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Managing Patterns

Advanced Training Module 6: Patterns

Patterns are designed to save time and promote consistency, but there may be occasions when you need to update, reorganize, or remove them. WordPress provides a central location where you can manage all patterns created on your website.

Understanding how to manage patterns is especially important when working with synced patterns, as a single change can affect multiple pages throughout your site.

Why Manage Patterns?

Over time, your collection of patterns may grow.

You may need to:

Regular maintenance helps keep your pattern library useful and easy to navigate.

Accessing Pattern Management

To manage patterns:

  1. Open the editor.
  2. Select the Options menu (three dots) in the top-right corner.
  3. Choose Manage Patterns.

This area displays all available patterns on your site.

From here, you can:

Editing a Pattern

To edit a pattern:

  1. Open Manage Patterns.
  2. Locate the pattern you wish to update.
  3. Select Edit.
  4. Make your changes.
  5. Save the pattern.

After saving, the updated version becomes available throughout the site.

Editing Synced Patterns

When editing a synced pattern, proceed carefully. A synced pattern remains connected everywhere it is used.

For example:

If you update the phone number in the pattern:

This can be extremely useful when content must remain consistent across a website. However, it also means mistakes can affect multiple pages at once.

Important: Always verify changes to a synced pattern before saving.

Editing Non-Synced Patterns

Non-synced patterns behave differently.

Updating the pattern affects future uses of the pattern, but existing instances that have already been inserted and edited independently will not automatically update.

This makes non-synced patterns ideal for:

where editors need flexibility.

Deleting a Pattern

To remove a pattern:

  1. Open Manage Patterns.
  2. Locate the pattern.
  3. Select Trash or Delete.
  4. Confirm the action if prompted.

Deleting unused patterns can help keep your pattern library organized.

Before Deleting a Pattern

Consider:

Removing a pattern from the library does not automatically mean content already created from that pattern will disappear, but you should review any important usage before removing it.

Organizing Your Pattern Library

As your site grows, a clear naming convention becomes increasingly important.

Good Pattern Names

Less Helpful Names

Descriptive names make patterns easier to locate and maintain.

Best Practices

Review Patterns Periodically
Remove outdated or unused patterns.

Use Clear Names
Future editors should understand what the pattern is for without opening it.

Test Changes to Synced Patterns
Always review the results after updating a synced pattern.

Avoid Duplicate Patterns
Before creating a new pattern, check whether a similar one already exists.

Document Shared Patterns
If multiple editors manage the site, consider documenting important synced patterns and their intended use.

Common Maintenance Tasks

Pattern management often includes:

Regular maintenance helps ensure your website remains consistent and easy to manage.

Try it Out!

  1. Open the Manage Patterns area.
  2. Locate a pattern you created previously.
  3. Edit the pattern and save your changes.
  4. If it is a synced pattern, visit a page where it is used and verify the update appears there as well.
  5. Review your pattern names and determine whether any could be improved.
  6. Identify any unused patterns that could be removed.

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