Format Content Fast with WordPress Reusable Blocks

Computer screen with "Format Content Fast with WordPress Reusable Blocks" written on it with the same headline

Writing content for your WordPress site is a lot of work. Formatting the content to your exact specifications is even more work. What if there was a super easy way to make formatting your content faster and easier. Something that will take most of the work out of formatting your blog posts?

Surprise! There is.

And it all begins with WordPress reusable blocks!

This is the first in a series of posts on creating WordPress content more efficiently. Other posts in the series include (these will be linked when published.

Please note, I am referring to WordPress.org websites as opposed to WordPress.com. If you are using your site for business, I highly recommend using WordPress.org so you have all the functionality you need. Much of this information probably applies to both, but I don’t use WordPress.com. so I cannot say if it will work there.

Table of Contents

What are Reusable Blocks?

WordPress Reusable blocks are exactly as advertised. They are blocks that you can completely write and customize and then use whenever and wherever (on your WordPress site) that your little heart desires. 

That’s right. 

Think about that lovely call to action that you create from scratch every time you write a blog post. You know, the one with the custom fonts and resized columns and custom design on the button. 

Now imagine doing all that work to create the perfect call-to-action block and then being able to add it to any post as easily as adding any other new block. Pretty cool, eh? 

Even better, if you decide to change up that fancy, schmancy call-to-action block because you now want people to go elsewhere, you only need to change one instance of the call to action, and that change will automagically occur on all instances of that reusable block! 

Boom!

But what if you want all the fancy-schmancy formatting, but don’t want the same words or images. 

Well, reusable blocks can do that too.

When you add a reusable block to a post or a page and you want to keep some of the elements but not all of them, you can “convert to regular block”. That will keep the block looking the same as the reusable block, but any changes you make to it will only apply to this one instance of the block. 

Why Use WordPress Reusable Blocks?

Reusable blocks are a great way to maximize your efficiency when creating content on your site. They allow you to

  • Save time when creating posts in WordPress. You can create a block once and then use it over and over again in your posts. 
  • Cut down on the repetitive, boring tasks involved with publishing content. 
  • Ensure that your content is consistent, you don’t have to continually be coming up with wording that works or looking up what wording you used in the past. 
  • Eliminate typos or copy and paste errors when creating repetitive elements of your posts. 

Reusable blocks are especially efficient if you like to tweak and customize your blocks a lot. 

How Do I Use Reusable Blocks?

Creating the block is no different than creating any other block. You just need to save it after you create it.  

In fact, you don’t necessarily have to create a new block. If you have an existing block you want to use as your  reusable block, just select it and follow the steps in “To save the block as a reusable block”.

Using blocks is as easy as using any other block you search for. 

How Do I Create a WordPress Reusable Block?

Creating reusable blocks is as easy as creating any regular block with an extra step at the end.

  1. Create a block and customize it to your heart’s content including adding your content. (type”/”, click on the little black plus in the editor itself or the big blue plus at the top left and start customizing)
  2. Save the block with a meaningful name. 

That’s it!

To save the block as a reusable block

  • Click on the three dots next to the block editor toolbar.
  • Click on “Create Reusable block
  •  Give it a meaningful name.
  • Click save.

A notice will appear at the bottom left telling you your block was saved.

How Do I Use the Block I Created?

This is no different than adding any other block. 

  1. Hit return to create a new block. 
  2. Click on the black plus sign to open the block browser.
  3. Type in part of your meaningful name.
  4. Click on the appropriate block to add it to your post or page.

Alternatively, 

  1. While still on the previous block, click on the blue plus sign at the top left of the page to open that block browser.
  2. Click on Reusable
  1. Click on the block you want.
  2. Or type in part of your meaningful name in the search bar.  This searches all blocks, not just the reusable ones.
  3. Click on the appropriate block to add it to your post or page.

