Which is recommended to learn first: classic themes or block themes? I'm a beginner who recently started learning WordPress theme development.
For someone who’s developing with WordPress for the first time, should I start by learning classic theme development? (Are there many concepts that overlap between both types of theme development?) I've heard that migrating a site from a classic theme to a block theme can be challenging, so I'm unsure which one to focus on.
I recommend focusing on block themes first because they are the future of WP development. With the introduction of Full Site Editing (FSE) and the block editor (Gutenberg), WP is moving towards a block-based approach for everything from content to entire site layouts.
Doesn’t matter, just go and stop overthinking it. Analysis paralysis is bad.
There’s very little overlap between the two. If you’re just starting, there’s no reason to bother learning classic theme structure. If you find yourself in a position that you have to support classic or hybrid themes, cross that bridge when you get there.
Block theme is the future.
Better start with block themes. Classic themes are easy to work with, but block themes are the future in my opinion.
I would suggest learn classic themes, because that is wordpress way of doing things. From my experience there are not that many clients that want Block editor.
So do your self favor learn classic themes and use Visual Composer or Elementor, because this are currently main platforms for building wordpress sites for clients.
Sure there some others like Bricks also.
Blocks and FSE are not finished and I don’t know if ever will be.
Jump! Then you get used on the way, don’t try to take the best path out of anxiety, there is no such thing as best path, it is only your path that you should follow.
FSE is present and future.
Classic is past and present.
Do https://www.udemy.com/course/become-a-wordpress-developer-php-javascript/. It covers all landscape. It will probably be the best spent 10$.
I’d recommend classic themes first just to understand the overall structure, theory, and schemas behind themes. You don’t have to invest in every nuance. But since blocks are basically a somewhat chaotic fork of classic themes with overrides and zombie, html-comment-only files, it’ll be easier to understand every time you look at A Thing and ask yourself “wtf, WHY???”
It really doesn’t matter what you learn first, however, both use the “template hierarchy” as the base for their system. So understanding that is probably a good thing.
learning both are beneficial, as it will help you determine what works best for you over time