WordPress Planet
Engage with the lively WordPress community and stay updated on news, insights, and discussions that enhance your WordPress expertise.
Hi there,
This weekend I am at WordCamp Leipzig and spent Friday night and Saturday with about 70 WordPressers from the German community. It’s my third year attending this small, low-key WordCamp. This year, it had way more session submissions than speaker slots, and it sold out tickets with a waiting list. Congratulations to the organizing team. 
With the European Accessibility Act (EAA) set to take effect on June 28, 2025, the selection of three talks focused on accessibility is both timely and highly relevant-making them especially interesting to me. I am also looking forward to Hans-Gerd Gerhard’s walk through practical examples for block theme implementations. Talks on site performance, e-commerce, error handling and UX for Gen Z round up the session schedule. Although it’s a low-key WordCamp the video team is amazing. The sessions will be recorded and uploaded to WordPressTV the same or the following day. Session are in German, though.
Save the Date for WordCamp US! It’ll take place from August 26 to August 29. 2025. The call for speakers and sponsors will come out on May 19, 2025, so keep an eye out. If all goes well, I will return to WordCamp US after three years, to finally see my WordPress friends from a previous life again. Will I see you in Portland, OR, too?
I could call today’s newsletter, The Plugin Edition, as it mentions 14 plugins that will help with content creation, making a visual impact and organizing your site. It’s actually 16 plugins if you count Gutenberg and WooCommerce as well. Have fun browsing, and please hit reply if you have any opinion or other plugins to mention. Listing those plugins here doesn’t mean I recommend them, you would need to test them for yourself. I just wanted to surface them as it’s a bit difficult to find new plugins in the WordPress repository.
Have a lovely weekend!
Yours, 
Birgit
Developing Gutenberg and WordPress
George Mamadashvili released Gutenberg 20.8 on May 14, 2025. Here are the features, Ellen Bauer and I discussed on the podcast episode”
- Create block package: added flag for text domain during scaffolding. (69802)
- Guide component customization: next and previous button text. (69907)
- Search functionality for page templates and patterns. (69667)
- Meta box fixes and widget editor locking. (69958)(69984)
- Ability to edit HTML for invalid blocks.(69902)
- Spacer block update preventing negative width in row blocks.(68845)
- Box sizing property updates to prevent design overflow.(70014)
- Block bindings API documentation improvements and limitations.(68583)
- Block Styles: add copy and code for style_data to documentation (69920)
The changelog is available on the GitHub repo.
The latest episode Gutenberg Changelog 117 ā WooCommerce Starter Theme and Blocks, WordCamp Europe, and Gutenberg 20.7 and 20.8 I sat down with Ellen Bauer, WooCommerce product lead and discussed what she is working on, WordCamp Europe, Create Block Theme, WP-CLI, Gutenberg 20.7 and Gutenberg 20.8 releases.
Plugins, Themes, and Tools for #nocode site builders and owners
Mike McAlister announced the release of Ollie Pro 2.0. The update introduces a redesigned dashboard, a setup wizard to streamline site configuration, and starter sites, with which users could launch a complete website fast. For developers, a child theme creator is included to enable safe code customizations. The release also expands the pattern library with hundreds of professionally designed layouts and styles, all accessible through an improved pattern browser.
Michael Pretty, code wrangler at WooCommerce, recently shared some great news: WooCommerce 9.9 will bring significant admin performance improvements. In his post, he outlined the key factors and changes behind faster admin screen rendering and quicker action execution for Woo merchants. These updates promise a noticeably smoother and more efficient experience when managing your store. You can start testing the with the Woo 9.9 Beta version. WooCommerce 9.9 is scheduled for release on June 2, 2025, just before WordCamp Europe.
If you often write tutorials with code examples, you need to check out the Code Block Pro plugin by Kevin Batford. You can make your code look as beautiful as the rest of your site. The plugin offers dozens of different themes, and specific syntax highlighting for hundreds of programming languages. If you feel the code section gets too long with the āClick to see moreā feature, you can collapse code blocks at any line, letting visitors expand only what they need. Also, very handy are line highlighting and blurring of surrounding code, which helps readers to quickly recognize the code section that you want them to focus on. Iāve only scratched the surface of what Code Block Pro can do in my own posts. You can get the plugin from the WordPress repository.
Screenshot from my post on Block Theme building.
In her latest tutorial, Anne Katzeff explored how the Row and Stack blocks expand the layout and design possibilities for your site. She discusses all the different settings, and styles options for these Group block variations.
Hans-Gerd Gerhards introduced his “Plugin Shrinking Logo Sticky Headerā. The plugin lets you “add a modern sticky header with smooth, animated shrinking effects for both the header and the site logo.” You have full control over the heights for default and shrunken states and also use your site’s colors for styling. The post also entails the link for downloads videos and screenshots. The plugin in in the approval queue for the WordPress directory.
More single blocks and block collections from the WordPress plugin repository
I am amazed at the creativity of plugin authors to always find missing features to add to WordPress. Some even you didn’t know you were missing. 
Over the last few days, I found several single blocks and block collections in my RSS Feeds. I have not tested them. Use at your own risk. If you do try some, please let me know how it went. Email me.
Nasio Blocks by Nasio Themes – A newcomer on the WordPress repository. Welcome to the WordPress space! 
“Post slider, Content slider, Gallery slider, Accordion and Icon blocks. Features a template library with predefined demo content (block patterns) to speed up the page creation process.” so they say.
Flipbox Block by GutenbergKits “Flip box Block – “A flip box is an interactive UI element that flips between two sections on hover or click.” and “You can create unlimited design possibilities”. I remember when I build such a flip box w/ vanilla JavaScript in a static HTML page for a memory game some time in the early 2000s. Now I just can install a block for it.
Photo Block by Ronald Huereca, in his 20th year of his WordPress.org account. He built into it advanced image customization, full caption support, responsive styling, and global styles. Alone from the screenshots on the plugin page I feel a bit overwhelmed with the vast number of customizations.You’ll find a ton of filters, too. To see it in action, you can spin up a demo site
PIBE ā Parallax Image Block and Effects by Emiliano Lorenzi, also a newcomer to the space! Welcome to you, too! His plugin “allows you to add modern, animated images to your site, whether you want to add depth with parallax, capture your visitorsā attention with hover transitions, or highlight content with stylish overlays.
Bhargav (Bunty) Bhandari, WordPress developer author of the Thread and Polls blocks, has released a new plugin called: Explicit Media Block. This block is an image/media block public likes and shareable links, turning your site into an interactive content hub, Instagram like as you so will.
Primekit Blocks by SupreoX Limited with contains three blocks. The most intriguing would be for me the Animated Text Block to show for animated text effects for your headings and content. The other two are Call to Action (CTA) block and a Copyright block.
Groundworx Carousel by Johanne Courtright, a longtime WordPress developer and freelancer from the US, published her first plugin in the repository. With the carousel, built with native core blocks, you can display slides with any inner blocks. Using the Splide.js library it supports responsive options, breakpoint-based layouts, and advanced design controls. On GitHub, Courtright also provides instructions and code examples on how to extend the plugin to fit any site’s needs.
Better Navigation Block Styles by Marc Tƶnsing. Tƶnsing aims to refine the native mobile menu with to ensure better spacing, alignment, and readability by injecting Additional CSS.
Cycle Block: Lite by Ghost Labs, also a newcomer to the WordPress repository, Welcome! The team’s first plugin enables user to display different content for each page load. You can rotate headlines, and create randomized call-to-actions. The description and screenshot offer more use cases where this plugin might be helpful. On their website you find a few more plugins: City blocks for location-based content and Ghostwriter block, using AI for content creation.
WPMozo Blocks and Addons by Elicus provides plenty of Custom blocks to use, a few sliders, a flip box, tilt image, before-and-after comparisons block. You can see it all in action on the demo site. I found the interactive image card to be quite interesting. The Separator block is probably one I would use if I had to spruce up a wall of text or so.
Which reminds me: On the WordPress Developer blog, Justin Tadlock wrote a tutorial about Building a custom style for the Separator block, just in case you are tempted to get into block style building without creating a Custom block.
That’s it for now. Please keep in mind that I don’t have any aspiration to be comprehensive when curating plugins. I would also be delighted, if you want to email me asking me to check out your plugin.
“Keeping up with Gutenberg – Index 2025”
A chronological list of the WordPress Make Blog posts from various teams involved in Gutenberg development: Design, Theme Review Team, Core Editor, Core JS, Core CSS, Test, and Meta team from Jan. 2024 on. Updated by yours truly.āThe previous years are also available: 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024
Building Blocks and Tools for the Block editor.
Felix Arntz, a developer at Google and the author of the AI services plugin, has authored a tutorial detailing the process by which individuals can utilize this plugin to create artificial intelligence tools, such as an image alt text generator.
Bernhard Kau published a tutorial on how to add a custom panel to Query Monitor. Query Monitor should be in every WordPress developer toolbox, and how to customize it is a very useful skill to have.
In last week’s live stream, Jonathan Bossenger explored how to use the Feature API. He figured out how to hook up Woo’s LMS, Sensei and register its lessons as tools. Then he instructed an AI agent to create a lesson from a markdown file.
Automattic introduced a new Feature API for WordPress. It allows AI agent tools to interact with sites in more structured waysāunlocking new possibilities for plugins and automation.
Jamie Marsland posted on LinkedIn, why that’s important: WordPress Is Sitting on a Goldmine ā And the Feature API Just Dug the First Tunnel
Nick Diego has tested the latest Studio v 1.5.1, the new local development app by WordPress.com, release and wrote a tutorial on how to use the new features: Customize Your WordPress Development Workflow: New Preferences in Studio. I made Studio my only local development tool installed.
Need a plugin .zip from Gutenberg’s master branch?
Gutenberg Times provides daily build for testing and review.
Now also available via WordPress Playground. There is no need for a test site locally or on a server. Have you been using it? Email me with your experience
Questions? Suggestions? Ideas?
Don’t hesitate to send them via email or
send me a message on WordPress Slack or Twitter @bph.
For questions to be answered on the Gutenberg Changelog,
send them to [email protected]
Featured Image: Photo by Fran Jacquier on Unsplash
Don’t want to miss the next Weekend Edition?
Hi,
“And just like that, winter has faded from our collective memory…”, Om Malik wrote in his Letter from Om, May edition. In Munich, we just had another cold spell, though. There is no doubt we are heading into the next hot summer.
So it’s Saturday afternoon, and I am way behind on your newsletter edition. This week, I published approximately 7,500 words over three posts. Definitely a record! Plus, two podcast episodes (one is still with the editor).
Don’t worry, this weekend edition is not entirely about me. 
Have a splendid weekend ahead!
Yours,
Birgit
The latest episode Gutenberg Changelog 117 ā WooCommerce Starter Theme and Blocks, WordCamp Europe, and Gutenberg 20.7 and 20.8 I sat down with Ellen Bauer, WooCommerce product lead and discussed what she is working on, WordCamp Europe, Create Block Theme, WP-CLI, Gutenberg 20.7 and Gutenberg 20.8 releases.
Workshop Registration Now Open for WordCamp Europe 2025 ā Secure Your Spot Today! A reminder of the workshops offered:
- The Block Developer Cookbook: WCEU 2025 Edition with Ryan Welcher
- From Zero to Demo: Mastering WordPress Playground Blueprints with yours truly
- Building Automated Tests with WordPress Playground with Berislav (Bero) Grgicak
- Interactivity API for Developers: WordPress Gems You Should Know with Milana Cap
Here is the Workshop Registration page. You already need to have a ticket, and use for this registration the same email.
Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) is celebrated on May 15, 2025. Amber Hinds from Equalize Digital invites people to join in a virtual accessibility contributor day. This event aims to improve accessibility in WordPress. Whether youāre a developer, designer, content creator, or site owner, you have the skills. You can help make the internet more usable. You can make a difference for millions of people with disabilities. she wrote. You pledge your time Global Accessibility Awareness Day Pledge – May 15, 2025.
Suggested activities include reporting issues for Core, plugins, or themes. They also cover testing patches on accessibility tickets. You can offer feedback on existing accessibility issues or add captions to videos on WordPressTV. Additionally, running a webinar is another activity choice.
Plugins, Themes, and Tools for #nocode site builders and owners
Brian Coords published the release notes for WooCommerce 9.8.4. It addresses a fatal error that occurred as the result of a remote service failure.
Stephanie Pi issued a Developer advisory: Subscriptions core code moving into WooCommerce Subscriptions plugin. he core code that powers WooCommerce Subscriptions will now be managed directly within the main plugin repository, rather than the separate, public Automattic/woocommerce-subscriptions-core codebase. This change, effective May 20, 2025, aims to reduce complexity, streamline versioning, and align with management of other WooCommerce extensions. Only developers directly depending on the core package or monitoring its repository are affected; regular plugin users or API integrators need not take action.
Fabian KƤgy and I hung out with Nathan Wrigley for the third episode of the At the Core show. We dove into the latest buzz in WordPress. We especially focused on the 6.8 release. We covered some cool new features like
- better details and accordion blocks,
- tweaks to the stylebook,
- fresh pattern section styles,
- upgraded gallery image options, and
- some nice improvements in template editing.
We discussed the shift toward a slower, more thoughtful approach to WordPress core releases. There are changes in the dev workflow. We also talked about some new plugins like ClassifAI and ThemeSwitcher Pro. These plugins make it easier to integrate AI. They also help to gradually move to block themes. This episode is packed with great tips for anyone looking to stay updated on new developments in WordPress. You also get hands-on insights about the latest features.
Kaspars Dambis created a nifty optimizing plugin called Lazy Load Blocks for WordPress. It does exactly what it says on the tin. Configurable per block, even. Lazy loading blocks improves the Web Vitals. It enhances the Page Speed metrics. It does not impact the layout shift (CLS) when the lazy loading is triggered. There is a great demo video on the page. You will also find screenshots and instructions. Explanations of how this actually works are also included. It’s comes with a small price tag of $5 per month, billed annually.
In his latest video: How Thousands Use WordPress to Get Customer Feedback, Wes Theron demonstrates techniques for content creators and site owners. He shows how to use blocks by Crowdsignal to gather feedback. You can use highly interactive elements like polls, surveys, voting buttons, and more. Theron provides a step-by-step guide on how to add feedback tools to your site. This helps you start making smarter decisions based on real data.
Theme Development for Full Site Editing and Blocks
In my latest post, Mastering Custom Block Styles in WordPress: 6 Methods for Theme and Plugin Developers, Iām sharing some cool tips. These tips are for theme and plugin developers. They cover how to create and manage block styles in WordPress. The article discusses using JSON files. It also covers PHP functions like register_block_style().
In, Seven Tasks to a Custom Block Theme: Anders NorĆ©nās Weekend Workflow, A year ago, over a weekend, Anders NorĆ©n shared his block theme building process in a X thread. I finally found the time to make it a more enhanced tutorial for theme builders’ perusal. You learn about NorĆ©n’s tools, his methods, and his tricks to enhance his designs.
“Keeping up with Gutenberg – Index 2025”
A chronological list of the WordPress Make Blog posts. It includes contributions from various teams involved in Gutenberg development. These teams are Design, Theme Review Team, Core Editor, Core JS, Core CSS, Test, and Meta team from Jan. 2024 on. Updated by yours truly.āThe previous years are also available: 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024
Building Blocks and Tools for the Block editor.
Eric Karkovack just published a tutorial on how to display WordPress custom field data with blocks. He introduces you to the Block Bindings API and walks you through an example from start to finish.
Jonathan Bossenger shared with me DeepWiki, a service by Devin AI. it introduces itself as “your collaborative AI teammate, built to help ambitious engineering teams achieve more.”
You can make it your companion developing for the Block Editor by visiting the sub-site for WordPress/Gutenberg. It provides you with access to the documentation and code in a human-readable form. The chatbot will answer your questions. I tested it with two questions:
- What are Gutenberg stores and what information can you find there? You can read the answer here.
- Is there a good analogy for state to better explain state management? The answer shows quite a few real live analogies: working with a notebook, a collaborative drawing board and a room with light switches and fixtures.
Try it out yourself! It’s pretty helpful as it searches the documentation and digs through the whole Gutenberg code base for answers.
In his tutorial on how to build blocks with WooCommerce, Marco Lucio Giannotta and Karol Manijak guide developers. They show how to build a WooCommerce Product Collection block. They break it down with an easy-going video and some code examples. You’ll get the scoop on block theory. You’ll watch a live-coding session where they create interactive blocks. You’ll dig deep into the default Product Collection block. There are two hands-on exercises. One teaches how to add a āFeaturedā filter. Another focuses on registering a custom collection of “on-sale products under $40.” Itās a great way to get the hang of block settings, custom queries, and using the WooCommerce API!
The second part of the Unit test (with Jest) for WordPress Blocks is out. JuanMa Garrido programs unit tests for the copyright block from the “Tutorial: Build your first block”. He also explores how to debug the Save component of a block.
The Codeable Team published How to Get Started with the Interactivity API. This article introduces WordPress developers to a way of adding real-time features to websites without using heavy scripts or plugins. It explains that the Interactivity API, available from WordPress 6.5, allows developers to update page elements quickly, enhancing site performance and making development easier. It highlights the APIās benefits in performance, scalability, and WordPress integration.
The next episode of Jon learns to code with AI is up. In WordPress as a MCP Server, Jonathan Bossenger reviewed the WordPress MCP plugin from Automattic. This plugin turns your WordPress site into an MCP server that your AI Agent can interact with. To learn what that exactly means, you need to watch the video.
Need a plugin .zip from Gutenberg’s master branch?
Gutenberg Times provides daily build for testing and review.
Now also available via WordPress Playground. There is no need for a test site locally or on a server. Have you been using it? Email me with your experience
Questions? Suggestions? Ideas?
Don’t hesitate to send them via email or
send me a message on WordPress Slack or Twitter @bph.
For questions to be answered on the Gutenberg Changelog,
send them to [email protected]
Featured Image: New York – View from The Highline 2015 by Birgit Pauli-Haack
Don’t want to miss the next Weekend Edition?
Have you ever wondered how a modern WordPress block theme comes together – from first sketches to a polished, production-ready design? Over a single weekend, Anders NorĆ©n built Pulitzer, a new block theme, from the ground up. In this post, Iāll walk you through Andersā process. I’ll highlight the tools, decisions, and little tricks that helped him move quickly.
“I have the house to myself this weekend, so I thought Iād try something new. My goal is to build and submit a new free block theme to before Monday. While I work, Iāll describe my dev process in this thread.”
Anders NorƩn on X (formerly known as Twitter)
About a year ago, Anders NorƩn posted an X (formerly known as Twitter) thread about his process. He gave me permission to collect the tweets into a blog post. Since then, he deleted his account and content on X. The valuable information is not lost. Here you go.
The inspiration and seven tools
The theme NorƩn set out to build that weekend is called Pulitzer. It is meant for long-form writing with a special consideration for writers with newsletters.
Figma
You can find a Figma presentation here. The video walks you through the Pulitzer Figma space.
Jetpack and Block Bindings
Some elements in the design stand out:
- Reading time
- Like button
- Share buttons
- Newsletter signup
For a self-hosted WordPress site, those blocks are not available out of the box unless you install the Jetpack plugin. For the reading time, comment count and copyright year in the footer, NorƩn experimented with the Block Bindings API.
Studio app
This was also the first time, NorĆ©n used the Studio app by WordPress.com for local development. It’s free and open-source.
“First impressions are very good. It probably doesnāt tick all the boxes for people with more advanced needs, but for what Iām doing, it seems perfect.”
Anders NorƩn
WordPress.com hosting
NorƩn hosts his sites on WordPress.com. Because of the GitHub Deployment feature, he found it easy to keep the Pulitzer demo site updated.
Create Block Theme
Another tool he used is the community plugin Create Block theme. Once installed, it helps you make design decisions in the Site Editor and save them back to your theme’s file.
Twenty Twenty-Four
“Twenty Twenty-Four is my go-to starting point on most projects these days.”
Anders NorƩn
He also found that it’s probably the best default theme ever. He gave a special shout-out to the theme leads Jessica Lyschik and Maggie Cabrera.
Both the demo and the GitHub repo are publicly accessible:
With all the tools in place, Anders NorƩn ventured to build the WordPress theme.
First task: remove many things
NorĆ©n began by taking the Twenty-Twenty-Four default theme. He started with removing all the templates, template parts, patterns, fonts, images, and styles that won’t be needed. Then, he renamed the rest.
Second task: update theme.json
In a second step, NorƩn updated the theme settings with those from the design in the theme.json file
- spacing sizes,
- colors, and
- typography
Spacing and Colors
"spacing": {
"spacingScale": {
"steps": 0
},
"spacingSizes": [
{
"name": "4px",
"size": "4px",
"slug": "10"
},
{
"name": "8px",
"size": "8px",
"slug": "20"
},
{
"name": "12px",
"size": "12px",
"slug": "30"
},
{
"name": "16px",
"size": "16px",
"slug": "40"
},
{
"name": "24px",
"size": "24px",
"slug": "50"
},
{
"name": "32px",
"size": "32px",
"slug": "60"
},
{
"name": "48px",
"size": "clamp(32px, 4.8vw, 48px)",
"slug": "70"
},
{
"name": "64px",
"size": "clamp(48px, 6.4vw, 64px)",
"slug": "80"
},
{
"name": "96px",
"size": "clamp(64px, 9.6vw, 96px)",
"slug": "90"
},
{
"name": "128px",
"size": "clamp(64px, 12.8vw, 128px)",
"slug": "100"
},
{
"name": "Body Margin (24px)",
"size": "24px",
"slug": "body-margin"
}
],
"units": [
"%",
"px",
"em",
"rem",
"vh",
"vw"
]
}"color": {
"defaultPalette": false,
"palette": [
{
"color": "#FFFFFF",
"name": "Base",
"slug": "base"
},
{
"color": "#F9F9F9",
"name": "Base / Two",
"slug": "base-2"
},
{
"color": "#191716",
"name": "Contrast",
"slug": "contrast"
},
{
"color": "#666666",
"name": "Contrast / Two",
"slug": "contrast-2"
},
{
"color": "#767676",
"name": "Contrast / Three",
"slug": "contrast-3"
},
{
"color": "#DADADA",
"name": "Contrast / Four",
"slug": "contrast-4"
},
{
"color": "#EEEEEE",
"name": "Contrast / Five",
"slug": "contrast-5"
}
]
}Typography
"fontFamilies": [
{
"fontFace": [
{
"fontFamily": "Newsreader",
"fontStretch": "normal",
"fontStyle": "normal",
"fontWeight": "200 900",
"src": [
"file:./assets/fonts/newsreader/newsreader-var.woff2"
]
},
{
"fontFamily": "Newsreader",
"fontStretch": "normal",
"fontStyle": "italic",
"fontWeight": "200 900",
"src": [
"file:./assets/fonts/newsreader/newsreader-var-italic.woff2"
]
}
],
"fontFamily": "\"Newsreader\", ui-serif, \"Times New Roman\", serif",
"name": "Newsreader",
"slug": "body"
},
{
"fontFamily": "ui-sans-serif, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, \"Segoe UI\", Roboto, \"Helvetica Neue\", sans-serif",
"name": "System Sans-serif",
"slug": "system-sans-serif"
},
{
"fontFamily": "ui-serif, \"Times New Roman\", serif",
"name": "System Serif",
"slug": "system-serif"
}
],"fontSizes": [
{
"fluid": false,
"name": "XXS",
"size": "12px",
"slug": "xx-small"
},
{
"fluid": false,
"name": "XS",
"size": "14px",
"slug": "x-small"
},
{
"fluid": false,
"name": "Small",
"size": "16px",
"slug": "small"
},
{
"fluid": false,
"name": "Medium",
"size": "18px",
"slug": "medium"
},
{
"fluid": false,
"name": "Large",
"size": "21px",
"slug": "large"
},
{
"fluid": {
"max": "24px",
"min": "21px"
},
"name": "XL",
"size": "24px",
"slug": "x-large"
},
{
"fluid": {
"max": "32px",
"min": "24px"
},
"name": "XXL",
"size": "32px",
"slug": "xx-large"
},
{
"fluid": false,
"name": "Massive",
"size": "clamp( 96px, 19.2vw, 128px )",
"slug": "massive"
}
],
"writingMode": true
}“With the theme settings in place, it’s time to put them to use in block and element-specific styles. This is when the theme starts taking shape. You can do this in the site editor, but it’s faster to edit theme.json directly. Also, many styles can’t be changed in the interface,” NorĆ©n wrote.
