The Test Team helps manage testing and triage across the WordPress ecosystem. They focus on user testing of the editing experience and WordPress dashboard, replicating and documenting bug reports, and supporting a culture of review and triage across the project.
If you’d like to help test Full Site Editing, please join the FSE Outreach Program. You can find current calls for testing for this program here and you can join the fun in #fse-outreach-experiment.
The team gathers in #core-test. Please drop by any time with questions or to help out.
This call for testing focuses on taking a few blocks for a practical spin to create a fun, interactive recipe focused site that has a customized commenting experience to rally your recipe reviewers.
New Quote 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.
For your favorite recipe reviewers who leave behind their own tweaks to your recipes, you’ll explore adding in quotes from them using the new quote block. Currently, this is still in the experimental stage so get excited to report some bugs. Specifically, this new quote block supports using nested blocks, meaning you can add headings, lists, and more within a quote.
New List Block
Get ready to get detailed – your recipes require lots of ingredients with alternatives in case folks don’t have them. We’ll rely on the new list block to accomplish this since it includes a different UXUXUX is an acronym for User Experience - the way the user uses the UI. Think ‘what they are doing’ and less about how they do it. to explore.
Comments Query LoopLoopThe Loop is PHP code used by WordPress to display posts. Using The Loop, WordPress processes each post to be displayed on the current page, and formats it according to how it matches specified criteria within The Loop tags. Any HTML or PHP code in the Loop will be processed on each post. https://codex.wordpress.org/The_Loop. blocks
Pulling from this specific call for testing, there are a ton of blocks for you to explore and build your desired commenting experience, with more to come as more functionality is supported in each block:
Comments Query Loop: An advanced block that displays post comments and allows for various layouts and configurations.
Comment Template: Contains the block elements used to display a comment, such as the title, date, author, avatarAvatarAn avatar is an image or illustration that specifically refers to a character that represents an online user. It’s usually a square box that appears next to the user’s name. and more.
Comment Edit Link: Displays a link to edit the comment in the WordPress Dashboard. This link is only visible to users with the edit comment capability.
Comments Pagination: Displays next/previous links to paginated comments where this has been enabled in the comment settings in the WordPress admin
Previous Page: Displays the link to the previous page of comments.
Page Numbers: Displays a list of page numbers for comments pagination.
Next Page: Displays the link to the next page of comments.
Testing Environment
While there’s more information below to ensure you get everything set up properly, here are the key aspects to have in place with your testing environment:
Use a test site. Do not use a production/live site. You can follow these instructions to set up a local installLocal InstallA local install of WordPress is a way to create a staging environment by installing a LAMP or LEMP stack on your local computer. or use a tool like this to set up a development site.
Use 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/ 13.1 or the latest version (latest version).
Testing Instructions
Setup Instructions:
Have a test site using the latest version of WordPress (5.9+). It’s important this is not a production/live site.
Install and activate the Gutenberg pluginPluginA 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 from Plugins > Add New. If you already have it installed, make sure you are using at least Gutenberg 13.1.
By the end of these steps, you should see a navigation item titled “Editor (betaBetaA pre-release of software that is given out to a large group of users to trial under real conditions. Beta versions have gone through alpha testing in-house and are generally fairly close in look, feel and function to the final product; however, design changes often occur as part of the process.) under Appearance. If you don’t, you aren’t using a block theme and need to switch themes.
Testing Instructions:
Helpful Hint: As you go through this test, you might find the List View helpful while navigating between content.
Add a new recipe post
From your dashboard, head to Gutenberg > Experiments and turn on both the Quote and List experiments by checking the checkbox by each and saving (screenshot of what you want to see).
From your dashboard, head to Posts > Add New.
Title the post “May Macaroni” and add in a brief sentence for now (“Welcome to my latest monthly recipe where I’ll share the recipe I’m most excited to make in the month ahead”). Publish the post.
View the post on the front end and quickly add a few comments to the post. They can be brief like: “Great recipe!” & “Can’t wait to make this”.
Create a custom template for recipes
Return to the Post Editor where you just published your post, open the Post Settings, and, under Templates, select the “New” option.
A name field will appear. Title the template something recipe related, like “Recipe Template”, and hit the create button. This will open up the template editor.
