As with most software development, you don’t need to start from scratch to create something of value for your customers or yourself.
This is especially true for WordPress block themes. The Create Block Theme plugin, available in the WordPress plugins repository, offers a straightforward way to build a new block theme — whether derived from an active theme or starting with a blank canvas.
This plugin uses the WordPress Site Editor’s capability as a theme-building tool, making it a powerful asset for theme developers. However, because it can make permanent changes to your site, we strongly recommend using it in a staging environment. If you’re a Kinsta user, setting up a staging environment for your site is quick and hassle-free.
As expected, this plugin is only compatible with block themes and won’t work for Classic themes. In this article, we explore the features of the Create Block Theme plugin and explain how to use it.
How to work with the Create Block Theme plugin
The Create Block Theme plugin offers two ways to access its features, depending on your preference and workflow:
You can either access the plugin’s settings through Appearance > Create Block Theme in the WordPress Admin dashboard.
Here, you will find a list of options, including saving changes to the current theme, creating new themes, or exporting themes. While this method is straightforward, it is limited in functionality compared to the Site Editor.
For the best experience, we recommend using the plugin within the WordPress Site Editor. By selecting the wrench icon in the Site Editor, you can unlock all the plugin’s features directly in a live editing environment. This integration allows you to preview and customize your changes seamlessly.
Exploring the Create Block Theme plugin features
The Create Block Theme plugin offers a robust set of features to help you build, customize, and export block themes efficiently. Let’s dive into each feature in detail:
1. Save changes to a theme
The concept and execution are quite simple. In the Site Editor, change your styles, templates, and patterns to the active theme, then save your work.
The Save Changes button is for saving what you wish to export, not the theme changes you have made, which can only be saved with the default Save button. Saved changes can always be rolled back using WordPress’s revisions tool (without requiring the plugin).
As seen above, you have eight options to consider if you wish to export the theme:
- Save Fonts
- Save Template Changes
- Process Only Modified Templates
- Save Synched Patterns
- Localise Text
- Localise Images
- Remove Navigation Refs
2. Create a theme variation
Although it may not be obvious at first glance, this option allows you to create not only a style variation but also a new color palette and/or a typeset (a collection of fonts that can be applied to text, links, headings, captions, and buttons).
In the example below, we’ve created a “My New Variation” style. To do this, at minimum, you must create a new color palette and typeset to be associated with the new style variation. Be advised you will only see the new variation here (with no changes to the default color palettes and typesets).
In the example below, we created a new color palette with two colors that can be applied to any style variation. The left side highlights the creation of two custom colors for the new color palette. The middle shows the saving process. The right side confirms the new custom color palette.
Finally, we created a new typeset here. A new font, Roboto, is added and then assigned to the text and heading elements (not shown).
The right side indicates the fonts being used for the new typeset, the middle shows the saving process, and the right side confirms the new typeset.
In short, you can create not just a complete style variation but a separate color palette and/or typeset, which can be applied to your theme any way you choose
3. Create a blank theme
If you want to start with a clean, design-agnostic theme, the Create Blank Theme option is the way to go. Its purpose is similar to the Underscores theme, which was popular with developers during the Classic era of WordPress theming.
Creating a Block theme generates a basic boilerplate theme. As expected, a blank theme will:
- Include only an index template.
- Have no style variations.
- Feature a single header and footer template part.
- Contain a minimalistic
theme.jsonfile. - Exclude a
functions.phpfile.
Unlike the Create New Theme or Create Style Variations options, this builds an entirely new theme which will be apparent once you see the Appearance page.
4. Export theme as zip
This is a handy feature of the plugin, as it is the most efficient way to migrate your active theme to a new site. The export function creates a standard theme zip file that can be used for another site.
What is the difference in exporting a theme this way compared with the export feature built into WordPress? None. This is just a very convenient way to export the active theme.
If you are not familiar with the built-in method of exporting an active theme, select the three-dot option in the upper right corner and locate the Export option.
5. Create a new theme
Let’s examine the two approaches offered by the plugin to create a new theme. As with the blank theme, themes created with this option will also appear on the Appearance > Themes page and will automatically become the active theme following creation.
No matter which option you choose – Clone a Theme or Create a Child Theme you will get the same choices as you saw for the Blank Theme.
Clone theme
Cloning a theme builds a duplicate of the saved changes to the active theme. Once you decide on the name of the clone theme, you can also set metadata for the theme as follows:
- Theme name
- Theme description
- Theme URI
- Author
- Author URI
- Minimum WordPress version
Create child theme
Creating a child theme provides developers with the proper way to make changes to a theme without altering its code.
Your choices of metadata are the same as in creating a clone theme.
6. Edit theme metadata
You can customize the metadata of your active theme directly through the plugin. Metadata fields you can update include:
- Theme Name: The name displayed in the WordPress theme manager.
- Theme Description: A brief description of your theme’s purpose or features.
- Theme URI: A URL pointing to the theme’s documentation or demo.
- Author: The name of the theme’s creator.
- Theme Version: The version number of the theme.
- Minimum WordPress Version: The earliest WordPress version compatible with the theme.
- Theme Tags: Keywords to categorize and describe your theme.
- Recommended Plugins: Plugins your theme depends on or enhances.
- Font Credits: Acknowledgments for any fonts used in your theme.
- Image Credits: Acknowledgments for any images used in your theme.
- Screenshot: The preview image displayed in the WordPress theme manager.
These fields are essential for making your theme professional and ready for distribution.
7. View theme.json
If you need a quick look at your theme.json file, the plugin provides a read-only view of your theme’s theme.json file. This file contains the global styles and settings for your theme, such as colors, typography, and layout configurations.
Reviewing this file allows you to quickly verify the customizations applied to your theme.
8. View custom styles
For child block themes, the theme.json file includes customizations that do not affect the parent theme. This ensures that the parent theme remains untouched while you implement specific changes in the child theme.
The interface for viewing these custom styles is the same as the one used for the parent theme’s theme.json file.
9. Reset theme
This option allows you to roll back changes made to your theme, including styles, templates, and template parts, to the state they were in at the last save operation.
For a more robust approach, you can use the WordPress Revisions function. This built-in feature provides a detailed history of your changes, allowing you to restore your theme to a previous state with precision.
Summary
If you are starting to develop a custom block theme, the Create Block Theme plugin is an ideal tool. It leverages all the capabilities of WordPress as a theme-building tool, making your theme faster.
As you work with the plugin, you will receive browser alerts to help you understand the steps you are about to take.
In essence, this plugin allows for a database-to-file system data transfer. As one makes changes to a theme, those changes are saved in the database. This plugin pulls those changes from the database and creates the files necessary for a new theme and/or for an export if needed.
As this plugin is in active development, you can expect enhancements but be on the lookout for potential breaking changes. When testing a particular feature, always use a staging environment. At Kinsta, we offer tools that make it easy for theme creators and developers to work with WordPress.
Try Kinsta today to discover how we can help you build amazing WordPress themes!
Bud Kraus has been working with WordPress as an in-class and online instructor, site developer, and content creator since 2009. He has produced instructional videos and written many articles for WordPress businesses.
