WordPress 5 and the Gutenberg experience

[fisicx]

Have you updated yet?

If not then I'd hold off for a little while as everything you know and love about WordPress is going to change.

If you have already updated how do like the new editor?

I understand what they are trying to do but it such a radical change and quite likely to mess up your site in all sorts of ways.

I'm lucky because none of my sites use a page builder or have fancy plugins requiring complicated shortcodes. And everyone who has got a 'mobile first' layout should be OK. But for all those Divi, Beaver, Elementor and other page builders user out these - expect to be pulling your hair out for a while.

If you have no idea what I'm talking about have a read of this: https://wordpress.org/gutenberg/

 

[Clinton]

I'm anti early-adoption when it comes to software. I simply can't understand why anybody does it (unless they are tech journalists or competitors) but I am grateful that they do and that they find all the bugs, and complain, and lose time and money and persist with the crap till a fix is found.

All software released to the market is, AFAIAC, just a bloody beta. I've got numerous sites on WP. And I got all the notifications about upgrading to 5.0. And the first thing I thought was, "And break all my plugins? You've got to be joking".

Gutenberg, or something like it is long overdue, especially after the TinyMCE problems. But the likes of Wix ain't got nothing to worry about just yet.

 

[fisicx]

Gutenberg, or something like it is long overdue, especially after the TinyMCE problems.

I agree. But trying to create a layout using the new blocks is just horrible.

A simple example: Suppose you want a thumbnail image to the left or right of a paragraph. You can't do this anymore - all images default to full size and you can't wrap a paragraph round the image.

And once you have built the page using blocks you can't go back to the classic editor.

 

[Graham Tyers]

I've updated all mine. And it's been quite an experience so far.
The bulk of sites that have pretty user-editable content are built with js_composer which still sort of works OK. But some of the shortcodes are either a bit temperamental or just don't work.

I've updated a bunch of customers' sites that they edit themselves. Hopefully they won't want to make too many changes before some of the theme updates come through. Most don't look at their websites from one year to the next so we'll probably get away with it.

 

[Kerwin]

I'm going to wait until after Christmas to upgrade. Hopefully, it'll give them a chance to release the first bug fix release and give my plugins time to update as well.

 

[fisicx]

Hopefully, it'll give them a chance to release the first bug fix release and give my plugins time to update as well.

Don't hold your breath. Plugins may need a lot of recoding to work properly with WP5. I did mine and it's a right pain to do. So I suspect a lot of developers just won't bother.

 

[Alan]

WP 5.0 is not a security release - so absolutely no need to rush.

It is a major change and so if you have a mission critical site definitely don't update in live, if you feel the need create a test site clone to update and see how you go.

 

[Clinton]

I agree. But trying to create a layout using the new blocks is just horrible.

The likes of Thrive do it well. The Wordpress implementation is crap.

 

[webhostuk]

Best way to think of such upgrade is first keep a backup copy for working website and then try.. for some things will work smoothly while some might face difficulty, so the best option is look back would be a backup copy before you try such upgrade.

 

[Kerwin]

Wordpress 5.0.1 has been released.

 

[fisicx]

Wordpress 5.0.1 has been released.

Still doesn't make the new editing experience any better.

I was helping someone yesterday who was used to the Elementor page builder and the whole thing has gone to pot. It's almost impossible to use either editor now.

The Classic Editor plugin has gone from 700,000 installs to over 1million in two days.

 

[Kerwin]

I just started a new Wordpress blog. Installed 5.0.1 and all of my plugins that I normally use on Wordpress sites and everything seems to be working OK. The new default theme seems to have a few issues though.

I'll use this new blog to do significant testing before I upgrade all of my other blogs. If anyone wants me to test anything let me know and I'll try and help you.

 

[fisicx]

Installed 5.0.1 and all of my plugins that I normally use on Wordpress sites and everything seems to be working OK.

Try using a page builder plugin or a theme with a built in page builder.

And try selecting a number of paragraphs and moving them to a new position on the page.

 

[Kerwin]

Try using a page builder plugin or a theme with a built in page builder.

And try selecting a number of paragraphs and moving them to a new position on the page.

Can't say I've ever used a page builder plugin before. I'll have a look for some of them to see what they are like.

Wordpress 5.0.2 has been released which has a whole load of performance improvements and bug fixes. I'm going to upgrade my new blog and give it some decent testing.

I'm still not going to upgrade my old blogs just yet. I think waiting is the best option on that front.

 

[fisicx]

Found a really annoying bug. You can’t add media like before. I wanted to add a pdf document to a page but that option isn’t available anymore. Because there is no ‘add media’ button.

