The new WordPress 5.0 update is set to bring significant impacts to WordPress users around the world. This update sees a significant overhaul to the editor. Gone is the WYSIWYG editor replaced by the new Gutenberg editor. It is not a stretch of the imagination to say that this new WordPress update is a gamechanger.

The Gutenberg Editor in WordPress 5.0

The aim of the new editor is to enable publishers to quickly and easily produce media-rich pages and posts. It uses a block editor to enable easy positioning of page elements and offers many features which up until now were handled by plugins.

It is in effect a block editor. What does this mean? Well, when you build your page you put down a block and decide what content you want to display. Through clever positioning of the blocks, you can build professionally designed pages without having to resort to an army of plugins or third party tools.

Consider, Gutenberg offers the following rich media content:

• Buttons
• Inline images
• Video
• Heading and paragraph text
• Cover images
• Embed code
• Code
• Social Media
• Quotes
• Columns
• Audio
• Gallery

Many of the media content is editable. You can, for example, specify URLs in the buttons and change their colour, positioning, and shape. Once you have a format for the media content you like, you can save the block for easier and faster use.

The blocks themselves are also customizable. You can change background and text of the block so with a little practice building a viable landing page should at least, in theory, be an option.

Social Media and WordPress 5.0

With older versions of WordPress social media functionality was handled by a plugin. You may have had a plugin to put in an inline tweet for example, or put in a mixcloud link. Now, this is handled by Gutenberg. Given the customization of the blocks you should be able to showcase your work much easier.

Backwards Compatibility new editor Gutenberg

One aspect you have to give WordPress credit for is that although they have invested a lot of time into the new editor Gutenberg they have ensured that backward compatibility exists. Older versions will of WordPress will still receive security patches, and you can if you want to revert back to the old editor.

Given that much of the functionality that was handled by plugins can now be handled by Gutenberg, it is a good time to start thinking about replacing the old editor with the new one.

Themes

Once the new editor Gutenberg become more widespread themes will have to be more accommodating to it. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. Some theme functions are going to become obsolete so theme designers are going to have to become more creative to stay competitive.  This is good news if you are a WordPress user. The more creative theme and plugin designers are the better your WordPress experience.

Gutenberg is bringing WordPress into the here and now. If you can learn to use it effectively, your whole WordPress experience will improve.