How to Create Synced (Reusable) Patterns in WordPress

If you find yourself reusing the same layout for your blog posts or pages, creating a pattern can save you time and help keep your design consistent. Patterns allow you to save individual blocks, groups of blocks, or even entire post layouts that you can easily insert into future posts and pages.

This is especially helpful if you want to create a reusable post layout that you can quickly insert and customize with new content each time.

Synced vs. Unsynced Patterns

WordPress offers two types of patterns, depending on how you want to reuse your content:

  • Unsynced Patterns: These are ideal for creating reusable post layouts or groups of blocks. Each time you insert the pattern, you get a fresh copy that you can customize independently. Changes to one instance won't affect any others.
  • Synced Patterns: These are ideal for content you want to keep identical across multiple posts or pages, such as a newsletter signup, promotional banner, or call-to-action. When you edit a synced pattern, the changes automatically appear everywhere the pattern is used.

For creating a reusable blog post template, we recommend using an unsynced pattern. This allows you to reuse your favorite layouts while adding unique content to each post.

Step 1: Create Your Pattern

  1. Open a post in the Block Editor that’s already designed the way you want future posts to look.
  2. Select all of the blocks in the post.
  3. Click the three dots in the top toolbar.
  4. Choose Create Pattern.
  5. Give your pattern a name, such as “Post Template" or whatever you'd like.
  6. Important: Uncheck the “Synced” option if you want to be able to change the content each time you use the pattern.
  7. Click Add to save the pattern.
💡 If you have different post formats — such as recipes, travel guides, or interviews — you can create separate patterns for each layout.

Step 2: Insert the Pattern into a New Post

  1. Create a new post in the Block Editor.
  2. Click the + icon at the top left.
  3. Go to the Patterns tab and click on My Patterns.
  4. Find your saved pattern and click to insert it into your post.

You can now customize the content while keeping the structure intact.

Step 3: Manage Your Patterns

To view or edit your saved patterns at any time, go to:  Appearance > Design > Patterns > My Patterns in your WordPress dashboard.

From there, you can rename, delete, or edit the layout of your existing patterns.