If you didn’t try to create your own block patterns without knowing how to program, you’ll no longer have an excuse because there are several plugins that make creating block patterns something trivial.
It’s not that there are many of them, and I’m already telling you that they are very similar, almost the same in their operation, although with nuances, sometimes important.
Anyway, this situation will change soon, because in nothing surely the current collections of blocks, themes and who knows what else, will begin to offer elaborate block patterns. In fact, WordPress itself already offers several by default. This is the future.
So, let’s see what we have…
Block Pattern Builder
This plugin, created by Justin Tadlock, offers a simple interface for creating block patterns, just like you would create a new entry or page.
To do this, once the plugin is activated, just go to the new administration menu called “Block Patterns” and create your own.
Doing so is no mystery, it’s the WordPress editor, you simply create the pattern like you would a page or an entry, adding blocks of whatever you want.
When you are done you publish the pattern and you can use it in the WordPress editor, as it will appear in the block inserter, in the pattern section, without category.
Easy, isnt it?
Custom Block Patterns
This other plugin works exactly the same as the previous one, but exactly, there is no difference.
Well yes, two:
Although I have translated all the plugins I am talking about before writing this guide, in this one for some reason it doesn’t work.
In the inserter the patterns appear in their own section called “Custom Block Patterns” instead of the generic uncategorized one.
The rest is the same, as you can see in these screenshots:
BlockMeister Block Pattern Builder
This other plugin, although it seems to be the same as the previous ones as soon as it is installed, it is not really like that, because it has several extras that put it ahead.
In principle you have the pattern list and pattern editor, just like the others.
But the magic is in the details, because if you look at the pattern editor, there are some adjustments you can make, several of them important.
And I mean you can …
- Add the patterns to existing pattern categories or create new ones.
- Define the pattern name, slug and description.
- Define the viewport width, to specify the maximum width to be displayed in the pattern inserter.
- Add keywords, to make it easier to find the pattern in the pattern inserter.
Some options you may need or not, but just being able to organize them in categories already makes an important difference compared to the rest of the plugins seen before.
Reusable Blocks Extended
This one is a little different, as it is based on extending the default functionality of the reusable blocks of the WordPress editor.
The editor of, in this case, reusable blocks is not different from the others, it is the WordPress editor of reusable blocks.
Where you will really see important changes is in the list of reusable blocks, with their own menu.
As you will see in the elements I have highlighted in the screenshot, apart from creating new reusable blocks, you can import previously exported blocks as a JSON file.
But you can also convert reusable blocks that you have already created into block patterns with a single click and, once created, insert them into your entries or pages, not as reusable blocks, but as patterns, from the editor’s inserter, or if you prefer with a shortcode, or even directly into the theme using a PHP function.
Also, very useful, you can preview the patterns.
Its main peculiarity, in my opinion, is that…
- You create block patterns like with all other plugins, but in addition …
- You can use it simply as quick access to the interface to easily create reusable blocks, if you don’t like patterns.
- Although the patterns you create from the plugin are not maintained if you disable the plugin, this is not the case with the reusable blocks, which you can continue to use even if you uninstall the plugin.
- Since they are standard reusable blocks, you can export them as a JSON file, and then use them in any installation, or even create your own block pattern plugin.
Use reusable blocks
Of course, if you prefer not to use plugins or make your own patterns as plugins, you can always just skip the patterns and create your reusable blocks.
You can export and import reusable blocks for use in any installation, and even create them from your own editor, already integrated into WordPress.
The only differences that the previous plugin brings is the menu of reusable blocks, but you can do that too, and its use as a shortcode or PHP function, or the preview, here it does bring something.
So, if you manage to do well with reusable blocks, the block patterns are really just an improvement of these, with the possibility of creating plugins, including them in themes, those things that we’re going to see in legion in the next months.
But if you want to start creating pattern blocks, and get into the immediate future of WordPress, you know how to do it:
- Creating your own pattern block plugin without knowing how to program.
- Creating Pattern Blocks with Plugins as explained here.
Read this post in Spanish: Crea tus propios patrones de bloques sin una línea de código
