WordPress Block Theme Basics for Bloggers

The first time I switched to a Block Theme, it felt like moving from rearranging furniture to remodeling the whole house. Suddenly, my header, footer, blog layout, and typography were all editable in the same place. No child theme, no mystery “where is that setting?” moments (well, fewer of them).

If you’re a blogger, WordPress block themes can be a breath of fresh air because you can shape your site with Visual Editing, the same way you build a post with the WordPress Block Editor. In this guide, I’ll walk through the Site Editor basics, where things live in the menu, and the exact tasks I use to set up a clean, readable blog without breaking anything.

How block themes work (and where everything lives)

With a block theme, WordPress treats your whole site like a stack of building blocks through Full Site Editing. Posts are still posts, but the parts around them (like the header, footer, and blog archives) follow the Template Hierarchy and are also made of blocks.

Here’s where I spend most of my time:

• Appearance → Editor: This is the Site Editor (sometimes labeled “Editor” or “Design”, depending on your theme and WordPress version).
• Styles: Your global design settings (fonts, colors, spacing, button styles).
• Templates: Layouts for pages like Single Post, Page, Search, 404, and Archives.
• Template Parts: Reusable sections like Header, Footer, and sometimes Sidebar.

If you used the Customizer for years, this is the mental shift: in a block theme, many “theme options” moved into the Site Editor. Also, Navigation Menus live inside the Navigation block, not in a separate menu screen (although you may still see classic menu screens in some setups).

To get oriented fast, toggle the List View to understand the block structure, use the Command Center as a shortcut for navigation, and check the official walkthrough on Intro to the Site Editor. It matches what you’ll see in most modern Gutenberg installs.

One more thing: your screen might look a little different than mine. Some themes add extra style presets, patterns, or template variations. Also, WordPress has improved the Site Editor a lot since it became stable. If you want historical context on why it suddenly felt “real,” SmartWP’s recap of WordPress 6.2 Full Site Editor updates explains the turning point.

Before you touch anything, this quick table helps avoid the most common mix-up:

Item	What it controls	Where I edit it
Page / Post	The content itself	Posts → Add New (block editor)
Template	The layout around content (site-wide rules)	Appearance → Editor → Templates
Template Part	Shared chunks like header and footer	Appearance → Editor → Template Parts

If you edit a Template or Template Part, you’re changing more than one page. That’s powerful, so I always move slowly.

Task 1: Set Global Styles that make your blog easy to read

When my blog felt “off,” it was usually not the theme’s fault. It was my typography and spacing. Global Styles fix that fast because they apply site-wide. These settings, powered by theme.json in the background, use Appearance Tools for quick design changes.

Here’s how I set them up safely:

1. Go to Appearance → Editor.
2. Click Styles (often shown as a half-black, half-white circle).
3. Open Typography and set your base font and sizes.
4. Open Colors and set background, text, and link colors.
5. Click Style Book (or Style Variations if your version shows presets) to preview how blocks look across the site.
6. Use the editor’s Preview options to check desktop, tablet, and mobile.
7. Click Save only when the basics look good.

My blogger-friendly defaults look like this:

• Body text using Fluid Typography that lands around 16 to 18 px with comfortable line height.
• Headings that are clearly larger, but not shouty.
• Link color that looks like a link, not regular text.

Accessibility matters here, even if you’re not trying to be perfect. I focus on two basics:

• Contrast: Light gray text on white looks “minimal,” but it’s rough on real readers.
• Heading hierarchy: Don’t jump from H2 to H4 just because it looks smaller. Use the right heading, then adjust size in Block Settings.

In early 2026 builds and recent updates, WordPress has also been improving controls like responsive previews and more flexible block settings. Global Styles generate CSS Variables for theme consistency. If you’re curious what block themes are and why they work this way, Jetpack’s overview is a solid companion read: WordPress block themes explained.

