WordPress is today the most powerful website and blogging CMS(content management system). For years now, WordPress has been the most used tool to create websites. There are so many free plugins and themes on WordPress making it friendly to users. This makes WordPress the most preferred open source tool for beginners to create websites. On 6th December 2018, a new editor WordPress was released. The new editor is known as Gutenberg.
What is Gutenberg WordPress?
Gutenberg is the new editor released under the WordPress update 5.0. The new editor was meant to improve and advance the old editor with so many features intended to make the WordPress experience better and greater. The new editor affects how you write and edit blog pages and posts. However, there is nothing to fear about the Gutenberg editor, it is similar to the old editor-they are all WordPress products.
Does Gutenberg work with the current user’s Theme?
The new editor is created in such a way that it accommodates your current theme. This means after installing Gutenberg, the Theme you were using will not break. Theme creators are currently busy updating their themes for compatibility purposes with Gutenberg. The only concern with Gutenberg and themes is that some Gutenberg Blocks may work differently on your current theme.
Does Gutenberg interfere with old published content?
When you update to the new WordPress 5.0, your old content remains intact. It will exist in the ‘Classic Editor’block. However, if you had more complex content, some odd things may be observed when old material is converted.
How Gutenberg editor works: Block-based editing 101.
Being a block-based editor, Gutenberg editor replaces the single edit field in the current WordPress TinyMCE editor with so many individual Blocks. These Blocks then change the narrative from the old classic WordPress by the fact that you can create more complex designs using the blocks.
Essentially, a block can be anything. There are blocks for factors such as;
- Images
- Buttons.
- Video embeds.
- Regular text.
- Tables.
- Widgets etc.
With Gutenberg, developers can build their third-party blocks and access them through plugins. Remember, a block has its entity that can be manipulated alone.
The four ways to add blocks.
- Clicking ‘enter’ automatically creates a new paragraph block that can also be changed.
- Clicking the button on the upper-left adds another block just below the block you had selected.
- When you hover your mouse on the middle-top of any of the blocks will bring you an option to ‘insert block.’
- When you press the ‘enter’button to add a block, you can choose some of the commonly used blocks on the lower-right end of the block.
Inserting Videos plus other Embeds in the Gutenberg Editor.
Adding videos and other embeds in Gutenberg is quite similar to the old editor. All you have to do is copy-paste URLs in the new editor, and the editor will automatically convert your embed to a block.
Embed blocks you can pick from include:
- FB posts.
- Slideshare.
- YouTube, Vimeo.
- Reddit.
- Tweets among many other embed blocks.
Editing HTML in Gutenberg Editor.
When editing HTML with the Gutenberg Editor, there are two things involved; the good side and the bad side. The good side is that you can edit HTML of any block easily with Gutenberg. The bad side is that with Gutenberg, editing HTML of multiple blocks will no longer be possible.
Some quick facts about the WordPress 5.0 Update.
1. Assume you are still using the old editor.
In Gutenberg, you can just get down and write your blog posts; paste embeds, drag images and any shortcode links as was in the old editor. After you are done, Gutenberg will automatically convert your data into blocks.
2. Using shortcuts.
To add a new and more advanced block quickly, you can move to a new line and type’/'(backslash) and type the name of the block you want to use.
3. Access HTML per-block basis.
On the old HTML editor, there were so many, but in Gutenberg, you get to access only the blocks you require.
The Gutenberg new editor is a development that has come to change the overall working of the WordPress platform. Switching to the new editor is simple with so many guides to assist you. However, if you were used to the old editor, you will quickly adapt to the new editor since they are more or so alike.
