How To Create a Website Using Astra & Gutenberg Block Patterns in 2023 [SpectraPro]

Website development can be challenging, specifically if you don’t know how to code or build one from scratch.

Here I will explain how to build a WordPress website using the Astra WordPress theme and Gutenberg block editor without any knowledge of coding or creating a theme from scratch, using Starter Templates. 

With Starter Templates, you can choose from a library to import any suitable starter site template on your website to get your work running quickly.

After importing starter templates, all you have to do is replace the demo content with your own as well as you can add/ remove sections as per your requirements.

Whether you’re a freelancer trying to display your work on a blog or a business owner who wants to reach a wider audience, this post will give you the basics to get started with blogging.

In today’s post, I will explain how to create a professional-looking website using Astra & Gutenberg Block Patterns.

Before I take you to the main topics, first of all, let’s have some highlights on some points which are essential to know.

So, without any further delay let’s get started-

What is WordPress Gutenberg?

A Gutenberg block is an editor block that is used to design content layouts in the new WordPress block editor. Gutenberg is a full-block-based editor introduced with WordPress 5.0 that allows you to drag and drop content pieces.

In case you’re not familiar, WordPress is a content management system, or CMS, a program that lets you manage the important elements of your website, such as the content, without having to know how to code.

Since WordPress is a popular content management system, anyone can create a website, even those who aren’t programmers.

The WordPress content blocks by default include paragraphs, images, buttons, lists, and more. Some popular WordPress plugins add their own blocks to make embedding their functionality easier.

Although the block editor is still evolving, it is already amazingly intuitive and flexible. The best part is that you don’t have to be an HTML expert or a CSS pro to create content.

The mission of Gutenberg is to make the process of content creation simpler and more straightforward.

It also makes it easier to create beautiful pages without writing any code, because it integrates page builders into WordPress core.

What Are the Advantages of the Gutenberg Block?

Well, if you have decided to start a business on WordPress then there are countless benefits of using Gutenberg. 

You can replace the expensive and heavy page builder (as not good for page load) to create a professional-looking WordPress website smoothly.

The best part of using Gutenberg Block is that you don’t need to jump on the editor page (like page builder), all tasks can be performed from WordPress default page/ post editor. 

Apart from that Gutenberg offers layout staying and responsiveness functionality to some extent that ensures your page/ post looks decent without breaking the layout.

However, here are some key points of using Gutenberg Block on your website-

1. Exceptional Editing Experience

There is still TinyMCE in the core. In any case, WordPress would be less successful if it relied too heavily on the current text editor. The Gutenberg current text editor produces seamless and easy editing. 

2. Medium Style Editor

Gutenberg gives you the option to use Medium Editing Experience. If you want a medium editor, WordPress Gutenberg is the best option to go for.

3. Gutenberg or Blocks

Gutenberg divides everything into blocks. You can include images, headings, paragraphs, audio, videos, blockquotes, etc. What are the advantages of these blocks?

These “blocks” provide a high level of flexibility in adding various types of content to your posts. Additionally, you can add columns, embeds, separators, in-post widgets, and many other content types as per your requirements to your posts and pages. 

4. A More Spacious Editor Focused on Content

With this visual editor, distractions are not a problem. The Gutenberg Full-screen mode isn’t just cool; it’s extremely useful for bloggers and editors as well. When not needed, you can also switch off Full-screen Mode.

5. Compatible With Mobile Devices

We live in a mobile era; people are all dependent on their phones, both functionally and for usage purposes. Therefore, companies are diversifying their efforts by improving their functionality for mobiles.

You can edit your posts or pages smoothly with this Block Editor. However, you are not limited to editing pages only.

6. Developer-Friendly Interface

The WordPress Gutenberg editor is not only a developer-friendly solution for content developers but for plugin developers also. In addition, they do not have to rely on shortcodes (though you can still create them) but can create their own custom blocks that users can insert into their posts. It means that shortcodes are not an issue.

7. Information at Your Fingertips

For bloggers and content creators, checking the word count, headings, paragraphs, etc., is part of their everyday routine.

The block editor has a handy information box accessible from the “i” button above the top bar. One of its basic functions is to count words, headings, and some blocks. Besides this, it can display the document outline.

