Tag Archives: fse-testing-call

annezazu 5:55 pm on January 11, 2023
Tags: , fse-testing-call   

FSE Program Testing Call #20: Find Your Style

This post is the twentieth call for testing as part of the Full Site Editing Outreach Program. For more information about this experimental program, please review this FAQ for helpful details. To properly join the fun, please head to #fse-outreach-experiment in Make Slack for future testing announcements, helpful posts, and more will be shared there. 

Overview

Building off of the last call for testing, this effort includes both some new and some repeat items that have continued to be iterated upon. In particular, browse mode’s design continues to evolve with a clearer edit button and design of the currently active template. Tied to this, the new UXUX UX is an acronym for User Experience - the way the user uses the UI. Think ‘what they are doing’ and less about how they do it. for the navigation blockBlock Block is the abstract term used to describe units of markup that, composed together, form the content or layout of a webpage using the WordPress editor. The idea combines concepts of what in the past may have achieved with shortcodes, custom HTML, and embed discovery into a single consistent API and user experience. has received numerous improvements as work is underway to move the option out of experimental. Taken together, this test helps underscore just how much a single theme allows you to do and how the Site Editor tools are evolving to make quick customization increasingly intuitive. 

New items to test:

Repeated from previous times: 

As with last time, this post will be updated to the latest version of GutenbergGutenberg The Gutenberg project is the new Editor Interface for WordPress. The editor improves the process and experience of creating new content, making writing rich content much simpler. It uses ‘blocks’ to add richness rather than shortcodes, custom HTML etc. https://wordpress.org/gutenberg/ so the latest changes can be tested ahead of the 6.2 release cycle for a faster and more accurate feedback loopLoop The Loop is PHP code used by WordPress to display posts. Using The Loop, WordPress processes each post to be displayed on the current page, and formats it according to how it matches specified criteria within The Loop tags. Any HTML or PHP code in the Loop will be processed on each post. https://codex.wordpress.org/The_Loop.. 

Framing

To ground this experience a tiny bit more, let’s pretend you’re switching over from a Classic theme to a Block theme. After switching, you will need to import the widgets settings before re-imagining the homepage of the site, including the navigation. You’ll end by exploring various ways to style the site across different templates, both by using the Style Book and by editing blocks individually before pushing those changes globally. Your aim is to make the site look as different as possible a few times over until you find a version you’re happy with. Imagine this is your way of exploring the reaches of what’s possible with the Site Editor, all while using a single theme!

Testing Instructions 

To use a prebuilt test site: 

  1. Open this link only once: https://app.instawp.io/launch?t=fse-call-for-testing-20 
  2. Please do not repeatedly open this link as it creates a new site each time and there’s a limit of 50 sites that can be created. 
  3. This will launch a site for you to use for up to 24 hours. Select “Magic Login” to log in to the wp-admin dashboard. 
  4. Save the link to your site so you can access it again during the test. 

To set up your own test site: 

  1. Have a test site using the latest version of WordPress. It’s important this is not a production/live site. 
  2. Install and activate the Twenty Twenty Three One by going to Appearances > Themes.
  3. Install and activate Gutenberg 15.0. From there, head to Gutenberg > Experiments and turn every experiment except for “Zoomed out view”. 
  4. Head to Tools > Import and import this file to have access to the same content as above. From there, create a simple menu and add a few widgets. 

If you have any issues with manual setup, just comment on the post or pingPing The act of sending a very small amount of data to an end point. Ping is used in computer science to illicit a response from a target server to test it’s connection. Ping is also a term used by Slack users to @ someone or send them a direct message (DM). Users might say something along the lines of “Ping me when the meeting starts.” me (@annezazu) in WordPress.orgWordPress.org The community site where WordPress code is created and shared by the users. This is where you can download the source code for WordPress core, plugins and themes as well as the central location for community conversations and organization. https://wordpress.org/ slackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/..

