The newest version of Gutenberg editor, Gutenberg 18.1, was released yesterday with an array of refinements and bug fixes in it.
With more than 150 pull requests (PRs), Gutenberg 18.1 is packed with amazing features and bug fixes to suit all tastes. There are new pattern and template part insertion functionality, site backgrounds in global styles, accessibility, and performance improvements available.
The documentation and code quality enhancements will be pleased to learn that their favorite PRs make up almost a third of the total number in this release!
As always, a big thank you goes out to all who contributed, with special gratitude to first-time contributors. Great work!
In this issue:
- Set site background images in the Site Editor
- See more with data views
- Pattern schema and insertion
- Swap and edit template parts
- Other notable highlights
- Changelog
- First-time contributors
- Contributors
Set site background images in the Site Editor
Version 18.1 extends background image support to top-level global styles in the Site Editor, which means you can add custom background images and photos to sites. Images can be set to repeat, or be displayed as contain or cover backgrounds. (#59454)
And for those wondering — yes, as well as regular images, looping animated gifs will also work.
See more with data views
Whether it’s sorting or searching your patterns in grid and table layouts (#60337), or filtering and previewing all of your site pages (#59950), version 18.1 brings further design consistency to configurable admin views, not to mention quicker access and management of site assets.
Alongside the continuous integration into Block Editor workflows, data views have undergone improvements to accessibility and keyboard navigation (#59637).
Pattern schema and insertion
Pattern insertion gets an upgrade in the latest version of Gutenberg. The editor canvas will zoom out when browsing and inserting patterns using the block inserter, allowing a greater overview of how your patterns appear alongside the rest of your site’s content. (#59775)
Patterns are a powerful way to define design assets with configurable content. You can now give your patterns a “schema” by naming blocks that are overridable in all instances of those patterns. Users of your patterns will be able to see exactly which blocks are editable via a handy list in the sidebar. (#59977).
Swap and edit template parts
When editing your site’s templates, you can select template parts and immediately view alternative designs for that template part in the sidebar. Want to replace your footer design? Click on your template’s footer and select a new one from the available designs. Voilà! (#60203)
Gutenberg has long had an option to preview a page’s template when editing that page. 18.1 lets you select and edit a page’s important template parts, such as the header and footer. To do so, click on a template part, then hit “Edit” in the toolbar. (#60010)
Other notable highlights
The editor displays a confirmation modal before clearing template customizations. (#60119)
You can collapse non-selected items in the list view using a handy new keyboard shortcut (Option-L on Mac, or Alt-L on Windows). (#59978).
Know more about the Gutenberg 18.1 update here.
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