However, we need a theme to build a WordPress website. For that, you can choose any WordPress theme (Free or Paid) But I would suggest going for one that has a deep customization option, fast loading, and lightweight.

For this tutorial, I have chosen one of the popular and flexible WordPress themes called “Astra”.

What is Astra Pro?

A great deal indeed! Astra is one of the most lightweight and customizable WordPress themes available. It’s best designed for performance and speed – it’s been tested to load in less than 0.5 seconds.

It’s a beautiful WordPress theme that works great for personal websites, blogs, businesses, online shops, and whatnot.

Over 1 million websites use the free version, and it has impressive support for page builder WordPress plugins – enabling you to customize your entire website through the WordPress theme customizer fully.

The Astra theme for WordPress is free to use, so anyone can start building their own website. However, the premium version would charge some dollars for extra features but is worth investing in. 

Astra Pro is the Glitter added to the Golden features of the Astra WordPress theme.

Learn more about what WordPress Theme is and which one you should use?

How Does Astra Pro Make Creating a Website Simple?

Astra Pro is a powerful add-on (Plugin) that makes your website even more powerful. Astra Pro offers advanced color options, typography options, and deep customizations.

Additionally, Astra Pro comes with templates compatible with Gutenberg, Elementor, Beaver Builder, and Divi Builder. With Astra, you can instantly transform your website using thousands of high-quality website designs.

Astra Pro is basically an extension plugin for the Astra theme. It offers you a wide range of customization and design options to maximize the possibility of creating your website.

As a result, things become simpler, and you don’t have to use multiple plugins on one page, which can lead to complications and a bad impact on site speed.

Astra Pro offers you a library of starter templates to help you quickly and easily build your website. It also enhances the customization capabilities of your website by adding several features.

If you know less about block pattern templates, these templates are similar to page templates but are based on blocks, not pages or post types. So, you can use them wherever blocks can be inserted.

In other words, if you want to use a block pattern throughout your website, you could implement it in your posts, pages, or custom post types.

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What are Block Patterns? – Explained

With the release of the WordPress block editor or Gutenberg blocks in 2018, creating dynamic web pages for your WordPress site has become more effortless.

Gutenberg block patterns were also introduced. With “Gutenberg Block Patterns Templates“, you can build a well-designed page in fewer steps with curated block collections, included with WordPress 5.5.

The Gutenberg block patterns are predefined layouts based on regular Gutenberg blocks. The block patterns behave like standard blocks, which means you can edit them after inserting them.

Despite this, you can create more attractive pages by using predefined layouts. Using block patterns, you can customize each section with various layouts.

You can also create custom patterns in addition to the standard options. Consequently, theme and plugin developers can add their own block patterns, giving you more customization options.

Creating customizable web pages became much easier with the introduction of block patterns. 

No matter whether you’re just starting or a seasoned pro, you can focus more time on creating unique content instead of worrying about the design.

What is Required to Create a Website?

Creating a website doesn’t require too much time and effort, you just need a little bit of budget which you can use to buy relevant elements that are essential for creating a website. 

Although, there are So many factors that work together to create a working website. But here are some of the most basic elements that are crucial for launching a website online-

#1. Domain 

The first step to starting a website is registering a domain name and finding a web host.

A domain name is the address of your website that people type into the URL bar of their browsers so that they can access your website.

Let’s consider your website to be a house; then, your domain name must be its address. For example, Bloggingtry.com, google.com, and Youtube.com are all domain names.

The domain name should be related to your niche or business. 

#2. Web Hosting

A web host is where you store all of the files associated with your website. In a sense, it is like your website’s home.

In other words, if your domain name is your address, then web hosting is just the actual house where that address points.

The web host you choose for your website, like FastComet Hosting, will be where it “lives” on the internet. A web host offers space on their servers along with the technology that allows visitors from all over the world to view your website content at any time.

#3. WordPress

With WordPress, you can build and host websites using a content management system (CMS). You can make any website with WordPress using its plugin architecture and template system, so it can be customized to fit your business, website, blog, portfolio, or online store. 

#4. WordPress Theme

Certainly, one of the best free WordPress themes around, Astra stands out from the crowd. The theme allows you to import dozens of professional-looking website designs, and a variety of free plugins are available for extending functionality.

