If you’re struggling a bit with writing or editing WordPress posts then these tips should help.
The block editor has gradually got a lot more user friendly, but there’s probably a bunch of stuff you didn’t know it did. All of which can make it easier and faster to create content.
Let’s get into it.
This does trip a few people up when first starting out with the block editor. To add a new paragraph: just hit enter. 🙂
You can also remove empty paragraph blocks by just hitting backspace. Same as using a word processor.
Try this one now, you’ll love it. 🙂 Just type a ‘/’ in an empty text block and a list of blocks to add comes up.
Handy – but there’s more.
Keep typing after the slash, and it refines the list. E.g. start typing image (/ima…) and a list of image related blocks appear, like this:
Notice I said image related, this is cleverer than a simple text filter! So you don’t need to know the exact name (you can use that too of course), just the general purpose.
IMPORTANT: you can then select your block using up/down cursors and hitting enter. Or if you’ve typed enough that the block you want is highlighted (or the only block listed), you just hit enter. This is so much quicker e.g. for adding subheads just type ‘/h <enter>’ – job done!
This is even better than you think. Yes, you can highlight your text to link and then click Ctrl+K (or Cmd+K) to bring up the box to insert a link. But you can also search in that box – this is a huge timesaver for creating internal links to other pages/articles on your site.
Did you know you can also highlight your text using the cursors? Hold down Shift+Ctrl and use left or right cursors to select text by whole words (let go of Ctrl and keep holding Shift to select characters using cursors). Much quicker and often more accurate than using your mouse.
Oh, there’s more. 😉
Try NOT selecting any text, just hit Ctrl+K. Search for a related post, cursor to the one you want and hit enter. It will automatically insert the title of that article already linked for you ([sound of applause…]).
Just like I did here:
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This is everywhere, and so handy when you need it.
You probably noticed the Move Up/Move Down buttons on the block menu (the little toolbar menu that hovers above each block when you select it). But look to the left of those to the ‘6 dots’ icon.
This is a ‘handle’ you can grab to drag your block up or down – as far as you want. Drag to the top (or bottom) of the screen and it will keep scrolling until you find the spot you want to drop it.
But this can also be done, and is sometimes easier, in the List View (click the Document Overview button top left).
The List View shows your full document just with a list of the blocks used. Title blocks handily use the real title. But as you move your mouse over the list the current block highlights in the main editor window so you know exactly which is which. You can drag and drop any block here to reorder things. You can also move blocks ‘inside’ of certain other blocks (containers) where relevant.
One more? OK. 🙂
You can drag and drop images directly from your computer into the page. You don’t have to ‘create an image block, fiddle with the media library, add to the page…’ just drop it in and keep typing!
Need a word count, just open the Document Overview and click the Outline tab. There’s your word count built in, along with an estimated read time (oh, and a handy overview of your article structure by headings/subheadings).
It’s easy to forget to add a heading block and end up typing your subhead as a paragraph. But there’s a quick fix, just click the left most icon in the block menu (which will be the paragraph icon) and it offers you the option to ‘Transform To… Heading’. Fixed, and no copy/paste required.
Also super handy for converting a paragraph into a quote, or a bunch of paragraphs into a bullet list!
Need to reorder things? Don’t try moving paragraphs one by one – it’s very frustrating and easy to lose where things are!
Your instinct might be to ‘Group’ blocks together first. This does work and makes it easy move the whole Group as one block. But the Group block comes with some extra styling/indentation so it will affect your layout. You can of course simply ungroup again after moving.
Or better is to just use ‘multi-select’. And then drag and drop.
To select multiple blocks you can either use your mouse in the main editor window and just click/drag to select all the blocks you want. Or you can use the List View – hold down the shift key, then click the first block and then the last block of the section you want.
Then drag those blocks as one to their new position.
This can be a handy feature, particularly if you have multiple writers for your site. Any block can be ‘locked’ to prevent it being changed. Just use the ‘3 dots’ menu item in either the block menu or List View and select Lock. The submenu that appears allows you to lock any changes to that block, or just limit to moving or removing it. Note that you will still be able to edit the block.
IMPORTANT: this is designed to help with content management and collaboration – it doesn’t lock the content for all other users. It’s based on user account roles. Anyone with Editor or Admin roles will be able to edit any locked blocks (and also unlock them). Authors and Contributors will NOT be able to edit. So it’s handy for preserving particular sections or layouts, and for content review and approval (e.g. lock sections as approved).
If you have sections of content you regularly use – think newsletter optin boxes, promotional sections/banners, events, disclaimers and other content snippets etc. Then the way to do this is with Block Patterns. Simply select your set of blocks and then ‘Create Pattern’ from the ‘3 dots’ menu.
There’s two reasons why Patterns are so useful. Firstly, you can insert them fast (type ‘/MyBlockName, enter’ – done). Secondly, these can be edited in one place and all uses of that Pattern will also update. This is obviously incredibly useful, as anyone who has had to go back and manually edit dozens of sections like this will know!
Also really useful – you can create patterns that are ‘not synced’ (i.e. turn off the sync option). So you can insert patterns that won’t affect other uses of the pattern if you edit them. Why is that useful? It means you can create sections that are more about the layout where you can then just edit the text. An event section for example, where maybe you just need to change the date/title of that event.
Note that because Patterns can be whole sections of blocks, you can create pretty complex reusable layouts that save a lot of time.
Got any favourite block editor tips, tricks or shortcuts you want to share? Add a comment below.
Or, if you’re stuck on something that just feels awkward or slow to do in the editor, ask a question below – because there may well be an easier way. 🙂