We’re diving a bit deeper into some of the options to make better use of the Gutenberg editor in this edition of my roundup. Additionally, I’m highlighting two WordPress related events as well as two very different, but highly recommended WordPress newsletters.
WordPress Newsletters
I’d like to highlight two very different kinds of WordPress related newsletters: MasterWP and Post Status. But first off, congratulations to Alex and Ben for publishing their 100th weekly MasterWP newsletter. Together with Post Status‘ newsletter, they are my favorite two WordPress related newsletters. Whereas MasterWP is free and focuses on subjects touching the WordPress ecosphere, PostStatus is more focused on the smaller bits of news happening in the WordPress world.
Both come highly recommended if you’re looking for regular WordPress news.
WordPress Related Events
Not technically just WordPress related news, but I did want to share that YoastCon is this week. And in case you missed it, YoastCon is an SEO & Online Marketing conference that goes deeper and wider than most other SEO conferences. And, there still are some tickets available if you’re looking for a jam-packed SEO conference.
Speaking of conferences. It looks like the sixth edition of PressNomics is in the making. Having attended the fourth edition myself, I can definitely recommend PressNomics as a WordPress event. It’s more geared towards WordPress business owners – or as they say: “for those that power the WordPress Economy” – as opposed to your regular WordCamps, but again, highly recommended for anyone working with WordPress on a day to day basis.
Gutenberg writing tips
Since Gutenberg landed in WordPress Core as the new Block Editor, I’ve focused on extending Gutenberg quite a few times in all kinds of different ways, but I realized this week that I’ve not yet actually shared some useful tips on how to use Gutenberg. So, I thought it’d be good to share three Gutenberg related tips on how to actually put it to good use.
Distraction Free writing mode
One of the things I absolutely love about the new editor is how you can set it to use a distraction free writing mode. Now, of course, we already a version of this in the classic editor, but the new version deserves to be reintroduced.
This is how you make the best use of the Block Editor:
- Activate the Top Toolbar Option
When you open the new Block Editor, you can access the settings menu via the three dots on top of each other in the top right of your screen (It’s right next to the Yoast toolbar icon). Under View you have to option to activate the Top Toolbar option by clicking on it.
This will move the hovering toolbar you’d normally see for every single block move to the top toolbar. The first big part of the distraction is now gone. - Active the Fullscreen Mode
In that same menu as where you found the previous option, you’ll also find the option Fullscreen Mode. Clicking on it will set your editor in the desired distraction-free mode by going fullscreen. You now no longer have the WordPress Dashboard menu on the right or any of the other normal WordPress distractions.
- Hide Settings (optional)
The last thing left to do is optional. I don’t use it myself personally, but if you truly want to remove all distractions and just write, then there’s one thing left to do. By clicking on the gear icon in the top right of the Gutenberg toolbar you’ll hide the settings sidebar on the right.
That’s all you have to do to get the most out of the new distraction-free mode.
Gutenberg Keyboard Shortcuts
There a few keyboard shortcuts I use daily that I’d like to share.
- Just by typing 1. as the beginning of a new paragraph, the block editor will turn that into a numbered list item.
- Just by typing an asteriks (*) + a space, the block editor will turn that into a list item.
- Instead of clicking on the circle with the plus icons to start looking for your next block, you can actually type the forward slash ( / ) as well.
- Just by typing anywhere between two or six hashtags in a row + a space, the block editor turns that into a corresponding header. Meaning: ### + space will turn the block into a H3 header.
Moving multiple blocks around
Whenever you find yourself wanting to move a couple to a different position in the editor, just select the blocks you want to move with your mouse. Once you release your mouse button you’ll see that the blocks are all highlighted with a blue background. Right next to the top one on the left, you’ll find the normal Move Up and Move Down arrows and they will move around all the blocks you’ve selected.
That’s it for me this time around. If you know of any other smart ways of using the block editor, do share those tips here in the comments.
Site Health Check postponed to 5.2
WordPress 5.1 Beta 3 was released just before the weekend and with it came a notice about the new Site Health Check featured. Unfortunately, it’s being postponed to the WordPress 5.2 release as stated in the Beta 3 release post:
Some potential security issues were discovered in the implementation: rather than risk releasing insecure code, the team decided to pull it out of WordPress 5.1