What is Full Site Editing in WordPress?

Sajjad
WordPress
12 Sep, 2026

Full Site Editing (FSE) is the set of WordPress features that lets you design and edit every part of your website, not just the content of posts and pages, using blocks. With a block theme active, you can open the Site Editor and visually change your header, footer, blog archive, single post layout, 404 page, colors, and typography without touching PHP template files or relying on the old Customizer.

Full Site Editing has been rolling out gradually since WordPress 5.9 and is now a mature, everyday part of WordPress 6.x. This article explains what Full Site Editing actually is, the building blocks that make it work, how to start using it, where it shines, where it still has limits, and how to decide whether it's the right approach for your site.

What Is Full Site Editing?

Before Full Site Editing, WordPress split your site into two very different worlds. Content lived in the editor, where you wrote posts and pages. Everything around that content, such as the header, navigation, sidebar, footer, and archive layouts, lived in PHP template files inside your theme. If you wanted to change those parts, you either used whatever limited options the theme exposed in the Customizer, or you edited code.

Full Site Editing removes that divide. It extends the block editor to the whole site, so the same blocks you use to write a post (Paragraph, Image, Columns, Group) can also build the header, the footer, and the templates that control how every page type is displayed. WordPress also adds special "theme blocks" such as Site Title, Site Logo, Navigation, Query Loop, Post Title, and Post Content that pull dynamic data into your layouts.

The term "Full Site Editing" was the name of the project during development. In the WordPress admin today, you'll mostly see it referred to as the Site Editor, found at Appearance > Editor. The underlying concept is the same: your whole site is made of blocks, and you can edit it visually.

The Core Building Blocks of Full Site Editing

Full Site Editing isn't a single feature. It's a collection of pieces that work together. Understanding each one makes the Site Editor much less confusing.

Block Themes

Full Site Editing only works with a block theme. A block theme is built from HTML template files that contain block markup, plus a theme.json configuration file, instead of traditional PHP templates like header.php and single.php. Default themes such as Twenty Twenty-Three, Twenty Twenty-Four, and Twenty Twenty-Five are block themes, and many theme shops now ship block themes too.

If you're using a classic theme, you won't see the full Site Editor. You may still see a limited version for editing patterns, but templates and global styles require a block theme.

Templates

Templates control the layout of a specific type of page. Common templates include:

Index: The fallback template used when nothing more specific exists.
Single Posts: How an individual blog post looks.
Pages: How static pages are displayed.
Blog Home: The page that lists your latest posts.
Archive: Category, tag, author, and date archives.
Search Results: The layout for search result pages.
404: What visitors see when a page doesn't exist.

Templates follow the WordPress template hierarchy, just as PHP templates always have. The difference is that you can now edit them visually.

Template Parts

Template parts are reusable sections that appear inside templates. The most common are the header and footer. Edit the header template part once, and the change appears on every template that includes it. Themes can also define other template parts, such as a sidebar or a post meta area.

Global Styles

Global Styles let you control the design of your whole site from one place: color palette, typography, spacing, layout widths, and the default styling of individual blocks. You'll find them in the Site Editor under Styles. Many block themes also include style variations, which are alternative color and font combinations you can switch between with one click.

Patterns

Patterns are pre-designed groups of blocks, such as a hero section, a pricing table, or a call to action. You can insert them into posts, pages, or templates. Since WordPress 6.3, you can create your own patterns and mark them as "synced" (formerly called reusable blocks), so that editing one instance updates everywhere it's used.

The Navigation Block

The Navigation block replaces the classic Appearance > Menus screen for block themes. You build menus directly inside the header, add links, pages, submenus, and even a mobile overlay, all visually.

How Full Site Editing Works Behind the Scenes

It helps to know a little about what WordPress is doing when you edit a template, because it explains a lot of behavior that otherwise feels mysterious.

Theme files are the starting point: A block theme ships HTML files in its templates and parts folders. These files contain block markup, which is HTML with special comments that describe each block.
Your edits are saved to the database: When you change a template in the Site Editor and click Save, WordPress doesn't rewrite the theme's file. It stores your customized version as a post of type wp_template (or wp_template_part for parts) in the database.
The database version wins: When a page loads, WordPress checks for a customized template in the database first. If one exists, it uses that. If not, it falls back to the theme's file.
Global Styles work the same way: Theme defaults come from theme.json. Your changes in the Styles panel are saved as a wp_global_styles post, and WordPress merges the two, with your choices taking priority.

This design has a practical upside. You can always reset a template to the theme's original version, because the original file is untouched. In the Site Editor, open the template, click the three-dot menu, and choose Reset (or "Clear customizations" in older versions).

Here's a short example of what block markup inside a theme's template file looks like:

<!-- wp:template-part {"slug":"header","tagName":"header"} /-->

<!-- wp:group {"tagName":"main","layout":{"type":"constrained"}} -->
<main class="wp-block-group">
  <!-- wp:post-title {"level":1} /-->
  <!-- wp:post-featured-image /-->
  <!-- wp:post-content {"layout":{"type":"constrained"}} /-->
</main>
<!-- /wp:group -->

<!-- wp:template-part {"slug":"footer","tagName":"footer"} /-->

You never need to write this by hand to use Full Site Editing, but seeing it makes clear that templates are just blocks arranged in a particular order.

How to Start Using Full Site Editing

If you've never opened the Site Editor, here's how to get started safely.

Back up your site: Template changes affect every page of that type, so take a backup first. You can also practice on a staging site.
Activate a block theme: Go to Appearance > Themes and activate a block theme such as Twenty Twenty-Five. If you're switching from a classic theme on a live site, test on staging first, since widgets and Customizer settings won't carry over.
Open the Site Editor: Go to Appearance > Editor. You'll see a sidebar with sections such as Navigation, Styles, Pages, Templates, and Patterns.
Edit a template: Click Templates, pick one like Single Posts, and click the canvas to start editing. Add, remove, or rearrange blocks just like you would in a post.
Edit a template part: Click the header area in any template, or go to Patterns > Template Parts, and select Header. Change the logo, the site title, or the Navigation block.
Adjust Global Styles: Click Styles (the half-filled circle icon) to change colors, fonts, and spacing across the whole site, or browse the theme's style variations.
Save and review: Click Save. WordPress will show you every template, part, and style you've changed so you can confirm them. Then view your site in a new tab to check the result on desktop and mobile.

What Can You Do With Full Site Editing?

Once you're comfortable in the Site Editor, you can handle many tasks that once required a developer:

Redesign your header with a logo, navigation, search, and a call-to-action button.
Build a custom footer with columns, social icons, and copyright text.
Change how blog posts are displayed, for example adding author bios, reading time, or related posts using the Query Loop block.
Create custom templates for specific pages, such as a full-width landing page with no header.
Design a helpful 404 page with a search box and links to popular content.
Set site-wide typography and color palettes that every block respects.
Save your own patterns and reuse them across the site.

Creating a Custom Page Template

A particularly useful feature is creating custom templates you can assign to individual pages:

In the Site Editor, go to Templates and click Add New Template.
Choose Custom template, give it a name like "Full Width No Sidebar", and build the layout.
Save the template.
Edit any page in the block editor, open the Template setting in the page sidebar, and select your new template.

Full Site Editing vs. the Classic Approach

It's worth understanding how Full Site Editing compares to the classic theme workflow, since you'll still encounter both.

Customizer vs. Site Editor: Classic themes use Appearance > Customize for options like logo, colors, and menus. Block themes replace this with the Site Editor and Global Styles. The Customizer is hidden for block themes unless a plugin needs it.

Widgets vs. blocks: Classic themes have widget areas managed in Appearance > Widgets. Block themes have no widget areas; you place blocks directly into templates wherever you want them.

Menus vs. Navigation block: Classic themes use Appearance > Menus. Block themes use the Navigation block, which stores menus as wp_navigation posts.