Switch your site

  1. Explore your site and feel free to add in more personalized items, whether by adding or customizing menus under Appearance > Menus or more widgets under Appearance > Widgets. 
  2. When you’re ready, head to Appearance > Themes and select “Activate” next to the Twenty Twenty-Three theme. 
  3. Head to Appearance > Editor (betaBeta A pre-release of software that is given out to a large group of users to trial under real conditions. Beta versions have gone through alpha testing in-house and are generally fairly close in look, feel and function to the final product; however, design changes often occur as part of the process.) to be brought into the browse mode experiment in the Site Editor.
  4. Click through the different templates and template parts to view the various parts of your site. Eventually, select your Home template and choose the option to “Edit”. Notice that your previously created menu was automatically imported.

Import your widgets and customize your navigation 

  1. Using List View, select your Footer Template Part and delete it. 
  2. Add a new Template Part block, give it a name related to footer, and choose the option to “Start Blank”.
  3. Open the block settings and expand the Advanced section. Under “IMPORT WIDGETWidget A WordPress Widget is a small block that performs a specific function. You can add these widgets in sidebars also known as widget-ready areas on your web page. WordPress widgets were originally created to provide a simple and easy-to-use way of giving design and structure control of the WordPress theme to the user. AREA”, select the widgets section you’d like to import and click “Import”.
  4. After importing, customize this new footer further as you’d like. Explore using design tools, using group/row/stack variations, and more. 
  5. Once done, select the Navigation block and change a few things as you see fit. For example, you can: move some of the sub menu items to top level items, change the names of a few of the menu items, adjust the spacing between items, and customize the mobile display as you see fit.
  6. Save changes.

Find your style

  1. Open Styles and select “Browse Styles”. 
  2. Open the Style Book by selecting the icon that looks like an eye from the main Styles interface and switch between various style variations while viewing how it impacts your site. Here’s a screenshot in case it’s helpful. This will open up an interface called the “stylebook” where you can see the styles for every block displayed. You can click that icon to toggle this option on/off as you’d like.
  3. After selecting a style variation you like, head back to the main Styles interface and select “Colors”. From there, choose the “Randomize colors” option to change the colors further. 
  4. After exploring the “Randomizer colors” option, head back to the main Styles interface and select “Blocks”. From there, choose a block with a style variation, like Button (not Buttons!) or Social Icons or Site Logo. You can then edit that variation to your liking globally. 

Switch it up (again and again)

  1. Now that you have explored browsing Templates and Template Parts, the Style Book, customizing the Navigation block, and using the color randomizer, use this experience to switch up your site further. To do so, open a template, like the Single or Search template, and edit an individual block, like the Post Title or Featured ImageFeatured image A featured image is the main image used on your blog archive page and is pulled when the post or page is shared on social media. The image can be used to display in widget areas on your site or in a summary list of posts.. 
  2. After editing the block to your liking, open the Settings tab, expand the “Advanced” section, and choose the option to “Apply globally”. 
  3. Save changes and repeat this process a few times as you have time across templates and different blocks, relying on the Stylebook or Browse mode as needed to get a larger sense of your site. Try to make your site look as different as possible each time.

Bonus: Use patterns as much as you’d like as you customize your site! You can do this by adding patterns directly or by using the “replace” option in blocks like the Query Loop or Template Part.

Leave Feedback by February 1st, 2023

#fse-outreach-program, #fse-testing-call

annezazu 10:57 pm on December 14, 2022
Tags: , fse-testing-call   

FSE Program Testing Call #19: Running Through Refinements

This post is the nineteenth call for testing as part of the Full Site Editing Outreach Program. For more information about this experimental program, please review this FAQ for helpful details. To properly join the fun, please head to #fse-outreach-experiment in Make Slack for future testing announcements, helpful posts, and more will be shared there. 

Important notes: There’s a current call for volunteers to use Replay.io, a tool with a comprehensive way of capturing bugs. Respond by December 28th, 2022 to get involved. Separately, the FSE Outreach Program is always looking for volunteers to help run these calls for testing for the community.

Overview

With work deeply underway to refine and wrap up numerous aspects of phase 2, this call for testing centers numerous changes in progress to put them to the test (get it) and find the edges of what’s being worked on. At a high level, this test covers the following:


Taken together, these changes make it easier to navigate between the content you want to edit, see changes at scale when working with Styles in a few ways, create an easier navigation editing/creation experience, and have a more intuitive experience when editing individual blocks. 

