WordPress 5.0, Gutenberg, and the Web of Tomorrow

The much-anticipated WordPress version 5, codename Bebo, has finally released on 6 December 2018, leaving the world in awe. This release being the major release introduced big and exciting changes among other minor improvements.

Gutenberg: The new kid with blocks

See what I did there? This release has officially integrated Gutenberg as the default WordPress Editor replacing TinyMCE. Gutenberg relies on the idea of blocks, which separate content based on content type. This enables the user to perform actions on the different type of content with much more control like code reuse.

This begs the curious question. What happens to the content already written and published using Classic Editor? The answer is simple. Gutenberg wraps all the content into one big block, named Classic Block. In addition, the user then has the opportunity to either keep that big block or split the contents into different blocks. Therefore, putting the user in more control of the content.

Now, Gutenberg making to the WordPress Core has raised concerns within the community, on the basis of Gutenberg being a half-cooked product. Although, the community as a whole is embracing Gutenberg trusting the core team.

On the other hand, WordPress Core team is fully aware of all the issues. So, keeping the best interest of everyone, they have extended the support for classic Editor until 2022.

Twenty Nineteen Theme: Using Gutenberg with confidence

WordPress 5.0 also brings Twenty Nineteen Theme, which is a minimalistic theme and uses Gutenberg as it’s default editor. This theme like any other official WordPress theme provides a great starting point for building new sites. Twenty Nineteen Theme also provides the user with a new way of interacting with the content using Gutenberg blocks.

Upgrading to WordPress 5.0

If you fear running into compatibility issues after upgrading to the new version, there are excellent tutorials on the upgrading process. These tutorials explain all the gotchas before upgrading to the new version like upgrading installed plugins, compatibility checks, and site backups.

So eventually, Gutenberg is here, and it is here to stay as Gutenberg is the modern and efficient way of publishing content. We at CodexSpot are excited and optimistic about the ways Gutenberg is going to change the way content is published online.

We would love to know your opinion. Feel free to share your thoughts about this release in the comments section.

Sharing is caring!