November 7, 2022 — In this session, we will take a brief look at what Internationalisation (or i18n) in themes means, as well as cover the common Internationalisation functions available in WordPress, and how to use them. We’ll then create a blank block theme, and then take a look at the strings that we might need to make translation ready, as well as how to achieve this.

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October 21, 2022 — Block patterns are predefined block layouts. They provide a means to refine the editorial experience by offering users a preset arrangement of blocks to start building right away.

One of the great advantages of block patterns is that they can include either block markup or PHP code. This means that block patterns allow open up a wide array of possibilities for the theme developer.

In this session we will look at the different types of block patterns that can be created, the various ways that block patterns can be registered for a theme, and then create a few block pattern examples for some common theme requirements.

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October 14, 2022 — WordPress 6.1 will include ways to create custom templates and template parts for your block theme from the Site Editor. These custom templates and template parts are useful when you need to display specific posts or pages using templates that don’t form part of the template hierarchy.

In this session, we’ll look at both how you can register and create custom templates and template parts from the editor, as well as how to register them in your theme.json file when distributing your new block theme.

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September 30, 2022 — WordPress theme development follows the WordPress template hierarchy, which determines which templates are used depending on the content being rendered.

Fortunately for the new block theme developer, the Site Editor allows you to create all the primary templates you might need, right from your WordPress install.

In this session, we’ll start with a quick review of the WordPress template hierarchy. Then we’ll create a blank block theme, using the Create Block Theme plugin, apply some ready-made default styles via theme.json, and create all the primary templates a WordPress theme would need.

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September 16, 2022 — Being able to edit a theme in the Site Editor is handy, especially if you’re using it as the base for a new theme. But where do those changes get saved? What happens when you make changes to Global Styles, Block styles, Theme template files, and template parts? What happens when you make changes to the theme files, and changes to the Site Editor; which take precedence? In this session, we’ll be answering these questions.

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September 12, 2022 — One of the concerns that developers voiced regarding Block Themes and the Site Editor is that it gives users too much freedom to edit the site design, select colors, or modify blocks. More complex websites with many editors and departments who produce content need guardrails to enforce publishing standards and adherence to brand color schemas and design systems.

In this session, we’ll be looking at the Block Locking options available in WordPress, and show you how you can restrict your Block Themes from user interference.

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September 2, 2022 — One of the more exciting additions to WordPress theme development that block themes make possible is the inclusion of the theme.json file. This file allows the theme developer to enable and configure everything from CSS presets to custom fonts, and more.

In this session, we’ll be taking a dive into the theme.json file for the new twentytwentythree default WordPress theme, to understand how it works, and what’s possible.

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August 23, 2022 — In this session, you’ll learn how to create your first custom block, by adding block support to an existing shortcode plugin.

You’ll learn how to set up the plugin to support block development, and use the scaffolded code created using create-block and the existing shortcode to create a new custom block.

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August 5, 2022 — Getting started with block development can be a daunting task for the new developer. If you’re used to developing themes and plugins for WordPress using HTML, CSS, and PHP, with a sprinkling of JavaScript, the additional build tools and modern JavaScript syntax required for block development might be confusing.

In this session, we’ll be looking at the software required to develop blocks, and how to set it all up. Then we’ll a tool called create-block to create our first block, we’ll look at the code that this generates and what each piece does.

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July 29, 2022 — Shortcodes are pre-defined, reusable pieces of code that can be added to posts or pages and used to perform dynamic interactions with the content.

Shortcodes can be used to create anything from a contact form to a booking calendar. While they do have some limitations, they are also a very valuable tool in any developer’s toolbox.

Join us to learn how shortcodes work in WordPress, which shortcodes ship with WordPress how to create your own shortcodes, as we showcase a few fun examples of what shortcodes can do.

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