Just be aware that if you edit it at this point, you will be editing all instances of this block in this post and all instances throughout all your posts and pages if you save the changes when going to publish.

To Make it a Regular Block

To separate this instance of the reusable block from all the other instances, and use the edit only this instance of the block, you need to turn it into a “regular block”.

  1. Click on the three dots on the next to the block editor toolbar.
  2. Choose “Convert to regular blocks” from the dropdown menu.

Now any changes you make will affect this block on the post or page only. You will not be prompted to save your changes when you go to publish the post and no other blocks will be affected. 

Editing Reusable Blocks

If you want to edit this and all other instances of a reusable block, just edit the block as usual. 

When you go to publish the post (you don’t have to actually publish it at this point, but clicking on publish will open the save dialogue), if you have made any changes to reusable blocks, this dialogue will pop up on the right side. 

  • If you want to save changes to the reusable block and changes to the post or page, just click save. 
  • If you want to only save the modified reusable block, unclick the name of the post of page and leave the block name checked, then click “Save”.
  • If you want to only save the post or page and not save the modified reusable block, unclick the name of the block and leave the post or page  name checked, then click “Save”.
  • If you don’t want to save either just click on “Cancel”.

Once you save the block in this dialogue, any changes will be saved to all the instances of the block and to all future instances as well. You will need to refresh any pages that were open when you saved the block to see the changes, but they will be made whether you see them or not.

Create New Reusable Blocks Based on Existing reusable Blocks

You can also create new reusable blocks based on an existing one.  So if you have a call-to-action block that you love, but want to change the CTA to direct people to a different action, you can use the original CTA block, edit it and save it as a new, additional block. 

To do so:

  1. Make a copy of the original reusable block into a regular block. 
  2. Make all the changes you want. 
  3. Save as a new reusable block with a new and meaningful name. 

Things to Consider When naming Your Block

There are three main considerations when 

  • Use a name that you will think to search by. That is the most important consideration. 
  • Choose unique or unusual letter combinations to make blocks easy to find with minimal typing. (for example, using FB instead of Facebook), as long as you will think of searching for those letters. Another approach is to use both the short form and the long form of the word in the name to ensure that you find it regardless of what you search for. 
  • Make sure the names are unique. Unfortunately, WordPress allows you to name many blocks the same thing. This makes it very difficult and confusing when you go to use a block.
    Make sure the name is not already being used by going to add a new block and search for the name (you don’t actually have to add the new block).

These three blocks are shown from the block browser and from the block management section. Here is the content of the three blocks.

They are different but indistinguishable in the browser except by the kind of block they are. The first and third blocks are identical, making it impossible to tell which block you are adding.

So, it is essential to have unique, meaningful names.

Of course, if in doubt, you can add the block to the post or page and then delete it if it is the wrong block, but that takes away from the efficiency that reusable blocks provide. 

If you accidentally name multiple blocks the same thing, you can edit the names by clicking on “Managing Reusable blocks”

Managing All Your Reusable Blocks

To see and manage all the reusable blocks you have created, click on “Manage Reusable Blocks” from that dropdown menu (3 dots). Or click on “Manage Resuable blocks” in the Reusable section of the block browser at the top right.

Note, that either of these will take you off the page you are editing. Please make sure you save any changes before doing this. 

This will take you to a listing of all the reusable blocks you have created. It looks just like your posts or your pages listing.

From there you can see when you created the block.

By hovering over the block name, you have the option to 

  • Edit the block
  • Send it to the trash or 
  • Export it as a JSON file. 

Clicking on “Edit” or on the title takes you to a new page that looks much like any other post or page. There, you can edit the block and save the changes across all instances of the reusable block (except those that have already been converted to regular blocks). 

If you have multiple blocks with the same name this is where you can edit the name. Edit the name as on any other post or page.

After making any changes, click on “Update” in the top right to save the changes.

Click on “Trash” to delete this reusable block. 