#5. WordPress Plugins

Plugins are what make up your WordPress site. WordPress Plugins can do anything you want your website to do. Whether you need contact forms, increased SEO, increased website performance, a shopping cart, or email opt-ins, they add valuable features to your website.

How To Build a Website in WordPress Using Astra and Gutenberg Bock Patterns?

As I have discussed earlier, some crucial elements which are essential to building a WordPress website. 

Technology has grown up now and there are too many ways available in the market to launch your website. 

Either you hire a developer or use a CMS like WordPress. But let me tell you one thing, WordPress is the most popular and flexible way to create almost any kind of website. 

You don’t need any technical knowledge, even if you are just starting you can build a stunning website without writing a single line of code.

Just follow the steps below to get your work done effectively.

1: WordPress Installation

After you have chosen a web host, you should install WordPress on it. You can install WordPress via two methods 

• Manual Installation
• Through cPanel

Many web hosts offer an easy way called a control panel (cPanel) to install WordPress on their servers. At Chemicloud, it is easy to install WordPress simply by clicking the button.

As you are getting the traditional cPanel from FastComet Hosting, you can install the WordPress content management system with a single click. Here are the simple steps to follow for the installation of WordPress Script on ChemiCloud Server-

• Login to your cPanel Account (Either from the ChemiCloud Client Area or Direct Username and password)
• Locate Softaculous Apps Installer and click on the WordPress Icon.
• Just fill in the essential details after selecting your domain name in the drop-down menu.
• Click on the “Install Now” button
• After a few seconds, WordPress would be installed.

You have now successfully installed WordPress on your web hosting account. You will get a WordPress dashboard URL which you should write somewhere.

If you encounter any problems, you can contact ChemiCloud’s customer support through live chat. You can expect them to respond as quickly as possible.

2: Install Astra

As soon as WordPress has been installed, you will need to install the Astra theme. To do so you need to log in to your WordPress Dashboard by going to https://demositeexo.com/login and providing the username and password that you have setup during WordPress installation.

Now you are in the WordPress Dashboard and follow the steps to install the Astara WordPress Theme on your website-

• Click on Appearance > Themes in your WordPress dashboard.
• After that, click on the “Add New” button.
• Simply type “Astra” in the search box, select Astra from the list, and click on Install.
• To begin using the theme, click Activate it after installing.

3: Starter Templates Plugin

Your website should look something like this after you install the Astra theme.

Here you can see the theme in its raw state (and it doesn’t seem all that appealing).

To use the website templates already built for us, you will need to install the Starter Templates plugin.

With WordPress plugins, you can add new features and functionality to your WordPress website, such as galleries, contact forms, spam protection, etc.

Uploading/ Installing a plugin is as easy as logging into your WordPress website, clicking Plugins, and clicking Add New.

Installing WordPress plugins is a convenient way to add new features to your website without coding knowledge.

• You can install the Starter Templates plugin by typing “Astra” in the search box and clicking on the Install Now button under the Starter Templates section.

• After installing the Plugin click on “Activate” to activate the plugin.

• You now have the Starter Templates plugin installed.

4: Install a Starter Theme

To install a starter theme, follow these steps-  

• Go to WordPress Dashboard > Plugin > Installed Plugin and locate Starter Templates. Here you will see the option “See Library”. Just click on it and it will take you to the next page.

• On the next page, you have the option to choose your favorite page builder before importing starter theme templates.

• Select Block Editor since the main purpose of this article is to demonstrate how to use Gutenberg block pattern templates with the Astra theme. It will take you to the new page where you can find a bunch of professional-looking website templates you can pick from. All these templates are well categorized so that you can find the best one without navigating here and there.

As soon as you choose and click on your favorite starter theme template, it will get imported into your website and you’ll have the opportunity to personalize it, including adding your own logo, colors, fonts, and more.

It is also possible to import placeholder photos. If you do not want the images in your library, you can uncheck the box.

Within a few seconds, your theme will be ready.

5: Use the Block Patterns from Starter Templates

Now you might wonder how to use the Block Patterns from Starter Templates? But worry not, just follow the simple steps, and you’re done.

• Open any page or post and you will have WordPress default block editor in front of you.
• Click the large blue Starter Templates button in the header to use a block pattern from Starter Templates.

• Next, select the Patterns tab. Here is the list of all the templates you can choose from. You can find a suitable one and save time by choosing the categories (available on the left side) as per your business type.

• Just select one that meets your requirements and click on Import to add a block pattern on your post/page. After a few seconds, it will get imported. It’s finally time to see your new block pattern! Isn’t it lovely?

Furthermore, you can customize it as you want to match your business needs.

6: Install Ultimate Addons for Gutenberg

If your site uses Gutenberg as an editor, then Ultimate Addons for Gutenberg is your ultimate choice. Developed by Brainstorm Force – the same team as Astra – Ultimate Addons for Gutenberg is a free WordPress plugin.

UAG (Ultimate Addons for Gutenberg – rebranded to Spectra) is a WordPress plugin that offers creative blocks with deep customization options to make stunning websites. UAG also offers ready-to-use single-page templates and blocks that you can use to increase your productivity.

There are countless new block types added by the plugin, including:

• Star ratings
• Forms
• Tabs
• Review Schema
• Blockquote
• Lottie (animation)
• and much more

A library of all templates is available right inside the UAG block editor since version 1.21.0. Simply pick and import the template you prefer, make the necessary adjustments, add content, and you’re done.

Click on Plugins in your WordPress dashboard and search for “Gutenberg Blocks” to install Ultimate Add-ons for Gutenberg. Click Install Now and Activate Gutenberg Blocks – Ultimate Addons for Gutenberg.

Whenever you edit a post or a page, you now have more Gutenberg blocks available.

7: Add Content Using Gutenberg Block Patterns/ UAG Blocks

To get started, open the WordPress page editor. Alternatively, you can create a new page or edit an existing one.

But the question is – How to add content using Gutenberg block patterns?

To access the WordPress inserter interface, click on the plus + icon in the upper left corner. In some cases, you might need to select Browse All to open the inserter interface on the editor’s left when you click the plus + icon.

Click on the Patterns tab once the interface has opened.

By doing so, you can browse through all the available block patterns. The patterns are divided into various categories, such as buttons, galleries, and columns. 

By default, Gutenberg offers only a few options to get started. However, there are themes and plugins you can install that provide additional functionality (more on that later).

Simply click on your favorite Gutenberg block pattern to insert it. It will automatically appear on your WordPress page. 

As you have installed the Ultimate Addons for Gutenberg plugin you can easily insert UAG blocks in your post by selecting Block Tab and scrolling down to for ULTIMATE ADDONS BLOCKS.

Here you will find many blocks to use in your post or page.

Apart from that you can use the UAG Template option to import various types of professional-looking Gutenberg block patterns in your post or page.

Simply follow the steps.

Click on the UAG Templates option available on the top of WordPress Block Editor which take on to the next page where you can select to import different type of Gutenberg Block Pattern quickly. Don’t worry, you can customize them as you want.

Note – You have the same types of Block Patterns in UAG Templates as you have seen in Starter Theme Templates.

8: Editing Block Patterns

As soon as the block pattern appears on your page, you can edit the layout in its entirety. You should keep in mind that every block pattern is made up of individual blocks that are curated into these templates. As such, they behave the same way as regular blocks do.

9: Reuse/Customize Gutenberg Blocks

If you decide to reuse your save block in another post, you can also edit it. 

However, keep in mind that changing a reusable block will change it at all the locations where it’s been placed. 

In any case, if you need to edit a reusable block for one post, you can convert it to a regular block.

You can do this by clicking on the three dots (:) in the toolbar, then selecting ‘Convert to Regular Block.’ As a result, you will get a regular block for the post, not a reusable one. 

Editing this block will not affect the original reusable block or the other places where it is used.

Apart from that you can customize any block depending on what customization options they have. Because every type of Blocks and Patterns has different customization options.

For Example, I have added a UAG price list block in the post and it has multiple customization options on the right side by which you can give a decent look to your block.

You will see little or NO customization options (only color and font size) in default WordPress Gutenberg Blocks/ Patterns. But, if you have inserted Gutenberg block from UAG and Gutenberg Block Patterns from Starter Templates, you have a lot of customization possibilities.

10: Create a Custom Block Pattern & Use it on a Page

How about creating your own patterns?

A custom block pattern can be created using code by developers. The good news is that even if you aren’t experienced with web development, several plugins can assist you in creating and saving your own block patterns without coding.

