Atomic Blocks Newbie Tutorial

Who is this Atomic Blocks newbie tutorial for…

If you use a StudioPress theme, or any other theme for that matter, this Atomic Blocks newbie tutorial is for you.

I built this web page for StudioPress users who want to stop using widgetized homepages. And start using the new blocks based homepage layouts.

You can download this video free from Vimeo.

What’s covered in this Atomic Blocks newbie tutorial?

• How do I get the blocks on to my page?
• Where do I find the settings for blocks?
• The down arrows, and why you must click them.
• If you can’t select a block, use the Block Navigation button.
• Examples of live blocks on a real web page.
• A list of Atomic Blocks to jog your memory.
• The styling depends on your theme.

Skill level

When StudioPress customers login to my.studiopress.com. They can watch the basic wp101 videos. To follow along with this video I’ll expect you to have already watched those basic videos. Or be at a similar skill level.

If you’re a competent WordPress user, you’re ready to follow my Atomic Blocks newbie tutorial.

How do I get the blocks onto my page?

Start writing or type / to choose a block.

Where you see the text above, just place your cursor in the page and write.

The forward slash /

Or hover your cursor to the left of the text and click the Add Block plus icon.

Clicking the Add Block plus icon gives you the most options.

Close the most used “down arrow” to show the other block options.

In this Atomic Blocks newbie tutorial we’re using the Atomic Blocks tab, so click that down arrow to see all of the Atomic Blocks.

After opening the Atomic Blocks tab, click any icon to place one of the blocks on your page. Such as the Atomic Blocks Call To Action block.

Where do I find settings for blocks?

When you select any block, and make it active, a toolbar appears above the block.

The main block settings are in the post editor sidebar. Make sure you have the Block tab selected. NOT the Document tab..

The Down arrows and why you must click (open) them

The two screenshots below both show the settings for the paragraph block. The first screenshot has the down arrows closed. The second screenshots has the down arrows open.

If you don’t open the down arrows, you won’t see all of the options.

It’s important that anyone following this Atomic Blocks newbie tutorial remembers to click the down arrows to reveal all of the extra options available.

If you can’t select a block, use the Block Navigation button

Most blocks are easy to select. Just double click to select a word, or triple click to select a whole paragraph.

But container and column blocks can be more difficult to select. So you might need the Block Navigation button.

First select a block in your page…

Then click the Block Navigation button.

You then see a tree structure of either…

• your whole page
• or the container block you selected in the previous step

The image below shows the tree structure of a container block and it’s contents. You can click any icon or element to see the settings for that specific part of your layout.

Without using the Block Navigation button it can be very difficult to select specific container and column blocks. And if you can’t select the container or column you need, you can’t change it’s settings.

Some extra Atomic Blocks newbie tutorial tips…

Examples of live blocks on a real web page

I made a web page where you can see all of the Atomic Blocks in use. Click here to see them.

A list of Atomic Blocks to jog your memory

When you’ve used blocks for a while you’ll know what each block does. You’ll just need a quick reference guide, you’ll find that here.

The styling depends on your theme

Some of the Atomic Blocks, such as the Call To Action block, look the same in most themes. Other blocks, such as the pull quote block can look very different in one theme to another.

Did you enjoy this Atomic Blocks newbie tutorial?

If you like Atomic Blocks, you’ll love using Atomic Blocks Layouts. You can see some Atomic Blocks Layouts here.