WordPress 5 introduced a Block-based editor, which was codenamed “Gutenberg”. The switch to the new editor was radical for many users, and a number of people who miss the good old TinyMCE-based editor for which there is a plugin to bring it back. Nonetheless, Gutenberg is fairly strong, allowing numerous media formats for rich texts. WordPress Gutenberg 13.8 is the most recent release.
WordPress Gutenberg 13.8 now brings with it further incremental enhancements to the Gutenberg block editor. Some of the enhancements are minor, such as adding a WhatsApp symbol to the Social Icon Block. Others, however, are more crucial since they enable template creators to provide additional design possibilities to their consumers. The most notable of them is a new feature that makes it easy to see and enter template pieces from the block inserter. This feature is intended for template creators, who may now make it easy for users to select versions.
Fluid Typography, accessibility improvements, a revised Quote block, and improvements to Template Parts are all included in Gutenberg 13.8. Bug fixes and code quality enhancements are also included in this version. All of this is possible because of a terrific team of contributors.
Let’s take a better look at all the updates.
Template Parts User Interface Improvements of Gutenberg 13.8
Many themes rely on template components; Gutenberg 13.8 adds enhancements for those who employ variants and patterns to provide flexibility to their customers.
The block inserter now includes particular template component variants, making it simple to add “Header” text. The header of the website is usually the first thing visitors notice. The masthead or header art at the top of the page contributes to the overall appearance and feel of the website. It has the potential to affect a visitor’s perception of their content and their organization’s brand. It may also change in appearance depending on screen size.”, “Footer,” or “Newsletter Subscription” template sections to their site.
In the spirit of simplicity, the new search additions in the template parts replacement modal will assist users in finding the perfect pattern for the block.
Enhancements to Accessibility
With each version, the Gutenberg team strives to make the Gutenberg plugin more accessible, and 13.8 is certainly no exception. Iterative accessibility improvements in this version include better and standardized labels and tooltips across the Editor, as well as more keyboard-friendly selectable components in the “Add template” modal. Among the fixes were the addition of tooltips and the correction of a discrepancy between the displayed text and the aria-label of the Toggle block inserter button.
Some of the other improvements of Gutenberg 13.8
- Wrap using field set, Update labeling, tooltips, and legend can be found in BorderControl.
- Users can query pagination arrows, for which they can add aria-hidden.
- In the Add template modal, replace clickable div components with buttons.
Image Blocks for Border Controls
The Gutenberg 13.8 features an Image block that now supports all border settings, such as Colour, Style, and Width. It is exciting to see what the Museum of Block Art’s creative team can come up with following this upgrade. Enhancements are basic changes to WordPress, such as the addition of a hook, the inclusion of a new feature, or the enhancement of an existing function.
Redesigned Quote block makes use of inner blocks
Following the recent modifications to the Gallery block, the Quote block has been reintroduced. Because of the strength of the stacked blocks API An API, or Application Programming Interface, is a software mediator that allows applications to connect with one another and share data in restricted, well-defined ways., users can now bend the quotes to their heart’s content, which means that they may add any block inside the quotes.
Support for fluid typography
This new feature allows developers to set font sizes that may scale and adapt to the actual state of the screen, ensuring that their information appears fantastic on any device.
Important Highlights
To start with, the Post Comments and Comments sections have been combined into a single block titled “Comments”. It is now possible to quit container blocks, such as Group blocks, by pressing the ‘Enter’ key on an empty paragraph. The new “Global Styles > Layout” options allow users to override theme-defined content dimensions, allowing them more control over full-width content.
Performance Standards
The following performance indicator compares performance across the recent versions for a particularly large post containing about 36,000 words, and 1,000 blocks. Such a long post is not indicative of the typical editing experience, but it is sufficient for detecting differences in performance.
A known hallmark of the WordPress Gutenberg 13.8 is continuous evolution with incremental changes, and this update is a testimony of the same.
