Introducing the Block Editor in the Support Forums

During last week’s support chat, the Support and MetaMeta Meta is a term that refers to the inside workings of a group. For us, this is the team that works on internal WordPress sites like WordCamp Central and Make WordPress. teams agreed on introducing blocks to the support forums.

The support forums have a long history in WordPress. So much so that the current forum editor predates TinyMCE. By introducing blocks, the support forumSupport Forum WordPress Support Forums is a place to go for help and conversations around using WordPress. Also the place to go to report issues that are caused by errors with the WordPress code and implementations. will make use of the modern WordPress editor to improve user experience. Users will be able to easily insert links, share code or embed screenshots. Using Blocks will also enable new possibilities, such as using patterns for common responses to allow for faster answers.

Due to how old the current editor is and how the forums work, enabling the 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. editor on a per-user, per-language, or per-forum basis is very challenging. The most likely scenario is that once the new forum block editor experience is ready to launch, it will be rolled out to all users on all forums.

The details

Initially, the Meta and Support teams identified four blocks to be added to the support forums: paragraph, list, quote, and code. These four blocks would most quickly modernize the support forum experience while gently introducing support forum users to using blocks.

Animation of the block editor showcasing the paragraph, quote, code and list blocks

The next one on the list is an “add via URLURL A specific web address of a website or web page on the Internet, such as a website’s URL www.wordpress.org” image block, as well as a few embed blocks, to make adding images easier.

Animation of how to add an URL to an image block.

Inline support links will also be included to help new users.

Screenshot of the "Help & Support" link inside the block editor

Next steps: test and share feedback!

Want to see these new blocks in action? Great! A live version of these blocks can be tested at https://test.wordpress.org/support/ If you would like to try it, please leave a comment and we will add you to the testing site.

A meta Trac ticket has been created to track known issues and tasks that need to be completed before support forum blocks are deemed fully functional. There are still a few things to iron out before the blocks can be made available to all users, but we are making quick progress and aim to enable blocks for all users as soon as possible.

You can help by taking time to test, flagging issues, and sharing feedback! Please make sure you review the meta Trac ticket for known issues but do not be afraid to suggest ideas outside the box. Let’s think big!

Please share your feedback before Monday, December 12th.

Who

Kudos to @clorith, @jdembowski, @jcastaneda, @macmanx, @sterndata, @yui for planning and testing these new blocks and to @dd32 for Meta support. Proposed block additions to the support forum leverage the Blocks Everywhere plugin, a standalone version of the block editor created by @johnny5.

Yordan Soares 1:59 am on December 7, 2022

I’d like to try the new blocks in the testing site! Could you please add me?
- Dion Hulse 2:00 am on December 7, 2022
  
  Added!
Michael Beckwith 3:08 am on December 7, 2022

Interesting…this will be some interesting days.
Matt Mullenweg 5:28 am on December 7, 2022

I’m so excited about this!
David Anderson 1:48 pm on December 7, 2022
I’d never thought about this; I hope it turns out to be useful. Personally I’ve always found the 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. editor difficult to use, but how representative of others that experience is, I have no idea.
What I have wished for for many years in the support forums are things like this:
- An 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., so that 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 authors can integrate their wordpress.orgWordPress.org The community site where WordPress code is created and shared by the users. This is where you can download the source code for WordPress core, plugins and themes as well as the central location for community conversations and organization. https://wordpress.org/ support with other tools, gather their own stats, easily spot problems (e.g. overlooked threads), etc. – basically, all the things that can be made possible when an API exists.
- Canned responses (you can install web browser extensions to get limited support for this)
- Ability to upload files (e.g. log files, screenshots).
- Single control panel for a plugin author allowing him to, for example, add or remove a support rep to all his plugins at once
- Form design, forcing users who want support to answer certain questions so that the plugin author can get this info immediately, instead of after 2-3 rounds of mutually time-wasting back-and-forth.
Paal Joachim Romdahl 11:54 pm on December 7, 2022

This sounds very interesting! I would like to test it out.
Is this in any way associated with bbPressbbPress Free, open source software built on top of WordPress for easily creating forums on sites. https://bbpress.org.? It sounds like this can be the next version of bbPress. To where users can download the bbPress 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 which includes the usage of various blocks.
eclev91 12:01 am on December 8, 2022

This seems like major overkill for solving a problem that, at least in this blog post, hasn’t been outlined.
A trimmer experience like GitHub’s seems more user-friendly.
Birgit Pauli-Haack 9:20 pm on December 8, 2022

So happy that this is coming! Thank you for taking on the project!
The new form has a bit of white space between the toolbar and the first line of text. There is a border underneath the buttons and a border above the writing box and between is about a half inch of whitespace that doesn’t seem to serve a purpose. Maybe that can be resized?
- Birgit Pauli-Haack 9:24 pm on December 8, 2022
  
  Don’t mint me. The space is only empty until I click into the space then the buttons appear. 🤦‍♀️ (Does the new forum come with a 5-min edit feature? Asking for a friend!)
ironprogrammer 11:25 pm on December 9, 2022

Glad to see the editor coming to the forums!

I’ve tested out the supported 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. types in this test post: https://test.wordpress.org/support/topic/block-types-tests/. It includes inline commentary about the experience and formatting expectations, and additional info in comments.
Birgit Pauli-Haack 11:44 pm on December 9, 2022

If I read it right and the current editor `predates TinyMCE`, then this might be the first significant update to the forums editor since the start of the website in 2003. 🤯 (TinyMCE came to live in 2004).
Dan 6:53 am on January 7, 2023

Please, add an option to disable the new editor ASAP. It just doesn’t work yet for wp.org forums.

The latest issue is that one cannot paste arbitrary text/code into a message. Nothing happens when you press Ctrl+V or even Ctrl+Shift+V. How am I supposed to help my users if they are not able to provide a diagnostic report?

It’s not a very smart decision to leave the new unvalidated editor as the only option.
- Alvaro Gómez 3:33 pm on January 9, 2023
  
  Hi @dangoodman!
  
  one cannot paste arbitrary text/code into a message. Nothing happens when you press Ctrl+V or even Ctrl+Shift+V. How am I supposed to help my users if they are not able to provide a diagnostic report?
  
  You are right, there is an issue coming from Gutenberg core that is causing this. It has always been there but it only became apparent after blocks were added to the forums. The simplest workaround is to insert a Code 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. and paste the code in it. The good news is that there is a PR in place that would fix this.
  
  Additionally, you can opt-out of the block editor completely under your profile settings, by checking the “Disable the Block Editor for new topics and replies” box, as seen in this screenshot.
  
  I hope that helps!
  - Dan 11:33 am on January 11, 2023
    
    Thank you for getting back. Hopefully, the issue will be fixed soon.
- drnama 2:31 pm on January 30, 2023
  
  This comment was deleted.
  - Alvaro Gómez 10:44 am on January 31, 2023
    
    Hey @drnama, it looks like you are using Slider Revolution on your site.
    
    You can find their documentation and contact them here https://www.sliderrevolution.com/help-center/
    
    Good luck!