Site Editor & Templates Roadmap #41241
Description
The largest amount of work is around clarifying the user experience of editing global concepts (styles, templates, navigation) from specific site content. To address some of these issues a few explorations are underway:
- Introduce "Browser" and surface main navigation UI #36667
- Add a shortcut for template browsing #37001 (Needs discussion.)
- Removing beta label from Site Editor tracking issue #39293
This is connected with the introduction of a view mode that allows the user to navigate around the site instead of selecting blocks:
Finally, we need to introduce a better loading flow for the site editor to avoid waterfall effects and the feeling of fragility.
Creating Templates & Parts
Expanding the ability to create and manage templates is also a crucial component.
- [Site Editor]: Add fallback template content on creation #42520
⚠️ - Expand the types of templates that can be added in the Site Editor #37407
⚠️ - Creating a template: Present the user with initial block configuration options #41060
- Template Part replacement modal – make results searchable #40791
⚠️ - Proposal: robust permissions system for FSE theme templates #27597
- When creating a template for a specific entry, ask the user if they'd like to apply the template immediately #42088
- When creating a template for a specific entry, load that entries data into edit template view #41947
- Consider not auto-publishing new templates #42130
Interface
- Details View → Template Part #50392
- Enhance Template Inspector #36951
- Double clicking on a pattern in zoomed out view should go into focus mode #44710
- Make it possible to edit template part properties in focus mode #37220
- Add "Clear customisations" template action to other views #36303
- Template part: Remove transform options #29296.
- Template part: Area selection UI #29295.
- Template Part: Swap 'Edit' and 'Replace' action placement #41437.
- Inconsistent text case when displaying template part names #34737.
- When creating a template for a specific entry, load that entries data into edit template view #41947.
- Colorise template parts and reusable blocks in the UI #32163
- Expose existing Template Parts in the Inserter #31748
- Template editing: List existing template parts in the Inserter Patterns tab #41399
- Inspector should display template part name #42154
- Canvas height in focus mode should wrap document contents #42226
- FSE: Most site building blocks need previews and placeholders #30029
Editing Flows
This includes the perspective of editing templates from the post-editor.
- Edit Site: Spinning up a variation on any given template #19259
- Post editor: Provide a way to view the template while editing a post #27847
- Site Editing: Restrict block editing capabilities based on editing context #27848
- Provide a more visual template selection process in the post editor #41258
- When creating a template in the post editor, ask the user whether it should be $custom or specific (page-$slug) #41257
- Post editor: Template panel should adapt when explicit template exists #41452
- Template panel: "Default template" can be a confusing option label #41449
- Template Editing: make content edit-ability consistent #42767
- Make focus mode accessible from the template editor #40184
- Site Editor: consider adding an option to clone an existing template when creating a new one #48377
wp-admin
We can begin to provide access to template editing from existing wp-admin management views
- Enabling Gutenberg in WP categories #17099
- When a block theme is active, provide a link to edit the post template from the posts list #41714
- When a block theme is active, provide a link to edit the category template from the category list #41715
- When a block theme is active, provide a link to edit the page template from the pages list #41716