Default rendering mode for pages outside of the Site Editor

[Mamaduka]

#62304/#68549 introduced a new setting to set the editor's default rendering mode for post types. It also updated this setting for Pages; now, they will render the page template + content.

Previously, this value was hardcoded in the Site Editor, but now the setting is shared across the editors.

Needs Decision

Let's decide whether the template-locked should be Pages' new default rendering mode.

Pros of template-locked:

• It makes the page editing experience consistent between Site and Post editors.

Cons of template-locked:

• It's a significant change and can be disorienting. Ref: Feature: Set editor rendering mode by post type #62304 (comment) and Make "Show template" option persistent #68250.
• The rendering mode is inconsistent between user roles. Only administrators can view pages in template-locked mode; anyone else gets "old" rendering mode.

Supported modes and what they represent:

• post-only Renders post-content blocks, allowing content to be edited in isolation. This is the default value for all post types except pages.
• template-locked—This mode renders both the template and post blocks, but the template blocks are locked and cannot be edited. The post blocks are editable. This is a new default for pages.

Screenshots

Posts	Pages

[fabiankaegy]

Just to share some perspective here, I'm already using the template-locked mode for all post types (by manually setting it like shown here: https://gist.github.com/fabiankaegy/abb054d09334b23edd3cd2ec25df7b55)

With that there is greater consistency for users so it is less confusing and the benefits of seeing the template whilst editing outweigh the downsides for me.

But I am very open to changing the default for pages back for now to have less of an impact to start with whilst we continue to improve the UX of the template locked experience

[youknowriad]

The main thing I want to add is that we should stop considering site editor and post editor as two separate things, they are the same thing. Pages being in the "design/site editor" was just a tactical move that we did in order to iterate on a lot of things (admin design, dataviews...). So for me, there should be only one default rendering mode per post type regardless of where this post type is edited.

[audrasjb]

Hey there,
My main concerns about switching to template locked mode are the following:

• When you have the block inserter + the panel on the right open, the place to display the content (+ its template) is pretty narrow. I'm afraid it would make it complex to manipulate things on "small" screens (like 13'' screens)
• Also, if we have the full template loaded in the page editor, then we'll have to scroll down after the end of the footer/navigation before starting editing content. Not a blocker, but maybe it would be super convenient for end users.
• We should maybe also anticipate the end users reaction: "why the hell the full site editor appears when I only want to edit my page's content"?

For now I can't see any issue with existing plugins and other extenders, but worth testing this deeply in the ecosystem, too :)

Note: I'm not specifically against this change, I'm just questioning myself :p

[audrasjb]

Another concern: maybe add a skip link for accessibility so keyboard users can go directly to the content/page title without having to navigate through all the locked template section without understanding why it's there if they only want to edit a page content.

[marybaum]

I would like to see template-locked come to the post editor, myself.

As an OG post person, it would be great to see template parts in place in posts, but get my hand slapped if I tried to edit them.