WordPress Gutenberg 13.8 Provides More Editing Flexibility
WordPress Gutenberg 13.8 is now available, bringing with it more incremental improvements to the Gutenberg block editor. Some of the enhancements are minor, such as adding a WhatsApp icon to the Social Icon Block. Others, however, are more important because they enable template designers to provide more design options to their users. The most notable of these is a new feature that makes it easier to see and insert template parts from the block inserter.
This option is intended for template designers, who can now make it easier for users to select variations.
WordPress claims that:
“Gutenberg 13.8 introduces improvements for those who leverage variations and patterns to provide flexibility for their users.
The specific template part variations are now available in the block inserter, making it easy to add “Header”, “Footer,” or “Newsletter Subscription” template parts to your site.”
New Search Component for Templates
Another useful improvement is the addition of search functionality, which makes it easier to find and use specific template parts.
The functionality is as follows:
“Adds a new search functionality to the template parts replacement modal.
…It makes it easier to find specific template parts.”
Color, width, and style border block support
The Image block now supports all border controls, such as Color, Style, and Width. The new feature’s testing went well, with one contributor commenting:
“Great work getting this to the finish line @aaronrobertshaw! Tested with a few different block and classic themes, and all working nicely
Crop tools are working nicely in the editor with and without a custom border
Custom border color is working nicely in the editor and site editor
Image border in global styles works well”
Accessibility Enhancements
Gutenberg 13.8 includes cumulative accessibility improvements.
Among the fixes were the addition of tooltips and the correction of a mismatch between the visible text and the aria-label of the Toggle block inserter button.
Here are some of the enhancements:
- Update labeling, tooltips, and wrap with fieldset and legend in BorderControl.
- To query pagination arrows, add aria-hidden.
- Correct the labeling and semantics of the paragraph block from left to right.
- On the Toggle block inserter button, correct the mismatched label and visible text.
- Fix the block movers’ description text for horizontal movement.
- In the Add template modal, replace clickable div elements with buttons.
Codification Enhancements
The removal of React fragments from the Block Library is one improvement that SEOs will appreciate. It’s not a significant improvement. However, even small changes in the right direction are always welcome when it comes to code size.
Continued Incremental Change
WordPress Gutenberg 13.8 was one step in the editor’s steady run of incremental improvements. WordPress has shipped several Gutenberg releases since this one, so treat the features above as a snapshot rather than the current editor feature set – Viva Digital’s WordPress 7.0 coverage explains what has changed most recently.
