Gutenberg 7.8 arrived on March 25th. Block UI redesign was the main highlighting point of this update. It also includes an official API to register custom block patterns for themes and plugins. This release doesn’t bring any big changes that we’ve seen in previous versions. Gutenberg 7.8 update is a compilation of new smaller enhancements.

This update brings over 10 enhancements to the plugin. Also packed with over 20 bug fixes and a couple of new APIs and many other experiments, documentation and more details. Check out the official announcements for more detailed information about the update.

There are also some exciting new features included in the current version of the Gutenberg plugin. As an always-on display of media URL, now its easier to add patterns, a few polished icons and more.

Block UI Redesign

The team started updating and improving the Block UI in Gutenberg 7.7. Now in this update, there are working even further improving the design of the plugin. The design team fine-tuned the icons of the block editor.

You will find in this version that the post preview button has been updated. And I think this is one of the most important updates. Because there was a “Desktop” button in the previous version of the Gutenberg. It was very confusing. And after clicking the “Desktop” button, the desktop, tablet, or mobile mode was displayed. And now the team took the right action by changing the text “Desktop” to the “Preview.” Now it’s no longer confusing.

As of now, the plugin looks good and we’re eager to see what the future versions of the plugin will bring.

API for Custom Block Patterns

The block pattern is an exciting feature. And it’s also a very important one. This will allow developers and users to create their own custom block patterns.

Plugin and theme developers can define the settings for custom blocks pattern. The Gutenberg team included a simple PHP function for developers to register custom patterns called register_pattern() .

You can use this feature to create any type of custom block pattern. Open the editor and create a unique set of blocks that you like. Switch to the code editor and copy the code. Then you can register the pattern via PHP and paste the copied code. This process is simple and doesn’t include any actual coding in this process. There will be more and more creative designs coming from the plugin and theme developers.

Performance Tests

Compared to Gutenberg 7.7, the loading time of this latest version has risen slightly from 5134 milliseconds to 5193 milliseconds. And the duration of the keypress event increased from 22.79 milliseconds to 23.05 milliseconds. This was tested at a post containing 36,000 words and 1,000 lines.

To learn more about the Bug Fixes, New APIs, Enhancements, Experiments, Documentation. Please check out the official announcement.

The plugin is making some significant new changes and I’d love to see more of it in the upcoming updates. I love the current features that it has, and I would also like to see more of them. The design is improving and it’s great to see.

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