To do that, we use the Block Pattern Builder plugin by Justin Tadlock. Using this free plugin, you can generate custom block patterns and save them. Once the plugin is installed and activated, it is simple to create a new block pattern.

The first step is to insert and arrange the blocks in the WordPress editor. 

After you have arranged them in the layout you prefer, click the three-dot menu option to expand the menu.

Now you can add patterns to blocks. All you have to do is name your block pattern and just save it to your library. A block pattern you create can be stored in the Uncategorized section of your Patterns tab.

The Gutenberg block pattern continues to modernize WordPress’ user experience. You can now quickly design beautiful layouts for all of your pages with the help of a library of predefined block patterns.

WordPress now offers various customization options and plugins that make creating custom pages more effortless than ever. You don’t need to hire someone; you can create a beautiful, professional-looking website in a matter of days with Gutenberg block patterns and the new block editor.

As you can see, I am using Ultimate Addons for Gutenberg Block to make my website Homepage, Tools Page Blogging Course Page, and more.

11: Testing Your Website Speed

Now that we have built custom blocks, we should test the speed of our website.

The page load time of your WordPress site can significantly impact your website’s performance. 

A slow-loading website increases bounce rates, decreases conversion rates, and hurts the user experience. 

Further, Google uses page speed as a ranking factor for SEO, so a slow WordPress site could be hurting your SEO as well.

It is, therefore, one of the best investments you can make to speed up your WordPress website.

To test this, I’m using a dedicated domain (https://nextbusiness.site).

These are the sites where the speed tests can be conducted:

Google PageSpeed Insights.

GTmetrix.

Pingdom Tools.

It’s easy to see that the Astra theme is one of the fastest WordPress themes around. In both Google PageSpeed Insights and GTmetrix, it scored an impressive performance.

Here are 5 Essential Plugins for Keeping Your WordPress Website Healthy

Plugins seamlessly integrate with WordPress, making it one of the best systems out there.

WordPress plugins are small apps you can install directly into your site to improve or add features.

Even without plugins, WordPress is an excellent system for managing websites.

WordPress is an excellent system for managing websites with almost unlimited potential with plugins!

I have hand-picked this list from among the thousands of WordPress plugins available. Pick one or pick them all – it’s your choice!

1. WP Rocket

WP Rocket was developed specifically for WordPress to serve as an all-in-one caching plugin. Developed in 2013 to address the problems of slow websites and complicated caching plugins, WP Rocket was a revolution.

A simple interface, a minimal setup process, and great support quickly set it apart as a market leader.

Over 900,000 websites rely on WP Rocket today, making it one of the most popular caching plugins for WordPress.

Caching is simplified with WP Rocket. Plugin updates are regular, and WP Rocket is always working on improvements.

Features That Make WP Rocket a Great Choice

You don’t need to configure it; once you activate it, your website will automatically gain these benefits:

• A static HTML version of your content for desktop and mobile that serves as a static cache;
• If Apache is available on your server, your visitors can cache some types of files locally
• Support for cross-origin web fonts (on Apache)
• Finding and supporting third-party plugins, themes, and hosting
• Integration of 3rd-party scripts with inline scripts
• The WooCommerce Cart Fragments Cache Refresh feature.

It’s as simple as that! Enjoy the immediate improvement in loading time and a better GTMetrix and PageSpeed score! You don’t need to touch the code to make your site faster since WP Rocket does all this automatically.

In addition, if you want to make the most of WP Rocket’s abilities, you can choose from a wide range of advanced options, such as 

• Lazy loading for images, 
• Preloading XML sitemaps, 
• Optimizing Google Fonts, 
• CSS and JS minification, 
• Deferred loading of JS files
• Database optimization.

WP Rocket Pricing Plans

As described in the above section, WP Rocket is a premium caching plugin for WordPress, and there are three purchasing options:

• Single: It costs just $49.00 for one year of support and updates covering one website.
• Plus: One year of support and updates covering three websites for only $99.
• Infinite: $249 for one year of updates and support for unlimited websites.

If you do not renew your license after one year, a discount of 30 percent will be applied to the price of your license. WP Rocket allows you to disable auto-renewal; however, if you need to do so through your account area.

