annezazu 4:57 pm on December 23, 2020
Tags: , , , , , ,   

FSE Program Testing Call #1: Template Editing

This is the first call for testing as part of the Full Site Editing Outreach Program. For more information about this experimental program, please review this FAQ for helpful details. To properly join the fun, please head to #fse-outreach-experiment in Make Slack for future testing announcements, helpful posts, and more will be shared there. 

Feature Overview

To help frame what we’re going to be testing (and ideally build some excitement!), I wanted to give a brief context on the feature at the center of this call for testing. With Full Site Editing, people are able to edit both an individual post’s content and, with the release of Gutenberg 9.6, the template that an individual post uses. This call for testing is designed to explore the interaction between the two editing experiences (post vs. template editing) to make sure it’s clear when you’re editing each, granular saving works properly, etc. Ultimately, being able to edit templates like index, single, or archive directly is a huge leap forward compared to what’s been possible in the past! Unlocking this level of customization gives you far more control to build the site you want and this call for testing is to help ensure it’s as intuitive as possible. 

You can read more about the terms templates, template parts, and more here. 

Testing Environment 

While there’s more information below to ensure you get everything setup 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 Install A local install of WordPress is a way to create a staging environment by installing a LAMP or LEMP stack on your local computer. or you can use a tool like this to set up a development site. 
  • Use WordPress 5.6 (downloadable here).
  • Use the TT1 Blocks Theme (formerly called Twenty Twenty-One 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. Based Theme) by following these instructions.
  • Use 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/ 9.6 (latest version). 

Testing FlowFlow Flow 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

Here’s a basic flow to follow when testing this specific feature. If anything doesn’t make sense, just comment below!

Important Note: 

While this call for testing is focused on testing a specific feature, it’s extremely likely you’ll find other bugs in the process of testing with such a betaBeta A 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. feature! Please know any bugs you find are welcome in your report for testing, even if they aren’t directly applicable to the tested feature. 

Setup Instructions: 

  1. Have a test site using WordPress 5.6. It’s important this is not a production/live site. 
  2. Install the TT1 Blocks Theme (formerly called Twenty Twenty-One Block Based Theme) by following these instructions and activate it under Appearances > Themes. 
  3. Go to the website’s admin.
  4. Install and activate the Gutenberg 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 from Plugins > Add New. If you already have it installed, make sure you are using at least Gutenberg 9.6.
  5. You should now see a navigation item titled “Site Editor (beta)”. If you don’t see that in your 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., you aren’t properly using the Site Editing experiment. 


Testing Instructions:

  1. Create a new post by going to Posts > Add New.
  2. Add in a post title and brief content before hitting “Save Draft” or “Publish”. Either way, saving of some sort needs to happen.
  3. While in the editor for the post, navigate to the Post Tab of the Settings Sidebar (previously called Document). Under “Status & visibility,” you should see “Template” with the template name and the option to edit. 
  4. Click on “edit” to move into template editing mode. You should see a notice indicating you’ve switched to editing the template. 
  5. Make a few changes to the template wherever you like. For example, you can try out the “Site Title,” “Site Logo,” Site Tagline,” and “Navigation” blocks or changing font sizes and color settings for different blocks. Here’s a screenshot of a simple headerHeader The 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. for inspiration. 
  6. When you’re done making the changes you want, select “Apply” and go through the saving flow by selecting “Save”. This will return you to editing the post itself. 
  7. Once saved, try editing the post once more before following steps 7 & 8 to edit the template specifically. 
  8. Make changes to the template. This might mean making minor editorial changes to the content or adding in new blocks.
  9. When you’re done making the changes you want, select “Apply” and go through the saving flow this time opting to not save the template changes. This is a way to test the saving functionality. 
  10. Share your experience in the comments below or in GitHub directly. You’re welcome to run through the experience multiple times to capture any additional feedback!

What to notice:

  • Did it crash at any point?
  • Was it clear that when you were editing blocks in the Template that it would impact every page/post using that same Template? 
  • Was it intuitive for you to switch between editing a Template for all posts vs. an individual post?
  • Was the saving process intuitive? Meaning, did you easily know what each option was saving? 
  • Did the right content save when you selected saving the template part vs. when you left it unselected?
  • Did you get stuck at any point in the testing process?
  • What did you especially enjoy or appreciate about the experience? 
  • Did it work using Keyboard only?
  • Did it work using a screen reader?

Leave Feedback by January 13th, 2021

Please leave feedback in the comments of this post. If you’d prefer, you’re always welcome to create issues in this GitHub repo directly for Gutenberg and in this GitHub repo for TT1 Blocks Theme (formerly called Twenty Twenty-One Block Based Theme). If you leave feedback in GitHubGitHub GitHub 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/, please do still comment below with the link. If you see that someone else has already reported a problem, please still note your experience with it below, as it’ll help give those working on this experience more well-rounded insight into what to improve. 

#fse-outreach-program #full-site-editing #gutenberg #core-editor #fse-testing-call, #usability-testing