PHP templates vs. HTML templates: Classic themes use PHP files and template tags. Block themes use HTML files with block markup, and dynamic output comes from blocks.

Page builders: Tools like Elementor and Beaver Builder offer their own theme-building features. Full Site Editing gives you similar control built into WordPress core, without an extra plugin, though page builders still offer some advanced design controls that core doesn't.

Benefits of Full Site Editing

No code required for layout changes: You can redesign headers, footers, and templates visually.

One consistent editing experience: The same block editor is used for content and design, so there's less to learn.

Better performance potential: Block themes typically load only the CSS for blocks actually used on a page, and they don't need a heavy page builder plugin.

Safe, reversible customizations: Because edits live in the database, you can reset any template back to the theme default.

Design consistency: Global Styles and theme.json keep colors, fonts, and spacing uniform across the site.

Future-proof: WordPress core development is focused on blocks. New features increasingly assume a block theme.

Limitations and Things to Watch Out For

Full Site Editing is powerful, but it's not perfect. Keep these points in mind:

Learning curve: The distinction between templates, template parts, patterns, and Global Styles can be confusing at first.
Theme lock-in of customizations: Your template edits are tied to the active theme. If you switch themes, customized templates from the old theme won't apply to the new one.
Plugin compatibility: Some older plugins assume widget areas or classic theme hooks and may need a shortcode or block alternative.
Fine-grained control: Certain advanced layouts or interactions still need custom CSS, a custom block, or a page builder.
Edits aren't in version control: Because customizations live in the database, development teams often export templates back into the theme files. You can do this in the Site Editor via Tools > Export (download the theme as a zip), or with the Create Block Theme plugin, which saves changes directly to theme files.

Tips for Working With Full Site Editing

Start with a good block theme: A well-built block theme with sensible patterns and style variations saves you a lot of work.

Use Global Styles before custom CSS: Most color, font, and spacing changes should be made in Styles so they stay consistent. Reach for custom CSS only when needed.

Use List View: The List View panel (the stacked lines icon in the top toolbar) makes it much easier to select nested blocks inside Groups and Rows.

Lean on patterns: Build common sections once as patterns and reuse them rather than recreating them page by page.

Check revisions: WordPress keeps revisions for Global Styles and templates, so you can roll back if a change goes wrong.

Test on mobile: Use the preview device toggle in the Site Editor to check how headers and navigation collapse on small screens.

FAQ: Full Site Editing in WordPress

Full Site Editing is a set of WordPress features that lets you design your whole site, including headers, footers, and page templates, using blocks in the Site Editor instead of editing theme code.

Yes. Templates, template parts, and Global Styles in the Site Editor are only available when a block theme is active. Classic themes continue to use the Customizer, widgets, and menus.

With a block theme active, go to Appearance > Editor in your WordPress dashboard. You'll see sections for Navigation, Styles, Pages, Templates, and Patterns.

No. Your Site Editor customizations are stored in the database, not in the theme files, so theme updates won't overwrite them. You can also reset any template to the theme's original version.

You can, but it's usually unnecessary to use both for the same task. Many sites use the Site Editor for templates and core blocks for content, and only add a page builder if they need specific advanced features.

Template and template part customizations belong to the theme they were made in, so they won't carry over to a new theme. Your posts, pages, media, and synced patterns remain intact.

Yes, once you learn the basic concepts. It removes the need to edit PHP files for most design changes, and every template can be reset if something goes wrong.

Conclusion

Full Site Editing turns WordPress into a truly visual website builder. By extending blocks to every part of your site, it lets you change headers, footers, templates, and site-wide styles from the Site Editor, all without editing PHP files or installing a page builder. The key concepts to remember are block themes, templates, template parts, Global Styles, and patterns.

If you're starting a new site, a block theme and the Site Editor are the natural place to begin in 2026. If you're on a classic theme, there's no rush to switch, but it's worth experimenting on a staging site to see how much simpler your design workflow could become. Take a backup, open Appearance > Editor, and start with a small change like your header or footer.