Customize the template as you’d like to start. For example, you can add in 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. template part that matches the wider site, change the font size of the post title, and more. You are likely going to want to add in a Header and Footer Template part at this stage using whatever method you like to add blocks. Remember that you can search for “header” and “footer” too!
Customize commenting functionality
Where you see fit, add in the Comments Query Loop block. When you do so, various child blocks will be included. This is where using List View can help you get a sense of what’s there.
Explore the settings available for each block and begin customizing. This includes removing or adding additional blocks mentioned above under “Comments Query Loop blocks”, adding custom colors, changing font size, etc. You could also wrap the Comments Query loop in a Group block in order to add custom borders. Here’s a screenshot for inspiration that shows what you can do if you have time.
As you go, save changes and view your post to see what you’re creating live on your site. As much as you can, try to make the comments area an engaging and welcoming spot for your recipe reviewers.
Write your recipe with quote and list blocks
When done, save changes to your template and hit “back” to return to your post itself.
Add a list block and begin listing ingredients (pasta, cheese, pepper, milk, pepper, etc). Here’s a recipe you can pull ingredients from in case you’re like me and need some inspiration. Notice how you can still hit return to add new list items and that you can use the + sibling inserter to add sub items.
Under a few ingredients, use the + sibling inserter to add in some alternatives. For example, you can list types of cheeses (provolone, cheddar, goat cheese). Aim to create something like this screenshot.
Add another list block and switch to numbers in the toolbar to list out cooking steps. These can be simple: Boil water, add pasta, cook for 10 min, add cheese, and taste. Try adding some sub items once more. For example, you can list different cook times depending on how folks like their pasta.
After the ingredients and steps are listed, add a heading block titled “Recipe Insights”.
Add in a quote block and create a quick quote from the point of view of a reader of the site who might have some tweaks to offer. Be sure to include some different blocks like another List block, Headings, etc. Here’s a screenshot of an example.
Create a few quotes as you so desire and have time.
Update the post and make any additional changes you’d like to the post or Recipe Template itself.
Make yourself some pasta and pat yourself on the back. Thanks for testing and remember to leave a comment below about your experience!
What to notice:
Remember to share a screenshot of what you created if you’re up for it!
Did the experience crash at any point?
Did the saving experience work properly?
What did you find particularly confusing or frustrating about the experience?
What did you especially enjoy or appreciate about the experience?
What would have made this experience easier?
Did you find that what you created matched what you saw on your site?
This post is a summary of the thirteenth call for testing for the experimental FSE outreach program. As always, I want to highlight those who helped to bring others along with them in this latest effort:
Shout out to @hage, @antigone7, @robglidden, @azhiyadev as first-time contributors. Get excited – you now have a testing contributor badge on your WordPress profile!
High-level summary
To help ground the following feedback, here are some quotes about the overall experience to keep in mind:
The most frustrating thing to me is still, hands down, the lack of a clear, consistent visual cue or affordance to insert a new 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. on a new parent level after an existing block. Most of the time, when adding a block using the [+] square, the new one is inserted right there, still as a “child” block. List view often comes to the rescue and helps a lot. Without it, everything would be much, much harder to build..This, and the current lack of consistency in styling and spacing options between blocks (some have margins, some don’t, some have colors, some don’t, etc.) is still, in my opinion, one of the main factors keeping users from jumping ship from site builders.
Outside of the user-experience issues noted below, everything went well. No editor crashes. No problems saving. And the front-end matched what I was seeing in the editor.
Offer the option to link to an author’s archive with the current Post Author block. This will be available in future releases when the Post Name Author block is released, which includes this feature.
Most requests in this section touch on items that would improve the experience of an option (quick inserter prioritizing patterns) or block (No results block) rather than a list of desired new functionality. This reflects the fact that much of what folks wanted to do in this call for testing they could reasonably accomplish compared to prior calls.
I did not know about the “No Results block”. That was interesting to learn about. Perhaps it should automatically be added with the default text if there are no author posts to show.
The Post ExcerptExcerptAn excerpt is the description of the blog post or page that will by default show on the blog archive page, in search results (SERPs), and on social media. With an SEO plugin, the excerpt may also be in that plugin’s metabox. block under the Query LoopLoopThe Loop is PHP code used by WordPress to display posts. Using The Loop, WordPress processes each post to be displayed on the current page, and formats it according to how it matches specified criteria within The Loop tags. Any HTML or PHP code in the Loop will be processed on each post. https://codex.wordpress.org/The_Loop. doesn’t have an option to adjust the excerpt length. (The Latest Posts block does have this option.)
Working with the block felt odd at first. Where does it go? After the Post Template? Before?…It was also odd to visually edit a feature that is conditionally displayed. There should be an indicator that its contents may or may not be shown on the front end…Overall, the No Results block is a welcome addition to the theme-blocks toolset. I would like to see the 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. fleshed out a bit. Theme authors will likely start using this more when 6.0 lands, and I could see users inadvertently trying to delete it, thinking it is part of the default output.
Once more, this call for testing showed the desire to avoid starting from scratch, more consistency across the experience (especially with what options are available to customize blocks), and more connection points between new options. In particular, the inability to link to the Author Template one customized in this call for testing using the Post Author block was repeated numerous times as a pain pointPain pointPain points are “places where you know from research or analytics that users are currently getting hung up and have to ask questions, or are likely to abandon the site or app.” — Design for Real Life. The missing connection there lowers the impact the new author template could have. While this won’t be available for WordPress 6.0, expect to see the option to do so included when the new Post Author Name block is included in a future WordPress release:
The most immediate issue when creating a new author template is that it was devoid of default blocks. Where was the—at minimum—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? The empty template would make sense if I was building something from scratch. However, this is not a from-scratch project. It was built from a theme with existing archive.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. and index.html files, ancestors in the template hierarchy…Users will most likely want to make modifications rather than start from scratch. Using an ancestor template as a base means that they are less likely to unnecessarily deviate from the existing layout, especially with more complex designs.
I feel that menus were a lot more intuitive and easier to manage with the previous system. I wish there were a way to basically tie back the new blocks to a similar interface, which had become familiar and was easy to use even for non-experts.
I had expected that after locking the group block at the header, the cover block contained in it (for example) could also not be moved. But that was possible without any problems. In my opinion, another option would make sense here: Lock all blocks contained in the block. If a group block contains several other blocks, it would be very time-consuming to lock all of them.
It’s coming – WordPress 6.0 is scheduled for release on 24 May 2022. And to make it there we’re calling all testers 📣 to kick the tires and help ensure its 400+ updates and 500 bug fixes handle like a dream.
Please only test on a development siteDevelopment SiteYou can keep a copy of your live site in a separate environment. Maintaining a development site is a good practice that can let you make any changes and test them without affecting the live/production environment. and not on a production/live site. You can follow these instructions to set up a local installLocal InstallA local install of WordPress is a way to create a staging environment by installing a LAMP or LEMP stack on your local computer., or use a tool like this to set up a development site.
Once your development site is set up, please install and activate the WordPress Beta Tester Plugin and configure it to:
Update channel: “Bleeding edge”
Stream options: “BetaBetaA pre-release of software that is given out to a large group of users to trial under real conditions. Beta versions have gone through alpha testing in-house and are generally fairly close in look, feel and function to the final product; however, design changes often occur as part of the process./RCRelease CandidateA beta version of software with the potential to be a final product, which is ready to release unless significant bugs emerge. only” (you may need to save channel changes before this option appears)
At a high level, there are a few tips to keep in mind to get the most out of helping to test:
Test across different browsers.
Test in different languages.
Compare features on different screen sizes, including tablets and mobile.
Use just your keyboard to navigate, or use a screen reader.
Test with both 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 classic themes.
Important Note: Anything marked as [Technical] is best for those comfortable with more advanced testing steps.
Key Features to Test
The following list identifies some important new and modified features in WordPress 6.0, and should be the focus of testing efforts from here through release day. Items identified as [Major] constitute functionality that requires the most review.
Editor
Style Switching with Variations [Major]
Building on WordPress 5.9’s Styles interface, the editor now supports multiple style variations, enabling site owners to easily switch between a theme’s default or custom designed styles. Styles can be applied to the base site, or to any block. Variations can also be pre-configured by theme authors in theme.json.
With WordPress 6.0 Beta 3or newer and the Twenty Twenty-Two (TT2) theme active, you’ll have access to preview and test the Styles variations feature.
We’ve received a lot of constructive community feedback regarding template types that were introduced in 5.9, and this area continues to evolve, introducing author, date, categories, tag, and taxonomyTaxonomyA taxonomy is a way to group things together. In WordPress, some common taxonomies are category, link, tag, or post format. https://codex.wordpress.org/Taxonomies#Default_Taxonomies. types. You can find each of these template options in the Site Editor when viewing the overall Templates List:
Now site editors can add existing or create new template parts and patterns with the block inserter (using the + icon or typing / at the start of the block):
ExcerptExcerptAn excerpt is the description of the blog post or page that will by default show on the blog archive page, in search results (SERPs), and on social media. With an SEO plugin, the excerpt may also be in that plugin’s metabox. to Content
TagTagTag is one of the pre-defined taxonomies in WordPress. Users can add tags to their WordPress posts along with categories. However, while a category may cover a broad range of topics, tags are smaller in scope and focused to specific topics. Think of them as keywords used for topics discussed in a particular post. Cloud to Categories
Calendar to Archives
Paragraph to Code
Group to Row
The Tag Cloud block now supports outline style and min/max font sizes. Find these options in the block 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..
Social icon label visibility can now be toggled.
Try using each of these options in a new post or page and report back any rough points you encounter.
Block Styles Redesign with Preview
It’s now easier to peek into several block styles with a redesigned interface and a snappy hover preview. To test this feature, add your favorite block that comes with several block styles (Quote, Image, Table, etc) open the sidebar, and explore the style options.
List View Enhancements
List View has a few enhancements to explore and give feedback on. For testing, it helps to try out List View in a template or post/page that has different types of blocks and lots of them. Please test the following new options:
Select any block you’d like and List View will open to the exact location.
View the structure of your content thanks to a refined interface that shows a collapsed view at default.
Use new keyboard shortcuts (shift + click) to select multiple blocks to bulk modify (reposition, delete, etc.), including the ability to drag and drop.
Quickly see any locked blocks at a glance thanks to lock status being reflected.
Explore accessibilityAccessibilityAccessibility (commonly shortened to a11y) refers to the design of products, devices, services, or environments for people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design ensures both “direct access” (i.e. unassisted) and “indirect access” meaning compatibility with a person’s assistive technology (for example, computer screen readers). (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accessibility) improvements with better keyboard controls and improved screen reader announcements.
Cover Block as Featured ImageFeatured imageA featured image is the main image used on your blog archive page and is pulled when the post or page is shared on social media. The image can be used to display in widget areas on your site or in a summary list of posts.[Major]
WordPress 6.0 introduces another top item on many a user’s wish list: setting featured images to Cover blocks. Try this feature in conjunction with a template for your posts or page since this means you can now have your Post Title block layered on top of your featured images.
The comments loopLoopThe Loop is PHP code used by WordPress to display posts. Using The Loop, WordPress processes each post to be displayed on the current page, and formats it according to how it matches specified criteria within The Loop tags. Any HTML or PHP code in the Loop will be processed on each post. https://codex.wordpress.org/The_Loop., once relegated to the world of PHPPHPPHP (recursive acronym for PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor) is a widely-used open source general-purpose scripting language that is especially suited for web development and can be embedded into HTML. http://php.net/manual/en/intro-whatis.php. footer includes, is now a full-fledged block. Add and style comments visually!
Block Locking 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.[Major]
Previously only available to theme developers, the power of the block locking APIAPIAn 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. is now available to site editors in 6.0. Lock down important blocks to prevent accidental changes. The API now also supports reusable blocks. You can find the locking options in the ellipsis menu of each block:
Progress continues with styling and usability around the Navigation block, which was first introduced in 5.9. Test out the most recent interface improvements and styling options.
More options and finer-grained layout control can be found with the following list of visual updates. Please explore creating what you can as part of testing and remember that this is just a glimpse as many design tools are already currently available:
Use the Group block variations, Stack and Row, to create different layouts.
