However, the theme has a custom “Blank Canvas” page template that lets users design the entire page. Starting with a base of Ariele Lite meant that the design was boxed. The block editor and a well-rounded, block-ready theme can get you pretty far. The secondary purpose is to show users that they can create some of these homepages without code. That does not even include the style options on the individual block level. End-users also benefit from more flexibility, such as adding custom elements or removing parts they do not want. Dropping old-school theme options means a lot less code work for developers, allowing them to focus more on styling. This experiment is to show theme authors that they can build their custom designs with the block system. In the future, we will see more spacing controls in WordPress, so I considered this a fair trade-off. I could have left it alone, but I wanted to reduce some of the spacing between sections on the page to get a closer recreation. I only needed Editor Plus to make a couple of margin adjustments on the Group block. ![]() Technically, I have the latest version of the Gutenberg plugin installed, so there might be a few items that have yet to land in WordPress. However, my goal was to stick as close as possible as I could to core WordPress. Given more time and modifications via a plugin like Editor Plus, I could have adjusted this enough to get a closer replica. Much of this comes down to stylistic choices by the theme designers. There are obviously differences in spacing, colors, typography, and other elements. ![]() The following is a comparison of the original Music Artist theme homepage (first) and a recreation using blocks via the Ariele Lite theme (second): Because I already knew Ariele Lite worked with the block editor, it made sense to see if I could build with it. Instead, I activated a theme with design similarities, such as fonts and colors. However, the theme’s lack of block support meant that some things were fundamentally broken. The plan was to replicate the custom page with the Music Artist theme installed. However, it was not that hard to build and could have been made easier if the theme supported the block editor. There were a few tricky pieces, which I will get into. ![]() So that I am practicing what I am preaching, I took a couple of hours and recreated the homepage demo for the theme directly from the block editor. This is all doable with the block editor. However, the theme author could have built this page entirely out of blocks and wrapped each section or even the entire design into block patterns. After installing it, I realized the homepage layout was handled through theme options. I loved the large hero area and several elements of the theme’s design. Music Artist was one of the latest themes to catch my eye. It has enough power to pull off some of these custom homepage designs with far less code work. While the editor has several design limitations, theme authors have tons of room to explore. However, much of the time, I am disappointed to learn that homepage designs of many rely on theme options instead of the block editor. Often, there are intriguing design concepts. One of my favorite activities each week is to peruse the latest themes to land in the WordPress theme directory.
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