Selecting Patterns

WordPress block patterns, or just patterns, are pre-designed collections of blocks that serve as building blocks for creating professional-looking pages and posts quickly and consistently. These reusable templates combine multiple WordPress blocks—such as headings, images, buttons, and columns—into cohesive layouts that you can insert with a single click. Patterns are particularly valuable because they eliminate the need to recreate common design elements from scratch, ensure visual consistency across your website, and provide inspiration for new layouts while maintaining your site's overall design standards.

Adding a Pattern

• Click the + icon under the current block
• Click on the Patterns tab or Synced Patterns tab
• Use the dropdown menu to select which category of patterns you want to use, or click Explore to open a modal that allows you to have a larger view of each pattern
• Click the pattern you wish to insert, or drag and drop the pattern into your content.

If you click on the pattern, it will be inserted at the location of your cursor.

Source: https://wordpress.org

Creating a Pattern

1. Navigate to Patterns

• Go to the Dashboard of WordPress
• Click on Customise in the left menu, select Patterns

2. Create pattern

• Click on the Add Pattern button
• Give to your pattern a human-readable name in order to be able to find it later
• Use the dropdown to choose in which category your pattern fits better. Do not choose more than three categories
• Depending on how you intend to use your new pattern, you may prefer a synced or unsynced pattern

Jump to different types of patterns to understand the difference.

Editing a Pattern

1. Navigate to My Patterns

• Go to the Dashboard of WordPress
• Click on Customise in the left menu, then select Patterns
• In the editor, go to My Patterns to see your custom patterns

2. Edit the pattern

Simply click the pattern that you wish to edit.

Different Types of Patterns

When you create a Pattern you will see a Synced toggle that can be activated/deactivated.

Synced Pattern

A synced pattern in WordPress is a reusable group of blocks that always stays the same across your entire site. When you edit a synced pattern in one place, those changes automatically update everywhere that pattern is used. Users familiar with Views in Drupal will find this functionality very similar. Indeed, this is ideal for content you want to keep consistent, like banners, or call-to-action sections.

In the editor, synced patterns are visually marked with a purple highlight and a label, to distinguish them from unsynced patterns.

info

In order to edit a synced pattern, you must change the pattern itself, not just one instance of it.

Example:

If you use a synced pattern for your contact information and later update your phone number, the new number will appear everywhere you used that pattern on your site.

Unsynced Pattern

An unsynced pattern is a template or layout you can insert multiple times, but each instance is independent. After you add an unsynced pattern to a page or post, you can edit its content freely—changes will only apply to that single instance. Other places where you used the same unsynced pattern will not be affected. This is useful for layouts you want to reuse but customise each time, such as blog post intros or unique banners for different pages.

Example:

You create an unsynced pattern for a two-column layout with an image and text. You can add this pattern to several pages and then change the image or text on each page without affecting the others.

Summary

Pattern Type	Edits Affect All Instances?	Best For	Editing Location
Synced Pattern	Yes	Consistent, reusable content	Pattern management screen
Unsynced Pattern	No	Layouts you want to customize per use	Directly in page/post

In short:

• Synced pattern: Edit once, updates everywhere
• Unsynced pattern: Edit each instance separately; changes are local only

External Resources

If you wish to know more about WordPress patterns, please visit the Official WordPress documentation!.