Layout transforms when multi-selecting (new flowFlowFlow is the path of screens and interactions taken to accomplish a task. It’s an experience vector. Flow is also a feeling. It’s being unselfconscious and in the zone. Flow is what happens when difficulties are removed and you are freed to pursue an activity without forming intentions. You just do it.
Flow is the actual user experience, in many ways. If you like, you can think of flow as a really comprehensive set of user stories. When you think about user flow, you’re thinking about exactly how a user will perform the tasks allowed by your product.Flow and Context
) for quick creation.
Try to create a customized sidebar with gap support, margins, and typography controls using a Group block in a Columns block.
Add borders to Columns blocks.
Take advantage of gap support being added to the Gallery Block to have access to a wider variety of layout possibilities.
Theme/PluginPluginA 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 Development [Technical]
Webfonts API [Major]
The new Webfonts API promises to streamline the registration of locally hosted web fonts, providing theme developers more flexibility and consistency across sites.
As of WordPress 6.0 Beta 3, theme authors are now able to implement webfonts via theme.json, and the official Webfonts API will be available to extenders in a coming version of WordPress.
For implementation and testing guidance on the Webfonts API, please see PR 37140.
Block Theme Export [Major]
Explore the new additions for block theme exports as this feature continues to evolve toward codeless visual block theme building:
Try making changes and exporting in order to ensure those changes are captured correctly.
Style Switching with Variations [Major]
As mentioned above, the Styles interface now supports multiple variations, which can be preset in a theme. Information on adopting and testing this feature can be found at this previous #core post. Keep in mind that to test this you need to use a block theme that supports this feature and/or add in your own style variation to the current block theme you are using.
Where to Report Feedback
If you find any issues, it’s best to share them on the alpha/beta forums, or on Trac if you are more technically savvy and comfortable. Please share feedback as soon as you can before the release on 24 May 2022.
A big thank you to @annezazu and @juanmaguitar for reviewing and contributing to this post.
Added links to forums and TracTracTrac is the place where contributors create issues for bugs or feature requests much like GitHub.https://core.trac.wordpress.org/. for tester feedback.
2022-05-03
Noted that builds of WordPress 6.0 Beta 3 and later include TT2 styles variations and bring webfonts support to theme.json.
Updated styles variations demonstration video.
Clarified that the official Webfonts API will be available in a future version.
The previously monolithic “Post Comments” 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. has been updated to work in a more flexible and modular way by using child blocks. The new version is now called the “Comments Query LoopLoopThe Loop is PHP code used by WordPress to display posts. Using The Loop, WordPress processes each post to be displayed on the current page, and formats it according to how it matches specified criteria within The Loop tags. Any HTML or PHP code in the Loop will be processed on each post. https://codex.wordpress.org/The_Loop.” block, and it comes with new blocks that can be used as child blocks within it. These new Comments blocks allow users to define and change the layout of the post comments directly from the 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/ editor.
This post is a call for users to test the new blocks that can be used to build a comments section in a page or post (following the block paradigm). The results of this testing will allow the contributors behind the development of these blocks to decide whether or not they are ready to be included in the next release of WordPress (v6.0)
Please report your findings either as issues on GithubGitHubGitHub is a website that offers online implementation of git repositories that can 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/ in the Gutenberg repository ,or in the comments below. If you have triage access, labelling any issue with “[Block] Comments Query Loop” would be very helpful. Alternatively, you can start the title of your issue with “Comments Blocks: ” to help those triaging the issues to label them appropriately.
How comments currently work in Full Site Editing
The “Post Comments” block is the block that currently manages a comments section on a post or page,
For example, the Twenty-Twenty-Two theme uses this block in its “Single Post” template
But with this “Post Comments” block no option exists to change the styles and the layout of the comments from within the Editor. This block uses the comments_template() function internally to generate the 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. for that section and the styles are defined via CSSCSSCSS is an acronym for cascading style sheets. This is what controls the design or look and feel of a site. files.
So, in summary, if you want to customize your comments section (change styles and layout) when using this “Post Comments” block you have to do a bit of coding
What’s new?
With the new Comments Query Loop block, you now have available a set of child blocks that enable you to customize the layout and styles of this section directly from within the Editor.
