{"id":132705,"date":"2022-07-26T15:50:53","date_gmt":"2022-07-26T20:50:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wpengine.com\/?p=132705"},"modified":"2025-05-14T13:31:11","modified_gmt":"2025-05-14T18:31:11","slug":"wordpress-development-trends-to-follow-right-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpengine.com\/case-studies\/wordpress-development-trends-to-follow-right-now\/","title":{"rendered":"7 WordPress Development Trends to Follow Right Now"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WordPress continues to play a dominant role<\/a> as the world\u2019s most popular content management system (CMS), and as its use cases expand, it\u2019s also finding new appeal with larger organizations looking to scale back on web costs and do more with less.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s because WordPress is open source, which means there are no upfront licensing fees for using its core software, and it\u2019s backed by a massive community of global contributors who keep bugs and security vulnerabilities at bay. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

WordPress is also renowned for its flexibility and its ease of integrating with other platforms, making it a prime candidate as businesses look to replace costly and cumbersome content management systems with open source content agility<\/a>.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

WordPress indeed leads the pack here, both as a standalone content framework as well as a headless CMS<\/a>, in which WordPress is connected to a modern front-end framework like Vue.js or React. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Explore Headless WordPress for Free<\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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As you look for new ways to build sites and leverage WordPress in your development projects, the following trends will help you unlock greater flexibility, create beautiful designs, and achieve better performance across the websites you create. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ready to jump in? Here\u2019s what we\u2019ll cover: <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

Block-Based Editing: From Gutenberg to Full Site Editing <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

With the introduction of the block editor<\/a> (Gutenberg<\/a>) in 2018, WordPress signaled a new direction for site builders, who until then had relied on the classic editor<\/a> experience for the bulk of their WordPress post and page needs.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the classic editor had an incredible run, the new block editor was a significant evolution for WordPress, expanding on its low-code\/no-code approach to content creation with pre-formatted blocks of code that enable a drag-and-drop post and page-building experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The WordPress (Gutenberg) Block Editor <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In the few short years since it launched, the block editor has given rise to nearly one hundred<\/a> (and counting) reusable content blocks in WordPress core, not to mention a long list of custom blocks<\/a>, which can be built for commercial consumption and individual use. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Gutenberg was only the beginning when it comes to block-based editing in WordPress. With the rise of Full Site Editing<\/a>, which began to appear in 2020 (in Alpha), block-based functionality has expanded beyond the editor to encompass the entire or \u201cfull\u201d site editing experience.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recent versions of WordPress (5.9+) now include the ability to expand block-based control across a website\u2019s theme and design layout, providing developers with an intuitive, efficient way to customize site elements\u2014from headers and typography to columns and imagery.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Full Site Editing in WordPress 5.9<\/em>
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Full Site Editing also allows users to make sitewide changes without having to navigate to individual pages, offering anyone tasked with creating and managing many sites the ability to make sweeping edits with just a few simple clicks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though Full Site Editing is only compatible with block-based themes<\/a> (which means you\u2019ll likely want to find a new theme to take full advantage of), it represents a new chapter for WordPress and an emerging method of choice for site owners and builders to implement their digital vision at scale.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As they continue to advance, Full Site Editing and block-based functionality will represent less of a \u201dtrend,\u201d and more of the future way to build websites using WordPress. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can find out more about Full Site Editing here<\/a>, or learn how to start using it here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Headless WordPress: Bringing Content Creators and Developers Together <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While developers and content creators are finding new advantages with the evolving editor experience in WordPress, they\u2019re also looking at ways to connect that preferred method of content creation and management with their modern front-end frameworks of choice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Enter headless, and specifically, headless WordPress architectures like WP Engine Headless WordPress<\/a>, which brings together the best of WordPress and modern front-end frameworks like Vue.js and React. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

WP Engine has been investing in the future of headless WordPress through Headless WordPress, and for good reason. The desire for headless solutions is expected to continue its rise\u2014especially for eCommerce and large enterprise sites\u2014and nearly $1.6 billion was invested in headless innovation<\/a> by major companies between 2020 and 2021. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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At its core, headless decouples the front and back-end architecture of a website, allowing users with different roles to rely on the tools they love most without disrupting other workflows. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it comes to headless WordPress, this means content creators and marketers who rely on WordPress for their day-to-day efforts continue to use it as they see fit, while developers tasked with building and maintaining front-end environments can do so using their choice of modern JavaScript frameworks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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