Black Friday? Cyber Monday? No Thanks, I’m Good.
Full-Site Editing, especially with the latest default WordPress theme, may be the best-kept secret in WordPress.
This post hits as I mark 16 years working with WordPress. Before that, I had been making web sites for almost nine years. I’ve seen plenty of changes in web publishing in general – and with WordPress in particular.
When the Gutenberg (current block) editor became part of WordPress core, it was met with such a level of antagonism – many times greater than that expressed toward the theme Customizer, now a familiar part of all “Classic” themes. Change is often difficult, especially change that a significant number of users didn’t ask for. Nonetheless, I saw Gutenberg for what it was from the outset: a default page-builder within WordPress.
WP pundits carefully chose their language, referring to the block editor as “not a page builder, but a content editor”. However, it was obvious that you could position content with it much more freely than with the previous (now “Classic“) editor, which operated like a 90s-era word processor. While I, like many, initially found Gutenberg frustrating, my chagrin was because it looked and felt like a page builder – but with some obvious features left out.
My theory then (and still now) was that the core team didn’t want to arouse even more antagonism by admitting that they were, in fact, making the default editor into a page builder. Perhaps they omitted certain features at the outset not only for that reason but also to encourage “buy-in” by community members – who stepped up with block plugins that added the obvious but curiously absent page-builder features.
I tried all the ones garnering hype at the time, then discovered Kadence Blocks. Nobody seemed to be writing about that one, but it was soon clear (to me, at least), that it turned Gutenberg into the page-builder it was ultimately going to be. I still use that plugin when I work with the Kadence theme, among the few classic themes I currently recommend.
Since its introduction into core, Gutenberg has been my editor of choice. I have had pro licenses for a couple of very popular page builders, but I never quite took to them. I found them bloated, buggy, and clunky. I still do.
Getting a Round Tuit
Early this year, I finally got around to learning full-site editing. I had always intended to do so, but was waiting until it had evolved enough. And it has.
That’s why, this Black Friday, I felt happy with what I (and you) already have. The Gutenberg editor, with just its core blocks, along with the default theme (and, if you will, the Twentig plugin), provides all you may need to create the sites you want. For all other specific features – be they contact forms, ecommerce, dynamic CSS editing, or a learning-management system – I use the same plugins I’d use with any theme or page builder.
Mega-themes and page builders evolved to solve a problem. However, it’s one that WordPress no longer has: inability to create unique, grid-based designs. Now, most of those add-ons seem to cause more problems than they solve. Ironically, I find myself using more of my own code for some very popular themes and page builders – even with their premium versions – than I do when I use the default theme, the core blocks, and the Twentig plugin.
So, I’m good when it comes to this season’s theme and page-builder sales. No FOMO.
If you haven’t already tried block themes, visit this site. And check out a couple of my favorite WordPress influencers’ videos on full-site editing.
Once you get over the initial learning curve (similar to the one you surmounted when learning your current favorite theme or page builder), you’ll find that WordPress itself comes with most of what you need “right out of the box”.
Yes, full-site editing may be the best-kept secret in WordPress. Too many users haven’t gotten past its initial reputation as limited,and/or not intuitive. Meanwhile, new users may be getting their first impressions of WordPress via third-party add-ons. They’re opting for flashy premium themes and page builders without even seeing what WordPress can do on its own.
FSE has gotten so much better now – approach it with an open mind and give it a(nother) try.