As a novice WordPress user, you may have previously avoided creating custom themes, assuming that it required a complex coding process. However, with Full Site Editing (FSE), you can now customize your entire website, though the challenge of exporting custom designs still exists.
Fortunately, you can easily generate a block theme using the Create Block Theme plugin. Once you customize your theme with the Site Editor, you can export it as a custom block theme and install it on other websites, rather than having to rebuild your design from scratch.
A WordPress block theme is a theme built with Gutenberg blocks. When Gutenberg was introduced as part of WordPress 5.0, it revolutionized the content creation experience by enabling the customization of posts and pages with different content blocks. In 2021, WordPress expanded this feature even further with the launch of Full Site Editing in the 5.8 update. The Site Editor allows you to add theme blocks to your website, create block templates, and more, allowing you to build your entire website using a block-based system.
However, to start using Full Site Editing, you must first install a block theme. With a WordPress block theme, you can edit any aspect of your website without writing code, customize colors and typography with Global Styles, enhance site speed by loading styles only for rendered blocks, and add accessibility features like a Skip to content button and keyboard navigation. By using a block theme, you can take complete control of your site design. Previously, editing theme files without coding abilities was difficult, but now anyone can personalize a website by designing and modifying block layouts.
An Introduction to the Create Block Theme Plugin
In many cases, website owners and developers create custom child themes to personalize their website. A child theme is simply a theme that inherits the appearance and functionality of its parent theme. Using a child theme, you can safely edit a block theme without losing changes with new software updates.
To create a child theme, you need to create a new theme folder and stylesheet with the parent theme’s coding. However, this can be difficult for beginners as it involves complicated techniques. Fortunately, the Create Block Theme plugin was created by WordPress developers to address this issue. This new tool allows you to easily export your edited block theme, enabling you to build custom block themes and use them on other websites.
After making changes with the Site Editor, you can download your new design as a child theme, clone, or style variation of the parent theme. This simplifies website design and makes it more accessible to users of all levels.
How to Create a WordPress Block Theme (In 3 Steps)
Now that you are aware of block themes and their advantages, let’s discuss how to create one in WordPress. This way, you won’t have to edit theme files every time you need to build a new block theme.
Step 1: Install a WordPress Block Theme
To create your first block theme, you need to start with a parent block theme. You can choose from over a hundred different options in the WordPress Theme Directory. Simply click on the Block Themes tab to add a Full Site Editing filter. Once you find a block theme you like, download it. Then, go to Appearance > Themes in your WordPress dashboard to install and activate the new theme.
For this tutorial, we’ll be using Twenty Twenty-Two. To start editing your theme, you also need to install and activate the Create Block Theme plugin. Before you begin, ensure that you have the latest version of the Gutenberg plugin installed, activated, and updated.
Step 2: Customize Your Theme With the Site Editor
After installing and activating your chosen block theme, you can now proceed to customize it using the Site Editor. To do this, navigate to Appearance > Editor (beta) in your WordPress dashboard.
This will open the Full Site Editor, where you can modify your block theme by clicking on specific elements such as the header or footer to change the block settings. To update the typography, colors, and layout, click on the duotone circle icon in the top right corner. You can even choose one of the default theme style combinations.
Adding new blocks is easy. Simply select the “+” button to see a list of options, and then drag and drop the desired elements onto the page. To view your theme templates, click on the WordPress logo in the upper left corner, and then choose either Templates or Template Parts.
If you have specific design goals, you may want to add new templates or edit the available default options. Once you select a template, you will be able to edit it by adding new blocks, block patterns, or template parts.
The possibilities for designing your block theme are nearly endless. Once you have made all the necessary edits, save your changes.
Step 3: Exporting Your Block Theme
To reuse a customized block theme on other websites, navigate to Appearance > Create Block Theme, where you can export your new block theme in various ways. The Create Block Theme plugin offers the following export options:
- Export: downloads the theme with the changes made.
- Create a child theme: downloads a new child theme that uses the activated theme as its parent.
- Clone the current theme: clones the activated theme, including all its assets and user changes.
- Overwrite theme files: saves the edits as theme changes, then deletes the user changes.
- Generate blank theme: builds a boilerplate theme within your site’s theme directory.
- Create a style variation: saves the changes as a Global Styles variation of the activated theme.
If Export or Overwrite is selected, the theme files can be downloaded directly. For the other options, a theme name, description, theme URI, author, and author URI must be provided. The only exception is the style variation, which only requires a Variation Name.
After selecting an option, clicking on Create theme will download the customized block theme as a .zip file, which contains all the edited theme files. This theme can then be installed on other websites, thereby simplifying the website design process and making it accessible to users of all levels.
Conclusion
Prior to Full Site Editing and block themes, designing a unique website was a complicated process, requiring coding skills that may be beyond the reach of a WordPress beginner. However, the Site Editor and the Create Block Theme plugin work together to simplify this once-challenging task. In summary, creating a WordPress block theme involves three steps:
- Install a WordPress block theme.
- Customize your theme with the Site Editor.
- Export your block theme with Create Block Theme.
Do you have any questions about creating your first block theme in WordPress? Let us know in the comments section below!