What are block patterns?
Introduced in WordPress 5.5, block patterns allow themes and plugins to define patterns of blocks. These patterns allow users to quickly insert content blocks into their posts or pages, with the blocks in a pattern presented or styled in a particular way.
An example of a basic block pattern may contain a heading, with a number of columns of text or images below the heading.
Example Heading
Column one
Just a basic example of some text in the first column.
Column two
Some more text content presented in this second column.
Column three
Yet another paragraph of text in the third column as an example.
In the example above, the pattern contains ten blocks; a Heading block with Spacer blocks above and below the heading, a Columns block with three columns, and within each column a Heading block, and a Paragraph block, all grouped together within a Group block.
A post/page author could create this layout of content by inserting each block individually to their post, or alternatively the theme (or a plugin) may have this layout available as a block pattern. One advantage of the block pattern, is that the page author is able to insert this layout with just one click, rather than adding the 11 blocks one-by-one. The content can then be added or edited as required.
Patterns in WordPress core
As of the time of writing, the following block patterns are available directly in WordPress, without needing a block pattern compatible theme or plugin(s).
Two Buttons
Three Buttons