Month: December 2019

Navigation block testing (Gutenberg)

Testing the upcoming Navigation Block.

201912 – This block is currently only available in the Gutenberg plugin and has not yet been rolled into WP core.

I was hoping that this block would also be able to create a TOC for a page based on headings in the page itself (anchor links). Clearly, that’s a separate item — this block is meant to move toward using blocks for all page and interface building needs (including the top menu).

So… with that in mind, I think this block also needs to have a vertical orientation option, for appearing in sidebars. I’m not loving the options, at the moment.

An example of a default navigation block with all top-level pages:

Another test (dark style)

None of the colour styles I’ve tried actually appear to do anything. Not sure if it has to do with this theme or not.

Native video in WordPress

This post will explore the ability to embed video files that are stored directly in your WordPress blog.

Note: we don’t actually recommend uploading video directly to WordPress, as it takes up precious space. Instead, please consider uploading to an external site like Google Drive or Youtube and simply embed in your blog. There are posts elsewhere on this blog demonstrating these options.

MP4 video, using Video block

MOV video, using Video block

MOV files can be useful for podcasting. I don’t think you can podcast using MP4 files.

Instagram embedding

We investigate whether you can embed Instagram posts and feeds in WordPress.

Instagram feed

Without an additional plugin, I cannot find a way to embed an Instagram feed on my site. There are third-party services that will generate RSS feeds and/or embed code that you can use on your site, but we cannot confirm the security of using such services.

To be continued…

Instagram content (using the Instagram block)

There is an instagram block that is useful for embedding content. It cannot be used to embed your entire feed (like https://www.instagram.com/blepharisma/). You need to copy the link from a specific piece of content and paste into the widget (like https://www.instagram.com/p/B4syhvDHdDC/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link)

  1. Click on the Instagram content you want to embed, so it pops up in its own window.
  2. Click the ‘…’ symbol in the top-right corner of the content.
  3. Click the ‘Copy Link’ option. This will save the URL for the content in your clipboard.
  4. In your WordPress post/page, add an Instagram block and paste the URL copied from Instagram. Click ‘Embed’ to complete.

Instagram block