Ever worked really hard on a new post for your WordPress website but been disappointed with how it looks?
You wish you could make your lists stand out with cool bullet points, display a section of information in columns, or add a slick looking info box in the middle of your post.
Without being an HTML/CSS wizard, though, you're limited to any features built into your WordPress theme.
UNLESS....you're using WordPress Gutenberg AND you add this plugin (don't worry - it's FREE!):
This plugin has been out for almost a year yet I've just come across it.
I didn't like the look of a recent post I'd published. I'd added images to dress things up but I didn't like how my bullet points looked and I really wanted a better looking table of contents.
Rather than modify my theme's CSS (yet again) I went on the hunt for a plugin.
If you're already using this one then you know why it's such a gem!
I added it to my website and I am in heaven. Not only did it solve the couple of formatting issues I wanted to fix but I was surprised at what else I could do with this plugin.
If you have been afraid to switch over to WordPress Gutenberg this one plugin may convince you that it's time!
When using Gutenberg you build your post using "blocks". It takes some getting used to but once you're comfortable you can create better looking posts more quickly.
When you want to add some text to your post you just click and add a Paragraph block. Want to add an image? Add an Image block.
Each block has options on the right sidebar and in the block toolbar to help with formatting.
You can move blocks around, too, which is a lifesaver if you've ever needed to completely rearrange the order of your post content.
I had just done a "best" post and found I needed to change the rankings of my top 5 products in the post.
With the old WordPress editor that would have meant a lot of cutting and pasting to get things in order. With Gutenberg, I can just click the up and down arrows for any block to move it into a new position.
This plugin adds MORE blocks to the core set from WordPress. (We should have known some tech geniuses would find a way to make good use of Gutenberg's flexibility!)
With this plugin you can add customized:
- Table of Contents wherever you want inside your post
- Columns
- Lists with over 1000 icons you can use as your bullet point (and you can change the size and color of these icons)
- Pre-formatted testimonials
- Team member images and information
- Buttons
- Calls to action
- Block quotes
And more - in fact, I don't think the plugin page is showing the full list of blocks that are included.
I am using this plugin on the most current version of WordPress and it has proven compatible with the free Magazine Basic theme.
You'll want to test it out with whatever theme you're using to make sure it works but it is supposed to be compatible with most themes.
It also has NOT slowed down my website. Yay!
Now, it's not completely flawless. I have had one or two issues but they were really small.
First, I couldn't see the new blocks in an existing WordPress post until I went into the plugin settings and activated all the blocks even though they were already showing as active.
Second, when I've changed something in my post that caused a change to the items showing in the table of contents block the block has sometimes shown an error message. However, if I just click on the edit option for that block and choose to create a duplicate, the duplicate block works just fine and includes my changes. I then just remove the old
block.
This has been a huge time saver for me. I also love what I've been able to add to my posts to improve their appearance so I had to share. I hope it will help a few of you, too!
Thanks!
Sincerely,
Erica
erica@extremereviewer.com
