This post is the twenty-fifth 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
WordPress 6.3 just launched this week, bringing with it the ability to build out all parts of your site without leaving the Site Editor. While we’ve tested everything leading up to the release, it’s time now to see how all of the pieces are landing with a fresh take, especially with all of the fixes found during the beta and RC periods, and to look ahead to where 6.4 aims to iterate.
To do this, this call for testing will go through a “starting from scratch” experience, from changing styles, using and creating patterns, creating a few pages, and setting up a menu. As part of this, you’ll explore new tools, like the Command Palette, and well loved tools, like List View. This test is intentionally more open ended to encourage exploration and to gather user experience feedback. It’s ultimately not about testing individual, new features and is more centered on testing how the features continue to come together.
Since the 6.4 cycle is a bit shorter than others, this call for testing will only be open for two weeks rather than three so additional testing can occur as more features and refinements are released.
Testing Instructions
To use a prebuilt test site:
- Open this link only once: https://app.instawp.io/launch?t=fse-testing-call-25&d=v2
- 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.
- 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.
- Save the link to your site so you can access it again during the test.
To set up your own test site:
- Have a test site using the latest version of WordPress. It’s important this is not a production/live site.
- Install and activate the Twenty Twenty Three by going to Appearances > Themes.
- Install and activate Gutenberg 16.4 or the latest version of Gutenberg after 16.4.
If you have any issues with manual setup, just comment on the post or ping me (@annezazu) in WordPress.org slack.
What follows are open ended tasks to complete, intentionally listed without detailed instructions in order to better stress test what’s been shipped in 6.3 and discover where the experience can be clarified:
- Pick and save a new style variation.
- Add a border to all Image blocks on your site and change the size of all H2 headings using Styles.
- Create an “About” page and turn on the Top Toolbar setting. Copy and paste content from this Google Doc, noting any issues in pasting with the format or content.
- Create a “Resume” page with a few different headings and use the Table of Contents block to better organize the page.
- Change the size and alignment of the Page title in your Pages template.
- At various points, use the Command Palette to either navigate between parts of your site or open various tools, like List View, or settings, like Top Toolbar.
- Create a menu that just lists your About page, a link to your WordPress.org profile with the Social Icons block, and a Search block.
- Create a synced pattern that details how to get in touch with you and add it to your “About” and “Resume” pages where you see fit.
- Duplicate the synced pattern from the Patterns section and make an unsynced version.
If you’d like to go further and have time to do so, please explore the following: creating pages and editing the template surrounding the page & building and inserting more patterns, synced and unsynced.
If you get stuck at any point, please note it in the comments with details around where you tried to attempt to complete the task.
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 for site building and for writing new content?
- 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?
- Did it work while using just a mobile device? Shout out to @nomadskateboarding for this addition!