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[@jamiewp]

Comment from Elliot (that KZbin deleted) 'Oh, wow! Those stats are shocking!! When you take out the defaults it totally reveals the true stats right I'm totally on board with Mike McAlister too! With that lack of marketing and documentation, I think it's safe to say that syncing FSE with Gutenberg has been quite the rollercoaster ride until recently. It's like they've been chasing a moving target or pushing a rock uphill! But you know what, I kind of see the humor in it - the supporting documentation becoming outdated overnight could be a strategy in itself, keeping us on our toes! And don't even get me started on GitHub - the conversations and commits there are INSANE! It's like a bustling city that never sleeps. I've never seen so much activity and ever-changing source code in a repo before! I have to admit, without those email filters, I might have thrown in the towel and hit the unsubscribe button by now! But hey, it's all part of the fun, right? Now FSE and blocks are in a more stable place it will be facinating to watch how those stats change over time and what markers will relate to significant changes, I hope you are going to keep them as snapshots for charting later"

[@JustinTadlock]

The block theme stats aren't surprising. The Site Editor has literally only been out of beta for 4 months. When compared to an ecosystem that was built around classic theming over the past 18 years (themes were introduced in v1.5), that timeframe is really a drop in the bucket. That's something that's easy to overlook because those of us in the "inner community" have been neck-deep into this for much longer. If we're still under 10% block theme usage at this time next year, I might be a bit more surprised. One thing the stats (AFAIK) aren't looking at is hybrid themes (i.e., classic themes that adopt some block features). It'd be interesting to see what that growth looks like too. I wouldn't expect themers to abandon their current product lines entirely in a four-month timespan, but I would expect them to be opting into newer features.

[@jamiewp]

Great points J - it will be interesting to track (which I’ll be doing on this channel)

[@Hanneslsm]

Great summary, I'm looking forward to the interviews! I'm not fully agreeing what Kevin says, (we do not need sections or inner div elements) but let's wait for the full interview. Thanks Jamie!

[@jamiewp]

Yup agree - the interview is a really interesting watch 👍

[@realfingertrouble]

Yes I was ??? about the div comment....anyway I thought container blocks kind of did that - or indeed groups are a sort of div? But I can understand the frustration, I was like that coming from classic themes, there does need a lot more advanced/logic functions built in. Like Block Logic should be core, as should be mobile/desktop variants for eavh thing (I think that's coming?)....also I've seen themes include variable breakpoints for things, responsive design. That needs to be core.

[@jdccool]

Cheers, Jamie. Playing catchup (again) with your always informative, fun vids. Anyway, your comment about the learning curve issue with Blocks is spot on. I'll stick with Blocks, but it certainly tamps me down along with, apparently, many others. Ty for the great info.

[@jamiewp]

Cool, thanks for watching (again) :)

[@DeborahChapin]

I checked out the block themes because I'm going to get rid of woocommerce. It has a functional problem on AWS. But when I checked it out, there were actually no previews or use things available. They had just the one page showing some really basic things so it doesn't sell it to anybody. The people who are advertising their block things actually need to put in the work to make it Viewable to people on how it's going to look if they converted and that takes a little more work and apparently they're not wanting to do the work. Just saying you aren't going to convert people over to block themes when it's quite a lot of work to do a conversion unless you give a preview of how it will work . They do on the other themes. And also a complete conversion from a regular theme over means you're gonna be down time especially when you have over five or 600 products.

[@jamiewp]

Great points - fyi products will transfer seamlessly because both classic themes and block themes use the single product template

[@DeborahChapin]

@@jamiewp well right now I'm just transferring over all of my woocommerce to individual pages and a template layout that I have made and just cut and paste cut and paste Scott paste. It's slow going but I'll be done probably by the end of this month. And then I may give a block theme a try there's a couple problems with my site. I can't update the menus anyway so I created a totally new menu and using the block idea and then I got a page with no header and no footer.🤦‍♀️ it isn't ideal but it's back to the basics and it works. Wheel commerce just has screwed up so bad I think it has something to do with AWS incompatibility, but I don't really know and I don't have time to figure it all out. Thanks.

