A Gutenberg Block repo

[tomjdevisser]

Right now the plugin has it's repository, and the themes have one. The Gutenberg blocks are now often shipped in a plugin (and sometimes even in a theme). These plugins often ship many blocks when only one or a few are needed. This can cause bloated websites, and takes away flexibility.

My suggestion is, why not an extra repo for Gutenberg blocks, or maybe even extensions in general (custom post types as well, but not super sure about that). You'd have a super easy separation of concerns:

• Theme repo for styles
• Plugin repo for functionality
• Gutenberg(/Add-on) repo for added blocks(/types)

It would then be amazing if you could choose from a few separate blocks, or if you really like a company/developer, maybe a small set of blocks that go well together. I know it sounds like a big change, but I like thinking big and I think that's what we're doing with Gutenberg anyway. We could also just clone the system for the plugin repo and only make a few adjustments.

Thoughts?

[joyously]

The Gutenberg blocks are now often shipped in a plugin (and sometimes even in a theme).

No themes in the WP repository are allowed to provide blocks.

why not an extra repo for Gutenberg blocks

This already exists as part of the WP Plugin repository. You can find and install block plugins directly in the editor.

[tomjdevisser]

Replying to joyously:

Thanks for the comments @joyously, I appreciate it however I don't agree.

The Gutenberg blocks are now often shipped in a plugin (and sometimes even in a theme).

No themes in the WP repository are allowed to provide blocks.

I know it's not allowed, but you still see it happening very often at third-party theme sellers. Having a dedicated repo might make it more clear that they should be separated.

why not an extra repo for Gutenberg blocks

This already exists as part of the WP Plugin repository. You can find and install block plugins directly in the editor.

Well, that's not the same it is? It's part of another repository, what I'm suggesting is a separate one which doesn't exist. They're still under the "Plugin" title in all menu's.

These are both the exact reason I'm opening this ticket.

[swissspidy]

I think what you're looking for is the block directory, which is already a thing. See these resources:

​https://wordpress.org/support/article/block-directory/
​https://wordpress.org/plugins/browse/block/
​https://make.wordpress.org/design/2020/10/27/block-directory-v2/

There's also work underway for a block patterns directory, see ​https://make.wordpress.org/design/2021/03/30/wordpress-org-patterns-directory/

While it's true that the block directory is listed under /plugins, it's fair to assume this will be changing eventually so that the blocks become first class citizens.

So what you are asking for seems pretty much aligned with what is already planned for blocks, and I recommend following make.wordpress.org for any progress on this matter.

For specific changes to WordPress.org not covered by this already ongoing work, please open tickets on meta.trac.wordpress.org.

This Trac here is for changes in WordPress core itself, not WordPress.org changes.

[tomjdevisser]

Replying to swissspidy:

There's also work underway for a block patterns directory, see ​https://make.wordpress.org/design/2021/03/30/wordpress-org-patterns-directory/

While it's true that the block directory is listed under /plugins, it's fair to assume this will be changing eventually so that the blocks become first class citizens.

So what you are asking for seems pretty much aligned with what is already planned for blocks, and I recommend following make.wordpress.org for any progress on this matter.

Sounds good, awesome! Thanks!