HTML To Gutenberg

HTML to Gutenberg is a Webpack plugin that compiles your HTML into real, native Gutenberg blocks. No shortcodes. No server-side hacks. The real Gutenberg editing experience.

It generates proper edit.js, render.php, block.json, and index.js files, exactly what you'd write by hand if you were building blocks with React and PHP.

But you won’t have to write a single line of React or PHP.

Just structure your HTML with a few intuitive attributes, and let the plugin handle the heavy lifting.

The output is 100% native Gutenberg code. If you stop using the plugin, your blocks still work. No lock-in.

Try it out in the Live Editor to see how quickly you can convert your HTML into Gutenberg blocks.

Quick start

This project is built with ESM and requires Node.js version 20.0.0 or later.

1. Scaffold an HTML To Gutenberg blocks plugin

cd wp-content/plugins
npx @wordpress/create-block --template html-to-gutenberg-template

This sets up everything you need — pre-configured to work with HTML To Gutenberg.

2. Start development

cd html-to-gutenberg-blocks # Your block plugin directory
npm run start

3. Edit the default block

Open wp-content/plugins/html-to-gutenberg-blocks/src/block.html and make changes to the default block.

HTML To Gutenberg will automatically convert it into a working Gutenberg block.

4. Add additional blocks

To create additional blocks, simply add new .html files in the src folder.

Each HTML file becomes its own block and is automatically processed by HTML To Gutenberg.

src/
├── block.html         # Default block (can be safely deleted)
├── hero.html          # Another custom block
├── testimonial.html   # Yet another one

Note about blocks deletion

When you delete an HTML file from src, its corresponding Gutenberg block is removed on the next build.

However, depending on your setup, you may also need to manually delete the removed block folder inside the build/ directory to fully clean it up.

5. Activate your plugin

Enable your block in the WordPress admin and drop it into any page or post.

Make sure you set a title when generating the plugin with @wordpress/create-block. If you don’t, the plugin may not appear in the WordPress plugins page.

If you forgot to add one, open the root PHP file of your plugin and add a Plugin Name like so:

<?php

/**
 * Plugin Name:       HTML To Gutenberg Blocks <------ Add a name here
 * Version:           0.1.0
 * Requires at least: 6.7
 * Requires PHP:      7.4
 * Author:            The WordPress Contributors
 * License:           GPL-2.0-or-later
 * License URI:       https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html
 * Text Domain:       textdomain
 *
 * @package CreateBlock
 */

6. Build for production

npm run build

Bundles and minifies your blocks.

Documentation

Visit the official documentation.

Quick links

• Installation
• Registering blocks
• Creating a block
• Binding data to elements
• Using InnerBlocks
• Adding InspectorControls

Example

Visit the official documentation to try this code in a live interactive editor.

block.html

<section
  class="py-20 bg-blue-200"
  data-parent="custom/parent-block"
  data-editing-mode="contentOnly"
>
  <inspector-controls>
    <panel-body title="Settings">
      <select-control data-bind="postType" label="Post Type">
        <select-control-option value="posts">Posts</select-control-option>
        <select-control-option value="pages">Pages</select-control-option>
      </select-control>
    </panel-body>
  </inspector-controls>

  <div class="container">
    <div class="grid grid-cols-12 gap-4">
      <div class="col-span-12 md:col-span-6">
        <h2 class="text-2xl" data-bind="sectionTitle">
          Edit me inside the editor
        </h2>
        <img class="aspect-square object-cover" data-bind="sectionImage" />
      </div>

      <div class="col-span-12 md:col-span-6">
        <inner-blocks allowedBlocks="all" templateLock="all">
          <inner-block name="core/group">
            <inner-block name="core/heading" level="3"></inner-block>
            <inner-block name="core/paragraph">
              <block-attribute name="content">
                Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur.
              </block-attribute>
            </inner-block>
          </inner-block>
        </inner-blocks>
      </div>
    </div>
  </div>
</section>

block/edit.js

import {
  useBlockProps,
  useBlockEditingMode,
  InnerBlocks,
  RichText,
  MediaUpload,
  InspectorControls,
} from "@wordpress/block-editor";
import { PanelBody, SelectControl } from "@wordpress/components";
import { Image } from "@10up/block-components/components/image";

export default ({ attributes, setAttributes }) => {
  useBlockEditingMode("contentOnly");

  return (
    <section {...useBlockProps({ className: "py-20 bg-blue-200" })}>
      <InspectorControls>
        <PanelBody title="Settings">
          <SelectControl
            label="Post Type"
            value={attributes.postType}
            onChange={(postType) => setAttributes({ postType })}
            options={[
              { label: "Posts", value: "posts" },
              { label: "Pages", value: "pages" },
            ]}
          ></SelectControl>
        </PanelBody>
      </InspectorControls>

