The Core Development Team released the latest Gutenberg 8.1 on Wednesday, May 14. It comes with some new features like Pattern Search, Testimonials Block Pattern, New Transforms, Add Copy Action to Blocks. Also, there are more enhancements, performance changes, bug fixes, API changes included in this release. This latest version does not make several significant user-facing improvements but does improve the overall experience.
The update featured two dozen bug fixes and almost as many changes. This release feels more like a strong update that fixes loads of minor items and nit-picks, including adding black and white colors to the default color palette. The ability to paste a document into the input of the post title, which is turned into proper blocks, also works great.
If you follow along with the Gutenberg plugin, there are some definite improvements to look forward to in this update, particularly around the characteristic of block patterns.
Copy Block Action
The toolbar of the editor now has a copy button, allowing end-users to copy one or more blocks by clicking a button. It’s hidden under the drop-down menu “more rich-text controls.”
To use the new copy feature, simply select the block or blocks that you wish to copy. Then select button to copy. The block can be pinned back into the editor from that point on.
Copying a block also creates the HTML for theme creators, feature developers, or anyone who wants to share the code for a block that can be pasted into a text editor. No more switching to the code view of the editor and hunting down the HTML you want to copy.
Testimonials block pattern
The new pattern brings a total of eight into the patterns library. It’s not clear what trends will begin when the feature lands in the core of WordPress. It is still under significant progress and is experimental.
The Testimonials Pattern is one of the more complex trends developed by the team. It is a combination of groups, columns, pictures, and paragraphs. There are six levels deep within the blocks at points.
Inserter UI Adds Search and Titles
After clicking on the patterns tab, the search box switches from searching for blocks to patterns. The one issue is the search label, and in both instances, the placeholder reads “Search for a block”. Instead, when searching patterns we would read “Search for a pattern”.
Typing /testimonials would provide users with the option to insert the new pattern of Testimonials without clicking on the inserter.
Developers: Block API Patterns Changes
The method of registering and unregistering patterns of the Block Patterns API has changed. In previous versions, the developers used the registre_pattern() and unregister_pattern() functions. They’ve been deprecated. Starting with 8.1.0, developers should update their code to use the register_block_pattern() and unregister_block_pattern() functions.
However, this kind of API change, even on an experimental feature, is one of the many things that frustrates the developers who are trying to keep up with the project. It’s particularly frustrating when the discussion was initially opened when the feature was first merged. And it’s hard to name things. It’s one of the hardest things to do in programming, but good naming schemes can also be the difference between great software and poor software. Careful thought and thorough explanation should be given when these issues appear in the tickets.
Performance Tests
Compared to Gutenberg 8.0, the loading time of this latest version has improved greatly from 13.30 seconds to 10.88 seconds. However, the duration of the keypress event slightly increased from 42.97 milliseconds to 43.61 milliseconds. Performed on a post containing 36,000 words and 1,000 lines.
For more details on the Bug Fixes, New APIs, Enhancements, Experiments, Documentation. Please check out the official announcement.
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