Perhaps you have heard people saying, “Gutenberg is coming” but what the heck does it mean for me?
If you have a website running WordPress, Gutenberg is something you should know about. However, I think watching out for “Gutenberg” is a bit deceptive because it really is just an enhancement to the native WordPress editor.
The editor you have come to know for the last 10 years or so is finally getting an overhaul. It may seem drastic, but it is everything you’ve been asking for! Rather than all your page or post content in one block (the editor), it will now have individual blocks for every type of content. Images, text, videos and more will have their own “block” to work with. They all have different attributes, so this makes total sense!
I’m speaking as someone who tried to avoid this “new” way of working with content until it became inevitable. I initially resisted against learning something new. I felt everything was fine the way it is but I’m not the only type of user of WordPress.
I often build sites and leave them in the hands of their owners to add posts and content as needed. Adding HTML and CSS to manipulate content comes second nature to me. For many people though, it is just an obstacle to controlling the look they want.
The new text editor is expected to be included in the next major release of WordPress 5.0, which is expected to drop sometime in the next month or three, or four (no date has been announced.) However, you can try it now by installing the plugin. I would suggest not doing this on a live site. Instead, create a new install to play with.
If you don’t have access to a demo or staging site you can create a free WordPress install to play with at poopy.life no strings attached.
To follow the news on Gutenberg follow Gutenberg Times for news, updates, and information.
A comprehensive introduction tutorial of Gutenberg is offered by my friend and colleague Joe Casabona at Creative Courses.