Block Editor Handbook

Welcome to the Block Editor Handbook.

The Block Editor is a modern paradigm for WordPress site building and publishing. It uses a modular system of blocks to compose and format content and is designed to create rich and flexible layouts for websites and digital products.

The Block Editor consists of several primary elements, as shown in the following figure:

Quick view of the Block Editor

The elements highlighted are:

  1. Inserter: A panel for inserting blocks into the content canvas
  2. Content canvas: The content editor, which holds content created with blocks
  3. Settings Panel A panel for configuring a block’s settings when selected or the settings of the post

Through the Block Editor, you create content modularly using blocks. Many blocks are available in WordPress by default, and you can also create your own.

A block is a discrete element such as a Paragraph, Heading, Media, or Embed. Each block is treated as a separate element with individual editing and format controls. When all these components are pieced together, they make up the content of the page or post, which is then stored in the WordPress database.

The Block Editor is the result of the work done on the Gutenberg project, which aims to revolutionize the WordPress editing experience.

Besides offering an enhanced editing experience through visual content creation tools, the Block Editor is also a powerful developer platform with a rich feature set of APIs that allow it to be manipulated and extended in countless ways.

This handbook is focused on block development and is divided into five major sections.

Further resources

This handbook should be considered the canonical resource for all things related to block development. However, there are other resources that can help you.

Are you in the right place?

The Block Editor Handbook is designed for those looking to create and develop for the Block Editor. However, it’s important to note that there are multiple other handbooks available within the Developer Resources that you may find beneficial: