Introduction to Full Site Editing (FSE)
WordPress website building has evolved so much and is now moving way beyond just the classic approach of separate theme customizers, widgets, and option panels and all of that. WordPress now offers a way more integrated and visual standard for site design, like Full Site Editing or FSE for example. And it really represents an intuitive and modern approach to designing your entire website directly within WordPress, bringing in capabilities similar to modern page builders directly into the experience and significantly streamlining the design process.
So first off, guys, let's talk about FSE. And for those of you who may not know what it is, FSE utilizes block themes and the Gutenberg editor to give you direct block-based control over every single part of your site, like headers, footers, page layouts, and many others, all consolidated in the site editor. And this is actually a really significant shift from older methods where these elements were often managed in separate and sometimes really complex interfaces.
And a key advantage is that FSE builds the website closer to WordPress core, enhancing your performance. And this is a super out-of-the-box solution, meaning you do not need additional page builder plugins, which helps keep your site light and really, really fast. So let's explore the core concepts of FSE and see how to navigate and use its key features really effectively.
Getting Started: Activating a Block Theme
Now, to use full site editing, the first requirement is a block theme. Now, these themes are specifically built using blocks for every part of the site structure. The more recent WordPress versions default to a block theme like 2025 in a new installation, but if you're unsure, just head to your WordPress dashboard, go to appearances, then themes, and you'll see your active themes there.
Now, block themes usually indicate FSE compatibility or might be tagged as such. And another really clear giveaway that it's a block theme is that you will see the editor button in the appearance tab on your WordPress dashboard. Now, if you need to install one, let me walk you through it. I'm going to grab my laptop as well here. So, as I was saying, if you need to install one, just click add the new theme, use the feature filter to select block themes, and choose one to install and just activate it.
Now, once you do have an active block theme, all you have to do is click the editor button in the appearances tab right over here that I also mentioned before. And this will take you out of the regular dashboard and into the dedicated site editor interface.
Editing Page Content with Blocks
Okay, now, let's explore how FSE works for editing content and using the homepage as an example. So, guys, just inside the site editor, navigate over here to pages and select your homepage or I mean, whichever page you want to set as your front page. Now, here you'll see it's built entirely with blocks just like a regular post or page in the Gutenberg editor.
And here you can add new blocks using the plus inserter, also move blocks around by dragging them anywhere you like or using the arrow controls in the toolbar. And you can also delete any block you don't need by just selecting a block and clicking the remove button. I mean, it's really, really simple. And this really allows you to structure your page content visually. For instance, here we can easily add a heading block, some paragraph tags, and an image block right next to it really, really easily.
And also, you can watch this video right over here for a deeper dive and more examples of customization with Gutenberg. I'll also leave the link in the description down below, so make sure to check it out.
Using Patterns for Quick Section Layouts
Now, moving on, another really great feature within FSE is patterns. And as the name so subtly suggests, these are predesigned groups of blocks that act as starting points for common sections that you'd use on your website. And your theme even comes with some already pre-installed, which is super convenient.
And WordPress has a directory of them, and you can even create your own reusable patterns. But enough talking about patterns, let's actually add one. So, for example, just click the block inserter here, then go to patterns tab, and browse for what you need. You might find patterns for call to action buttons, image galleries, testimonials, and a bunch of bunch of other stuff.
Now, select a pattern and it inserts the entire block structure really instantly. You can then just replace the placeholder content with your own. And I mean, this saves significant time compared to building complex layouts block by block.
Managing Global Styles and Individual Block Settings
Now, global styles is another part of the editor, which is super convenient for keeping your branding really consistent. So, click these styles icon in the top right corner here in the toolbar. This panel controls the default appearances for your entire site, by the way. And instead of setting fonts and colors individually everywhere, you can define them globally just right over here.
For example, changing the default link color under colors and then links will instantly update all links across your site, ensuring really, really good consistency. Now, this is a major advantage over older theme methods. And you can also browse predefined style variations here if your theme provides them.
And finally, each individual block still has its own specific settings. So, guys, you can just select any block, like this image block for for example, and the block setting sidebar on the right allows you to fine-tune its appearance, adjusting dimensions, adding borders, changing alignment, all without affecting the global styles.
Customizing the Single Post Template
Now, beyond editing individual page content, with FSE you can actually control the structure of different types of pages using templates. Think of templates as just blueprints for your pages that have specific elements. For example, the single post template defines how all your individual blog posts will look like. So, let's customize it together.
So, from the main site editor view, just go to templates and select single post. Now, inside the template editor, you'll see placeholder blocks like post title, post featured image right here, post content, post date, post author, all of this fun stuff over here. And these aren't the actual content, but just placeholders that pull information from each individual post.
And you can rearrange these blocks, add other blocks around them like a latest post block, or just style them in any way you want. So, for instance, let's select... Let's just go over here and then select the post featured image block, and using the block settings sidebar, add a border to it. Now, while we're at it, we can also change its alignment by just doing this with the quick menu over here. And once you're happy with the layout, just click save, and now WordPress will use the updated blueprint for every blog post on your site. I mean, that is pretty cool.
Verifying Template Changes with a Test Post
So, let's just really quickly see all of this that we just did in action. So, let's go to the main dashboard, then hit posts, then add new, create a quick test post with a title, some tags, and a featured image right here, and then just publish it.
And when we view the published post, it should reflect the layout changes we just made with the single post template. And that is that simple.
Jump-Start Your Site with an AI Website Builder
So, as you can see, full site editing really offers really powerful control over your site's design and its structure. And if you're starting fresh and want a customized foundation built with FSE principles, our hosting or AI website builder for WordPress can be a really, really great option. It just uses AI to generate a unique, content-rich starting point with a compatible block theme, which you can then refine further using the site editor techniques that we just discussed today and tried together.
And it's honestly a really great way to jump-start the process if you prefer not to begin with a blank website, which I know I do prefer. So, if you're interested in this, definitely click the link in the description below to see our managed hosting for WordPress plans. And also, an AI builder and other useful AI tools such as the AI assistant and WordPress troubleshooter are included in the business and cloud startup plans. And you can see them in action in this video right over here. And also, guys, do not forget to use our coupon code WP10 to get an extra 10% off your purchase.
Conclusion and Final Thoughts
Well, that basically concludes our look at the core concepts of WordPress full site editing. And I highly do encourage you to explore the site editor for yourself to really get comfortable with these powerful tools as they can really make a difference.
Now, if you found this tutorial helpful, please give us a like and subscribe to Hostinger Academy for more WordPress and web development guides on this channel. Now, if you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments down below. I would also love to hear just any thoughts that you have. But now, thank you so much for watching and I'll see you in the next video.