See the next section for information on how and why you might want to use the “Export as JSON” option. 

Can I Use My Reusable Blocks on Other Websites?

Of course you can!

This is where that “Export to JSON” link comes in handy. 

To Export Your Reusable Block

Once you create a reusable block, 

  1. Go to “Manage Reusable Blocks”
  2. Hover over the block you want to export. 
  3. Click on export to JSON and save the file on your computer. 

To Import Your Reusable Block

Log into your other WordPress website, 

  1. Go to an existing or new page or post. 
  2. Click on the blue Plus button at the top right, choose ressuable and click on “Manage Reusable Blocks.”
  3. Click on “Import from JSON” at the top of the page.
  4. Click on “Browse” and navigate to where you saved the JSON file and click on it. Then click import.
     
  5. Refresh the page. The new block should be there. 
  6. Start using the same reusable block on this site.

Examples Of WordPress Reusable Blocks

Reusable blocks can be used anywhere on your WordPress posts or pages. They are particularly useful for information that you need to use frequently and consistently.

Some examples that come to mind are

  • Affiliate disclaimer
  • Write some brilliant text that you want to use over and over again on your website. 
  • Create a reusable button to use across all landing pages and posts.
  • Create a podcast block with all the elements you need to add to each podcast episode.
  • Social media buttons, that lists all the places you want people to follow you.
  • Author bios. 
  • Make a gallery of all the places you have been featured.
  • Create a call-to action block.
  • Opt-in forms.
  • Create a custom image block. 
  • Surveys, quizzes and forms. 
  • Ads.
  • Anything your creative mind envisions. 

A Word of Caution

WordPress reusable blocks can save you a ton of time. They can ensure consistency and accuracy. They can also be a little addictive.

However, if you have hundreds of reusable blocks, you will spend as much time searching for the right block or trying to remember what it was called, as you might have spent creating the block from scratch.  Too much of a good thing can turn into a bad thing. 

So, do add reusable blocks sparingly. 

What to Do With this Information

Go ahead and create a new test post or page and start playing with reusable blocks.

You can absolutely create new blocks based on current content, but when you add them the first time to your test post or page, remember to “Convert to regular blocks” and then save with a new name. 

I like to add the word “test” all my posts, pages and blocks when I am playing with a new concept and don’t want to actually use anything. If while playing,  I create something I want to keep, I will resave it with a meaningful name (that doesn’t have the word “test” in it). 

That way, when I am done playing and I understand what to do and how, I can go back and confidently delete anything that has the word “test” in the name and I won’t accidentally delete anything I want to keep. I will also not be clogging up my site with unnecessary posts, pages and blocks. 

Conclusion

WordPress reusable blocks can be a huge time and sanity saver. 

How much time do you use every time you have to write your affiliate disclaimer, both on the wording and on the formatting. With reusable blocks you will never have to think about it again and you don’t need a plugin to add that disclaimer for you. 

Reusable blocks are easy to create and easy to use with just a few things you have to keep in mind (mostly naming them and understanding that changes happen across ALL the blocks unless you make the specific instance a regular block). 

But wait, there’s more . . .

There are more ways to partially automate the formatting of your content:

  • What I call “templates”
  • Block Patterns
  • Keyboard Shortcuts

In an upcoming article, The Easiest Way to Create Custom WordPress Templates, No Plugins Required I’ll show you how to create a whole post or page template, without any additional tools. This is going to be such a huge time-saver (even more so than just using individual reusable blocks), especially if you write your content directly in the WordPress editor. 

Even if you write your content elsewhere, templates can save you a lot of time by creating more complex blocks to add anywhere on your posts and pages. 

And in the upcoming WordPress Block Patterns: The Secret To Easier And Faster Content Creation, we’ll explore using WordPress Block Patterns to make it faster and earlier to create complex page and post blocks. 

Also check out the upcoming comprehensive look at WordPress editing keyboard shortcuts.

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