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# Pseudo and custom style states in WordPress 7.1

**[Make WordPress Core](https://daily.dev/sources/wordpresscore)** · 3 min read · 1 upvotes · 0 comments

## Summary

WordPress 7.1 introduces pseudo state styling (hover, focus, focus-visible, active) for the Button and Navigation Link blocks, configurable via theme.json, Global Styles, and block instance attributes. A new custom states system allows theming of special block states like the current menu item in navigation links, using a dash-prefixed convention in theme.json. Site owners can disable user-facing state editing via the blockStatesEditingEnabled editor setting, while existing saved styles remain unaffected.

## Full article

daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: <https://make.wordpress.org/core/2026/08/05/pseudo-and-custom-style-states-in-wordpress-7-1>

## Questions this post answers

### How do I style the hover and focus states of a WordPress button block using theme.json?

In WordPress 7.1, define pseudo states inside the block object in theme.json using properties prefixed with a colon, such as ":hover", ":focus", ":focus-visible", and ":active" nested under core/button. These can also be nested inside responsive states like "@mobile" for viewport-specific hover styling. Support is currently limited to the Button and Navigation Link blocks.

_Theme developers tracking WordPress block styling changes can follow releases like this on daily.dev._

### How can I style the current menu item in the WordPress navigation link block?

Use the "-current" custom state property nested under core/navigation-link in theme.json, which generates CSS targeting a class selector like .wp-block-navigation-link .current-menu-item. This feature is early stage and only available through theme.json definitions with no user-facing UI yet, and pseudo states like :hover can be nested inside the -current state.

_daily.dev helps developers stay current on emerging WordPress block editor capabilities like this._

### How do I disable the ability for users to edit block hover and focus styles in the WordPress block editor?

Set the blockStatesEditingEnabled editor setting to false via the block_editor_settings_all filter, which defaults to true. This hides the state dropdown in the block inspector and the pseudo state options in Global Styles, though it doesn't remove already-saved styles from theme.json or block attributes, and viewport states remain controlled separately by responsiveEditingEnabled.

_Site builders locking down editor capabilities can track settings changes like this via daily.dev._

## Similar posts on daily.dev

- [Customisable Navigation Overlays in WordPress 7.0](https://daily.dev/posts/customisable-navigation-overlays-in-wordpress-7-0-w4idk0joo) · Make WordPress Core · 2 upvotes · 0 comments
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---

Tags: [#php](https://daily.dev/tags/php), [#wordpress](https://daily.dev/tags/wordpress)

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