      <div className="container">
        <div className="grid grid-cols-12 gap-4">
          <div className="col-span-12 md:col-span-6">
            <RichText
              className="text-2xl"
              tagName="h2"
              value={attributes.sectionTitle}
              onChange={(sectionTitle) => setAttributes({ sectionTitle })}
              placeholder="Section title"
            ></RichText>
            <MediaUpload
              value={attributes.sectionImage}
              onSelect={(image) => setAttributes({ sectionImage: image.id })}
              render={({ open }) => (
                <Image
                  style={{ cursor: "pointer", pointerEvents: "all" }}
                  onClick={open}
                  className="aspect-square object-cover"
                  id={attributes.sectionImage}
                  onSelect={(image) =>
                    setAttributes({ sectionImage: image.id })
                  }
                />
              )}
            ></MediaUpload>
          </div>

          <div className="col-span-12 md:col-span-6">
            <InnerBlocks
              template={[
                [
                  "core/group",
                  {},
                  [
                    ["core/heading", { level: 3 }],
                    [
                      "core/paragraph",
                      { content: "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur." },
                    ],
                  ],
                ],
              ]}
              templateLock="all"
            ></InnerBlocks>
          </div>
        </div>
      </div>
    </section>
  );
};

block/render.php

<?php

$sectionImage_id = $attributes['sectionImage'] ?? '';
$sectionImage = $sectionImage_id ? wp_get_attachment_image_src($sectionImage_id, 'full') : [''];
$sectionImage_src = $sectionImage[0] ?? '';
$sectionImage_srcset = $sectionImage_id ? wp_get_attachment_image_srcset($sectionImage_id, 'full') : '';
$sectionImage_sizes = $sectionImage_id ? wp_get_attachment_image_sizes($sectionImage_id, 'full') : '';
$sectionImage_alt = $sectionImage_id ? get_post_meta($sectionImage_id, '_wp_attachment_image_alt', true) : '';

?>

<section <?php echo get_block_wrapper_attributes(['class' => 'py-20 bg-blue-200']); ?>>
  <div class="container">
    <div class="grid grid-cols-12 gap-4">
      <div class="col-span-12 md:col-span-6">
        <h2 class="text-2xl"><?php echo wp_kses_post($attributes['sectionTitle'] ?? ''); ?></h2>
        <img class="aspect-square object-cover" src="<?php echo esc_url($sectionImage_src); ?>" srcset="<?php echo esc_attr($sectionImage_srcset); ?>" sizes="<?php echo esc_attr($sectionImage_sizes); ?>" alt="<?php echo esc_attr($sectionImage_alt); ?>" />
      </div>
      <div class="col-span-12 md:col-span-6">
        <?php echo $content; ?>
      </div>
    </div>
  </div>
</section>

block/block.json

{
  "name": "custom/block",
  "title": "Block",
  "textdomain": "block",
  "$schema": "https://schemas.wp.org/trunk/block.json",
  "apiVersion": 3,
  "version": "0.1.0",
  "category": "theme",
  "example": {},
  "parent": ["custom/parent-block"],
  "attributes": {
    "align": { "type": "string", "default": "full" },
    "sectionImage": { "type": "integer" },
    "postType": { "type": "string", "default": "posts" },
    "sectionTitle": { "type": "string", "default": "Edit me inside the editor" }
  },
  "supports": { "html": false, "align": ["full"] },
  "editorScript": "file:./index.js",
  "render": "file:./render.php"
}

block/index.js

import { registerBlockType } from "@wordpress/blocks";
import { InnerBlocks } from "@wordpress/block-editor";

import Edit from "./edit.js";
import metadata from "./block.json";

registerBlockType(metadata.name, {
  edit: Edit,
  save: () => <InnerBlocks.Content />,
});