A Smooth Transition from Classic to Block Theme Development

The WordPress Helsinki meetup group aims to bring people together of all skill levels, from beginners to WordPress professionals. WordPress Helsinki is purely organised by community volunteers, and operates under the WordPress code of conduct.

Change can be challenging. People who have invested significant time and resources into building a system often resist change at all costs — even when it benefits them.

At our company, we have structured our development process around ACF (Advanced Custom Fields), using flexible layout fields to create our own page builder. Many developers follow a similar approach and have grown accustomed to it. This has been tested across multiple projects and has proven to be a reliable structure.

However, WordPress now offers Blocks and Full Site Editing, which provide a more advanced and user-friendly experience compared to ACF's flexible fields. The biggest challenge in transitioning is adapting to the new technology — Blocks rely on JavaScript and React, which many WordPress developers tend to avoid. I've found a way to integrate Blocks with ACF, and during our upcoming WordPress Meetup, I'll demonstrate how to:

- Use ACF to register your own custom block
- Create a custom block category and assign your block to it
- Define and assign custom fields to your block
- Display your block data on the front end
- Bring your laptop if you'd like to follow along and start creating your own blocks during the session.

See you there!

Agenda
17:15 – Doors open
17:30 – Opening words
17:40 – Presentation: A Smooth Transition from Classic to Block Theme Development
19:00 – Drinks & networking
19:30 – After meetup drinks at a nearby bar

This session will be in English.

Venue provided by Valve.

Drinks & snacks sponsored by Seravo.

If you have any questions, leave a comment or contact us directly through the contact form on Meetup.com. You can also find us on X @WPHelsinki and Facebook. If you prefer a more direct approach, you can find most of the community members on the #meetups-helsinki channel on Slack.

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The WordPress Helsinki meetup group aims to bring together people of all skill levels, from beginners to WordPress professionals.

Talks
If you’d like to speak at an upcoming meetup or suggest some topics you’d like to hear about, leave a comment on our meetup board or contact us on the #meetups-helsinki channel on Slack.

Slack
The local Finnish Slack community is a great place to meet other WordPress enthusiasts online and get help and advice with WordPress-related issues. We’ve written a brief introduction on our meetup page if you’re interested in joining:
https://fi.wordpress.org/chat/

Sponsorship
Our meetups are run by volunteers and could always use some support from the professional community. If your company is interested in sponsoring an upcoming meetup or hearing more about it, leave a message on the #meetups-helsinki channel on Slack or contact us directly through our meetup page.

Meetups in other cities in Finland
Jyväskylä
Seinäjoki
Tampere
Turku

Local communities on X (Twitter)
Helsinki, x.com/WPHelsinki (#WPHEL)
Jyväskylä x.com/WPJyvaskyla (#WPJKL)
Oulu x.com/WPOulu (#WPOUL)
Seinäjoki x.com/WPSeinajoki (#WPSJK)
Tampere x.com/WPTampere (#WPTRE)
Turku x.com/WPTurku (#WPTKU)

To reach the whole WordPress community in Finland, use the hashtag #WPFI.