Framing: Refining a client’s site

To ground this experience a tiny bit more, let’s pretend you’re doing some refinements to a client’s site to finetune their branding and, as a result, homepage and navigation. The aim is to go from a more complex navigation structure to a simplified one, with two different options to choose from for the client (edit current menu and create a new option). Tied to this, the homepage will shift the focus of content in the Query LoopLoop The Loop is PHP code used by WordPress to display posts. Using The Loop, WordPress processes each post to be displayed on the current page, and formats it according to how it matches specified criteria within The Loop tags. Any HTML or PHP code in the Loop will be processed on each post. https://codex.wordpress.org/The_Loop. block with more of an emphasis on images (and whatever else you’d like). Finally, you will update the overall styling as you see fit, with bonus ideas for those who have extra capacity and interest!

Testing Instructions 

To use a prebuilt test site: 

  1. Open this link only once: https://app.instawp.io/launch?t=fse-call-for-testing-19 
  2. Please do not repeatedly open this link as it creates a new site each time and there’s a limit of 50 sites that can be created. 
  3. This will launch a site for you to use for up to 24 hours. Select “WP Admin Login” and use the information provided to log in.
  4. Save the link to your site so you can access it again during the test. 

To set up your own test site (skip if using the above): 

  1. Have a test site using the latest version of WordPress. It’s important this is not a production/live site. 
  2. Install and activate the Twenty Twenty Three theme by going to Appearances > Themes.
  3. Install and activate GutenbergGutenberg The Gutenberg project is the new Editor Interface for WordPress. The editor improves the process and experience of creating new content, making writing rich content much simpler. It uses ‘blocks’ to add richness rather than shortcodes, custom HTML etc. https://wordpress.org/gutenberg/ 14.8.4 RC1 by downloading the release > going to Plugins > Add New > Installing. From there, head to Gutenberg > Experiments and turn on “Off canvas navigation editor” and “Block inspector tabs” experiments. 
  4. Head to Tools > Import and import this file (click “Download” in the upper right hand corner first) to have access to the same content as above.

If you have any issues with manual setup, just comment on the post or pingPing The act of sending a very small amount of data to an end point. Ping is used in computer science to illicit a response from a target server to test it’s connection. Ping is also a term used by Slack users to @ someone or send them a direct message (DM). Users might say something along the lines of “Ping me when the meeting starts.” me (@annezazu) in WordPress.orgWordPress.org The community site where WordPress code is created and shared by the users. This is where you can download the source code for WordPress core, plugins and themes as well as the central location for community conversations and organization. https://wordpress.org/ slackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/..

Explore browse mode

  1. Head to Appearance > Editor (betaBeta A pre-release of software that is given out to a large group of users to trial under real conditions. Beta versions have gone through alpha testing in-house and are generally fairly close in look, feel and function to the final product; however, design changes often occur as part of the process.). This will bring you to a reorganized view of the site editor.
  2. Click Templates and notice the list of templates now shown in the sidebar. Click through various templates to quickly view them.
  3. Select “Home” from the templates and then select “Edit” in the open sidebar to directly alter the template.

Editing navigation

  1. Select the HeaderHeader The header of your site is typically the first thing people will experience. The masthead or header art located across the top of your page is part of the look and feel of your website. It can influence a visitor’s opinion about your content and you/ your organization’s brand. It may also look different on different screen sizes. of your site before selecting the navigation block. Within the navigation block, select the page list block and choose “edit” from the block toolbar. This will open a prompt explaining that a step must be taken before you can customize your menu. Select “Customize”. You can also select the option to “Customize” from the block settings sidebar.
  2. Open your block settings and notice that each menu item is now listed in the sidebar. 
  3. Spend some time condensing the menu down as you see fit to just three top level menu items. You can do this by dragging and dropping the menu items in the sidebar, deleting items, and renaming them. For example, you can list “Press” under “About” and “Resources” under “Getting Started”. 
  4. Explore the additional tabs in the block settings (Styles, Settings) to customize further to your liking. For example, you can change the typography, block spacing, or how it appears on mobile. When done, click “Save”. 
  5. Afterwards, select the navigation block once more and, in the list view tab of the block settings, select the menu name and choose the option to “Create new menu” in the dropdown.
  6. Select the + button in the same tab to add in simply the “Contact”, “About”, and “Getting Started” page. 
  7. Head to the Settings tab and open the “Advanced” section to rename the menu to something like “Simplified main menu”. When done, click “Save”. 
  8. Heading back to the List View tab in the block settings section, click on the menu name to open a drop down and select which menu you’d like to display from there.

Redesigning the homepage

  1. Select the Query Loop block and, from the block toolbar, select the “Replace” option. 
  2. This will open up a modal where you can pick a different pattern to display the posts. Choose a different pattern.
  3. Customize the pattern you chose further. For example, change the featured imageFeatured image A featured image is the main image used on your blog archive page and is pulled when the post or page is shared on social media. The image can be used to display in widget areas on your site or in a summary list of posts. size, add a duotone filterFilter Filters are one of the two types of Hooks https://codex.wordpress.org/Plugin_API/Hooks. They provide a way for functions to modify data of other functions. They are the counterpart to Actions. Unlike Actions, filters are meant to work in an isolated manner, and should never have side effects such as affecting global variables and output., remove or add blocks, change the size of the titles of posts, etc. When done, click “Save”.

Changing Styles

  1. Open Styles and either choose “Browse Styles” to pick a different style variation or make adjustments as you see fit using the Styles system. For example, you can customize the appearance of individual blocks with the “Blocks” section using the new preview option or change overall options with Typography, Color, and Layout. 
  2. When done, select the icon that looks like an eye from the main Styles interface. Here’s a screenshot in case it’s helpful. This will open up an interface called the “stylebook” where you can see the styles for every block displayed. You can click that icon to toggle this option on/off. 
  3. Tweak anything you’d like further while using the stylebook before, when done, clicking “Save”. 

Bonus: Customize further as you see fit

What follows are various ways you can take this test further. Feel free to try all or none, depending on how much time you have:

  • Add custom CSSCSS CSS is an acronym for cascading style sheets. This is what controls the design or look and feel of a site. using the Styles > Custom fieldCustom Field Custom Field, also referred to as post meta, is a feature in WordPress. It allows users to add additional information when writing a post, eg contributors’ names, auth. WordPress stores this information as metadata. Users can display this meta data by using template tags in their WordPress themes. as part of the input for custom CSS work in Global Styles.
  • Explore browse mode more by switching between and editing different templates or template parts.
  • Add or edit more blocks and explore the split settings options within.
  • Make more changes to the Styling of individual blocks, taking advantage of the new preview options for individual block styles and the overall stylebook.

What to notice:

  • Did the experience crash at any point?
  • Did the saving experience work properly? 
  • What did you find particularly confusing or frustrating about the experience?
  • What did you especially enjoy or appreciate about the experience? 
  • What would have made this experience easier?
  • Did you find that what you created matched what you saw on your site?
  • Did it work using Keyboard only?
  • Did it work using a screen reader?

Leave Feedback by January 6th, 2023

#fse-outreach-program, #fse-testing-call

annezazu 11:05 pm on September 15, 2022
Tags: , fse-testing-call   

FSE Program Testing Call #17: Guiding the Gutenberg Gallery

This post is the seventeenth call for testing as part of the Full Site Editing Outreach Program. For more information about this experimental program, please review this FAQ for helpful details. To properly join the fun, please head to #fse-outreach-experiment in Make Slack for future testing announcements, helpful posts, and more will be shared there. 

Friendly Reminder

If anyone is interested in being a part of the test creation or facilitation process, check out this recent post on how to get involved.

Overview

With each major WordPress release, there are more people who are likely to be in the position of switching to a blockBlock Block is the abstract term used to describe units of markup that, composed together, form the content or layout of a webpage using the WordPress editor. The idea combines concepts of what in the past may have achieved with shortcodes, custom HTML, and embed discovery into a single consistent API and user experience. theme world from a classic theme. With 6.1 approaching in November, this call for testing is rooted in exploring that experience. The form of this test is going to be both prescriptive with steps to take in order to ensure certain features are covered and, at points, open ended so you can explore and think of areas to improve. 

To make it more fun, you’re going to step into the shoes as the owner of the GutenbergGutenberg The Gutenberg project is the new Editor Interface for WordPress. The editor improves the process and experience of creating new content, making writing rich content much simpler. It uses ‘blocks’ to add richness rather than shortcodes, custom HTML etc. https://wordpress.org/gutenberg/ Gallery website. A simple site focused on sharing information about exhibits, current calls for submissions, and ways to stay in touch. After hearing about full site editing features for a while now, you’re deciding to take the plunge and switch from the trusty Twenty Twenty theme to Twenty Twenty-Two. Along the way, you’ll interact with the following and more: 

Theme switching

As we’ve explored previously with switching between block themes, there are a lot of both quick wins and overarching decisions to be made. The same is true for switching from classic to block themes. For example, right now there’s not a clear pathway for widgets. Ultimately, the more insights around how to ease this experience and make it feel magical, the more relevant block themes become. 

Improved fallbacks and menu management with the navigation block

To offer a better “out of the box” experience with the navigation block, various fallback options have been implemented so the menu you are most likely to want to use is available. This test seeks to explore that and ensure it does truly provide a better default experience. Separately, the interface for menu selection and management has been moved to a dedicated section in the block settings to make it more prominent and easier to work with. You can also pick from a set of icons to better personalize your mobile menu. 

Navigation block settings showing different icon options to pick from.

New HeaderHeader The header of your site is typically the first thing people will experience. The masthead or header art located across the top of your page is part of the look and feel of your website. It can influence a visitor’s opinion about your content and you/ your organization’s brand. It may also look different on different screen sizes. and Footer Patterns

Coming to 6.1, these carefully designed block patterns represent a consolidation of recurring headers and footers, simplified in order to work well across themes. When it comes to embracing a block theme, these should help folks quickly find the basics of what they might need to make a site their own in a few clicks. 

Visual of a new header option with a mountain range image and a blue header with a navigation.

Zoomed out mode

This experimental tool allows you to focus more on site building than on editing granular blocks by both allowing you to see the entire layout a bit more and always selecting the top level block (often container blocks like Groups or Template Parts). If you use the Quick Inserter, you’re met with patterns instead of blocks to continue the emphasis on more high level actions one might take to customize. 

Top toolbar in the site editor with an emphasis on the new zoomed out mode.

CategoryCategory The 'category' taxonomy lets you group posts / content together that share a common bond. Categories are pre-defined and broad ranging. Templates

This test once more explores creating a category specific template in order to offer a more tailored experience of looking at specific folks. This aligns nicely with the Gutenberg Gallery where you might want to emphasize different things depending on whether someone is looking at the posts about submissions or exhibit recaps. 

Design tools galore

It’s hard to miss how many design tools have been added to even more blocks. Because there are so many new options, this test doesn’t necessarily dive into the details like they have in the past. Instead, please note and explore the various additional options unlocking new possibilities as you go. 

Testing Instructions 

Note on InstaWP

As noted previously, the folks behind InstaWP have granted the outreach program an account that we can use for these calls for testing. This means if you want to skip setting up your own test site and instead use a temporary one, you can do so. When you set up a site with InstaWP, no email addresses will be collected which means you’ll need to save the link to access the site again. Big thank you to the InstaWP team for making it even easier for folks to participate in the future of WordPress.

To use a prebuilt test site: 

  1. Open this link only once: https://app.instawp.io/launch?t=fse-call-for-testing-17 
  2. Please do not repeatedly open this link as it creates a new site each time and there’s a limit of 50 sites that can be created. 
  3. This will launch a site for you to use for up to 24 hours. Select “Access Now” to log in to the wp-admin dashboard. 
  4. Save the link to your site so you can access it again during the test. 

To set up your own test site: 

  1. Have a test site using the latest version of WordPress. It’s important this is not a production/live site. 
  2. Install and activate the Twenty Twenty theme by going to Appearances > Themes.
  3. Install and activate the latest version of Gutenberg by going to Plugins > Add New > Searching Gutenberg. 
  4. Head to Tools > Import and import this file to have access to the same posts as above.

Get familiar with your current site

  1. View the front end of your site and click through various pages linked to from the menu.
  2. Head to Appearance > CustomizerCustomizer Tool built into WordPress core that hooks into most modern themes. You can use it to preview and modify many of your site’s appearance settings. and change any settings you’d like or just review what’s there (for example, check which menu is set to each location). 