As the new theme, Pulitzer doesn’t have any working templates yet, NorĆ©n checked the theme.json styles in the Site editor Stylebook view. You get the vibe of the theme. You can also use it to make sure you haven’t forgotten any styling for core blocks.
Third task: Templates and Patterns
This is the moment to work on the theme layouts. NorĆ©n uses what he calls “the one indispensable tool in the Block Theming toolbox,” the Create Block Theme (CBT) plugin.
- Step 1: Make the changes in the site editor.
- Step 2: Save them to the theme with CBT.
Header and Footer
“When I’m building a theme, I almost always start with the header and footer. It fools you into thinking the theme is nearly finished. I’ll wait with the newsletter form and the other Jetpack blocks until all the templates are in place.” — NorĆ©n shared in his thread.
Working in the Site Editor
Saving changes to the theme with CBT
The header template part is only the container for the hidden-header pattern. The reason to use patterns is that you can add php code. The advantage is that the text wrapped in esc_html_e() function can be translated. See below an example of a group of Navigation links.
Template part: header.html
<!-- wp:pattern {"slug":"pulitzer/hidden-header"} /--><?php
/**
* Title: header
* Slug: pulitzer/hidden-header
* Inserter: no
*/
?>
<!-- wp:group {"align":"wide","style":{"spacing":{"padding":{"top":"var:preset|spacing|60","bottom":"var:preset|spacing|60"}},"border":{"bottom":{"color":"var:preset|color|contrast-5","width":"1px"},"top":[],"right":[],"left":[]}},"layout":{"type":"constrained"}} -->
<div class="wp-block-group alignwide" style="border-bottom-color:var(--wp--preset--color--contrast-5);border-bottom-width:1px;padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--60);padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--60)">
<!-- wp:columns {"isStackedOnMobile":false,"style":{"spacing":{"blockGap":{"left":"var:preset|spacing|50"}}}} -->
<div class="wp-block-columns is-not-stacked-on-mobile">
<!-- wp:column {"verticalAlignment":"stretch"} -->
<div class="wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-stretch">
<!-- wp:group {"style":{"dimensions":{"minHeight":"100%"},"spacing":{"blockGap":"var:preset|spacing|40"}},"layout":{"type":"flex","orientation":"vertical","verticalAlignment":"space-between"}} -->
<div class="wp-block-group" style="min-height:100%">
<!-- wp:group {"style":{"spacing":{"blockGap":"var:preset|spacing|10"},"layout":{"selfStretch":"fit","flexSize":null}},"layout":{"type":"flex","orientation":"vertical"}} -->
<div class="wp-block-group">
<!-- wp:site-title {"level":0} /-->
<!-- wp:site-tagline /-->
</div>
<!-- /wp:group -->
<!-- wp:navigation {"hasIcon":false,"layout":{"type":"flex","orientation":"horizontal"}} -->
<!-- wp:navigation-link {"label":"<?php esc_html_e( 'Blog', 'pulitzer' ); ?>","url":"#"} /-->
<!-- wp:navigation-link {"label":"<?php esc_html_e( 'Profile', 'pulitzer' ); ?>","url":"#"} /-->
<!-- wp:navigation-link {"label":"<?php esc_html_e( 'Newsletter', 'pulitzer' ); ?>","url":"#"} /-->
<!-- /wp:navigation -->
</div>
<!-- /wp:group -->
</div>
<!-- /wp:column -->
<!-- wp:column {"width":"1em","layout":{"type":"constrained","justifyContent":"right"},"fontSize":"massive"} -->
<div class="wp-block-column has-massive-font-size" style="flex-basis:1em">
<!-- wp:site-logo {"width":128,"shouldSyncIcon":true,"className":"is-style-rounded"} /-->
</div>
<!-- /wp:column -->
</div>
<!-- /wp:columns -->
</div>
<!-- /wp:group -->The same system applied to the template part footer.html that includes the hidden-footer.php.
Archives
“For the line clamped excerpts, I registered custom block styles for the ‘Excerpt’ block and enqueues a CSS file when the block is in use on the page. You can do a lot with
theme.jsonstyles, but stuff like this still requires CSS,” NorĆ©n found.
Register_block_style
register_block_style(
'core/post-excerpt',
array(
'name' => 'pulitzer-clamp-lines-2',
'label' => __( 'Clamp: 2 lines', 'pulitzer' )
)
);
register_block_style(
'core/post-excerpt',
array(
'name' => 'pulitzer-clamp-lines-3',
'label' => __( 'Clamp: 3 lines', 'pulitzer' )
)
);CSS for post/excerpt clamp lines styles
[class*="is-style-pulitzer-clamp-lines-"] p:first-child {
display: -webkit-box;
-webkit-box-orient: vertical;
overflow: hidden;
}
.is-style-pulitzer-clamp-lines-2 p:first-child {
-webkit-line-clamp: 2;
}
.is-style-pulitzer-clamp-lines-3 p:first-child {
-webkit-line-clamp: 3;
}
For basic steps on block styles, you should read my tutorial. It is titled Mastering Custom Block Styles in WordPress: 6 Methods for Theme and Plugin Developers.
Alternative post layouts
NorĆ©n followed a tutorial on the WordPress Developer Blog: Upgrading the site-editing experience with custom template part areas by Justin Tadlock. He added different post layouts as template parts. They are registered to a custom “posts” template parts area.
“It’s a shame that you can’t use the ‘Choose a header/footer’ modal for custom template part areas yet. It would make switching between template parts a lot more intuitive. There’s an open issue for it here: Add support for replacing “general” template parts,” NorĆ©n discovered.
The extra post layouts were created as patterns to be added into the respective template parts.
The patterns are in separate files in the patterns folder prefixed with hidden-posts– with the settings: Categories: hidden and Inserter: no
404-template and the Search block
For the 404-template, the search form is loaded as a hidden pattern, both here and in the search template. This ensures that styling and translatable strings stay consistent.
This is a great example for nesting template parts and patterns.
The Search pattern is the smallest unit. It is included in the 404 pattern. Then, with the header and footer template parts, it is included in the 404.html template.
The 404 Template schematic
Header
404 Pattern
Search Pattern
Footer
Search Pattern
<?php
/**
* Title: Search
* Slug: pulitzer/hidden-search
* Inserter: no
*/
?>
<!-- wp:search {
"label":"<?php echo esc_attr_x( 'Search', 'search form label', 'pulitzer' ); ?>",
"showLabel":false,
"placeholder":"<?php echo esc_attr_x( 'Search for...', 'search form placeholder', 'pulitzer' ); ?>",
"buttonText":"<?php echo esc_attr_x( 'Search', 'search button text', 'pulitzer' ); ?>",
"buttonPosition":"button-inside",
"buttonUseIcon":true
} /-->404-Page Pattern
<?php
/**
* Title: 404
* Slug: pulitzer/hidden-404
* Inserter: no
*/
?>
<!-- wp:group {"style":{"spacing":{"blockGap":"var:preset|spacing|40"}},"layout":{"type":"constrained","contentSize":"21em"}} -->
<div class="wp-block-group">
<!-- wp:heading {"textAlign":"center","level":1} -->
<h1 class="wp-block-heading has-text-align-center" id="page-not-found"><?php echo esc_html_x( 'Error 404', 'Heading for a webpage that is not found', 'pulitzer' ); ?></h1>
<!-- /wp:heading -->
<!-- wp:paragraph {"align":"center"} -->
<p class="has-text-align-center"><?php echo esc_html_x( 'We canāt find the page youāre looking for. Go back to the front page, or try the search form below.', 'Message to convey that a webpage could not be found', 'pulitzer' ); ?></p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->
</div>
<!-- /wp:group -->
<!-- wp:group {"layout":{"type":"constrained","contentSize":"240px"}} -->
<div class="wp-block-group">
<!-- wp:pattern {"slug":"pulitzer/hidden-search"} /-->
</div>
<!-- /wp:group -->404-Page Template
<!-- wp:template-part {"slug":"header","area":"header","tagName":"header"} /-->
<!-- wp:group {"tagName":"main","align":"full","style":{"spacing":{"padding":{"top":"var:preset|spacing|100","bottom":"var:preset|spacing|100"}}},"layout":{"type":"constrained"}} -->
<main class="wp-block-group alignfull" style="padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--100);padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--100)">
<!-- wp:pattern {"slug":"pulitzer/hidden-404"} /-->
</main>
<!-- /wp:group -->
<!-- wp:template-part {"slug":"footer","area":"footer","tagName":"footer"} /-->
Fourth task: handling blocks
There are specific blocks outside core blocks that need more than styling. Some php code will definitely be involved:
Jetpack blocks
For Jetpack blocks, conditional output is simple since the plugin registers blocks only when modules are active. NorƩn implemented a helper function to check if blocks are registered before using them in pattern PHP files.
In functions.php NorƩn created a helper function to check if a certain block is available pulitzer_is_block_registered().
/**
* Check if a block is registered.
*/
if ( ! function_exists( 'pulitzer_is_block_registered' ) ) :
/**
* Check if a block is registered
*
* @since Pulitzer 1.0
* @return bool
*/
function pulitzer_is_block_registered( $block_name ) {
$registry = WP_Block_Type_Registry::get_instance();
return $registry->get_registered( $block_name );
}
endif;This helper function is then available for the conditional check in the pattern:
Examples for the jetpack/like button. You can inspect the whole code for the hidden-single sharing-row pattern on GitHub.
<?php if ( pulitzer_is_block_registered( 'jetpack/like' ) ) : ?>
<!-- wp:group {"style":{"spacing":{"padding":{"top":"6px"}}}} -->
<div class="wp-block-group" style="padding-top:6px">
<!-- wp:jetpack/like /-->
</div>
<!-- /wp:group -->
<?php endif; ?>For the like button, share buttons and newsletter signup, he utilized styled versions of Jetpack blocks. Using block stylesheet registration ensures the CSS is loaded only when a block is in use.
Block Bindings API blocks
In the final version, Pulitzer includes three use cases of the Block Binding API:
- Number of comments on a post, with a link to the post comments form.
- Reading time of a post.
- Current year next to the copyright note in the footer.
“Wow. Those of you who said the new Block bindings API is easy to use weren’t kidding. It took me all of 40 mins to get the reading time and copyright year blocks up and running, having never touched it before. Game changer.”
Anders NorƩn
The two blog posts that helped NorƩn to catch up on the feature:
- Introducing Block Bindings, Part 1: Connecting Custom Fields by Justin Tadlock
- New Feature: The Block Bindings API by Artemio Morales.
The php code is in functions.php, starting line 240
The copyright year in the footer
Step one: register the block binding and its callback in functions.php.
function pulitzer_register_block_bindings() {
/*
* Copyright character with current year.
*/
register_block_bindings_source(
'pulitzer/copyright-year',
array(
'label' => __( 'Copyright year', 'pulitzer' ),
'get_value_callback' => 'pulitzer_block_binding_callback_copyright_year'
)
);
}
add_action( 'init', 'pulitzer_register_block_bindings' );Step two: create the callback function reference in the step before.
/*
* Block bindings callback:
* Copyright character with current year.
*/
if ( ! function_exists( 'pulitzer_block_binding_callback_copyright_year' ) ) :
/**
* Block bindings callback
* Copyright character with current year
*
* @since Pulitzer 1.0
* @return string
*/
function pulitzer_block_binding_callback_copyright_year() {
return 'Ā© ' . date( 'Y' );
}
endif;
Step three: add the block to the pattern.
<!-- wp:paragraph {"metadata":{"bindings":{"content":{"source":"pulitzer/copyright-year"}}}} -->
<p><?php esc_html_e('Ā© [year]', 'pulitzer');?></p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->
Reading Time
Justin Tadlock kindly offered NorƩn to use his code for calculating reading time.
“I’ve been using his PHP snippets for 15+ years, so why stop now?” — NorĆ©n
Functions.php is your first location to find out how this block binding was created. You can also see what the callback function does. Then, look into any of the post patterns to see how it is used there.
Comments count
“I decided to add one for the comments count link on the archive pages as well. It’s crazy that a “X comments” block linking to the comments field hasn’t landed in Core yet. (It’s in Gutenberg). Slippery slope? Maybe, but I’m on a deadline, so that’s for another day.” — Anders NorĆ©n
* Block bindings callback:
* Post comments count.
*/
if ( ! function_exists( 'pulitzer_block_binding_callback_post_comments_count' ) ) :
/**
* Block bindings callback
* Post comments count.
*
* @since Pulitzer 1.0
* @return string
*/
function pulitzer_block_binding_callback_post_comments_count( array $source_args, WP_Block $block_instance, string $attribute_name ) {
$post_id = $block_instance->context['postId'] ?? get_the_ID();
if ( ! comments_open( $post_id ) ) return false;
$comments_link = '<a class="pulitzer-comment-count-link" href="' . esc_url( get_comments_link( $post_id ) ) . '">';
$comments_link .= '<span class="count">' . esc_html( get_comments_number( $post_id ) ) . '</span>';
$comments_link .= '</a>';
return $comments_link;
}
endif;It’s one of the rare moments you need to look into the theme’s style.css to find the styling for the comment count bubble.
“Rare is the block theme where you don’t end up creating at least one issue in the Gutenberg repo, or think you ought to. Turns out the
hasIcon:falsesetting for the navigation block only works if the navigation doesn’t have any styles set. (61181)” – Anders NorĆ©n
Fifth Task: Patterns
In block themes, patterns are simply PHP files in the /patterns/ folder.
You can study the code for the Patterns by following the GitHub links. As mentioned above, NorƩn uses small php snippets with his text strings, to allow for translations.
Here is an example:
<!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"large"} -->
<p class="has-large-font-size"><?php esc_html_e( 'I have a long and storied career in the newspaper and publishing industry behind me. Testimonials are available by request.', 'pulitzer' ); ?></p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->Learn more about preparing a theme to be used with multiple languages in the Theme Handbook > Advanced topics > Internationalization.
The newsletter page pattern
See Demo page – Code on GitHub
The resume page pattern
The resume list is separate. It can be added on its own to an existing page. It can also be modified for a different historical timeline.
See Demo Page | Code view on GitHub | Code Resume List Pattern
Contact Page Pattern
Patterns are PHP files. You can use loops to output recurring block layouts. This includes layouts like the stack of five columns used to list contact approaches in the Contact page pattern. It makes the patterns easier to maintain.
On GitHub: Contact List Pattern | Contact Page Pattern
Sixth Task: Style Variations
On to theme style variations! These are included as /styles/[name].json files in block themes. Users can select them at Editor ā Styles. Theme style variations can modify just about anything set in theme.json, but NorĆ©n was sticking to a single simple Inverted style for 1.0. Later he added two more styles, “Humanist” and “Parchment.”
{
"settings": {
"color": {
"palette": [
{
"color": "#111111",
"name": "Base",
"slug": "base"
},
{
"color": "#161616",
"name": "Base / Two",
"slug": "base-2"
},
{
"color": "#FFFFFF",
"name": "Contrast",
"slug": "contrast"
},
{
"color": "#7F7F7F",
"name": "Contrast / Two",
"slug": "contrast-2"
},
{
"color": "#616161",
"name": "Contrast / Three",
"slug": "contrast-3"
},
{
"color": "#4A4A4A",
"name": "Contrast / Four",
"slug": "contrast-4"
},
{
"color": "#222222",
"name": "Contrast / Five",
"slug": "contrast-5"
}
]
}
},
"title": "Inverted",
"$schema": "https://schemas.wp.org/trunk/theme.json",
"version": 2
}Seventh Task: Submit to the Repository
“I’ve done another round of cleanup and polish, received the all-clear from the theme check plugin, added a proper theme description and created an info page about the theme on my site.”
Anders NorƩn
For more detailed information, you can find in the Theme Handbook page: Submitting Your Theme to WordPress.org.
Pulitzer is available in the WordPress Theme repository
After the X (formerly known as Twitter) Thread was published, Anders NorƩn wrote a blog post almost exactly a year ago. The post introduced the Pulitzer theme.
“I also want to say thank you to everyone who has reached out to say they appreciate the thread. I wasn’t sure if this would end up at all useful or interesting to anyone, so it means a lot.”
Anders NorƩn
Share what your process looks like in the comments, also share your challenges working with block themes, or what you learn on the way. You can also join us on Discord to discuss with other theme and block developers.
Who is Anders NorƩn?
Andres NorƩn is a freelance designer & developer living in the Swedish mountains. You can now follow him on Bluesky, or read his blog.
Eleven years ago, NorƩn published his first Theme in the WordPress repository, Wilson in 2014. There are now 33 Themes by him available.
He has been an early adopter of block themes with his theme Tove, first released in September 2021. In January of this year, he released his twelfth block theme: Speakermann. You can take a look at all block themes by NorƩn in the repository.
You can support Anders NorƩn and his work by sponsoring him on Ko-fi, GitHub, or PayPal.
Anders NorƩn was also a guest on the Gutenberg Time Live Q & A.
He discussed the transition from Classic Themes to block-based Themes together with Carolina Nymark and Ellen Bauer. This took place on October 21, 2021.
With more than 500,000 books published each year, many authors struggle to differentiate themselves in a saturated market. Your words might be brilliant, but without a recognizable brand, they can easily get lost among countless other titles on physical and virtual shelves.
A solid author branding strategy needs to go beyond traditional approaches. If you want people to recognize and remember your work, you need a multi-platform presence and to maintain brand consistency. The most successful authors don’t just write great books ā they craft authentic identities that resonate with their target audience.
If youāre struggling to get to this point, youāre not alone. For many creatives, the most challenging part of being an author is the need to promote oneself, which makes the whole branding process a bit intimidating.
To help you in this, we’ll give you a practical roadmap for establishing an authentic author brand, helping you to create visual recognition with advanced strategies that will help your work get noticed. Whether you’re just starting out or looking to refresh your existing presence, these techniques will help you build meaningful connections with readers.
Crafting an unforgettable author brand: Key strategies for standing out
Authors face a unique challenge: Creating a professional presence that attracts readers while remaining authentic to their writing style and voice. This balance between marketability and authenticity forms the foundation of effective author branding.
The first thing you need to understand is that your genre is the main thing that will shape branding decisions. For example, fiction writers often benefit from creative visual branding or custom-built websites that reflect their story themes. A fantasy author might use mystical imagery and an immersive website design, while a thriller writer, like James Rollins, might opt for darker tones and suspenseful elements.
Academic and non-fiction authors (like Richard P. Rumelt in the example below) typically prefer sleeker, more professional branding with verified credentials, professional profiles, and links to the various places people can buy their books.
However, for successful author brands, the website design is just the beginning. You need to create an overarching strategy that intersects your unique writing style, genre positioning, and reader relationships. Each element reinforces the others, creating a cohesive identity readers can connect with.
To start developing your author brand, follow these practical steps:
- Extract core themes from your writing ā recurring motifs, values, or perspectives ā and incorporate them into your brand identity.
- Study successful authors in your genre, noting how they position themselves visually and verbally.
- Design a sustainable engagement strategy across multiple platforms that fits your writing schedule and energy levels.
- Build recognition through consistent profile management across publishing platforms, social media, and professional networks.
Branding isn’t about creating a false persona, and authenticity resonates more than perfection. Let your unique voice guide your branding decisions, and readers will naturally connect with both you and your work.
Storytelling and voice: Making your brand uniquely yours
The most effective author brands maintain narrative consistency across all touchpoints ā books, newsletters, social media posts, and author interviews. However, being consistent doesn’t equal being repetitive; it means ensuring your unique perspective shines through everything you create.
Now, we know this can sound a bit like a chore, especially if youāre not used to being active online. Still, itās a necessary one and kind of like an extension of your storytelling abilities ā an opportunity to weave your experiences and expertise into every interaction with readers. Your personal anecdotes, thought processes, and distinct point of view are assets that make your brand impossible to duplicate.
One of the most common ways for authors to connect with audiences is to share their knowledge through workshops and writing tips, which serve multiple purposes. Not only does teaching help others, but it also positions you as an authority in your genre. A romance novelist hosting dialogue-writing workshops or a mystery author sharing plot-twisting techniques creates value while strengthening their brand identity.
And these brand-building activities need not feel forced. The same creativity that fuels your writing can make branding feel like a natural extension of your work rather than a separate marketing task. When your authentic voice remains consistent, readers recognize it instantly, whether in your books or your latest social media update.
Visual elements that captivate readers
While written content forms the foundation of an author’s work, visual elements create immediate recognition and emotional connection. Your visual identity ā from author photos to website design ā communicates volumes before readers encounter a single word you’ve written.
Video content has become particularly powerful for author branding. Maintaining a YouTube channel, like authors Christopher Paolini and Xiran Jay Zhao have done, allows readers to connect with your personality beyond the page.
Theyāre also great examples of the different approaches authors can take regarding their content. Christopherās channel is all centered around his books, especially the Eragon universe, with only his latest video being about keyboards (an authorās best friend).
Xiran, on the other hand, actually built her YouTube audience before she even published her book and got popular by analyzing movies and series that contain Chinese elements and characters (Mulan, Avatar: The Last Airbender, and Turning Red, just to mention a few).
All of this is to say that your channel can be about anything that your audience (and you!) find interesting. This could include book discussions, writing process insights, or behind-the-scenes glimpses of research trips.
Beyond YouTube, simple visual consistency across platforms can also dramatically increase recognition. When readers see the same professional headshot, color scheme, and typography across your website, book jackets, and social accounts, they subconsciously register a cohesive brand.
Several tools help maintain this visual consistency without requiring graphic design expertise. Gravatar, for instance, provides profile management that ensures your image appears consistently across hundreds of websites and platforms. This visual continuity builds recognition while simplifying the technical aspects of maintaining your author brand across the internet.
Building a multi-platform author presence
Being on multiple platforms is great. It lets you cast a wider net on potential audiences, and it keeps you in the loop. However, there is one drawback ā you donāt actually own any of those profiles. If a platform goes down, so does your profile, and while some of them look eternal, none of them are (remember MySpace?).
This is why your author website should be the central hub of your online presence ā a permanent digital home where readers can find your complete bibliography, background information, upcoming releases, and blog content. Unlike social media platforms that come and go, your website remains under your control, making it an essential foundation for long-term brand building.
For authors using WordPress, the Gravatar author block can automatically sign off blog posts with your profile information, providing consistent branding while boosting your site’s SEO through proper authorship markup.
This simple implementation helps search engines understand who created the content, potentially improving visibility for your work.
Still, you shouldnāt write off other platforms completely, despite their potential brevity. A multi-platform approach allows you to meet readers where they already spend time online, expanding your reach beyond those who actively seek you out.
X (formerly Twitter) has long been a primary platform for authors to share thoughts, engage with readers, and connect with publishing professionals. Now, it is slowly being overtaken by Bluesky, and the idea behind it is the same ā share immediate thoughts and updates and connect quickly with your readers.
There are also alternative platforms, which often provide more targeted opportunities to reach specific audiences. Slack and Discord communities dedicated to literature or particular genres are becoming increasingly more popular because they promote safe spaces for meaningful discussion with engaged readers.
Technical authors, on the other hand, might find GitHub an unexpected but valuable platform for demonstrating expertise and connecting with technically-minded readers. On both platforms, your Gravatar avatar automatically displays, maintaining visual consistency across these diverse spaces.
Whatever you chosen bundle of platforms is, strategic content adaptation will maximizes the impact of your work across platforms. A blog post can transform into a Twitter thread, newsletter excerpts, Instagram quotes, or discussion topics for online communities ā each tailored to the platform’s format while preserving your distinctive voice and message.
This cross-platform presence builds more than just visibility. It establishes trust through verification and consistency. When readers encounter your recognizable branding across multiple channels, their confidence in your authenticity grows, especially when platforms like Gravatar provide verification mechanisms that confirm you are who you claim to be.
Streamline your brand management with Gravatar
Managing multiple online profiles across various platforms can quickly become overwhelming. Gravatar offers a solution specifically valuable for authors seeking efficient brand management without the administrative headache.
A Gravatar profile serves as a centralized online identity hub where authors can build an authentic digital presence that fosters trust with readers. The platform includes:
- Verification badges and the ability to link to your various online profiles, proving you’re the genuine author behind the work.
- The ability to showcase your portfolio directly within your Gravatar profile, making it easy for potential readers to discover your publications with a single click.
- Customization options that allow you to tailor your profile to match your author brand’s visual style. This includes colors, fonts, and imagery that align with your book covers and website design.
- Automatic profile syncing ā this means that when you update your author photo once, the changes propagate everywhere your Gravatar appears, including WordPress, GitHub, Slack, and hundreds of other platforms.
- The ability to maintain separate profiles for different genres, pen names, or to separate professional and personal identities ā all managed from a single account.
- A unique QR code for each profile, allowing you to instantly connect with people in real-life conversations like conventions, university talks, or other events. Just add the code to your phone wallet, and youāre ready to share your profile!
Launch your enhanced author brand today
Effective author branding doesn’t require massive budgets or complex marketing strategies. It’s about starting small with authentic, consistent efforts that grow over time. Even minor improvements to your online presence can significantly impact how readers perceive and remember your work.
Begin by examining authors you admire. Study how they present themselves online ā not to copy their style, but to understand what makes their brand effective. Notice how the most memorable author brands maintain consistency across all platforms while allowing their authentic personality to shine through.
You should also pay attention to their profile management ā the authors whose careers continue to flourish typically maintain consistent, professional images across platforms. This is where tools like Gravatar naturally tie into author branding. By centralizing your profile management, Gravatar helps you maintain a consistent and trusted professional author presence across numerous platforms without the typical administrative burden.
Building an authentic author brand takes time, but the first steps are simple. Start today and create a free Gravatar profile to begin establishing your consistent online presence.
WordPress Campus Connect, initially launched in October 2024 as a pilot program, has now been formally established as an official event series due to its resounding success. The inaugural program, spearheaded by myself, Anand Upadhyay, garnered immense enthusiasm from 400 Indian students who were eager to engage in hands-on WordPress training.
WordPress Campus Connect transcends the conventional workshop model by fostering a holistic learning community. It couples on-campus event learning with a diverse range of post-event activities, including meetups, website challenges, scholarships, and volunteering opportunities, all geared towards nurturing student development. The program’s efficacy has prompted other organizations in India to express interest in replicating its structure.
Looking ahead, multiple local WordPress communities in India aim to reach more students in India through WordPress Campus Connect events. The curriculum will include beginner content, delve into more advanced WordPress concepts, and feature specialized sessions tailored for students with prior WordPress experience.
The official recognition of WordPress Campus Connect as an event series paves the way for further expansion, giving the series similar support and standing as WordCamps but with a student education-first goal and focus. Future plans include organizing large-scale student events, establishing WordPress clubs on college campuses, and facilitating mentorship connections for students.
To support these ambitious goals, volunteers identified several key next steps:
- Volunteer Handbook Development: Creating a comprehensive guidebook to equip volunteers with the necessary resources and information.
- GatherPress Integration: Exploring the feasibility of integrating GatherPress as a tool for student groups.
- Volunteer Recruitment: Actively seeking and onboarding volunteers to support WordPress Campus Connect initiatives through activities such as:
- Creating a workflow and guidelines for processing Student Club applications
- On-site facilitation or assistance for WordPress Campus Connect events
- Landing Page Creation: Creating a landing page describing what WordPress Campus Connect is all about
- Student Groups: Drafting a framework for students to create their own groups for hosting WordPress events and activities.
The overwhelming success of WordPress Campus Connect and the enthusiasm it has generated serve as a testament to the transformative power of passion and dedication. As WordPress Campus Connect continues to evolve and expand, it holds the promise of shaping the future of WordPress education and community engagement.
If youāre interested in helping shape the future of education with WordPress, join us in the #campusconnect Make Slack channel today!
Your Gravatar profile has always been your digital business card for the web.
And now, it’s becoming your identity for AI.
With our AI Profile Builder, you create a simple, portable version of you ā your background, interests, preferences, and links ā ready for AI tools to use. Build your profile once, and take it everywhere. From chatbots to content generators to recommendation engines, AI agents can finally understand who you are.
For developers, scroll to the end to learn how to use this in your app or website, too!
How it works
The AI Profile Builder takes what makes you you and translates it into a format that AI systems easily understand:
- Fill out your Gravatar profile
The more fields you complete, the smarter your AI experiences get. - Set your preferences
Choose how you like to communicate ā tone, depth, and humor. - Copy your AI-ready profile
We hand you a tidy little markdown file. Portable and paste-ready. - Paste into any AI tool
VoilĆ . Personalized AI without all the constant tweaking.
Real-life use cases
Hereās a video showing how Gravatar profiles can personalize AI responses when filling out PDFs and scheduling daily briefings.
This isn’t just convenience ā it’s giving you control over your AI interactions.
Here are a few more examples:
Hobbies and Interests
- Generic response: “Here’s how to get started with photography.”
- Personalized response: “Given your interest in outdoor adventure and wildlife, Iād suggest focusing on landscape and nature photography, and here’s a specific guide tailored to that.”
Location-Based Recommendations
- Generic response: “Hereās how to prepare for severe weather.”
- Personalized response: “Considering you live in Florida, here’s a personalized checklist to prepare your home specifically for hurricanes.”
Communication Preferences
- Generic response: “Here’s what happened today in the stock market.”
- Personalized response: “Since you like it short and snappy with a side of sarcasm: the market took a tiny nap today ā slightly down overall. Apple and Tesla dropped 1ā2%, probably just tripping over their own hype again.”
For developers
Want to personalize your product instantly?
Just a few lines of code, and your app can adapt to each userās communication style, bio, even verified socials.
https://gravatar.com/{EmailHash}.md You can grab Gravatar profiles via a simple markdown request, our REST API, or mobile SDKs ā and yep, as part of the open web, theyāre free to use.
Own your AI identity today
Unlike black-box AI systems that build hidden profiles about you, Gravatar’s approach is transparent and user-controlled.
Ready to personalize your AI experiences?
Head to your Gravatar dashboard and spin up your AI-ready profile.
Devs ā weāve got integration docs and guides waiting for you.
Happy AI-ing!
So, youāve decided itās time to improve the Gravatar images on your site. Maybe theyāre too small, stretched oddly, or donāt match your stylish new design.
Whatever the reason, pic size matters. It can shape the feel of your comment threads, how fast pages load, and how polished your entire site looks at first glance.
Small tweak. Big impact.
Luckily, you donāt need to be a developer, designer, or go rage-Googling CSS selectors to pull this off. You just need a smart approach, and thatās exactly what youāll find here.
In this guide, weāll show you how to:
- Make site-wide Gravatar changes using WordPressās built-in functions
- Use CSS to finesse specific sections (think: Comments, author bios, anywhere Gravatar images show up)
- Go responsive, so your Gravatar images look fabulous on every screen from the iPhone to large 4k monitors
Letās get started.
Default Gravatar sizes and why you might want to change them
By default, Gravatar hands you an 80Ć80 pixel image. WordPress then ups that to 96Ć96, becauseā¦ reasons. But hereās where it gets messy: Your theme probably has its own ideas. Some use 60px. Others? 80px.
The result? Inconsistency. And thatās the enemy of good design.
Hereās why resizing is worth your time:
- Visual hierarchy: Want admin replies to stand out? Bigger avatars can subtly guide the eye.
- Mobile friendliness: On smaller screens, smaller avatars = less chaos.
- Brand consistency: Everything should look intentional, including your floating faces.
- Engagement: Well-sized avatars make people feel seen (literally), boosting community engagement.
And letās not forget performance. Larger images = heavier pages = slower load times. Too small? You risk pixelation when scaled up via CSS. Lose-lose.
Luckily, many modern themes (looking at you, Twenty Twenty-Five) let you adjust avatar sizes right from the design panel ā no code required. Just head to the āCommentsā section and tweak away.
But what if your theme lacks this functionality? Or if you want finer control?
Thatās when custom solutions come into play via WordPress functions, a dash of CSS, or the occasional PHP snippet. Donāt worry, weāll walk you through it.
