You want to build a custom WordPress block. But you don’t want to learn React, manage a build pipeline, or deal with NPM packages.

Seven and half years after blocks arrived in Core, WordPress introduces a way to build blocks without any of these things. All you need is PHP.

But was the long wait worth it?

A radically simplified block building experience

A traditional WordPress block needs to be registered twice. Once in PHP, and once in JavaScript.

But WordPress 7.0 introduces a new and streamlined approach, allowing you to register a block using only PHP.

Registering a block using only PHP

Let’s use this feature to build a Hello World Block:

function css_tricks_hello_world_block() {

'render_callback' => function () {

);
}
add_action('init', 'css_tricks_hello_world_block');

The block is fully functional in the block editor, and fits right in with all the other blocks: