explaingit

wordpress/gutenberg

11,641JavaScriptAudience · developerComplexity · 3/5LicenseSetup · moderate

TLDR

Gutenberg is the visual block editor built into WordPress where every page element, paragraph, image, video, or layout section, is an independent block you can add, move, and arrange without writing HTML.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((Gutenberg))
    What it does
      Visual block editor
      WordPress content editing
      Drag and drop layout
    Tech stack
      JavaScript React
      PHP
      WordPress REST API
    Features
      Block library
      Real-time collaboration
      Site-wide customization
    Contribution
      Code design docs
      WordPress Slack
      Plugin directory
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Code map

Detail Auto

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filefunction / class

Things people build with this

USE CASE 1

Build a custom WordPress block that lets editors insert a styled pricing table or call-to-action without writing HTML.

USE CASE 2

Add a Gutenberg sidebar plugin that fetches data from an external API and displays it while editing a post.

USE CASE 3

Install the Gutenberg plugin from GitHub to access the latest block editor features before they land in WordPress core.

USE CASE 4

Contribute code, design, or documentation to the open-source WordPress block editor project.

Tech stack

JavaScriptReactPHPWordPress

Getting it running

Difficulty · moderate Time to first run · 30min

Requires a running WordPress installation, install the Gutenberg plugin from the directory or build from source with Node.js.

GPL-2.0, free to use and modify, but any distributed version must also be open-source under GPL-2.0.

In plain English

Gutenberg is the block editor for WordPress, the open-source content management system that powers a large portion of websites on the internet. Before Gutenberg, editing a WordPress post meant working with a plain text box and shortcodes to add images or special layouts. The block editor replaced that with a different model: every element on a page, whether a paragraph, an image, a heading, or a video, is its own independent block that can be added, moved, and arranged visually. The editor first shipped inside WordPress core in December 2018 and has been developed as a plugin since then, with the plugin version always running ahead of what ships in WordPress itself. Installing the Gutenberg plugin from the WordPress plugin directory gives you access to the latest features before they land in core. The project is structured as a four-phase effort. The first phase was the editing experience (the block editor itself). The second phase, which is the current focus, covers collaboration features including real-time co-editing, revision history, publishing workflows, and admin design updates. Future phases will address site-wide customization and multilingual support. Developers can extend the editor by writing custom blocks or modifying existing ones using JavaScript and the APIs provided by the plugin. Documentation for block development lives in the Block Editor Handbook on the WordPress developer site. The codebase is open-source under GPL-2.0 and accepts contributions from anyone. Contribution types include code, design, documentation, and bug triage. Discussion happens in the #core-editor channel on the WordPress Slack workspace.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
Write a minimal custom Gutenberg block in JavaScript that renders a call-to-action box with an editable heading and button text.
Prompt 2
How do I register a custom block category in Gutenberg and add my blocks to it instead of the default categories?
Prompt 3
I want a Gutenberg sidebar plugin that fetches posts from a REST API and displays them while the editor is open, show me the SlotFill or PluginSidebar approach.
Prompt 4
Help me set up a local WordPress development environment to install the Gutenberg plugin from this GitHub repo and test my custom blocks.
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