Like it or not, WordPress Gutenberg aka the block editor is here to stay. The Gutenberg editor was released in version 5.0 to a lukewarm response. Millions of WordPress users still prefer the classic editor as is evident from the 5 million+ downloads of the classic editor plugin.
However, you should remember that the block editor is improving with every release and newer features are being added continuously with the ultimate objective of enabling full-site editing in WordPress using the block editor.
On the other hand, WordPress block themes for full site editing are just taking off. They are still not wildly popular since the block editor is not a very user-friendly editor when compared to established page builders like Elementor, Divi, Beaver, etc.
What are WordPress block themes?
Block-based themes make use of the WordPress block editor to enable full-site editing (FSE) experience. You are no longer limited by the theme features. Rather you can, in theory, customize every aspect of your website with the help of Gutenberg blocks.
They differ from the conventional themes that merely support the block editor and block-based plugins but do not allow full site editing using the block editor presently.
Till now, the WordPress block themes required the Gutenberg plugin to work but after the integration of FSE into the WordPress core with the release of version 5.9, the plugin is no longer required.
Rather when you switch to a block theme, the familiar Customizer is replaced with the Editor panel under the Appearance menu.
Block-based themes also offer one distinct advantage over conventional themes: performance.
Since the block editor is part of the WordPress core, using blocks to create and style your website adds minimal CSS overhead when compared to the CSS added by the popular WordPress page builders.
The second advantage is flexibility. Until the release of WordPress 5.9, you could not edit your theme’s template files unless you were a developer. But now, you can edit any template of a block theme like the header, footer, post, or page.
What’s more, you can have complete control over the styles including the colors, typography, and layout.
That’s why you should take a peek at the 12 block WordPress themes that I have listed on this page.
How to choose a block theme?
Before you check out the block themes, you should know how to select one. From the Appearance menu, select Themes and then click the Feature Filter tab. Here you can select multiple checkboxes depending on the features you want in a theme.
Since we are interested in a full site editing theme, I have selected just that check box. Now you can easily select any theme that supports full site editing.
1. Twenty Twenty-Two
Twenty Twenty-Two is the first official and default WordPress block theme that was shipped with WordPress 5.9. On activating the theme, the Customizer makes way for the Editor panel.
In the Site Editor, you can edit any template like the Home, Header, Footer, Archive, etc. You can play around with the styles settings like colors, typography and layout.
The interesting part is that you can edit the style settings for individual blocks from the Editor.
You can easily jump between the Site, Template, and Template Parts settings from the Editor.
I was impressed with the Template Parts feature as it lets us create custom templates like a header, footer, or a call to action (CTA).
Finally, I should mention a bit about the Block Patterns that you can access while creating or editing a post. Patterns are ready-to-use templates that you can customize as per need.
There are patterns available under different categories like header, footer, pages, buttons, gallery, etc. Let your creativity go wild.
2. Blockbase
Blockbase by Automattic is an experimental full-site editing theme. Once you activate Blockbase, you will notice the Site Editor tab which opens the full-site editor.
You can edit different templates with the help of the site editor, including, the Index template, Front Page template, Singular template, 404-page template, and Search page template.
You can change the complete layout of the post or page by editing the Singular template. There are useful dynamic elements to play around with like Post Title, Post Content, Post Author, Post Date, etc.
The best part is that you can add pre-defined block patterns to your pages and then further customize them according to your needs.
Blockbase also allows users to add Template Parts like header, footer, sidebar, etc. to the content and save your custom template parts. Think of template parts like sections or patterns to be reused multiple times.
The templates and template parts created by you are available under the Appearance menu within the WordPress dashboard.
There is also a child theme of Blockbase called the Mayland (Blocks) theme that has been recently released by Automattic.
3. Frost
Frost is a WordPress block theme created by celebrated designer Brian Gardner of Genesis themes fame. So you can expect high-quality coding standards with Frost WP.
Earlier the theme was premium-only but after being acquired by WP Engine, Frost is available for free download from its homepage.
Frost has something for everyone – designers, developers, and creators. It offers a mindboggling variety of block patterns like Call-to-Action, Header section, Featured boxes, Pricing table, Testimonials, etc.
You can customize each pattern block to its fullest extent. With the help of these patterns, you can create unlimited website designs. I highly recommend that you try out the Frost block theme if you’re just starting out with full site editing.
GeneratePress
Although this is a post about WordPress block themes, I should share a non-native block theme, used to design PassionWP, that is versatile, fast, and feature-rich.
GeneratePress, which is one of the most popular WordPress themes, does not make use of the Gutenberg plugin to deliver a fantastic block-building experience. Rather, you should use the GenerateBlocks plugin (from the same developer) to take full advantage of this block theme.
PassionWP is designed using the combination of GeneratePress and GenerateBlocks, so I recommend this theme from my first-hand experience.
You can build any type of layout and customize every aspect of your website with this theme and the GenerateBlocks plugin. For more details, go through my detailed GeneratePress theme review and also understand the difference between the free and premium features of GeneratePress.
4. Naledi
Naledi by Anariel Design is another experimental full-site editing WordPress block theme. It works exactly the same way as Blockbase except that it offers few more templates to play around with.
Also, the default homepage template has been nicely designed and you should experience greater fun in customizing the theme template.
5. Tove
Tove is a beautiful WordPress block theme created by celebrated designer Anders Noren. Although it has been designed with restaurants and coffee shops in mind, you can easily customize the theme for your needs.
I liked the expansive layout which combined with the large typography makes the content stand out and easy to read.
6. Armando
Armando has been created by Carolina Nymark especially for blogs and sports teams. It includes a host of templates like About, News, Sidebar, Testimonials, and Tours.
Apart from this, you can edit the blog pages and posts directly from the Site Editor navigation panel.
7. Hansen
Hansen by uxl is the most popular block-based theme currently with 200+ active installations.
Hansen offers the highest number of page templates and block patterns of all the block themes mentioned on this page.
8. Ona
Ona by DeoThemes is arguably the most beautiful full site editing theme for WordPress. The header is attractively designed and the theme follows a minimalist design philosophy.
As with other FSE themes, you can edit the different theme templates to customize your website just the way you want.
9. Wabi
Wabi by Rich Tabor is a full site editing theme for writers and publishers. What differentiates Wabi from other block themes is the accent color feature for each post you create.
The accent color feature enables writers to pick a different page title background color making it stand out from other pages or posts. The focus of this theme is on a minimalistic layout that writers will instantly take a liking to.
If you’re a writer, you should surely check out this theme.
Other WordPress block themes
There are a handful of other block-based themes that allow full-site editing on an experimental basis that are worth mentioning.
- Q theme by Ari Stathopoulos
- Block-based Bosco theme by Frank Klein
- Pacer theme by Enovetor
WordPress Block Themes: Conclusion
Full site editing is a truly breakthrough feature in WordPress development. Block theming has come a long way since two years back when users cast serious doubts over the robustness of the block editor.
But that is the past. The future belongs to WordPress block themes.
The fortunes of WordPress block themes, in turn, are tied up with the development of the Gutenberg editor.
As the WordPress development team irons out the inconsistencies in the block editor and introduces newer features, patterns, and blocks, it will be used more extensively by novice WordPress users. That’s when the block-based themes will really take off for good. Until then, keep experimenting.
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Hey Trishan.
This is wonderful. I’m eager to explore blocks building and themes building with blocks (which is what this sounds like).
I normally use Divi, which is incredible so far as builder goes, but has some issues as a regular theme. And Kadence seems very flexible. However it seems native WP tools will be a key to speedy websites, and certainly over time Gutenberg and other aspects will get more and more capable.
I intend to start exploring Twenty Twenty One theme, Gutenberg and themes like these much more as I see them as the future, and sadly I am not confident Divi will fix their frustrating theme holes (author box not created automatically for example on blog posts, must use theme builder to add it).
Anyway cheers for this article.
Hello Mike,
I am just as excited about block-based themes as you are. Page builders are great for design but slow down page load and since page speed matters more than ever now, block-based themes are the perfect solution to this design vs performance dilemma.
I am using GeneratePress Premium to create everything on this site using WordPress blocks and I really feel this is the way forward.
Cheers.
Thanks for the tip. I will look into this GeneratePress Premium. First I’ll continue to explore Twenty Twenty One and plugins that work with modifying the layout (like Twentig which is dope so far in my experiments).
Also expecting July update to WP 5.8 will be interesting to see what features are arriving.
Cheers and keep up the good work.
Mike
Hey Mike,
Thanks for your insight, but I’d like to point out something which is not apparent from your article. GeneratePress Free theme is as of now not a block theme. It still uses a customizer and does not support full site editing (perhaps that is only part of the premium version). Similarly, the other wide used themes like Astra or Kadence are still not yet in the block theme game. I would also recommend checking out Aino theme in combination with Aino blocks. That could be right now a good alternative to GP as it also comes up with Grid blocks for some advanced styling and interesting set of patterns.
You’re absolutely right. Although GeneratePress does give you a way to build your entire theme with blocks, it does NOT do so using the Full Site Editor. It has its own home-cooked mechanism. Glad you pointed this out.
Hi,
Yes, I am aware of this. I have clarified further that GeneratePress is a non-native block theme which is nonetheless very useful to create a block-based design. Also, I have added GeneratePress as a featured theme and not part of the 12 block-based themes listed on the page. I hope this is sufficient.
Appreciate and thank you for this, i hear much about FSE and untill now still dont want to touch that.
Now i am pretty confidence to start learning
Hello,
Also I have tried Kemet WordPress Block theme, it has different options, sticky header, sticky footer and more design options with awesome patterns.
Thanks,
Hello Trishan,
You have a nice collection of Block themes. Check out our new Block theme “Catch FSE” https://wordpress.org/themes/catch-fse/
Thanks.
Thanks for the heads up. I will include it in my roundup later on.
NIce and useful blog. It also help me to know about wordpress theme for writing content in my blog. Thanks for sharing this valuable information.
Thanks for your insight, but I’d like to point out something which is not apparent from your article. GeneratePress Free theme is as of now not a block theme. It still uses a customizer and does not support full site editing (perhaps that is only part of the premium version). Similarly, the other wide used themes like Astra or Kadence are still not yet in the block theme game. I would also recommend checking out Aino theme in combination with Aino blocks. That could be right now a good alternative to GP as it also comes up with Grid blocks for some advanced styling and interesting set of patterns.
Hey Trishan,
You’ve done a great job on putting some best block themes together.
We have also recently launched a block theme called GroundWP (https://wordpress.org/themes/groundwp/).
If you get a chance, give it a try.
Thanks