Letās get into the how.
Method 1: Changing Gravatar size using WordPress functions
If you want full control over how big (or small) your Gravatars show up ā without relying on your themeās whims ā WordPress has your back.
Under the hood, WordPress talks to Gravatarās servers using a handy little parameter: s= or size=. Thatās how it tells Gravatar exactly what size image to serve up, rather than grabbing one and awkwardly stretching or shrinking it in the browser.
If you want to make a site-wide change, add this simple snippet to your child themeās functions.php file:
function custom_avatar_size( $avatar_defaults ) {
return 120; // Change to your desired size in pixels
}
add_filter( 'avatar_defaults', 'custom_avatar_size' );VoilĆ , just like that, every Gravatar across your site obeys your chosen size like a well-trained pixel soldier.
Want to go a step further? You can tell WordPress to serve up different sizes depending on where the avatar appears. Hereās how:
function context_based_avatar_size( $args ) {
if ( is_single() ) {
$args['size'] = 150; // Larger on single posts
} elseif ( is_archive() ) {
$args['size'] = 80; // Smaller on archive pages
}
return $args;
}
add_filter( 'pre_get_avatar_data', 'context_based_avatar_size' );Why this approach rocks:
- One change = site-wide consistency
- WordPress handles all the caching and optimization behind the scenes
- You can tailor avatar sizes by context (posts, archives, comments, you name it)
- It taps directly into Gravatarās API, so youāre getting the cleanest possible image at the right size
Bonus round: Smart Gravatar sizing in the comments section
Want to get really clever? Try creating a visual hierarchy in your comments section. For example: Larger avatars for parent comments, slightly smaller ones for replies. It helps users follow the conversational flow without even thinking about it.
Hereās a quick function that adjusts avatar size based on comment depth:
function comment_depth_avatar_size( $args, $id_or_email ) {
$comment = get_comment( $id_or_email );
if ( $comment ) {
$depth = 1; // Default depth
if ( isset( $comment->comment_parent ) && $comment->comment_parent > 0 ) {
$depth = 2; // Reply
}
// Set size based on comment depth
$args['size'] = 140 - (($depth - 1) * 20); // Parent: 140px, Reply: 120px
}
return $args;
}
add_filter( 'pre_get_avatar_data', 'comment_depth_avatar_size', 10, 2 );Suddenly, your comments section feels less like a block of text and more like a layered conversation.
Pro Tip: Nudge users to create their own Gravatar
Lots of users will unintentionally default to the āMystery Manā look if they havenāt gotten around to customizing their Gravatar profile. Want to fix that? Add a friendly prompt under your comment form:
function gravatar_comment_form_note( $defaults ) {
$defaults['comment_notes_after'] .= '
Need a profile picture? Create a free Gravatar.
';
return $defaults;
}
add_filter( 'comment_form_defaults', 'gravatar_comment_form_note' );Now youāre not just upgrading your design, youāre also helping your community show up in style.
And if youāre feeling adventurous, thereās room to dream even bigger. Think: Larger avatars for top commenters, custom styles for admins or team members, maybe even a āfeatured contributorā badge with its own Gravatar flair. Totally doable.
Just one golden rule: Always add your code to a child theme. Editing the parent theme directly is a one-way ticket to heartbreak when updates roll through. Protect your tweaks, keep them safe, and your beautifully resized avatars will live to see another theme update.
Method 2: Styling Gravatar images with CSS (aka the quick-and-clean route)
So maybe PHP isnāt your thing. Or maybe you just want a faster win ā less code, more impact. Enter CSS: The styling powerhouse that lets you tweak how Gravatars look without changing how theyāre fetched from the server.
Now, fair warning: This wonāt change the file size of the image being downloaded (Gravatarās still sending the default size), but it will control how those avatars show up on screen. Think of it like wardrobe tailoring for profile pics ā same body, better fit.
Hereās how to get started:
- Head to your WordPress dashboard
- Go to Appearance > Customize
- Click on āAdditional CSSā
- Drop in your magic below
Want to resize comment Gravatars? Easy:
.comment-avatar img { width: 60px; height: 60px; }
Want to ditch the boxy default look and go full circle-chic? Say no more:
.avatar { border-radius: 50%; border: 2px solid #ddd; }
Designing for mobile, too (as you should be)? Add some media query magic:
@media (max-width: 768px) { .avatar { width: 40px; height: 40px; } }
And just like that, your Gravatar images adapt to screen sizes like design-savvy little shapeshifters.
Ready to get extra? Letās talk hover effects
Once youāve nailed the sizing basics, thereās a whole world of style upgrades waiting. You could create a hover effect that reveals a mini bio ā or even a clickable āGravatar cardā with links, job titles, or a cheeky quote from their profile.
With the right mix of CSS and PHP, you can turn every Gravatar image into a micro-interaction that deepens community engagement without sending users off-site.
Imagine: Someone hovers over a commenterās face, and a sleek little popup shows their Gravatar bio, links, or even their other recent comments. Trust, familiarity, and engagement, all from a 60×60 pixel image.
Bottom line: CSS is your best friend when you want fast, flexible avatar control ā no server changes, no code anxiety. Just pure visual finesse.
Go beyond size: Turn Gravatars into engagement powerhouses
So, youāve nailed the sizing. Your avatars are looking slick, snappy, and totally on-brand. But, plot twist: Gravatar isnāt just a pixel-perfect profile pic tool ā itās a full-blown identity engine. And youāre only scratching the surface.
Gravatar profiles come loaded with gold: Bios, websites, social links, even job titles. All that data lives on Gravatar.com, just waiting to be pulled into your site.
What can you do with it? Oh, just a few small things like…
- Auto-populate author bios with real backgrounds, no manual copy-pasting required
- Create hover cards that spill the tea (professionally, of course) when you hover over a commenterās face
- Build a community directory that looks like LinkedIn, but without the corporate cringe
- Add verification badges to reward users with full, legitimate profiles
The result? A more cohesive, more connected site experience, with less work for your users and more trust baked in.
Gravatarās “update once, sync everywhere” model means no more tedious form-filling. Users update their info once, and it syncs across every site they interact with, including yours.
And if youāre running a site where you want users to change their avatar without leaving, Gravatar Quick Editor adds a sleek popup editor right on your site. Very user-friendly.
Unlock the power of Gravatar
Now youāve got resizing down, it’s time to have some fun. Use the code examples from this guide as your launchpad. Build confidence with each tweak. Try new things. Break stuff (safely). Learn. Repeat.
And when youāre ready to go full power-user? Gravatarās developer docs are your secret weapon. Theyāre packed with everything from API tricks to integration ideas thatāll help you turn avatars into fully-fledged community features ā everything you need to explore the full power of Gravatar and supercharge your site.
Gravatar isnāt just an image. Itās identity, personality, and participation, all rolled into one little square (or circle, thanks to your shiny new CSS).
Letās turn those pixels into something powerful.
Consultants today face an intense competitive squeeze. On one side, established consulting giants with massive resources and brand recognition. On the other, a flood of independent specialists is expected as the consulting industry expands rapidly, now approaching $1 trillion in value with over 838,000 management consultants in the US alone.
Yet, amid this competition, certain consultants consistently attract premium clients and command fees significantly above the industry average of $212,000 per consultant. Their secret? Strategic personal branding that showcases specialized expertise rather than mere availability.
These successful consultants understand that clients aren’t simply looking for someone who can help ā they’re searching for the definitive authority who can solve their specific problems.
In this article, we’ll show proven methods that top consultants use to build authority and attract enterprise clients, helping you establish verified professional credibility across platforms.
5 ways top consultants command premium fees through personal branding
Successful consultants understand that itās not enough to just offer services; true success lies in creating a strategic personal brand that fosters trust and commands premium fees. In a consulting marketplace approaching $1 trillion in value, the difference between average and exceptional often comes down to brand positioning.
The most effective consultant brands aren’t created by accident. They’re built through deliberate strategies working in concert:
- Creating a verified consulting presence across multiple platforms.
- Strategically collecting and showcasing client testimonials.
- Developing authority-building professional partnerships.
- Using content marketing to demonstrate specialized expertise.
- Measuring and optimizing branding efforts based on revenue impact.
Each of these approaches contributes to a cohesive brand that positions you as the go-to authority in your field. Let’s explore how successful consultants implement these strategies to attract high-value clients and command rates well above the industry average.
1. Build authority with a verified consulting presence
Top consultants leverage a multi-channel strategy to establish credibility and demonstrate expertise. This approach extends their reach while creating multiple touchpoints for potential clients to discover and validate their authority.
The most effective consultant brands maintain a consistent presence across various platforms:
- Professional website: Your digital home base showcasing your services, expertise, and client results
- LinkedIn: Publishing thought leadership articles that demonstrate specialized knowledge
- Industry publications: Contributing expert insights to respected publications
- Speaking engagements: Presenting at conferences to build visibility and credibility
What sets exceptional consultants apart is their ability to maintain a consistent voice and messaging across all channels. When potential clients encounter your content on LinkedIn, then visit your website, they should experience the same professional tone and expertise.
Another great tactic is to expand their influence through alternative content formats on the various platforms:
| Content type | Benefits | Example | Platform |
| Webinars | Demonstrates expertise in real-time while capturing qualified leads | “Three Proven Financial Models for SaaS Startups” – live workshop with Q&A | Zoom, WebinarPress (for WordPress sites), GoToWebinar |
| Video content | Showcases problem-solving skills visually; reaches an audience that prefers watching to reading | “How to Implement Zero-Trust Architecture” – step-by-step tutorial repurposed from conference talk | YouTube, LinkedIn Video, Vimeo |
| White papers | Positions you as a thought leader; provides depth that articles can’t match | “Navigating Supply Chain Disruptions: A Framework for Manufacturing Resilience” – research report | Your personal website, SlideShare, ResearchGate |
| Newsletters | Creates regular touchpoints with prospects; builds an owned audience asset | “Weekly M&A Insights” – curated analysis of industry deals with your expert commentary | WordPress.com, Substack, Mailchimp, Beehiiv |
| Comments and opinions | Demonstrates real-time relevance and thought leadership without requiring extensive content creation | Expert analysis on breaking industry news or trending topics | LinkedIn, Medium, Industry forums |
| Community platforms | Creates high-value relationships with potential clients; positions you as the center of a knowledge network | Exclusive mastermind groups or premium Q&A access to your expertise | Discord, Circle, Slack, Mighty Networks |
| Technical platforms | Essential for technical consultants to demonstrate practical implementation skills | Code repositories with documentation and examples solving specific problems | GitHub, Stack Overflow, CodePen |
| Subscription content | Creates recurring revenue while pre-qualifying serious prospects | Monthly industry analysis or toolkit access for paying subscribers | Patreon, Podia, Gumroad |
2. Create a professional Gravatar profile
As already mentioned, a consistent online presence is one of the main components for consulting success, but it doesnāt come without its difficulties. For once, managing your professional image across dozens of platforms can be time-consuming. Thankfully, this is where Gravatar becomes invaluable for consultants looking to maintain brand consistency.
Gravatar (Globally Recognized Avatar) functions as a centralized profile management system that follows you across the internet. Instead of creating separate profiles for each website you visit, Gravatar allows you to establish one professional identity that appears automatically on supported platforms.
