Since the release of WordPress 5.0 “Bebo” in December 2018, WordPress has a new default content editor named Gutenberg. Unlike the previous default Classic editor, titled WYSIWYG (“what you see is what you get”), where you find all functions in a toolbar, Gutenberg uses blocks.
The inclusion of Gutenberg in version WordPress 5.0 was widely discussed in the community. Many users were for Gutenberg, while others preferred the Classic editor. The discontent led, among other things, to the creation of a fork of WordPress. Scott Bowler launched ClassicPress in August 2018, and the primary purpose was to preserve the classic TinyMCE editor as the default option.
It is still, however, possible to use the Classic editor in WordPress by installing the Classic Editor. Yet, the plugin will only be supported and maintained until 2022.
So here we are. If you do not use ClassicPress, you will inevitably have to use Gutenberg sooner or later. I have to admit that I was skeptical of Gutenberg for quite a while. But I took the time to learn how the new editor worked. There were a bit of a learning curve, ups, and downs before I found the flow of writing articles. A good idea is to learn the keyboard shortcuts. It makes everything a bit smoother and faster.
However, in my opinion, Gutenberg still has its flaws, but it feels like, after each update, the editor feels better and faster. But a big minus is that there are still not enough blocks available as default.
10 Gutenberg Add-Ons to Bring More Functionality in WordPress
Nowadays, there are a plethora of Gutenberg add-ons available in the WordPress plugin repository with a wide variety of blocks for every conceivable feature you can think of for blog posts and pages.
In this article, I have tested the most popular Gutenberg add-ons, which can bring more functionality and boost the creation of your blog posts.
Let’s dig into it…
Gutenberg Blocks – Ultimate Addons for Gutenberg
Gutenberg Blocks is an addon to Gutenberg, the new WordPress editor. It is an addon from Brainstorm Force, which contains a set of unique and beneficial blocks that can be helpful when building and designing pages and posts.
Some of the blocks included in the package are Info Box, Advanced Heading, Price List, Testimonial, to name some of the blocks you can get for free. It is a massive list of blocks you can use to boost your creativity and build awesome pages and posts.
With over 200,000+ active installations, this is a popular and well-maintained addon to Gutenberg.
Page Builder Gutenberg Blocks – CoBlocks
CoBlocks is a plugin from Godaddy and is a set of page building WordPress blocks for Gutenberg, the new editor in WordPress. The plugin contains 20+ blocks to boost your page and post builder creativity.
The set contains some great and useful blocks like Search for Gifs, Dynamic HR, Logos & Badges, Food & Drinks, which can be appreciated and used for all restaurants. Furthermore, the set contains all the necessary blocks to create website awesomeness.
Do you also want to create galleries! No problem! The plugin also comes with CoBlocks Galleries blocks, which significantly simplifies handling when creating a Carousel, Masonry, Stacked, or Photo Collage.
CoBlocks is a plugin that I recommend. Easy to use. Loads quickly and with many features to build an awesome website.
The plugin has over 100,000+ active installations.
Kadence Blocks – Gutenberg Page Builder Toolkit
Kadence Blocks is a free Gutenberg page builder toolkit for creating and building custom layouts for your WordPress website. The toolkit contains 10+ blocks, and some of them are Row Layout, Advanced Gallery, Advanced Heading, Testimonials, and Icon List.
Kadence Blocks Gutenberg page builder toolkit is easy to use. But do not offer any direct surprises but do a well-done job as page and post builder to create more engaging content. It is a popular and well-maintained plugin with over 50,000+ active installations.
Atomic Blocks
Atomic Blocks comes with a collection of custom page and post building blocks for the new WordPress editor Gutenberg. The plugin contains 15+ blocks for both building pages and posts and for customizing the design with, for example, premade attractive layouts and sections, which is also my favorite block.
Atomic Blocks is a flexible block addon with many options to customize a lot of settings for each block you add. It makes it possible to adjust just about everything. It is a free plugin with 30,000+ active installs worth recommending.
Gutenberg Blocks and Template Library by Otter
Gutenberg Blocks and Template Library by Otter is a WordPress plugin and addon from ThemeIsle. It brings extra custom Gutenberg blocks to your website. With the blocks, you can create pages and posts for all possible niches such as blogs, business, e-commerce, and more.
The plugin comes with 12+ blocks, and some of the blocks included are Advanced Heading, Google Map, Sharing Icons, Pricing, Testimonials. All blocks work satisfactorily, and there is the possibility to customize the settings per block, which gives excellent flexibility.
The plugin currently has over 30,000+ active installations.
Advanced Gutenberg
Advanced Gutenberg is another free Gutenberg add-ons. With Advanced Gutenberg, can create or edit profiles, assign a user or user group to the profile. Select each block activation by user profile.
It is also possible to make custom settings for each profile and block so that all members in a specific profile use the same settings, which is an excellent feature and convenient so that, for example, a profile with writers uses the same settings for their articles.
Furthermore, this is an addon with a lot of opportunities and many useful blocks for creating pages and posts in an efficient, straightforward, and elegant way. Advanced Gutenberg works right out of the box, but it is possible to customize just about anything, which makes it a very flexible alternative. The plugin has over 20,000+ active installations.
