Create a pattern

With patterns, you can save customized blocks to reuse across your site. If you’re repeatedly adding the same groups of blocks to new pages, patterns will save you a lot of time. In this guide, you will learn how to create and use patterns.

To create a pattern, follow these steps:

1. Insert the blocks you plan to reuse. A pattern can be a single block or a group of multiple blocks.
2. Select all the blocks you want for your pattern by highlighting them with your mouse or selecting them in List View.
3. Click on the ellipses menu (⋮) that appears in the block toolbar (or next to the first block selected in the List view).
4. Click on the “Create pattern” option:

5. Give it a name to help you remember what the pattern is for. The name is only visible to you.
6. Optionally assign the pattern to a category, which is useful if you have many patterns that you wish to keep organized.
7. Toggle the Synced option on or off:
   • Synced: Any edits you make to the pattern will apply everywhere the pattern has been inserted. Ideal for reusing blocks.
   • Unsynced: Any edits you make to the pattern will apply to one instance of the pattern only. Ideal if you want to use the same layout across multiple pages while changing the content in the pattern on each page.
8. Click the Add button:

When creating a pattern, you can set it to be synced or unsynced. Here, we’ll explain each option and how to work with both types of patterns.

A synced pattern is a pattern that remains the same everywhere you use it on your site. When you edit the synced pattern in one place on your site, that change will be applied everywhere the pattern is used. For example, if you create a synced pattern for your business hours, you can change those hours in one instance of the pattern, and it will be updated everywhere you’ve inserted that pattern throughout your site.

Synced patterns are identified by the pattern symbol that looks like a diamond with another diamond behind it. You will also see the name of the pattern in the following places in the editor:

• The block toolbar.
• The block settings sidebar.
• List View.
• Breadcrumbs at the bottom of the screen.

To edit a synced pattern, select it and click the “Edit original” button that appears in both the block toolbar and block sidebar settings.

You can disconnect a single instance of a synced pattern to modify that one instance, or use pattern overrides to make specific customizations across synced patterns.

An unsynced pattern is a collection of blocks you’ve designed and want to use again, but also want the freedom to change the content in the blocks after you’ve added them to a page or post.

For example, you might have a consistent layout for your blog posts with a specific order of text and images, where the overall structure stays the same, but the text and images change each time. You can create a pattern with the text and images where you want them, turn off the sync option, and then modify the images and text on each individual blog post.

You can edit an unsynced pattern in one of two modes:

• Content-only editing mode (the default): Click directly on the blocks to add and replace the text, images, and links inside the pattern. The layout stays locked, so you cannot accidentally move or delete the blocks that hold the pattern together.
• Full editing mode: Click the “Edit pattern” button that appears in both the block toolbar and block sidebar settings to change the layout itself. Add, remove, move, or restyle any block in the pattern.

• Use block patterns: Insert and customize block patterns on your site.
• Edit and manage your patterns: Edit, delete, and restore earlier revisions of patterns.
• Export and import block patterns: Export and import block patterns.
• Override content in synced patterns: Enable and use pattern overrides.