WordPress Gutenberg is a code name for their brand new visual content editor. It will replace our lovely tinyMCE Editor and this patch will be on the core of WordPress a very soon. Why? Because the current WordPress editor hasn’t had a change in a few years, while their competitors offer a more easy way to build and edit content with moveable-content type builders. Gutenberg will totally change the way you edit content in WordPress.
The Pros
It’s a real ‘What You See is What You Get’ (WYSIWYG) experience, yeah as we know the current editor is not the best experience for editing or laying out the content. Gutenberg brings a more intuitive interface for new users.
No more inconsistency with page builder plugins. Yes, it is true, there any many page builders offered both free or premium. Developers can now focus more on one place to deal with content editing.
The Cons
Introducing Gutenberg as part of WordPress core without a soft launch is a bad idea. I would have preferred them to introduce it gradually, like putting an invitation to “try our new editor” or “switch to the old editor” and install the Gutenberg as default plugin like the Hello Dolly one.
If you are already familiar with how to edit content through WYSIWYG editors you might find it a little bit hard, at first, to edit content with Gutenberg.
Many plugins and themes use custom fields to store their extra data, with Gutenberg, these custom fields are planned to be hidden.
In Summary
As the biggest CMS that powered 30% of the internet, WordPress should think how to teach a billion users before bringing it to the core and replace the old platform. Gutenberg makes agencies, site owners and developers worry about backward compatibility.
That’s a wrap for my quick opinion about Gutenberg without going too technically deep! I am always excited about new things in WordPress. This Gutenberg project looks like a promising addition for the future.
What do you think? Gutenberg – yay or nay? For a chat about all things WordPress – give us a call!