For consultants, Gravatar offers several key advantages:
- Centralized bio management: Create a compelling consultant profile highlighting your specialties, expertise, and professional background ā update it once, and changes reflect everywhere
- Verified professional connections: Link to your verified social profiles, portfolio, and professional certifications in one accessible location
- Consistent visual identity: Your professional headshot automatically appears when you comment on blogs, contribute to forums, or interact on platforms like GitHub and Stack Overflow
- Time efficiency: No more maintaining separate profiles across dozens of websites ā establish your brand once and focus on client work
Gravatar is integrated with major platforms, including WordPress, Slack, and GitHub. When potential clients encounter you across these platforms, they’ll see a consistent, professional image that reinforces your expertise.
Setting up your Gravatar takes just minutes but establishes your consulting presence across thousands of websites instantly. Visit Gravatar.com today to claim your professional digital identity.
3. Showcase client success and testimonials
Social proof is perhaps your most powerful consulting asset. Research shows that 72% of potential clients place significantly more trust in a service after reading positive testimonials ā making client success stories essential for consultants looking to command premium rates.
The most effective social proof for consultants takes two forms:
- Case studies: Detailed narratives that showcase the problem-solving process and measurable results.
- Client testimonials: Direct endorsements that build credibility and trust.
Unlike generic “they were great to work with” testimonials, effective consulting social proof must demonstrate concrete business impact and ROI. Quantify your value with specific metrics: revenue increases, cost reductions, efficiency gains, or other tangible outcomes.
These success stories can appear as LinkedIn posts for wider visibility or as dedicated pages on your website for in-depth exploration. For consultants with broad specialties, consider creating industry-specific testimonial portfolios that target different client segments, allowing you to speak directly to distinct audience needs.
Develop a systematic approach to collecting case study material during projects. Document key challenges, strategies, and outcomes as they happen rather than scrambling to reconstruct them later.
Remember that confidentiality is paramount in consulting relationships. Always obtain express written permission before using any client information in marketing materials ā even anonymous case studies require careful review to prevent identification of sensitive details.
4. Strengthen your authority through strategic partnerships
Strategic partnerships offer consultants a powerful way to multiply their authority and extend their reach. By forming alliances with complementary experts, you can create value propositions that neither partner could deliver alone.
For example, a management consultant specializing in digital transformation might partner with a data privacy expert to offer comprehensive tech modernization services. This partnership creates multiple advantages:
- Enhanced expertise: Combined knowledge fills gaps that clients might otherwise need to source separately
- Premium positioning: The unique combination justifies higher fees than either consultant could command individually
- Authority-building opportunities: Co-created research, whitepapers, and industry analyses demonstrate thought leadership while sharing production costs
- Expanded audience: Each partner gains access to the other’s client network and followers
These partnerships work best when each consultant maintains their distinct brand identity while clearly communicating the collaborative relationship. Use your Gravatar profile to maintain a consistent professional presence across platforms, cross-linking to verified profiles of your strategic partners and collaborative work.
The most successful consulting partnerships start with clear agreements about lead sharing, revenue distribution, and service delivery responsibilities. Begin with small collaborative projects to test compatibility before committing to major initiatives or formal business structures.
5. Measure and optimize your consulting brand’s ROI
Building a personal brand without measuring its impact is like navigating without a compass ā you might be moving, but you won’t know if you’re heading in the right direction. Savvy consultants treat their personal branding as an investment that should generate measurable returns.
The most immediate indicator of effective personal branding is typically an increased rate of inquiries. When your brand resonates with your target audience, you’ll notice more potential clients reaching out through both word-of-mouth referrals and inbound marketing channels. However, this surface-level metric only tells part of the story.
To truly understand your branding ROI, track these critical metrics:
- Client acquisition cost (CAC): Calculate how much you spend on marketing, networking, and content creation to acquire each new client. As your brand strengthens, this cost should decrease.
- Lifetime client value (LCV): Measure the total revenue generated from an average client relationship, including repeat engagements and referrals. Strong personal branding attracts clients who stay longer and spend more.
- Project value trends: Monitor how the average value of new projects changes over time. Rising project values indicate that your brand is attracting higher-quality opportunities.
- Time-to-close: Track how quickly leads convert into paying clients. A strong personal brand builds trust faster, shortening the sales cycle significantly.
Set up systematic tracking through your website analytics, CRM system, and contact forms. Create a simple dashboard that connects these metrics to specific branding initiatives, allowing you to identify which elements of your brand strategy deliver the strongest ROI.
Review these metrics quarterly, looking for patterns that emerge alongside your branding activities. Did that series of LinkedIn articles correlate with higher-value inquiries? Did your speaking engagement at an industry conference shorten your sales cycle?
Use these insights to refine your approach ā double down on high-performing channels and pivot away from efforts that aren’t delivering results. The most successful consultants continuously adjust their branding strategy based on data, not assumptions, creating a virtuous cycle of improvement that steadily enhances their market position and fee structure.
Start winning better clients: Develop your brand action Plan
The difference between struggling consultants and those commanding premium fees isn’t luck ā it’s strategic personal branding. Now it’s time to transform these insights into a focused action plan that elevates your consulting practice.
Start by implementing each of the five pillars we’ve covered:
- Build your verified presence across multiple platforms where your ideal clients spend time
- Create a professional Gravatar profile that follows you across the internet with consistent branding
- Document client successes with measurable results and compelling testimonials
- Form strategic partnerships with complementary experts to expand your reach and capabilities
- Measure your brand’s ROI using clear metrics that track business impact
The consulting landscape rewards those who demonstrate authority through high-value content distributed across carefully selected channels. Your insights should solve real problems, showcase your expertise, and position you as the obvious choice for complex challenges.
Begin today by creating your free profile at Gravatar.com!
Howdy,
Now is the time to skill up your block editor and theme knowledge and craft. The more quiet release cycle of WordPress gives everyone some breathing room. You can explore more opportunities, like attending the Page Builder Summit. You could invest in a course. You could join in free webinars. You could listen to successful experts in the field to learn how they approach their business.
What are your questions about core blocks, block themes etc.? You can ask via email, in the comments or join our new Discord space.
Below, again a great mixture of plugins, live streams, upcoming events and tutorials. I hope you also have a great weekend!
Yours,
Birgit
Developing Gutenberg and WordPress
On April 30, WordPress 6.8.1 Maintenance Release came out. Aaron Jorbin wrote in the release post that this minor release includes fixes for 15 bugs. These fixes span throughout Core and the Block Editor. They tackle issues affecting multiple areas of WordPress including the block editor, multi-site, and REST API. The top three fixes are:
- A fix addresses the regression Meta boxes area showing unwanted resize handle. It also addresses the issue that breaks auto-scroll. This was discovered right after the release of 6.8.
- The Edit Site link is restored to its earlier link behavior. It links to the respective template displayed on the front end. (#63358).
- The REST API’s handling of sticky posts has also been fixed. (#63307, #63339
For a full list of bug fixes, please refer to the release candidate announcement.
The latest episode Gutenberg Changelog 117 ā WooCommerce Starter Theme and Blocks, WordCamp Europe, and Gutenberg 20.7 and 20.8 I sat down with Ellen Bauer, WooCommerce product lead and discussed what she is working on, WordCamp Europe, Create Block Theme, WP-CLI, Gutenberg 20.7 and Gutenberg 20.8 releases.
Plugins, Themes, and Tools for #nocode site builders and owners
In his post, Building a Custom Image Gallery with the Image Gallery Block, Kyle Van Deusen provides guidance. He explains how to create a custom image gallery in WordPress. He uses the āImage Gallery Blockā plugin by WP Developer. This plugin offers more features than the default WordPress Gallery block.
Van Deusen covers installing the plugin, adding a gallery, and selecting images. The plugin provides flexible styling like grid or masonry layouts, caption options, image sizing, responsive settings, and a lightbox. Extra adjustments include borders, rounded corners, and caption colors. The post emphasizes the plugin’s user-friendliness and concludes with a preview of its interactive features.
Wes Theron has some awesome tips to Speed Up Your Workflow in WordPress. Heās sharing his favorite hidden gems of the Block Editor. Youāll get to know the Command Palette, different editing modes, List view, scheduling posts, and so much more. Itās a super quick video, and youāll pick it all up in under six minutes. You probably already know most of it. Youāre a long-time subscriber. You got the scoop when these features first dropped in the Block Editor. But still, this video shows you how those features have evolved and how they all work together for creating content.
In the latest episode of Greyd Conversations #6 – Building upon WordPress, Mike McAlister, co-founder of Ollie, joined Jessica Lyschik. They discussed the advantages of their shared approach to developing products using WordPress’s Block & Site Editor. They also looked into the future direction of WordPress. They discussed features that product companies like Greyd and Ollie hope to see in the core.
Al Amin Ahamed‘s new plugin, Author Profile Blocks, in now available in the WordPress Plugin Repository. With this plugin you can show user profiles in different styles using Gutenberg blocks. You can use it to highlight team members. It can also highlight contributors, authors, or any WordPress users you want to feature on your site.
“Unlike other plugins, Author Profile Blocks leverages your existing WordPress users rather than creating a separate custom post type. This means you can showcase all your site contributors without duplicating content.” Ahamed wrote in his description.
Selim Rana and his team at BdThemes released the Advanced Heading for the Gutenberg Block Editor plugin. It provides various options to style headings like text highlighting, gradient, image masking, drop shadows, and background effects.
Bhargav (Bunty) Bhandari released a new plugin again: Thread Block with which you can publish Twitter-like Thread posts. It can also be used to do some live blogging of an event or a breaking news story. “Perfect for storytelling, debates, or breaking down ideas step by step” Bhandari wrote.
Upcoming events
On May 8, 2025, at 12:00 UTC, Anne-Mieke Bovelett will hold a free webinar for site builders and agencies. Discover how much power the WordPress Block Editor and Site Editor give you! She will walk you through what the WordPress Block Editor and Site Editor can do today. No custom code, no third-party builder, no bloated plugin stack. Just native WordPress, used to its full potential.
Bovelett will cover:
- What the Block Editor and Site Editor actually are
- How to build layouts and templates without code
- How reusable patterns can simplify your workflow
- Building post grids (query loops) and juggling dynamic data
Free registration is now open.
The Page Builder summit 2025 will take place from 12th to 16th of May 2025. Hosts Anchen le Roux and Nathan Wrigley published the schedule. It is packed with fabulous speakers. The topics are perfect for site builders to enhance their business acumen. They will also expand their technical knowledge.
Here is my watch list:
- Alicia St. Rose: Loop, There It Is! The Magic of the Query Loop Block
- Tony Cosentino: Supercharge Your WordPress Workflow: 10 AI Tools to Build Better Websites Faster
- PK Son: Supercharge Your Builds with ACF Flexible/Repeater Fields
- Luke Carbis: The Hidden Costs of Page Builders: Avoiding Technical Debt in No-Code Projects
- Tammie Lister: Design Once, Build Everywhere: The Lego Principle for Page Builders
- Benjamin Intal: Reimagine UX in the Block Editor with WP Interactions
The event is totally free, and the recordings will stay free for 48 hours after the last day. I will be traveling during the week. I am glad to pay for an extension of that watch time. $47 is quite affordable to get unlimited access to the recordings.
WordSesh returns May 13ā15, 2025. It is a virtual conference for WordPress professionals. Its host, Brian Richards, is a seasoned virtual conference producer and WordPress educator. His speaker and session curation is top-notch. Sign up to get updates on the next event.
Theme Development for Full Site Editing and Blocks
In his latest live stream, Ryan Welcher shared his process in real time. He refined features and experimented with block-based design. He also answered viewers’ questions as we went along. The recording is now online on YouTube: WordPress Block Theming: Chat, Connect, and Chill!
“Keeping up with Gutenberg – Index 2025”
A chronological list of the WordPress Make Blog posts from various teams involved in Gutenberg development: Design, Theme Review Team, Core Editor, Core JS, Core CSS, Test, and Meta team from Jan. 2024 on. Updated by yours truly.āThe previous years are also available: 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024
Building Blocks and Tools for the Block editor
I answered a listener question from the Gutenberg changelog. I published a short post on How to overwrite or remove core block styles. In a short video, you learn how to overwrite the styles through the Editor > Styles section. Another way is via the theme’s theme.json file. If you want to remove core block styles entirely, you’ll find a code snippet to put into your functions.php or plugin files.
Milica Aleksandric announces a new WordPress Development Course for the Modern Era on WPShout. The course, Modern WordPress Fast Track, is a “10-week program.” It is designed to take you from beginner to pro with the latest WordPress tech. Think block themes, Full Site Editing, AI tools, and modern workflows. Itās taught by Kaspars Dambis, a WordPress core contributor with tons of real-world experience. The course community on Discord connects you to other students. It starts on June 1, 2025. Until then, you can take advantage of the 40% discount for early birds.
In his latest recording of his twitch stream, AI Code Reviews | Jon learns to code, Jonathan Bossenger explored two AI code review tools. These tools hook right into your Git pull request workflow. He compared them to see how they work.
Need a plugin .zip from Gutenberg’s master branch?
Gutenberg Times provides daily build for testing and review.
Now also available via WordPress Playground. There is no need for a test site locally or on a server. Have you been using it? Email me with your experience
Questions? Suggestions? Ideas?
Don’t hesitate to send them via email or
send me a message on WordPress Slack or Twitter @bph.
For questions to be answered on the Gutenberg Changelog,
send them to [email protected]
Featured Image: Photo by chuttersnap on Unsplash
Don’t want to miss the next Weekend Edition?
The technical documented term for block styles is Block Style Variations and are the smallest unit of Styles. They are on the block level. The others are Global Style Variations coming with a block theme, and Sections Style variations, that are for patterns and container blocks.
WordPress includes a few block-level styles. You might have an urge to change them. Adjust them to your theme or branding designs. This post shows you three ways on how to alter those styles.
Use Editor > Styles > Blocks
WordPress offers more than one style for certain blocks. For example, the Buttons block has two styles: Fill and Outline.
Content creators and site builders can change the blockās style on a per-block basis. They can also change it on a per-site basis via the Styles area in the site editor.
Overwrite core block styles via theme.json
As a developer, you can overwrite the Outline button styles via theme.json file.
The example code below shows the modification of the core/button variation with a:
- 0px border radius.
- 3px wide blue border.
These styles will replace the default rounded, black, 2px borders.
{
"$schema": "https://schemas.wp.org/trunk/theme.json",
"version": 2,
"styles": {
"blocks": {
"core/button": {
"variations": {
"outline": {
"border": {
"color": "blue",
"radius": "0",
"style": "solid",
"width": "3px"
},
}
}
}
}
}
}
For other core/block styles, you can overwrite their styles in the styles.blocks.core/[block] section of your theme.json fileāsimply replace [block] above with the actual block name. You can find a detailed walk-through of this process, including a list of available core block styles, on the WordPress.org Developer Blog: Customizing core block style variations via theme.json.
Removing unwanted core block styles
There are two functions youāll need to address:
- The PHP function unregister_block_style()
- The JavaScript function unregisterBlockStyle()
Block styles can only be unregistered in the same coding language used to register them. Core blocks are all registered via JavaScript. The example code removes the extra block style for the image block called rounded.
wp.domReady( function() {
Ā Ā Ā wp.blocks.unregisterBlockStyle( 'core/image', [ 'rounded' ] );
} );If you are keen to learn more about how to create block styles, I just published a deep dive into that topic.
Mastering Custom Block Styles in WordPress: 6 Methods for Theme and PluginĀ Developers
Resources to learn more
For more ways to change the block editor, read 15 ways to curate the WordPress editing experience.
For more articles on the various styles, there are great articles on the WordPress Developer blog:
- Styling sections, nested elements, and more with Block Style Variations in WordPress 6.6
- Leveraging theme.json and per-block styles for more performant themes
- Per-block CSS with theme.json
- Beyond block styles, part 1: using the WordPress scripts package with themes
- Beyond block styles, part 2: building a custom style for the Separator block
- Beyond block styles, part 3: building custom design tools
What are other questions you might have about changing core blocks via the Global Styles? Leave a comment or join us on Discord
Some moments in life leave an indelible mark on our hearts, and for me, EmpowerWP Bhopal 2025 was one of them. As the lead organizer, I envisioned an event that would bring a positive change to the lives of people around us, in society, and not just in the community. And what an incredible experience it has been!
A Vision Turned Reality
As part of the global WordPress initiative, WP Bhopal organised EmpowerWP on March 9th to commemorate International Womenās Day 2025. What began as an ambitious goal turned into a milestone moment, proving the power of representation, inclusion, and collective support.
I was introduced to the idea of #WomenInWordPress at WordCamp Bhopal 2023. But the purpose became clear only when the low ratio of women attendees in the monthly meetups became a constant. This event was important for several reasons, one of the major reasons globally was to bring in as many women in the radar as possible, to get them involved and change the already deteriorating state of women participation in the community & STEM in general.
Challenging Norms and Expanding Inclusion
For the first time in our chapterās decade-long journey, we hosted a meetup with a female-majority audience. Going with the idea that empowerment doesnāt happen in isolation, we made this a woman-majority event. The point is that if we want women to upskill themselves, help & empower their own kind, it is also for men to support in whatever capacity they can and make space. It is also about them showing and reflecting that they are there, and therefore, the event attendees were divided into two categories: women and allies. Itās about uplifting society and making it empowered in the truest sense. To give the credit and appreciation wherever due. And weāre so thankful we stuck with that.
Secondly, these events are largely limited to targeting students & professionals. But when we envisioned EmpowerWP Bhopal, we knew it had to be inclusiveānot just for the conventional attendees but also for the very women who have shaped our lives. We wanted to utilize this opportunity to actually make a difference, not just for women already involved in WordPress or Tech but for those somewhat left behind from the active workforce due to family responsibilities, societal pressure, or other reasons. Our goal was to (re)introduce them to digital opportunities, help them upskill, and connect them to a supportive network.
So we decided to target homemakers with untapped potential, women on career breaks looking to upskill, small business owners who had yet to digitalise, apart from students & professionals. The idea was to bring the digital revolution home.
Execution: Bridging the Gap
Targeting this group required a different approach. Many of these women needed reassurance and encouragement. We had to instill in them the idea that it’s not difficult; it’s just different. Our team curated learning videos and motivational messages from tech professionals (special thanks to Michelle & Krupa) as part of a dedicated social media campaign. We reached out via WhatsApp and Facebook, where these women were more active.
Even then, we were uncertain if we could achieve our ambitious goals. But the response exceeded our expectationsā106 registrations and 70+ attendees on event day. The diversity in the room was incredible: students, entrepreneurs, journalists, homemakers, designers, freelancers, and social activists. Our youngest attendee? A 5th-grade schoolgirl! Thatās when we knew a difference had been made.
EmpowerWP in Action
The event was designed as a full day of learning, inspiration, and contribution. We started with a fun ice-breaking activity where all the attendees were asked to define ’empowerment’, and it was nice to gather all perspectives before we began.
We had four technical sessions covering marketing, AI, WordPress, and design, by Nikita Varma, Purva Kushwah, Poonam Namdev, & Saloni Rathore, respectively.
This was followed by a Contributor Hour, where attendees were guided to make contributions to Make WordPressāmostly as first-time contributors to the Photos and Translation teams. As sources tell us, more than 15 first-time contributions were made that day.
We also hosted a panel discussion titled Learners to Leaders, featuring Parul Shrivastava, CEO of a tech-marketing company, Arshi Khan, a startup founder leveraging social media for her business, and Manisha Lakhwani, a freelancer. They shared personal experiences, career journeys, and practical guidance on the howabouts.
Before ending, we did a community talk, because, at the end of the day, awareness is what mattersā What they can do for the community & what the community can do for them. The attendees were informed about the current schemes available and how they can benefit from them by becoming an active member of the WP Community.
Additionally, every attendeeās ID card contained a link to a curated resources page, ensuring, at whatever stage of their journey they are at, they could continue learning even after the event.
To ensure accessibility, the event was conducted primarily in Hindi, our local language, along with English.
Challenges and Triumphs
Gathering speakers was no easy task. As one of our panelists, Parul, rightly said, āWe need to be comfortable in our own skin. We need to believe that what we do is worth sharing.ā Thanks to the WP Bhopal communityās encouragement & outreach, we were able to host an all-women speaker lineup!
It was inspiring to witness women from diverse domains, backgrounds, and experiences come together under one roof with a shared intentāto support, uplift, and empower each other.
Know more about our speakers here.
The event ended on a perfect noteāwith a networking dinner at Raasta Cafe, as India played the Finals for Champions Trophy 2025. India won, and so did we (in our little way)!
Gratitude and Acknowledgments
None of this would have been possible without the incredible people who believed in us. To our speakers, sponsors, and attendeesāthank you for making this event meaningful. Every role mattered, and this success belongs to each one of you.
A huge shoutout to our sponsorsāJetpack, A2 Hosting, WooCommerce, Bluehost, Hostinger, Kinsta, SEOPress, and CreedAllyā for standing with us and making this dream a reality. Bluehost & Jetpackās swags were a hit among attendees and organizers alike!
This note would be incomplete without acknowledging my incredible team.Ā Pooja, my indispensable support for all the right reasons;Ā Amit, an all-rounder & primarily the one behind our website; Antra,Ā Anukriti,Ā andĀ ShashankĀ from our social media team;Ā IshitaĀ andĀ Mansi, from our content team;Ā Aditya, who guided us from behind the scenes as our local mentor & Anshika who supported us on the final day of the event.
Having led numerous teams and been part of even more, I know how rare it is to find a team that not only shares your vision but also takes ownership of it. Each one of them was diligent in their roles, but what stood out was how seamlessly they managed everything on the event day, without needing my intervention. This may seem simple, but itās anything but. People often stick to what they are asked to do, rarely taking initiative on their own. Yet, this team did just that, going above and beyond in ways I hadnāt even anticipated. Iām incredibly grateful to have worked alongside such an amazing bunch of people.
A special thanks to Pooja Derashri for taking the lead on a global level, Juan for preliminary checks, and Yogesh, our mentor.
To the global community, especially the #WomenInWordPressāyou inspire us. You embody the spirit of lifting each other up and making this space better, one step at a time.
Special thanks to our local sister community GDG Cloud Bhopal and a heartfelt token of appreciation to community members Atharva Kulkarni, Kripesh Adwani, and Deepansh Gupta, for extending their support wherever we required a hand. With the support of the WP Bhopal community, we were able to create a space where diversity thrived and new voices found confidence.
To every woman out there contemplating her first step, this is your sign. Tech is for your empowerment, and you donāt need a degree to be a part of it. The digital revolution is yours to embrace. Womenās Day isnāt just about celebrating ourselves, itās about empowering each other in small yet meaningful ways.
Hopefully, we will witness a different picture at our next meetup.
For now, just grateful!