WP 7.0 treats custom container blocks as patterns when templateLock is set to 'contentOnly'

[Mr2P]

Description

When I register a custom container block with templateLock set to contentOnly, WordPress treats it as a pattern.
The “Edit pattern” button appears in both the block toolbar and the Inspector.
I believe this may be related to how contentOnly mode interacts with the new unsynced patterns in WordPress 7.0.

Step-by-step reproduction instructions

The code to register a test content-only container block:

import { registerBlockType } from "@wordpress/blocks";
import { useBlockProps, useInnerBlocksProps } from "@wordpress/block-editor";

/**
 * Register the block type.
 * 'test/content-locked-container'
 */
registerBlockType("test/content-locked-container", {
  title: "Content-Only Container",
  category: "layout",
  edit: () => {
    const MY_TEMPLATE = [
      ["core/heading", { level: 3, placeholder: "Editable Heading" }],
      [
        "core/paragraph",
        {
          placeholder:
            "This text can be edited, but the block cannot be moved.",
        },
      ],
    ];

    const blockProps = useBlockProps();

    const innerBlocksProps = useInnerBlocksProps(blockProps, {
      template: MY_TEMPLATE,
      templateLock: "contentOnly",
    });

    return <div {...innerBlocksProps} />;
  },

  save: () => {
    const blockProps = useBlockProps.save();

    const innerBlocksProps = useInnerBlocksProps.save(blockProps);

    return <div {...innerBlocksProps} />;
  },
});

Screenshots, screen recording, code snippet

No response

Environment info

• WordPress version 7.0 beta 6, 2025 theme

Please confirm that you have searched existing issues in the repo.

• Yes

Please confirm that you have tested with all plugins deactivated except Gutenberg.

• Yes

Please confirm which theme type you used for testing.

• Block
• Classic
• Hybrid (e.g. classic with theme.json)
• Not sure

[t-hamano]

Thanks for the report.

I believe this may be related to how contentOnly mode interacts with the new unsynced patterns in WordPress 7.0.

That's true. As I understand it, this is the intended behavior.

<!-- wp:group {"layout":{"type":"constrained"},"templateLock":"contentOnly"} -->
<div class="wp-block-group">
  <!-- wp:paragraph -->
  <p>Hello World</p>
  <!-- /wp:paragraph -->
</div>
<!-- /wp:group -->

The simplest way to test this is by using the HTML above. Previously, we could only edit the content, but with 7.0, we can edit the pattern using the 'Edit pattern' button.

In real-world scenarios, we might want to enforce content editing only to prevent site users from breaking the content layout. It would be beneficial to have some option that can enforce the previous behavior of the contentOnly mode.

cc @ramonjd @talldan @fabiankaegy

[Mr2P]

@t-hamano Thanks for the clarification. I agree that contentOnly mode is really useful. However, treating a block as a pattern when it isn't feels wrong. If this is the intended behavior, can we have some kind filter or parameter to opt out?

[ramonjd]

As I understand it, this is the intended behavior.

Thanks @t-hamano. This is also how I understand it too.

In real-world scenarios, we might want to enforce content editing only to prevent site users from breaking the content layout. It would be beneficial to have some option that can enforce the previous behavior of the contentOnly mode.

There's a high-level setting that turns off the behavior completely, but it's not currently exposed as a user-facing option.

Example:

wp.data.dispatch( 'core/block-editor' ).updateSettings( {
    disableContentOnlyForUnsyncedPatterns: true,
} );

There were a few discussions about how to provide a setting like this to users working with patterns in the editor (and possibly also a flag in the pattern metadata itself), some of it on #75457

The answer right now is that there's no answer. I expect it's something that will become clearer as folks use patterns more.

[talldan]

Even prior to 7.0 there was a 'Modify' button on any blocks with templateLock: contentOnly in the block options dropdown menu, so this feature was present before. The thing that has changed is that it's now more prominent, and is also called 'Edit pattern'.

I can see how that might be a problem for a custom block compared to something more generic like a group 🤔

Just to double-check, what part exactly is the issue? The 'pattern' naming or the ability to edit?

[t-hamano]

Just to double-check, what part exactly is the issue? The 'pattern' naming or the ability to edit?

To me, both seem like problems. As @Mr2P wrote, custom blocks with templateLock set to contentOnly shows the "Edit pattern" button even though they are not patterns.

---

There's a high-level setting that turns off the behavior completely, but it's not currently exposed as a user-facing option.

Example:

wp.data.dispatch( 'core/block-editor' ).updateSettings( {
    disableContentOnlyForUnsyncedPatterns: true,
} );

This setting seems to do nothing to the non-pattern block:

<!-- wp:group {"templateLock":"contentOnly","layout":{"type":"constrained"}} -->
<div class="wp-block-group">
<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p>Hello World</p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->
</div>
<!-- /wp:group -->

Is this intended behavior, or is it a bug?

[Mr2P]

@talldan Prior to 7.0 there was no 'Modify' or 'Edit' button when we set the templateLock as contentOnly even on the core group block. That feature is really useful for preventing users from changing style settings. I hope this isn’t something that will be removed in future versions.

[talldan]

@Mr2P Prior to 7.0 there was a 'Modify' button. Here's a screen recording of 6.9:

Kapture.2026-03-26.at.18.00.17.mp4

[talldan]

custom blocks with templateLock set to contentOnly shows the "Edit pattern" button even though they are not patterns.

I think we're in a string freeze now so can't change it for 7.0, unless perhaps it has release lead blessing.

The naming had a lot of debate and iteration, and ultimately 'Edit pattern' is what was settled on. I'm personally absolutely fine with changing the copy, but there needs to be a better suggestion, so far there haven't been any.

[talldan]

This setting seems to do nothing to the non-pattern block:

The setting only works for unsynced patterns (disabling contentOnly on them), so the suggestion to use that isn't quite right.

It wouldn't make sense to have a setting that disabled contentOnly for blocks that have templateLock: contentOnly.

[Mr2P]

@talldan I didn’t notice that link. Why don’t we keep it for normal blocks, and only apply “Edit pattern” to actual patterns or template parts?