What’s New in Gutenberg in 2022?

What’s New in Gutenberg 

With each release, Gutenberg’s blocks and block themes get easier to work with and even more flexible. Let’s get into some of the more recent features of Gutenberg. 

Block Locking 

With Gutenberg’s introduction of Full Site Editing, users need more control over how specific blocks can be edited. There is now a block locking UI that lets you disable certain actions for locked blocks. Users are unable to move or remove a block when it is locked. This new feature is incredibly useful with site-level blocks like Post Content which many themes will want to lock. 

Beautiful Galleries Made Easy

The space around your content is equally as important as your actual content. Now in Gutenberg, you are able to control the space around images using a gallery block. So whether you are looking for zero white space or large style gaps, it is now even easier to build beautiful and unique website layouts. 

Manage Template Types

Before, when users would create new templates in the Site Editor, they were limited to a small set of templates. Gutenberg now allows you to create a template for multiple types of pages on your website, including Author, Category, Taxonomy Date, Tag, and Attachment pages. 

Save Editor Preferences 

With the most recent release, Gutenberg saves editor preferences on the WordPress server, not the browser. So what does this mean for you? Whichever computer or browser you are using, Gutenberg will be set up the way you like it, all the time. 

Gutenberg Features You Should Test 

Although Gutenberg has been out for some time now, there are still some tricks and features you may not be aware of that can make posting your content that much easier. Here are some of our favorite Gutenberg features you should test out if you haven’t already. 

1. Use a Slash to Insert Blocks Quickly

When it comes to inserting lengthy content pieces, using “+” can get a bit tedious. For a smoother, quicker experience without having to even leave your keyboard, you can use /. After pressing “Enter,” which calls a new paragraph block, you can then type / and the first couple letters of the block’s name you wish to insert. 

This will show a list of all blocks matching your request. Navigate through them using the arrows and select one by pressing “Enter.” 

2. Create Text Columns 

If you need to create a page layout using two or more columns with a paragraph of text, the “Columns” block makes it super simple. You can also choose the structure and ratio of the columns. In addition, with text columns, you are able to add any amount of text blocks in-line. 

3. Insert a Photo Gallery

If you need to add a set of images as a gallery on your site, stop inserting photos on top of each other. The gallery block mentioned earlier makes adding photos to a slideshow or any other gallery type a breeze. 

4. Group Blocks 

Since each paragraph is its own block in Gutenberg, it may be harder to manipulate the text for longer articles. Many people opt to write their content somewhere else and then paste it into Gutenberg when finished. However, it is possible to group paragraph blocks to make things easier. 

6. Insert Anchors

An anchor is an internal link that links back to another place in the same document. You often see them in the introduction of a blog post. This makes it so your users can directly get to the section that interests them the most without having to scroll to get to what they want. To insert an anchor, go to block options on the right-hand column, and you will find the HTML Anchor within the “Advanced” menu. 

New Target and Gutenberg

At New Target, our team designs WordPress websites that will meet any advanced content editing and publishing needs with rich functionality and features. Gutenberg offers top-tier page-building features that our clients and our marketers love. Want to learn more about how our WordPress design and development experts can help you? Get in touch today!