Tag: Reusable Blocks

Have You Discovered These Two New Excellent WordPress Features? And Where Have Reusable Blocks Gone?

Published on by Hugh W. Roberts51 Comments

You may already be acquainted with these exciting new features I’ve recently uncovered on WordPress. However, I wanted to discuss them in case some of you are still unaware of their existence or unsure about how they function. Let’s delve into these remarkable additions and explore their potential!

Light blue image with the words 'Have You Discovered These Two New Excellent WordPress Features? Where Have Reusable Blocks Gone?' in white text.
New features you may like to try out on WordPress.

Send Test email.

I absolutely love this new feature! It’s incredibly handy because not only do I get to double-check my email notifications for my new blog posts before hitting the publish button, but it also serves as a safety net to ensure that my blog post is flawless and error-free. This is a game-changer for me!

Note – this feature may not be available to WordPress free plan users.

Before scheduling or publishing a new blog post, click the ‘Send test email‘ button, and WordPress will send you an email showing the excerpt and a link to the post.

Where can I find the ‘Send test email’ button?

Under the ‘Publish‘ settings of the draft of your post. Ensure you open the ‘Newsletter: Everyone‘ section to see it.

Here’s a screenshot.

Image highlighting the Send Test Email' button on WordPress
Send test emails for all your WordPress new post notifications.

Not only can you check that the excerpt of your blog post is correct, but you can also click the link within the email to open the post and verify that everything is as it should be.

So, no more –

  • Missing images
  • Uncentred captions
  • Upsidedown images
  • Misplaced images
  • Images and text overlapping
  • Missing blog post titles
  • Missing headings
  • Missing words
  • Spelling mistakes
  • Forgetting to close comments
  • Broken videos or YouTube links
  • Broken links/pingbacks

Of course, spelling and grammar mistakes may still appear, but at least you now have another way of checking and editing a post before it’s published.

A new way to showcase previous blog posts.

Most bloggers like to showcase previous blog posts so those who missed them the first time can catch up.

There are various ways to promote older blog posts on newly published posts. This is a new blog post template that WordPress has added to ‘Patterns‘ to help promote previous posts. In fact, WordPress has added lots of new ‘Blog Post’ templates. Here’s one I selected.

Where can I find Blog Post templates?

  • On a draft post, click the ‘+‘ symbol to add a new block and select ‘Patterns.’
  • On the menu that opens, click on ‘Blog Posts‘ and select from the many templates on offer.
Image highlighting where to find Blog Posts Templates on WordPress
Select a ‘blog posts’ template from the many on offer.

You can also select the ‘Blog Posts’ block for the same job.

Each template has many settings you can play around with. For example, I set the template I displayed above to two rather than three columns (displays as one column when viewing on a mobile phone). You can also change the background colour and text colour of the template.

On the template I used, up to six posts can be displayed, with new blog posts added as you publish them.

Unfortunately, I could not find a way of choosing which blog posts I wanted to feature in the template I chose, but some of the templates allow you to do this.

The one drawback I have noticed about my chosen template is the inability to set links to open in a new tab. As a result, users clicking on any of the links will lose their current page. To address this issue, I highly recommend including the ‘Blog Post Template‘ at the end of each post. This way, readers can easily navigate to related content without losing their place on the page.

Where did all my reusable blocks go?

Synced patterns have replaced Reusable blocks, offering a unified creation experience for new pattern functionality on WordPress. Any reusable blocks you’ve created for your blog can now be found under ‘Patterns.’

Go to ‘Patterns’ – ‘My Patterns‘ for a list.

Image highlighting where to manage reusable blocks on WordPress
Reusable blocks can now be found under ‘Pattern.’

Not sure what a reusable block is? My post, ‘What Is A Reusable Block On WordPress? How To Create One And Save Yourself Lots Of Time,’ gives full details.

How to manage reusable blocks.

  • Ensure you view your blog’s dashboard in ‘Classic‘ view. When writing this post, it won’t work when viewing in ‘Default‘ view (WordPress are aware of the problem).
  • On the draft page of a post, click the three dots (options button) in the top right-hand corner of the page.
  • Click ‘Manage Patterns‘ in the new menu that opens.
Image highlighting how to manage reusable blocks on WordPress.
Click ‘Manage Patterns’ to manage reusable blocks.
  • A page will open that lists all your reusable blocks. This is where you can edit or delete them.
Image showing a list of reusable blocks (now Patterns) on WordPress
A list of reusable blocks

IMPORTANT NOTICE – Please exercise caution when deleting a reusable block that has been previously used in your posts. Deleting a reusable block will result in its disappearance from all associated posts, and a notification will be displayed indicating that the block is no longer available. It is crucial to be mindful of this consequence to avoid any unintended disruptions to your content.

Have you explored any valuable new features on WordPress, or are you already utilising the ones I’ve mentioned? Are reusable blocks an essential part of your workflow? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section, and don’t hesitate to ask any questions.

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What Is A Reusable Block On WordPress? How To Create One And Save Yourself Lots Of Time

Published on by Hugh W. Roberts72 Comments

In today’s fast-paced world, there’s no doubt that time is of the essence.

As bloggers, we’re all looking for ways to streamline our workflows and get more done in less time. This is where reusable blocks on WordPress come into play.

Banner for the blog post 'What Is A Reusable Block On WordPress? How To Create One And Save Yourself Lots Of Time.'
Save time by using reusable blocks on WordPress.

What is a reusable block on WordPress?

It’s a block of content you can save and reuse in multiple places on your site. This means that you don’t need to recreate the same content over and over again.

They are easy to create and save you lots of time when you need to edit something that can be found all over your blog. Any changes you make to a reusable block occur wherever it appears on your blog.

Let’s say you are an author with a collection of books that you have added to a block on over 500 of your blog posts. You decide to cut the price of all or one of your books for a limited time.

You could advertise the price cut on a new blog post, but what about all those blog posts that now contain the incorrect price of your books?

Turning the current block advertising your books into a reusable block allows you to edit the block, and the changes occur on all the posts where you have inserted it.

If you’ve never created a reusable block, follow the guide below. For this demonstration, I’m using the social media block containing links to all my social media accounts and WordPress’s ‘default’ view in the images and instructions.

How to turn a block into a reusable block.

  • Find the block you want to turn into a reusable block.
  • Click anywhere in the block and click on the three dots (kebab menu) icon in the block’s toolbar.
  • Click ‘Create Reusable block.’
Image highlighting where to turn a standard block into a reusable block.
Creating reusable blocks is easy.
  • Give your reusable block a name to quickly locate it the next time you use it.
Image showing where to name your reusable block.
Give your reusable block a name.
  • That’s it – you’ve just created a reusable block!
  • Don’t forget to click the ‘save‘ button to save your reusable block.

Are all the reusable blocks I create stored in one place?

Yes. They are stored under ‘Patterns.’

Go to ‘Patterns‘ – ‘My Patterns‘ to see a list of them.

Image highlighting where to manage reusable blocks on WordPress
Reusable blocks can now be found under ‘Pattern.’
  • To add a reusable block to a post, select it from the list and place the block where you want it to appear in your post.

What can reusable blocks be used for?

Anything you like, but here are a few suggestions.

  • Links to social media sites.
  • Lists of your social media sites.
  • An author bio.
  • An author photo.
  • An author bio and photo.
  • Details of your books and where they can be purchased.
  • Copyright notices.
  • Mailing list subscription links.
  • Links to posts on your blog or those of other bloggers.
  • Links to other blogs you have or are a part of.
  • Links to where customers can purchase your goods/services.
  • Link to your blog’s ‘about’ page.
  • Links to notices such as ‘How to apply to become a guest blogger on my blog.’
  • Writing/photography prompt/challenge blog posts.
  • A weekly/monthly feature post.
  • A sentence or paragraph that you use a lot.

Can reusable blocks be edited?

Yes. You can edit a block’s title and contents by doing the following.

  • Ensure you view your blog’s dashboard in the ‘Classic‘ view. When writing this post, it may not work when viewing in the ‘Default‘ view (WordPress are aware of the problem).
  • On the draft page of a post, click the three dots (options button) in the top right-hand corner of the page.
  • Click ‘Manage Patterns‘ in the new menu that opens.
Image highlighting how to manage reusable blocks on WordPress.
Click ‘Manage Patterns’ to manage reusable blocks.
  • A page will open that lists all your reusable blocks. This is where you can edit them and send them to trash.

    Warning – if you delete a block you’ve used on previous posts, it will disappear from those posts and display a notice stating that the block is no longer available. So, be careful when deleting reusable blocks.

    • A page will open that lists all your reusable blocks. This is where you can edit them and send them to trash.
    Image showing a list of reusable blocks (now Patterns) on WordPress
    A list of reusable blocks
    • Remember that any edits or updates you make to a reusable block are applied all over your blog where the block has been used.

    How to edit a block.

    I want to add a Mastodon button to my social media bar. To do this, I need to click on the ‘+‘ symbol after clicking on the block while in edit mode.

    Image showing how to add a Mastodon button on WordPress.
    Adding A Mastodon button
    • A Mastodon button is now part of my reusable social media block.
    Image highlighting the Mastodon button on a social media block.
    A Mastodon button is now added.
    • You can also convert a reusable block into a regular block by clicking on the kebab menu in the block’s toolbar and then on ‘Convert to Regular Block.’
    Image showing how to Convert a reusable block to a regular block.
    Converting a reusable block to a regular block

    Creating and using reusable blocks has saved me lots of time. They are simple to use and straightforward to make. I highly recommend giving them a try.

    Do you use reusable blocks on your WordPress site? If so, what do you use them for? Do you have any questions about reusable blocks? Let us know in the comments section.

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    This is an updated version of a post originally published on Hugh’s Views And News in 2020.

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