Switch to a block theme

  1. Head to Appearance > Themes.
  2. Activate the Twenty Twenty Two theme. Notice you can’t live preview this theme. 
  3. After activating, view the front end of your site to get a sense of the changes. 
  4. From there, head to Appearance > Editor. 

Use Styles and the zoomed out view to design your site 

  1. In the top toolbar, select the zoomed out view option (the option furthest on the right). This will place you in a zoomed out mode where you can focus more on building and creating with patterns rather than individual blocks. 
  2. While in this mode, explore the various sections of your site and feel free to reorganize as you’d like. For example, you can try using the quick inserter to add various patterns. 
  3. Once done, with the zoomed out mode still on, open the Styles sidebarSidebar A sidebar in WordPress is referred to a widget-ready area used by WordPress themes to display information that is not a part of the main content. It is not always a vertical column on the side. It can be a horizontal rectangle below or above the content area, footer, header, or any where in the theme..
  4. Select the option to browse styles and notice how your site changes as you switch between. Feel free to toggle on and off the zoomed out mode as you see fit for the rest of this test. 
  5. As you’d like, feel free to customize the Style options further on a more granular basis or just stick with one of the built in Style variations. 

Customize your navigation

  1. Ensure you’ve exited out of the zoomed out mode and select the navigation block, either by using List View or by clicking on it directly. 
  2. Once selected, click on “Edit” in the block toolbar and follow the steps to convert to links in the pop up.
  3. Add two submenu items under Blog for both Submissions and Exhibits to match the original site. Note: Intentionally not sharing the various ways to do this.
  4. Open the block settings for the navigation block and, under Display, click on the visual below to open up more options for the mobile menu icon. Select whichever one you want. 
  5. Change further aspects of the navigation block as you see fit. For example, you can change the colors under Color, spacing between navigation items under Dimensions, or various typography options. 
  6. With the block settings open, under “Menu” explore the process to create a new menu by clicking on the name of the current menu > selecting “Create new menu”.
  7. Add some items to this new menu. 
  8. With the block settings open, switch between different menu options, including the option to import a classic menu. Select whichever menu you’d like to use. 

Explore new headers or footers

  1. Using List View, select the header or footer.
  2. Open the three dot menu and click “Replace”.
  3. Try searching for different options, scrolling, and selecting a new one. Repeat this as much as you’d like!
  4. Save your changes and note how the multi-entity saving feels. 

Create a category specific 

  1. Click on the W menu and select “Templates” to reach the template list.
  2. Select “Add New” and choose “Category”. 
  3. Choose the “Category: For a specific item” option and choose “Submissions Opportunities”. 
  4. This will create a new template that you can customize to your liking. For example, perhaps you want to change the emphasis on images in the Query LoopLoop The Loop is PHP code used by WordPress to display posts. Using The Loop, WordPress processes each post to be displayed on the current page, and formats it according to how it matches specified criteria within The Loop tags. Any HTML or PHP code in the Loop will be processed on each post. https://codex.wordpress.org/The_Loop. block, add or remove different blocks, change the design, etc. 
  5. Save changes and view the Submission Opportunities category. Note: Intentionally not sharing the various ways to do this.

Customize your site further – here are some ideas:

  • You’ll notice the Blog page doesn’t have any content now after switching. You can either add a Query Loop block or change the Settings > Reading to set the Posts Page as the Blog page. Note: this has been filed as an enhancement issue. 
  • Explore adding the Comments block to different templates and what might make the experience better. 
  • Try locking parts of your site in various ways as you are happy with the design. 
  • Use the many new design tools to change padding, margin, typography, color, border, and more. 

What to notice:

  • Did the experience crash at any point?
  • Did the saving experience work properly? 
  • What did you find particularly confusing or frustrating about the experience?
  • What did you especially enjoy or appreciate about the experience? 
  • What would have made this experience easier?
  • Did you find that what you created matched what you saw on your site?
  • Did it work using Keyboard only?
  • Did it work using a screen reader?

Leave Feedback by October 6th, 2022

#fse-outreach-program, #fse-testing-call