Not ready to go full block theme yet? This video breaks down your three options for WordPress theme development.
Classic themes use traditional PHP templating with no modern WordPress features – basically themes as they existed before Gutenberg. While WordPress enables block editor features by default, classic themes don’t actively support full site editing.
Hybrid themes mix traditional and modern approaches. You might build 80% with classic PHP but add block-powered template parts for specific sections. However, the recommended approach is to build block-first and only fall back to classic methods when absolutely necessary.
Block themes are fully compatible with full site editing, where everything is built with blocks and editable through the site editor. This is the future of WordPress theming and what modern WordPress wants you to build.