The Block Editor
What is the Block Editor?
The Block Editor is the main tool you use to create and edit pages and posts. Each piece of content you add (a paragraph, image, button, heading, etc.) is a block. WordPress has blocks for all common content types and even more can be added through plugins, such as Kadence Blocks.
The block editor has 3 main areas:
- Top toolbar
- Content area
- Post/Page Settings and Block Settings (sidebar)
Topbar with Kadence Options
Before you publish your post or page, your toolbar will look something like this:
After publishing, the toolbar will look something like this:
- View Posts / View Pages — Shows the W icon by default, or the Site Icon if available. Click to exit the editor and go back to the list of Posts or Pages.
- Block Inserter — Click to show/hide the block inserter that allows you to add a block or pattern to your post/page.
- Undo / Redo
- Document Overview — Has 2 options:
- List View: a list of all blocks that are on the current post/page
- Outline: shows the current post/page details (character/word count, etc.)
- (Kadences themes only) Design Library — A library of pre-designed block patterns and pages.
- Command Palette — Click for a popup to search commands, settings, and content.
- Save draft — Save a draft of your post/page without publishing it. When successfully saved, the text will say “Saved”.
- View — View how your post/page looks on Mobile, Tablet, or Desktop or preview it in a new tab.
- (Kadence themes only) Post/Page Settings — Change settings for the current post/page such as post layout, content style, where to show the title, etc.
- (Kadence themes only) Kadence Blocks Controls — Where you can adjust Block Visibility settings, etc.
- Settings — Click to show/hide the sidebar that contains post/page settings and block settings.
- Publish — Button to make your post/page publicly available on your site.
- Options — Opens the options panel that contains view modes, editor modes, and other preferences.
- View Post / View Page — Click to view your post/page in a new tab. (Appears after publishing)
- Save — Save changes to your post/page.
👋 If you’re new to WordPress or the Block Editor, I highly recommend taking a few minutes to look over these pages:
There’s also a free Beginner WordPress User course!