Stackable – Gutenberg Blocks
Stackable is another popular free addon with over 10,000+ active installations that add more power to Gutenberg. With its ready-to-use custom blocks, it is possible to create beautiful designs.
No matter if you want to create or design a page or post, hence your entire website, you can achieve it with the Stackable blocks. You do not need any coding knowledge to use Stackable. Install the addon, activate it, and start your website, page, or post creation.
GT3 Photo Gallery / Video Gallery / Gutenberg Gallery Block
GT3 Photo Gallery is an add-on to the WordPress editor Gutenberg which adds more functionality to the WordPress image gallery. If you want to boost the look and feel of your photos and galleries, then this is a great free alternative.
In the free version of the GT3 gallery, you do not have access to all gallery options and features. Still, you can create Grid and Masonry galleries, and if you want additional galleries, there is the possibility to upgrade to the pro version of the GT3 gallery.
There are some settings you can use to customize each gallery type to display images and galleries, which provides additional flexibility. It is a great block add-on for creating beautiful galleries to add some visual creativity. The plugin has over 10,000+ active installations.
Block Gallery – Photo Gallery Gutenberg Blocks
Block Gallery is another plugin from Godaddy. It is a plugin that contains a set of gallery Gutenberg blocks. Especially for anyone who wants to display images in galleries in an organized and creative way.
With the drag and drop feature, you can build gallery types such as Carousel, Masonry, and Stacked. It is effortless to create beautiful galleries with self-explanatory options. Further options that I appreciate are that you can apply filters with grayscale, serpia, vintage, and more to the galleries.
It is also possible to transform or switch to a different gallery type on the fly with one click. It is a plugin that I recommend if you want to create beautiful and exquisite image galleries on your WordPress website. The plugin currently has 8,000+ active installations.
Ultimate Blocks – Custom Gutenberg Blocks
Ultimate Blocks is a collection with Gutenberg blocks to increase the flexibility to create more engaging content than the default blocks in Gutenberg have to offer.
Currently, there are 27+ blocks available, and some of them are Image Slider, Call To Action, Progress Bar, Review, Tabbed Content, and more. More blocks are in the making, according to the creator of Ultimate Blocks.
Also, these blocks from Ultimate Blocks are easy to use with every conceivable opportunity to customize each block. Not much more to say about this plugin, it does the job of building pages and posts satisfactorily. The plugin currently has 7,000+ active installations.
Qubely
Qubely is the brainchild of Themeum. Having 34+ Enhanced Custom Blocks, 150+ Predesigned Sections, custom blocks, and more it can currently be considered as the most powerful name among other Gutenberg plugins out there.
With Inbuilt Animations, Advanced Post Grid, and many other improved features this plugin lets its users create elegantly designed websites in no time.
However, it is among those plugin that offers regular updates with impressive and newer innovation, possible bug fixes every time. The best part of this plugin is it offers both free and paid versions. Whether website, portfolio, landing page, or any other online presence it brings all in one solution for each.
Everything you create with Qubely meant to be outstanding. It’s also proved itself as responsive regardless of all devices. So, everyone out there who are seeking for a user-friendly and feature-rich plugin solution for their website can definitely give it a try to Qubely.
The plugin currently has 4,000+ active installations.
Page Builder Gutenberg Blocks – Kioken Blocks
Kioken Blocks is the new kid on the block. This addon/plugin has received a lot of attention lately on significant blogs. I understand why after playing around with the Kioken Blocks for awhile. Using the blocks is very easy. Plus, you can create amazing looking pages, posts, or an entire website if you like.
With all the blocks available and all options to customize the settings for each block you add, this is a flexible way to boost the look and feel in the best possible way. Kioken Blocks comes with several unique blocks, but my favorites are the designed premade block layouts and templates.
ZeGuten
ZeGuten plugin is a multifunctional and the most trendy tool for building flexible blocks for Gutenberg. It is compatible with the latest WordPress version and with the Gutenberg editor. ZeGuten is a perfect match both for the beginners or experienced developers.
It has 14 SEO-optimized blocks, one of which is Section block. Section is a parent element for any other block, so you don’t have to worry about the responsiveness.
However, if you want to set a custom spacing, you are completely able to set margins and paddings for desktop, tablet, or mobile phone. Moreover, you can set various backgrounds for the blocks: color, image, video, gradient, or custom figure.
As for the post’s settings, ZeGuten provides you with 5 modern layouts: listing, grid, chess, masonry, and dynamic carousel. Choose one of them and arrange your posts. Use quick post query settings and apply offset. As for the typography, theme a bunch of properties. Enjoy building content with the top-notch tools at your hand.
Wrapping Up
These ten Gutenberg add-ons are the most popular in the WordPress plugin repository and have the most active installs. I’ve taken all the add-ons for a test run. Some plugins are more comprehensive, with more advanced features than others. But overall, all of Gutenberg’s add-ons above work satisfactorily and can help bring more functionality into the editor.
If I were to choose three add-ons that I think to stand out a bit from, the crowd is as follows Gutenberg Blocks, CoBlocks, and Atomic Blocks. My favorite blocks are premade layouts and sections, which makes it easy to add attractive and mainly finished sections, which simplifies and speeds up processes immensely.
Finally, if you are using the Gutenberg editor and are not pleased with the default block composition, I recommend you install one or more of the above Gutenberg add-ons to bring more fun and useful features to WordPress.
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