Task 2: Customize your Header and Footer without wrecking navigation

Headers and footers are where bloggers accidentally create chaos. I’ve done it. You add a logo, then the menu wraps, then mobile looks like a junk drawer.

So I treat the Header and Footer like a tiny stage: only the important actors get a spot.

1. Go to Appearance → Editor → Template Parts.
2. Open Header.
3. Click the Navigation block, then choose an existing Navigation Menus or create one.
4. Use the Block Inserter to add only what you need (usually Site Title or Logo, Navigation, maybe a Search icon).
5. Use the block toolbar to adjust alignment and spacing.
6. Switch to mobile preview, then fix wrapping issues before saving.
7. Click Save.

For the footer, I keep it even simpler:

1. Open Footer in Template Parts.
2. Add short, useful links (About, Contact, Privacy Policy).
3. Keep text small, but readable, and check contrast.
4. Save, then visit a few posts to confirm it looks consistent.

A theme might ship with multiple Block Patterns. If you see options like “Header (Centered)” vs “Header (Row),” pick one and stick to it. Consistency beats clever layouts on blogs.

Task 3: Make your Single Post and Archives feel like a real blog

This is where block themes start to feel like magic, because you can shape the reading experience.

Edit the Single Post template (the reading view)

1. Go to Appearance → Editor → Templates.
2. Open Single Posts (wording varies, sometimes “Single”).
3. Click the main content area, then confirm you’re editing the template (not just a block).
4. Make sure you have the essentials using Core Blocks: Post Title, Featured Image (optional), Post Content, Author, Date, Categories, and Comments (if you use them). Use Synced Patterns for reusable elements like author boxes.
5. Adjust width and spacing so lines don’t run too long.
6. Save, then preview a few different posts.

My usability checklist is short:

• If you use featured images, keep them consistent in size and placement with Template Parts for a consistent single post experience.
• Don’t bury categories and tags, readers use them to explore.
• Add post navigation (next/previous) for series posts.
• Implement Responsive Layouts to ensure mobile-friendliness.

Improve your blog home and category archives with Query Loop

The Query Loop is basically your “post list” block. It controls your blog feed, category pages, and archive layouts.

1. Go to Appearance → Editor → Templates.
2. Open Home, Index, or Archive (your theme decides which ones exist).
3. Click the Query Loop block.
4. Choose a layout that fits your style (grid for visuals, list for text-heavy blogs).
5. Add or remove pieces like Featured Image, Excerpt, Categories, and Read More. Use Section Styles to group related blocks effectively.
6. Tune the settings in the Design Panel (posts per page, sorting, and in newer versions, easier filters).
7. Save, then check your site’s blog page and a category page.

If you want a deeper background on how block themes are put together (helpful when you’re trying to understand why a template behaves a certain way), note that block themes use Block Markup instead of traditional style.css or functions.php for many layout tasks. I’ve referenced this resource before: guide to building WordPress block themes. You don’t need to build a theme to benefit from understanding the structure.

How I experiment safely (so I don’t panic later)

When I’m testing layouts, I use a few guardrails:

1. Duplicate templates when the editor offers it (or create a new template), then test there first.
2. Use Preview constantly, especially on mobile.
3. Rely on revisions when available (some sites show template revisions, some don’t).
4. Keep a recent backup before big changes, especially if the site earns income.

If you’re building out SmartWP-style learning paths, this is also where I’d link readers to related guides on choosing a theme, picking a small set of essential plugins, and improving site speed, because design changes can affect performance and readability.

My rule: change one big thing at a time (styles, then header, then templates). That way, fixes stay simple.

Conclusion

Once I got comfortable with the Site Editor, block themes stopped feeling “new” and started feeling normal. Styles handle your blog’s look, templates handle layout, and template parts keep headers and footers consistent. If you take it slow and test changes in previews, a WordPress Block Theme using Full Site Editing, the modern WordPress workflow, becomes a practical way to improve readability and navigation without touching code. What’s one part of your blog you’d fix first, the header, the post layout, or the archives?