WP Rocket offers a 14-day money-back guarantee, so you can purchase it and see how it impacts the speed of your site without risking your money.

2. Rank Math

Rank Math is an SEO plugin provided by MyThemeShop for free. With this plugin, you can access all the premium features of Yoast SEO for free.

It helps you create SEO-friendly blog posts and rank higher in search engine results by analyzing your on-page SEO. With the Yoast SEO Free version, you can optimize your posts for five keywords.

Along with the basic SEO features, it also offers you options for site-wide SEO analysis, 404-page management, and URL redirection.

If you want to migrate from the Yoast SEO plugin to Rank Math, it features a one-click option that will migrate all your previous SEO settings.

Read Also – Rank Math SEO Plugin Review

Features That Make Rank Math an Option to Go for

This Plugin offers several unique features which are quite helpful. The following are the main advantages you should consider using it:

• You can edit snippets such as the meta description and meta title in WordPress
• It is possible to enter up to five targeted keywords.
• You can select from a list of long-tail keywords while entering keywords in the targeted keyword box.
• For On-Page SEO, the tool checks that the targeted keywords are included in the page title, Meta description, URL, and elsewhere in the content.
• The Rank Math SEO plugin keeps track of the blog post length, URL length, Meta description length, etc. To determine the search engine ranking, it ensures the lengths adhere to the standards.
• The tool suggests that your blog post is missing internal and external links.
• For the targeted keyword, it checks keyword density.
• Content optimization, and content creation with 40+ predesigned SEO AI Tools (Content AI)
• Using this tool, you can check the Title Readability of a title and get a recommendation for improvements.
• Additionally, it examines the content’s readability.
• It recommends that you include a table of contents in your blog post, which Google also recommends.

Rank Math Pricing Plans

When it comes to pricing and the cost of downloading these two plugins, RankMath is absolutely free.

3. WPForms

Every website should have a contact form since it is the way for your viewers to get in touch with you. The WPForms contact form plugin is an easy-to-use WordPress plugin. 

With this drag-and-drop form builder, you can create contact forms, online orders, email subscription forms, payment forms, polls, surveys, and other types of online forms as quickly as possible. 

Using this plugin, you can create powerful forms instantly and integrate them with leading payment and marketing platforms. 

Features That Make WPForms a Great Choice

• There is no limit to the number of forms you can create.
• There are six editable form templates (there are more templates for Pro and Elite license holders).
• Ability to control field visibility using conditional logic.
• Protection against form spam.
• A variety of advanced field types, including time and date fields.
• The WordPress Dashboard is capable of storing, viewing, and managing form entries.
• It is possible to send form-entry emails to multiple recipients.
• Integrates with Constant Contact’s email marketing service 
• It supports Aweber, Drip, Campaign Monitor, GetResponse, and MailChimp integrations.
• Integration with PayPal and Stripe for online payments.
• Fields on survey and poll forms.
• Users can register and log in using the WordPress user registration form.
• A geolocation feature is used to determine the user’s location.
• There is integration with Zapier.
• Fill out forms and post them.
• Signature fields are provided to allow users to sign a form entry submission.
• Partially completed form entries can be stored with the form abandonment feature.

WPForms Pricing Plans

The following four options are currently available for purchasing WPForms:

• The basic plan is $79 for use on one site.
• The Plus plan is $199 to use across three sites, plus email marketing integrations.
• The Pro plan includes a license for 20 sites costs $399, plus features such as payment and reporting.
• The Elite package costs $599 for unlimited sites, as well as WordPress Multisite support.

Read Also – How to Make Life Easier with WPForms & Zapier

4. Solid Security Pro

Being a blogger or business owner, it is essential to take security seriously. In just a few seconds, a hacker can take down your website, business, and reputation.

WordPress plugin Solids Security Pro is designed and developed by experts in both WordPress and internet security.

Solid Security Pro’s mission is to keep only you and your possible employees from accessing and touching your dashboard and content.

According to many expert bloggers, this plugin is an excellent security measure to keep your website or business growing without the hassles of being hacked.