[@marcio-duarte]

Hey Jamie, do you have any updated stats about block theme adoption? It would be interesting to see how things have progressed since then.

[@jamiewp]

Here you go www.wp-data-dashboard.com/themes/tag/full-site-editing/stats/

[@marcio-duarte]

Thank you 🙏 ​@@jamiewp

[@ChuckReynolds]

just found this video via matt tweeting about your TC rebuild but... wondering if you couldn't link to the plugins you mention in the video... make it easier to find the exact stuff you're discussing in the video. Thanks man.

[@dennisvansoest134]

A problem in the comparison of the numbers is that removing the defaults seems more fair, but because block themes are so flexible the default theme can be the only theme one needs, as you have demonstrated multiple times on this channel

[@jamiewp]

That is a great point

[@clarebrody1]

I've heard of blocksy, kadence and ollie themes but which would be the easiest for someone starting out with WordPress that can edit easily? Thanks

[@jamiewp]

Probably Blocksy imo

[@m.ehtizan]

Hey Jamie, I just watched your video and I must say that it was really informative and well-made. I was wondering if I could help you edit your videos and also make highly engaging shorts out of them?

[@jamiewp]

Sure send some examples of your work 👍

[@NorthTonawanda1]

I can't wait to see the Kevin Geary interview, he's one interesting cat.

[@jamiewp]

Yes he is :) and it was a really interesting hour :)

[@pbwebd]

Is it released yet?

[@NorthTonawanda1]

@@pbwebd ---- I don't think so, I would have noticed, I think.

[@ItisNigel]

X3PO - Best breadcrumb out there. Thank you for mentioning it! 😀

[@jamiewp]

👍

[@ItisNigel]

@@jamiewp I like your work 😀 Please don't follow the trend of lots of arm/hand gesturing while talking and cursor circles when pointing something out on screen, and I'll stay subscribed!

[@HelenaDenley]

I try and use just the block editor, but because I'm also using Kadence, there are so many things in Kadence that I can do so easily that I can't in the straight block editor, it's easier just to stay with Kadence for now.

[@jamiewp]

Thanks Helen - it would be great to know some specific thing your require eg more mobile controls ?

[@HelenaDenley]

@@jamiewp Yes, mobile controls are one of the big ones

[@HelenaDenley]

Negative margins.

[@MarkConstable]

Hey @jamiewp, a request for a tutorial. How about setting up a fresh TT3 site and add only the Create Block Theme plugin then "Create blank theme" and show us the fundamentals of setting up a site with Header, Footer patterns and Pages and Index templates etc? I've tried a couple of times, and it's not easy or intuitive.

[@jamiewp]

Roger that M 👍

[@pdroms00]

Like button clicked. :)

[@jamiewp]

Thanks Bruno 👍

[@omerta3393]

We love gutenberg

[@jamiewp]

👍

[@inn8ly]

Interesting how folks are calling out the lack of a marketing strategy. Focus on the user and what they need is 101. When this is embraced and allowed to drive the development path block themes will take off.

[@jamiewp]

100% agree

[@elliottrichmondwp]

Wow, those stats are shocking! Removing the defaults reveals the true picture.

[@jamiewp]

Yes they are

[@LMLewis]

My concern is how to confidently change an existing classic theme to a block theme without accidentally destroying its functionality.

[@jamiewp]

That’s on my list to make a tutorial about soon

[@LMLewis]

@@jamiewp That's great to hear. Thank you.

[@abgportal]

Why are block themes viewed as having a steep learning curve? Is this because I already know code? I feel guilty using block themes as I'm cheating.

