Consider exposing the Font Library for classic themes

[annezazu]

This has come up in a few places since the launch of the Font Library and, to ensure a dedicated focus for it, I wanted to open a standalone issue about bringing the font library to classic themes, separate from the overall Styles UI (issue here: https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/41119). As previously noted, the font library was intentionally designed to be similar to the media library. The media library both is available as modal and a dedicated section of the admin interface, which sets a possible precedence for the font library too. In order to bring improved font management to classic themes, this issue seeks to explore what it might look like to bring the font library to classic themes.

[jasmussen]

Here's a quick design that assumes this is mainly uploading and basic adding/removing/managing:

There's an open question on whether the Google Fonts library can easily be made available here. I'd love some technical feedback on that, CC: @matiasbenedetto. If it's possible/feasible/reasonable to embed the entire contents of the font library modal directly, perhaps it could be integrated like this:

A more likely outcome, might be to simply make the modal available from the Appearance > Fonts menu item on the top level, like this:

CC: @WordPress/gutenberg-design. Figma.

[matiasbenedetto]

What do you think of the method described here to use the font library in classic and hybrid themes?: https://wpdevelopment.courses/articles/font-library-classic-or-hybrid-themes/

[jasmussen]

I think that can technically make it available, though it doesn't seem to address the spirit of this issue.

[t-hamano]

I explored the idea of ​​exposing the Global Styles, including the Font Library, for the classic theme in this comment.

[jasmussen]

Shared an update on https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/41119#issuecomment-2328737652 which possibly enables a different approach to surfacing the font library for classic themes. Feel free to share your thoughts.

[jasmussen]

For anyone following, some related conversation here.

[mrleemon]

I think that exposing the Font Library to classic/hybrid themes would be a valuable enhancement. It would simplify typography management and create a more cohesive experience for theme developers. I hope that this feature is added in WP 6.8.

[mrleemon]

What do you think of the method described here to use the font library in classic and hybrid themes?: https://wpdevelopment.courses/articles/font-library-classic-or-hybrid-themes/

This method unintentionally breaks blocks that rely on the Interactivity API.

[Drivingralle]

Would love to see this to make it into 7.0

[mrleemon]

@Drivingralle PR #73876 has been recently committed.

[t-hamano]

As of #73876, the Font Library is now available in hybrid themes (classic themes with theme.json).

I'm not sure if we can (or should) expose the Font Library to classic themes that don't have a theme.json. cc @youknowriad

[youknowriad]

@t-hamano My opinion is that we should expose global styles and font library to classic themes. That said, before doing so, we need to ensure that exposing these don't break layouts of classic themes, so we might be missing some flags to "disable" things in theme.json or somethings like that.