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A common pain point amongst new users of Block Themes is managing homepage content – how and where to edit it and if that should be done in the template itself.
The problem with some block themes is that they put their demo content directly into the template. This can override whatever content you set to show on your homepage. And if you don’t know better, you’ll start editing the template to add your own content.
Full site editing is the new direction that WordPress is heading in, to provide a better editing and design experience for site owners.
To get familiar with the new terminology that comes along with Full Site Editing, please read the glossary.
You have likely already used the block editor, formerly known as Gutenberg. It’s been the default editor since WordPress 5.0.
The changes to WordPress are not only in the user experience and interface, but in the terminology as well. This glossary should help with the learning curve when navigating the new editor, as well help you to make sense of tutorials and be able to search for help more effectively.
A block theme, or block-based theme, is the same as a full site editing (FSE) theme.
A classic theme is one that doesn’t work with full site editing.
Whether you are a site owner or a developer, there’s new lingo to learn. Get started with our Full Site Editing glossary.
If you use a classic theme, you will still be using the block-based editor for your posts and pages, but you’ll be dependent on your theme to provide editing capabilities for other parts of your site, like the header, footer etc.
Classic themes utilize either their own custom options panel, or the WordPress customizer to provide design and other controls.
WordPress block patterns are mini-templates. They are pre-configured groups of blocks that give you shortcuts to creating certain features on your site, like a call to action, a nice-looking hero image with text, or even a whole page layout.
They are available to insert on any page, and then the content can be edited.
Updated: April 2018
Not all WordPress themes provide a way to have totally different sidebar content on different pages of your site. Some may provide a little flexibility with, for example a sidebar for the blog and a different sidebar for static pages, but sometimes you need more comprehensive control. You may need an additional set of navigation on a certain set of sub-pages, or you may want to hide some widgets on mobile devices, or for other specific conditions.
There are several different plugins that help you gain this type of flexibility with your site.