WordPress 5.8 shipped the first phase of Full Site Editing — using the block editor to control not just post content but headers, footers, and site-wide templates. It's a significant architectural shift. Here's what it means for a typical WordPress site.
Full Site Editing (FSE) is an extension of the block editor (Gutenberg) that was introduced in WordPress 5.0. Where Gutenberg brought block-based editing to post and page content, Full Site Editing extends that approach to the entire site: headers, footers, sidebars, and page templates are all editable using the same block interface.
Prior to FSE, these elements were controlled by your theme's PHP template files — a developer construct that most site owners never touched. FSE aims to make site-wide layout editing accessible without touching code.
Full Site Editing only works with "block themes" — themes built specifically to support it, using HTML template files instead of PHP templates. The classic themes that most WordPress sites currently use (built with PHP templates and the traditional WordPress theme API) are not affected by FSE and continue to work exactly as before.
WordPress ships a block theme called Twenty Twenty-One (and its successors). The wider theme ecosystem is in the early stages of adopting block themes. Most commercial themes available in 2021 are still classic themes.
If your site uses a classic theme — which the overwhelming majority do — Full Site Editing doesn't affect you at all. Your theme works the same way it always has. Updating WordPress to 5.8 or later does not change how your site looks or functions.
The only scenario where FSE becomes relevant is if you choose to switch to a block theme. That's a significant migration decision — effectively a site redesign — not something that happens automatically with a WordPress update.
WordPress 5.8 shipped the first phase of FSE in a deliberately limited form — it's feature-complete enough to be useful but clearly still evolving. The block theme ecosystem is thin compared to the classic theme ecosystem. The template editing interface, while functional, is less mature than the content editing experience in Gutenberg.
For a business site that needs to work reliably with a broad plugin ecosystem, using a stable classic theme in 2021 is the pragmatic choice. FSE is worth monitoring as it matures — the long-term direction is clear — but the right time to migrate isn't necessarily when a feature first ships.
Full Site Editing is a multi-year project. Each WordPress release adds capabilities. The vision — a completely visual, code-free way to design and manage a WordPress site — is ambitious and, if realised, will change how WordPress sites are built significantly.
That's a few years away from being the default choice for most sites. Classic themes with page builders, or classic themes with Gutenberg for content, remain the right approach for most WordPress sites being built or run today.
All WordPress features — including block themes and Full Site Editing — work on DownUnder WP. The hosting environment doesn't restrict what WordPress functionality you use.
Australian WordPress hosting from $5/month
Your own containerised environment on Australian NVMe servers. Simple, fast, and genuinely cheap.