Post Excerpt Block

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Use the Post Excerpt block to display the excerpt of a post. This block is primarily nested inside a query loop block and helps to customize the appearance of the query loop. 

If the post does not have an excerpt, the Post Excerpt block displays the first 55 words in the post as the post excerpt, followed by the characters ‘[…]’.

The block has an optional Read More link which will direct the website visitor to the URL of the full post. You can customize this link text to anything you like. The Read More link can be styled independently. 

To add a Post Excerpt block, click the Block Inserter icon when editing the page template. Search for the Post Excerpt block. Click on it to add the block to your page template.

You can also type /post-excerpt and hit enter in a new paragraph block to add the Post Excerpt block quickly.

Detailed instructions on adding blocks can be found here.

Block Toolbar

To view the block toolbar, click on the block and the toolbar will be displayed.

Every block comes with unique toolbar icons. These block-specific controls allow you to manipulate the block right in the editor.

The Post Excerpt block shows five buttons in the block toolbar:

• Transform to
• Drag icon
• Move arrows
• Change text alignment
• More options

Transform to:

Click on the “Transform” button to convert the Post Excerpt block into a “Group” block or “Columns” block. 

Drag icon:

To drag and drop the block to a new location on the page template, click and hold the rectangle of dots, then drag to the new location. The blue separator line indicates where the block will be placed. Release the left mouse button when you find the new location to place the block.

Move arrows:

The up and down arrow icons can be used to move the block up and down on the page.

Detailed instructions on moving a block within the editor can be found here

Change text alignment:

Click the “Change alignment” button in the Block toolbar to display the alignment drop-down. You can align the block text to the left, make it center-aligned or align it to the right.

More option:

The More option on a block toolbar gives you more features to customize the block. 

Show/Hide more settings

The (Show)Hide more settings option hides (or shows) the Block Setting panel in the editor’s sidebar.

Copy

Copy can be used to copy a selected block and then you can paste it wherever you want in the editor.

Duplicate

Duplicate can be used to duplicate selected block.

Insert before

Insert a new block before the selected block(s).

Insert after

Insert a new block after the selected block(s).

Move to

When you select Move To, a blue line will be displayed inside your content. You can then use the arrow keys to move the blue line up or down based on where you want the selected block to be moved into. Once the blue line is in the new location, hit ’Return’ on your keyboard. This will move the selected block to the new position.

Make template part

The Make template part option allows you to convert the selected block into a template part.

Add to Reusable blocks

The Add to Reusable blocks option lets you add the selected block to a list of reusable blocks, so you can use them on other pages.

Group

Select the Group option if you want to group multiple blocks into one unit. This option is useful if you want to add a background color to multiple blocks.

Remove Post Excerpt

With the Remove Post Excerpt option, you can delete the selected block from your page.

Click here to learn more about the More options.

When you click on the optional Read More link inside the Post Excerpt block, the Post Excerpt block toolbar will show three new buttons that can be used to style the Read More link independently.

Use the Bold/Italic buttons to make the Read More link bold/italic.

Click the down arrow button to display more styling tools for the Read More link.

• Highlight: Use to style the text and background color.
• Inline code: Use to add code snippets within your text.
• Inline image: Use to add a background image for the Read More link.
• Keyboard input: Use to add a Keyboard shortcut to the Read More link.
• Strikethrough: Use to strikethough format the text inside Read More link.
• Subscript: Use to add a subscript text to the Read More link.
• Superscript: Use to add a superscript text to the Read More link.

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Block Settings

In addition to the block toolbar, every block has specific options in the editor sidebar.

If you do not see the sidebar, click the ‘cog’ icon next to the Save button.

Color Settings:

You can customize the text color, background color, and link color for the Post Excerpt block. The color options available will vary based on the theme.

Post Excerpt Settings:

Turn on ‘Show link on new line’ button in the Block Settings to show the Post Excerpt Read More link on a new line instead of inline next to the excerpt text.

Typography Settings:

On this tab, you can adjust the Font size, Appearance, Line height, Letter case, and Letter-spacing. 

To access all the typography options click on the + button in the right corner of the Typography tab.

To change the font size, you can select the numbers 1 (for small), 2 (for medium), 3 (for large) or 4 (for extra large). 

Click on the slider icon to the right of Size to add custom font size in the text field.

Clicking on PX will open a drop-down with options for other font units -PX, Em, and Rem. 

Click on the Appearance drop-down to change the font weight for the post excerpt. The values in the drop-down will vary based on the theme.

You can increase or decrease the value for the line height by clicking on the up or down arrow handles in the Line height text field or by typing in your custom value inside the text field.

You can change the Letter case from uppercase (all letters are in uppercase), lowercase (all letters are in lowercase) or capitalize (where the first letter of each word is uppercase).

You can adjust the Letter-spacing by typing in a custom value in the Letter-spacing text field. Clicking on PX will open a drop-down with options for other units -PX, %, EM, REM, VW, VH. 

You also have the option to Reset all the typography changes you made by clicking on the Reset all option in the dropdown.

Dimensions Settings:

Click on the ‘+” icon to the right of Dimensions to explore the Dimensions Settings for the block.

Click on Margin and the Padding from the drop-down to display the Margin and Padding Dimension Settings for the Post Excerpt block. 

The Margin setting affects the space around the selected block. You can type in a custom value in the text field if you want the same spacing all around the block.

You can change the unit for Margin by clicking on PX to display a dropdown with the other supported units- %, EM, REM, VW, and VH.

Click the Link icon to the right, to set different spacing values for top, right, bottom and left of the block.

You can type in a custom value in any of the four text fields. You can also change the unit for margin by clicking on PX to display a dropdown with the other supported units- %, EM, REM, VW, and VH.

Click on the Link icon once again if you want to have the same value for margin all around the block.

The Padding setting affects the space between the block’s content and its border. You can type in a custom value in the text field if you want the same spacing for the padding.

You can change the unit for Padding by clicking on PX to display a dropdown with the other supported units- %, EM, REM, VW, and VH.

Click the Link icon to the right, to set different spacing values for top, right, bottom and left.

You can type in a custom value in any of the four text fields. You can also change the unit for padding by clicking on PX to display a dropdown with the other supported units- %, EM, REM, VW, and VH.

Click on the Link icon once again if you want to have the same value for padding.

You also have the option to revert all the Dimension changes you made, by clicking on the Reset all option from the dropdown. 

Click here to learn more about the Dimensions Settings.

Advanced Settings:

The “Advanced” tab lets you add CSS class(es) to your block. This will allow you to write custom CSS and styles to the block.