Developing WordPress Blocks without React

One of the most common complaints I hear from long term WordPress developers boils down to the fact that to develop blocks for the WordPress Block Editor, you need to set up the JavaScript development environment (Node.js + npm + @wordpress/scripts) in order to start building blocks.

This is not entirely true, as it is in fact possible to build blocks without any of this, and just use vanilla JavaScript.

I covered the basics of what this could look like in a series on Online Workshops last year:

Block basics

Implementing Attributes

Using Attributes with existing Components

Implmenting Block Controls

Block Supports

Putting it all together