Features That Make Solid Security a Smart Choice

• File change detection is one of the essential features of the security plugin since most webmasters may not notice when a file is changed.
• Using Google reCAPTCHA integration, you can add another layer of security to your login.
• With the plugin, you can see if anything malicious has been placed in your WordPress core files by comparing them with the current version.
• Add an extra level of sophistication to the authentication keys in your WordPress site by updating your salts and keys.
• There is a feature in WordPress called “Away Mode” that lets you lock the dashboard from all users when you are not making constant updates to your site.
• Other essential features include 404 error detection, brute force protection, and robust password enforcement.
• Provides Brute Force Protection for WordPress
• Detects changes to files in your database automatically.
• Ensure you have a strong password
• IP addresses that repeatedly fail to log in will be blocked.
• Access to the WordPress Dashboard is blocked during certain hours.
• Backup of the database scheduled in advance
• Changing the default URL for logging into WordPress
• In the event of a problem, you will receive a mail notification.
• The two-factor authentication process
• Monitor security activities with a security dashboard
• Excludes specific IPs and user agents from access
• Malware protection that is automatically updated
• Allow changing the directory for content.
• Free PatchStack Integration
• It is also possible to change the database table prefix.

Solid Security Pricing Plans

Solid Security has a free and a pro version, but the pro version offers more features and is worth it.

Even though the Pro Version offers some features that competitors offer for free, Solid Security Pro offers so much more protection than paying for them makes sense.

There are five types of plans available with different price tags based on the number of site licenses. Every plan includes A one-year update subscription and customer support.

Solid Security plans (Yearly) start with $99 – 1 Site, $199 – 5 Sites, $299 – 10 Sites, $399 – 25 Sites, and $499 – 50 Sites. If you have more than 50 sites then you can contact their support team for pricing information.

5. Novashare 

In today’s world, everything is influenced by social media. Blogging is no different. You can gain a lot of exposure immediately if you share the right content with the right audience.

Additionally, it is the most effective way for new bloggers to increase traffic while competing with large websites.

At this point, you have very little chance of writing something compelling enough to make readers copy the link from their web browser. But they are likely to share it immediately via social media sites.

Thus, I recommend choosing a lighter, more specific theme or plugin. The Novashare WordPress plugin is one of my favorites.

WordPress website owners can use it as a social sharing plugin. The plugin is extremely lightweight, adding only a small amount of space to your website. Despite its 120KB size, it adds only 5KB to your page and post.

Features That Make Novashare a Great Choice

• Fast and Lightweight: Speed is an essential feature of Novashare. As opposed to third-party icons, they use inline SVG icons, which means the icons do not need additional libraries or DNS lookups. Smart!

• Easy UI: Because Novashare uses native WordPress styling, you can start configuring the settings immediately.

• Effective: Obviously, if this was a theme, I would have emphasized responsiveness more, but that doesn’t mean responsiveness isn’t crucial for a plugin. Novashare works across all devices and platforms, from desktops to mobile phones.

• Click to Tweet Block: Novashare offers a Click to Tweet block in their block editor, which can be added to posts by clicking “Add block.”

• Analytical Tools and Link Shortening: These tools will provide you with the data you may need, such as: Which social networks drive the most traffic to your site.

• Hover Pins on Pinterest Images: While visiting your website, visitors can easily pin any image to Pinterest they like.

Novashare Pricing Plans

There are three different plans offered by Novashare.

• For $24.95/year, you get all maintenance and updates for one site. To test this plugin before adding it to your list of favorites, we recommend you take advantage of this offer.

• Additionally, three site licenses are available for 54.95$ per year.

• Furthermore, if you want to purchase an unlimited license with support for multiple sites, you will need to pay $124.95/year. 

There is a 30-day money-back guarantee on all plans.

Read Also – Novashare Social Media Sharing Plugin Review

FAQs on Astra & Gutenberg Block Patterns 

1. How Do I Create a Gutenberg Website?

It is pretty straightforward to make a WordPress website with the new Gutenberg editor. It is recommended that you use a theme that is compatible with the Gutenberg block editor, such as Astra.

The next step is to install WordPress on your server once you have selected a domain name and hosting provider. Afterward, click on the Theme option in your WordPress dashboard and install the Astra theme.

It now gives you a fully customizable website with a Gutenberg-compatible theme. Now here is the next action that you have to perform

• Install some essential plugins like Ultimate Addons for Gutenberg Block (UAG), Ninja Forms, Instant Image, Social Sharing, SEO, Caching, and as you need.
• Create Legal Pages like About, Contact, Privacy Policy, Disclaimer
• Create a Home Page and other pages as per the content you want to publish
• Create Categories
• Create Header and Footer

Moreover, you can customize your website layout and styling by using the Gutenberg block (WordPress Default or Ultimate Addons for Guttenberg Block/ Guttenberg Patterns) customization option to give a professional look.

2. How Can I Create My Own Gutenberg Blocks?

Gutenberg has no native functionality to create custom blocks. You need a plugin that is capable of generating custom blocks, such as the Genesis Custom Blocks free plugin. The plugin allows you to add a wide range of fields to your blocks and configure how they are displayed.

It may be necessary to have some coding skills to create custom blocks.

3. How Can I Use Block Patterns in WordPress?

Here are the steps you need to take to create block patterns in WordPress:

• Add a post or page to the site.
• Select the “+” sign at the top of the screen.
• Select the Patterns tab.
• You can use any block pattern you like.

4. How Can I Create a WordPress Post Using Gutenberg Blocks?

Step 1: Your first step should be to give your post a title, using the dedicated field shown at the top of the editor:

It works exactly like it did in the classic editor. Then things start changing.

You’ll see a few icons below the title of your post if you hover your mouse over the area:

• When you click the Plus icon, you can add Gutenberg blocks to your post. 
• On the right, you will see options to easily add the most-used blocks – the text, image, and gallery.

Once you click the Plus button, you’ll see the following menu:

The easiest way to add a block to your post is to find it and click on it. 

To get started, let’s use a Paragraph block. Once you have placed the block within your post, you can move on to the next step (you can also create a paragraph block by typing directly in the editor).

Step 2: Customize your block

At first glance, a paragraph block doesn’t appear to be much. However, as soon as you begin to type into the field, new options will appear:

There are some basic formatting options, such as alignment, bolding, and italicizing. Additionally, you should check out the right-hand sidebar of the display:

You’ll find more options based on blocks there. As a result, you can change the font size and color, add a drop cap, and even add some custom CSS to the text (in the Advanced menu). Whether you make changes here or on the block itself, they will be visible immediately.

Every Gutenberg block has its own unique settings.

By pressing Enter, for example, you’ll add a new paragraph block below your current paragraph. This time, you can add an image block by simply clicking on that same Plus sign:

Step 3: Add the finishing touches to your post

When you’ve added a few blocks, you might find that you want to make some changes. Thanks to Gutenberg’s flexible layout, you can make significant changes to your content.

5. How Do I Remove a Block in Gutenberg?

If you want to remove a block, for instance, choose the Options icon above it, and then click on Remove Block:

1. Select the block you want to remove and click it
2. On the top navbar, click the More Options menu dots
3. Remove the block by clicking the drop-down

The selected block will be removed from the page or post.

6. How to Display the Content Side-by-Side?

By using the Columns block, you can add multiple columns to your pages.

• Click on the + button.
• Locate and insert the Columns block.
• You will now see two columns on your page.
• Drag the toggle in the column block to increase the number of columns.

7. Is WordPress Gutenberg Free of Cost?

As you already know, Gutenberg is 100% free, and it’s built into WordPress 5.0+, but a free Gutenberg plugin is also available to download from WordPress.org. When a theme is Gutenberg-ready, it is compatible with the Gutenberg editor introduced with WordPress 5.0.

With Ultimate Blocks and its 18+ awesome Gutenberg blocks, you can create better and more engaging content.

Conclusion – Astra & Gutenberg Block Patterns

You can see that creating a website using Astra and Gutenberg block patterns is very simple and straightforward.

I hope you better understand how to use Astra and Gutenberg to build a WordPress website with the block editor.

In this article, we reviewed the major features of the Astra theme and talked about the integrated page builder.

We also discussed the Astra Pro Plugin, which offers even more features and control over your site. 

Astra is an excellent WordPress theme for creating a seamless website since it is optimized for Gutenberg blocks. Now you can concentrate on writing more content rather than on developing your website. After all, don’t we all want that?

I appreciate you taking the time to read this tutorial. Now, I hope you know how to build a WordPress website from the basics.

If you have any kind of doubts or questions, please feel free to comment below.

I would be happy to assist you whenever possible!