Since the release of WordPress version 5.9, Full Site Editing (FSE) has been available, giving you even more control when designing your site. Unfortunately, not all themes are compatible with FSE, so you may not be able to take full advantage of these features.
Still, there are lots of new ‘block-based’ themes available that support Full Site Editing. While switching from your current theme may sound like a hassle, the long-term benefits of FSE support are often worth it.
In this article, we’ll introduce you to Full Site Editing. Then, we’ll suggest six popular WordPress block themes that have been designed for FSE. Let’s take a look!
An Introduction to Full Site Editing and Block Themes
The idea behind Full Site Editing is to bring the intuitive customization options of the block editor to the rest of your site. Want to change the look of your footer? Rather than altering it with menus and custom code, FSE allows you to easily make site-wide changes in just a few clicks.
Here is an example from the Twenty Twenty-Two theme that launched alongside the Site Editor:
As you can see, this is a snapshot of the footer. All of the blue edit icons allow you to modify a block, such as Recent Posts, or outright remove it. You can also easily add new blocks, similar to how you would add elements to a normal post. The difference is, Full Site Editing can be applied to any and all pages across your site at once.
To access Full Site Editing, you can hover over the Appearance tab on the left side of your dashboard. If you see the Editor option, that means you already have a theme that is compatible with site-wide editing:
On the whole, Full Site Editing can save you a lot of time and hassle. This is especially true of you don’t know how to code or if you often need to modify site-wide elements.
Most new themes are designed with FSE in mind, though you will still come across many that aren’t. It’s also possible that your theme partially supports Site Editing. This would allow you to edit some block elements, but not all aspects of the site. If there is something you are unable to edit, but would like to, one of the themes below should do the trick.
6 Best WordPress Themes for Full Site Editing
Full Site Editing is something you likely need to try to really appreciate. So, if you’re looking to make the switch or just starting out, here are six popular themes that fully support FSE.
1. Blockbase
Blockbase is a fully responsive WordPress theme designed by Automattic. With its clean and modern design, it allows you to easily build beautiful websites that will work well on any device.
It comes with some pre-built layouts and blocks that you can use to more easily customize your entire site. Furthermore, you can save custom blocks to reuse in the future. Automattic has also designed a child theme called Mayland using Blockbase. This theme is designed for more visual uses, such as a photography portfolio.
Blockbase itself works well for most blog type sites, with simple elements coming together for a crisp look. Since this theme comes from Automattic (known for Jetpack, Tumblr, and WooCommerce), you can expect a high-quality product with ongoing support.
2. eStory
eStory is another excellent WordPress block theme. This one is especially well-suited for bloggers. It offers beautifully designed patterns specifically made for blogs, news, magazine, and small business websites.
Additionally, it includes essential features such as blog social icons, search bars, call-to-action buttons, icon boxes, author boxes, galleries, and advertisements. eStory is also optimized for speed and SEO. This is a crucial theme characteristic if you want to ensure that your website performs well in the search engine rankings.
3. Hansen
Hansen has gained a lot of popularity since its release. It’s clean, easy to use, and fully compatible with FSE.
A powerful options panel enables you to easily choose a full width layout, beautiful color scheme, custom background, or hand-selected font to enhance your whole site. With this block theme you can edit templates and template parts without having to worry about losing your changes if the theme gets updated.
Hansen is a pretty flexible theme with lots of grid choices. One feature that helps it stand out is the full-width blocks that really make an impression on home screens and landing pages. This makes it a potentially good option for online stores.
4. Tove
Tove is a flexible WordPress block theme built entirely around Full Site Editing. Though it is intended for cafes and restaurants, you can adapt it for almost any type of site thanks to its flexibility and ease of use.
The theme offers over 40 blocks to help you get started. Furthermore, these blocks include six different header designs, seven different footer designs, and other eye-catching patterns that can be used to construct individual pages. Beyond that, this theme uses lightweight code. So, you can be sure it won’t slow down your site.
5. Twenty Twenty-Two
Twenty Twenty-Two was the default WordPress theme that launched with the Full Site Editing update. As such, it was designed to make optimal use of these new features.
With a wide array of templates, blocks, and widgets, it allows users to easily create unique designs for their sites. It comes with a variety of color schemes to choose from off the bat, and a number of features such as custom header images, background colors, and much more.
Built with flexibility and ease of customization in mind, Twenty Twenty-Two is a great choice for just about any website, though you might need to put in some extra work to ensure it doesn’t look like the many other sites who are likely using this theme!
6. TT1 Blocks
If you’ve been using WordPress for at least a year, this new Full Site Editing theme will likely look familiar to you. TT1 Blocks is simply an updated, block-based version of the popular Twenty Twenty-One theme.
Therefore, you might want to check out this theme if you currently use the Twenty Twenty-One theme, but want to try out site-wide blocks. However, keep in mind that TT1 Blocks is a strictly experimental theme. That means that it’s not meant to be used for a live site, it should only be used on a staging or test site.
Now that you know some quality themes that support Full Site Editing, you can choose one that best suits your site’s needs. This way, you’ll be able to tap into the added control that FSE offers.
As a refresher, here are six of the best WordPress themes designed for Full Site Editing:
- Blockbase: Automattic’s flagship theme with great features and ongoing support.
- eStory: A quality theme for bloggers interested in speed and SEO.
- Hansen: A sleek WordPress theme with full-width and other grid options.
- Tove: A lightweight theme intended for cafes, but flexible enough for other uses.
- Twenty Twenty-Two: A universal theme designed by WordPress for FSE.
- TT1 Blocks: A block-based, experimental version of the popular Twenty Twenty-One theme.
Do you have any questions about WordPress themes that support Full Site Editing? Let us know in the comments sections below!
