and eventual full site editing, comes new terminology that needs to be defined.
Blocks
Blocks are the smallest, most atomic unit in the WordPress editor. The Paragraph is the default blockBlockBlock 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.. Blocks can be static (an image) or dynamic (a list of posts).
Patterns are curated collections of blocks, often organized around a specific section or purpose. They make up common patterns across the web.
For example, a Contact pattern could contain:
A contact information block on one side, with fields for address, phone number, and email address.
A contact form block on the right.
A Team pattern could contain:
A column block
Inside each column, a group block containing:
An image block with a round mask for headshots
A headerHeaderThe header of your site is typically the first thing people will experience. The masthead or header art located across the top of your page is part of the look and feel of your website. It can influence a visitor’s opinion about your content and you/ your organization’s brand. It may also look different on different screen sizes. block for names
A paragraph block for biographies
A social links block
Think of patterns as several LEGO bricks stuck together to make just a castle gate. It’s a feature in itself, but only part of the greater whole of your post or page.
But doesn’t that mean something like Cover or Media & Text are patterns, not layouts?
That’s a great question! It requires more discussion before there’s a definitive answer. Should Cover / Media & Text / etc. be patterns, rather than blocks? What do you think?
Layouts
Layouts are one step up from patterns. They can be groupings of patterns or specific blocks that make up the entire design of your page — including your header, footer, and any additional global or repeating block areas, like sidebars.
Think of layouts as the entire castle — gates, towers, ramparts, catapults, flags, and all.
But isn’t this just a page template?
The short answer is yes, “layout” is a new way of saying page template. Template, however, is a pre-existing term that carries a lot of baggage. Page templates, as they exist in WordPress now, are technical entities with design implications. On the admin side, changing your page template is a pretty poor user experience. Selecting a different template for your page should be a visual process, but instead, we offer different templates in a dropdown. You can’t preview them, so you have to guess what they’ll look like, or search for a theme demo.
(Additionally, there isn’t any sort of native UIUIUI is an acronym for User Interface - the layout of the page the user interacts with. Think ‘how are they doing that’ and less about what they are doing. for selecting different post templates, or any UI at all for post formats.)
By creating layouts as a block-first concept, complete with visual placeholders for filling in content instead of creating pages from scratch, we can start to deprecate templates as a design concept.
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