In Fall 2023, KPU WordPress will be receiving an update from version 5.9 to 6.3.1. This upgrade brings significant improvements to the navigation and editing functionalities of both existing and future WordPress sites. To simplify these changes, it is impossible to identify every new feature. Hence, we have purposefully selected to address only features which we think will be beneficial to our current WordPress users. 


Dashboard


The cleaned up dashboard will provide only necessary relevant information. This provides a much cleaner interface and less confusion, especially to new users of the platform. 


Blocks


Blocks is a new way to customize your site's content and appearance. They provide the ability to add and edit text, images, change design, theme elements, and widgets. 

There are over 90 default blocks and depending on the theme selected, you may have additional blocks which adds additional functionality to your page.


The new blocks editor allows for a much more fluid content building experience in comparison to the old WordPress editor which focused more on text editing with no visual elements. The new editor allows you to alter the page layout seamlessly. 


The ease of use have greatly increased. For example, embedding a YouTube video is simply adding an external media block and copy/paste the video URL. 


Reusable Blocks / Synced Pattern


This feature allows you to save pre-customized block for future use, saving you time from recreating the content from scratch. This also promotes consistency in your content creation process. 


Lock Blocks


There may be times when it would be good to keep blocks from being deleted or moved around. Especially, when the site is shared and is collaborative in nature with other users or when your site is a showcase to others who might have editing access. This feature allows the creator to lock any blocks from being deleted or moved around easily. 


This is particularly useful for collaborative work when more than one person is working on a site. You can prevent the deletion or moving of the block. However, this feature does NOT lock the editing of your content. Essentially it helps preserve a design or work you have created.


Additional Resource: https://www.godaddy.com/resources/skills/configure-client-access-with-block-locking-in-wordpress



Patterns


Ease of use is the focus for patterns. As the name states, patterns provide a template of layouts that could be used in your content. The number of patterns available is dependent on the theme selected. Selected patterns are then added as blocks which can then be customized to match the appearance of your site.




Openverse

Open licensed media content can now be easily searched and inserted into your editor. The open-source search engine searches over 600 million creative common and public domain image and audio files. All of the content is under a Creative Commons license or is in the public domain




View Modes


We understand that it may be hard to focus with so many buttons and settings on screen. This upgrade brings in a variety of tools to support you in the creation journey. This includes spotlight mode, fullscreen mode, and distraction free mode. 


  • Spotlight mode help focuses one block at a time when you are editing.
  • Fullscreen mode shows/hides the left admin panel.
  • Distraction free mode hides everything and only shows the editor. (We've noticed that when you enable distraction free mode, you may not know how to get out of it. The shortcut key is "Ctrl+Shift+\" )



Theme Selection


Selecting a theme is important as each theme has its own customization capabilities, allowing for different use cases. We have broken down the types of themes based on common scenarios and use cases. You may choose to use these as guidelines to begin your exploration. 


In this upgrade, there will be new default themes. Twenty-Twenty Two and Twenty-Twenty Three. These default themes introduced are significantly different than previous default themes in that they use the block editor in more extent allowing you to change page styles, colours, typography without the need of additional plugins or the use of a specific themes. The new default theme also allows you to further customize your site with several page layouts and page styles.


Additional Resource: https://webdesign.tutsplus.com/features-of-the-twenty-twenty-three-wordpress-theme-you-need-to-know--cms-106713a



Templates


Sometimes you may not know where to begin with a blank canvas. In such case, we have developed templates that have a bare bone structure for different uses (i.e. building course sites, writing blogs, creating a eportfolio, displaying image galleries, and a community site for sharing of resources and building a website)

If you wish to install and use any of the templates, please create a request on the IT/T&L Service Portal.