WordPress 7.0 introduces features that create a more cohesive editing experience and can boost reader engagement. You can now create slideshows from Galleries, build responsive grids, and use third-party videos as backgrounds.
Editor workflow updates
A more cohesive experience for editing patterns
With WordPress 7.0, you’ll see some changes to the pattern editing experience. Before this release, unsynced patterns had no clear distinction from other blocks. Now they will have somewhat of a “parent” container, and you’ll see the editable content in the new sidebar “Content” tab (described in the following section).
You can still edit the content in a pattern as you did previously. But if you need to make bigger changes, like reordering content, you’ll need to click “Edit pattern” in the toolbar.
While the pattern is in edit mode, you’ll see a spotlight on it with the rest of the content greyed out.
The goal with this update is to provide you with a better experience editing patterns.
Edit all of your Post components in one place
In addition to the Settings and Styles tabs available for most blocks, WordPress 7.0 introduces the Content tab for text, image, and captions. You’ll also see a List tab for nested blocks like Lists, Social Icons, and Galleries.
The List view lets you access the contents of nested blocks in the right sidebar and edit them directly, which can help you quickly update things like social links or images in a Gallery.
Improvements to specific blocks
Choose from a collection of icons
There’s a new Icon block that lets you insert an SVG icon from a collection available in the editor. You can change the color of the icon using the Color > Text control, add a background, or adjust the size. You can also replace the icon while maintaining the color and size of the original.
The collection of icons is included with WordPress, but there are plans to allow third-party icon collections in a future release.
Edit HTML, CSS, and JavaScript within a single block
The HTML block now opens in a modal-based editor with separate tabs for HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. All three can work together within a single block, making it a much more capable tool for block-level work. You can also see a preview of the page on the right-hand side of the editor as you work.
Edit images directly from Image blocks
Now you can crop, rotate, and define the focal point of an image directly from within the Image block.
Create slideshows using the new Gallery block lightbox
The Gallery block’s lightbox feature now acts like a slideshow. Previously, readers had to close out one image before opening another. Now they can navigate through the images seamlessly.
You can find this option under the link icon in the block toolbar that says, “Enlarge on click.”
Create responsive grids
Before this release, you had to choose between column count (manual mode) or a minimum column width (auto mode) when using the Grid block.
Now you can combine the two settings. Choose a specific number of columns and a minimum width. As the screen scales down, columns will maintain their minimum width and stack when they run out of room.
Embed videos to use as a background
You can use third-party video embeds from sources like YouTube and Vimeo in the Cover block.
The block also allows you to use the focal point picker when background images are set as a “fixed background.” This gives you more control over what you show your readers.
New block features
Anchor support for dynamic blocks
Now you can add anchor links to dynamic blocks, like Latest Posts and Navigation. This was previously only possible for static blocks. You can find this under the Advanced settings section.
Link validation
You don’t need to worry about publishing broken links anymore. In this release, you’ll see an error message if you try to use an invalid link. If you add a link with a complete URL, a relative link that starts with a forward slash (like “/foo”), or an anchor link (like “#foo”), you won’t see an error message because those are all valid formats.
Other notable changes
Improved screens across WP-Admin
You’ll notice a few new changes to the backend, including a new default color scheme called “Modern” that replaces the old “Fresh” default, refreshed buttons and form inputs that align with the WordPress Design System, and clarifying updates to notices like “warning,” “success,” and “error.”
Email notifications for Notes
The block-level notes from the WordPress 6.9 release can now trigger emails. You can notify contributors about feedback on their posts and pages without having to check the editor. Enable this option on a site-wide level by navigating to Settings > Discussion — it’s on by default.
Connectors screen
There’s a new screen under Settings > Connectors that you can use to connect different tools to your site using API keys. Here, you’ll find all of your API keys and credentials, stored and shared across plugins. Configure once and use everywhere.
Control viewport-based block visibility
Now you can hide blocks conditionally based on the device your readers use. You can find it under the three dots menu in the block toolbar.
New font screen to upload font files
While this new screen overlaps a bit with the Newspack theme’s support for Google Fonts, it also lets you upload font files directly and pulls them into the editor. Once you enable fonts from this screen, they will be available in a “Font” drop-down in the Typography panel for most blocks. You can find this option under Appearance > Fonts.
If you have any questions as you explore these new features, please don’t hesitate to reach out in the #newspack-help Slack channel!