The new Comments Blocks that are available from Gutenberg v13.0 are:
Comments Query Loop: An advanced block that displays post comments and allows for various layouts and configurations.
Comment Template: Contains the block elements used to display a comment, such as the title, date, author, avatarAvatarAn avatar is an image or illustration that specifically refers to a character that represents an online user. It’s usually a square box that appears next to the user’s name. and more.
Comment Edit Link: Displays a link to edit the comment in the WordPress Dashboard. This link is only visible to users with the edit comment capability.
Comments Pagination: Displays next/previous links to paginated comments where this has been enabled in the comment settings in the WordPress admin
Previous Page: Displays the link to the previous page of comments.
Page Numbers: Displays a list of page numbers for comments pagination.
Next Page: Displays the link to the next page of comments.
The addition of these blocks to Gutenberg is just the beginning. With these blocks, in the future you will be able to create and share your own patterns for a comments section.
Testing Environment
While there’s more information below to ensure you get everything set up properly, here are the key things to consider with regard to your testing environment:
Use a test site. Do not use a production/live site. You can follow these instructions to set up a local installLocal InstallA local install of WordPress is a way to create a staging environment by installing a LAMP or LEMP stack on your local computer. or use a tool like this to set up a development site.
Set proper pluginPluginA 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 and themes
Have a test site using the latest version of WordPress (5.9.3 at time of writing). It’s important that this is not a production/live site.
Install and activate the Twenty Twenty-Two theme by going to Appearances > Themes. If you choose to use a different block theme, install and activate by going to Appearances > Themes > Add New and searching for the one that has the `Full Site Editing` listed as a feature.
Go to the homepage of your testing site and go to the default “Hello world!” post to check how the Comments section looks by default with these new Comments blocks. You can also create a new post by going to Posts > Add
Save the template and go to the post page to see your changes in the frontend (you’ll probably need to refresh the post’s page)
Repeat this process as many times as you want and take note of any bug or User Experience inconsistency you encounter during the process
Insert the “Post Comments Form” block to check the behavior of the Comment Reply Link and the ability to insert new comments
The “Post Comments Form” cannot itself be customised via the Block Editor as yet. There’s an issue open to work on this but for the purpose of this testing we can just use it as it is and focus the testing on the display of the comments
Go to the “Single Post” template and insert a “Post Comments Form” just after the “Comments Pagination” block
Save the template and go to the post page to see if the form is available from that page (you’ll probably need to refresh the post’s page)
Submit a new comment and check whether the new comment appears and whether the styles you defined for the Comments blocks are also applied to this new comment
Check that the ”Comment Reply Link” and “Comment Edit Link” work properly
Take note of any bug or User Experience inconsistency you detect in the process
What to test
So, what type of things can you test with these blocks?
This Call for Testing is mainly to check that these blocks work as expected, that is, the changes in the styles and layout work as expected without bugs.
But just to provide some guidance, here are some aspects we specifically would like to have some feedback about:
Styles and Layout
Try to replicate a specific design on your comments section and check that you’re able to implement that design using just the Block Editor. For example you could try to apply a Duotone filterFilterFilters 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 the Avatar, or perhaps a two column layout with the avatar on the left and rest of the content on the right – let your imagination run wild!
AccessibilityAccessibilityAccessibility (commonly shortened to a11y) refers to the design of products, devices, services, or environments for people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design ensures both “direct access” (i.e. unassisted) and “indirect access” meaning compatibility with a person’s assistive technology (for example, computer screen readers). (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accessibility)
Check that the comments section is fully accessible in both the Editor and the Frontend and report any issues you find in this regard.
Discussion Settings
Go to Settings > Discussion and check that the different options are fully compatible with the new Comments blocks (i.e. that they work as expected according to the options that have been enabled/disabled).
Pagination Links
Test that the pagination links work as expected. To test this you’ll need enough comments for the comments to actually paginate. Comment pagination also needs to be enabled in the WordPress admin under Settings -> Discussion -> Break comments into pages
Thank you!
Thank you for helping to test these new Comments Blocks! With the adoption of Full Site Editing, bringing the power and flexibility of blocks to more parts of the page is really helpful in enabling users to customise their layouts and take full control of their sites.
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