[@jamiewp]

I teach a block theme course and a beginners Wordpress course (using classic themes) and teaching beginners to use a classic theme is much much easier. I can literally demo the customiser and they are up and running within 10 minutes. With Block Themes there are so many new concepts to explain eg templates , template parts, patterns , blocks. I love block themes , but give them to a beginner and you’ll see what I mean 😬

[@abgportal]

@@jamiewp understandable but at the same time if you appreciate total control I love how a block theme gives me that. Plus I feel that websites need to be simpler in the future and a block theme with patterns makes that very easy. I am a developer though so maybe that is why.

[@jamiewp]

@@abgportal yes i agree with you, i love block themes

[@abgportal]

@@jamiewp I love ollie but found spectra too busy for me. Any other nice themes like ollie you could recommend. With my css and coding knowledge it's easy to solve any responsive issues that may arise but ollie is godlike at responsiveness. I'm amazed how many websites look like shit on a phone and yet that's where most are viewed from.

[@jamiewp]

@@abgportal I love Ana's designs here www.anarieldesign.com/ (some free themes, some pro themes)

[@realfingertrouble]

Does your active block themes research accidentally filter out child themes? Cos I think most if not all of my block themes might register as 2023 theme even though I've modded it, it's based on that theme. I supect I am not alone in using 2023 as a base theme like that, whcih might explain the 'low update' of non Automattic block themes...partly cos it's moving so fast, i'd rather have compatibility, danger of third party block themes becoming suddenly broken....

[@jamiewp]

Good point - I’m not 100% sure as the data is pulled from Wordpress.org api - will try fo check

[@leonardo_iann]

Hallo Jamie! =) When interview with Kevin? Can't wait

[@jamiewp]

Coming in the next 2 weeks :)

[@subtronik23]

If Guttenberg just added a few more intuitive ways to edit text instead of the total mess they've created, more people would use the clunky system. In classic editor you just bulk select text to change font etc in a couple of clicks. In Guttenberg you have to go paragraph by paragraph, and you're lucky if you even find the settings. Just one of many issues.

[@jamiewp]

Hi , you can multi select paragraphs now :)

[@Jack_Warner]

Those block themes certainly do require a steep learning curve. It would be easier to learn HTML and CSS to produce something half decent.

[@jamiewp]

That would make an interesting video

[@vaughanprint]

I must update my Gutenberg rating.. It's not that bad!

[@jamiewp]

👍

[@antonio.carreira]

It always amazes me how people can spend weeks learning Bricks or Elementor or whatever obscure page builder out there, but can't do the same with Gutenberg. Maybe it's because it's part of the core and it's supposed to be easy to use, but it's still a new editor and it comes with its own learning curve. Also, we tend to forget that Gutenberg is a replacement for the classic editor, not a page builder. We can use it to build websites, but its main goal is to allow end users to build more advanced content, and I must say it's brilliant at it. Kevin has a lot of interesting content out there, but it's impossible for me to watch it. I can't get past that all-american sales pitch tone, let alone the constant ranting about stuff he clearly doesn't get. Just watching that video intro makes me want to unsubscribe your channel for a week. :)

[@jamiewp]

Crikey don’t unsubscribe 🙏 I’m going make a video dispelling Gutenberg myths as there’s so much misinformation out there .

[@cwhyles]

The Geary fellow seems to not understand what block themes are for: the whole point is that divs and the rest should not be visible to the site or page designer. These days, code is written in high-level 5th generation languages, not the machine cod that I started with, even though that is still at the bottom of it all. But block themes are obviously still immature. They will get there, but I am using them, and apart from sometimes being confusing because of the lack of good documentation, Gutenberg et al is coming along beautifully. Your other contributor, who develops Ollie, clearly understands what is going on. But the best news in this video is the end of that awful AI voice that you have been using. Hooray! p.s. does anyone really want to see those stats? I skipped that lot.

[@jamiewp]

All good points - except the Ai comment (we all loved the Alan Rickman section right 😉)

[@realfingertrouble]

@@jamiewp I loved the Alan Rickman bit! FREE ALAN RICKMAN AI!