If all you are doing is adding simple blocks then WP5 works fine. Anything more complicated and it all falls to bits. You can’t for example easily switch to text view and add a bit of HTML or fiddle with the order.

 

[Kerwin]

That is going to be a big problem for one of my blogs because it is a technical blog and requires putting mathematical equations in it using MathJax and source code embeds using Gitlab snippets.

 

[fisicx]

The more you use WP5 the more you realise its limitations for anything other than simple content management.

 

[ITBadger]

As long as you can still revert to the old editor I will keep my hair. Not only is Gutenberg a complete atrocity to use but it's also buggy as anything. Anyone else having that very irritating spacing issue whenever you try to use it, and it throws a fit if you ever try to use it with Grammarly.

I hope this doesn't push more people to use page builder like WP bakery and the like as I've seen nothing good ever come out of them - while good on the face of things the vast maj suffer from massive bloating issues that I've only seen hamper my load times.

Let's just hope they leave the option to use a proper WYSIWYG editor as long as possible.

 

[Philip Cooper]

If your theme/plugins are having issues with Gutenberg Editor (as one of my client's sites had), or simply hate it... you can use the plugin "Classic Editor" by Wordpress Contributors.

We've got to get on and embrace these changes. All plugins are being updated for WP5, and the Gutenberg editor forces a better mobile experience so it's not all bad. I've now upgraded all my client sites and working through these initial pains.

If you're looking after business-critical websites get some DEV hosting where you can test upgrades before implementing them on the live site.

My issues so far:

ACF Pro not showing fields - quickly rectified in WP 5.0.2
Yoast 9.4 - currently broken with WP 5.0.03 (pages ok, post not displaying) - have temporarily deactivated Yoast.

 

[Kerwin]

Now that Wordpress 5.0.3 has been released I thought it was about time that I upgrade all of my blogs to it. Everything appears to be working but if I have any problems with it I have no problem with getting involved in trying to fix it. I've wanted to contribute to an open source project for some time anyway.

 

[Kerwin]

After a bit of thinking I've decided to move my primary blog over to Medium rather than using Wordpress. The features are pretty great, and they offer payouts if your content is good enough which will motivate me to work harder on my blog. Hopefully, things will work out. I have an awful lot of stuff to blog about over the coming weeks and months.

 

[Alan]

Yoast 9.4 - currently broken with WP 5.0.03 (pages ok, post not displaying) - have temporarily deactivated Yoast.

Yoast ( 9.5 ) broke one of my client sites (5.0.3) too - with or without Classic Editor installed

 

[Clinton]

Yoast ( 9.5 ) broke one of my client sites (5.0.3) too - with or without Classic Editor installed

My issues so far:

ACF Pro not showing fields - quickly rectified in WP 5.0.2
Yoast 9.4 - currently broken with WP 5.0.03 (pages ok, post not displaying) - have temporarily deactivated Yoast.

Knock yourselves out guys. I'm really grateful for the mugs who are early adopters and do all the, er, beta testing before I jump in.

 

[Natasha Bishop]

My theme provider inbuilt old editor in their update and a page builder (Divi) is working just normal way. I didn't bother to look at new blocks' editor

 

[WhizzPeople]

I have upgraded all my WordPress websites and disabled Gutenberg using the classic editor. I have never been a fan of the visual editor; I am more comfortable with either HTML editor or Visual Composer plugin.

 

[Deleted member 106254]

I'm liking Gutenberg so far but it has some horrible bugs in it and lacks a lot of features that WP Bakery and others have. I think it's an improvement on the old Visual Editor though. It has a long way to go to replace other page builders.

 

[Neromare Works]

Have you updated yet?

If not then I'd hold off for a little while as everything you know and love about WordPress is going to change.

If you have already updated how do like the new editor?

I understand what they are trying to do but it such a radical change and quite likely to mess up your site in all sorts of ways.

I'm lucky because none of my sites use a page builder or have fancy plugins requiring complicated shortcodes. And everyone who has got a 'mobile first' layout should be OK. But for all those Divi, Beaver, Elementor and other page builders user out these - expect to be pulling your hair out for a while.

If you have no idea what I'm talking about have a read of this: Gutenberg

They didn't mess up anything. It's working fine. Gutenberg is great and included in the latest release and I don't really see why people are hating on it. They can just install the Classic editor plugin and go their lives.

I prefer Gutenberg. It's lighter and better than other editors and helps me quickly structure paragraphs, graphics, videos and more.

 

[justinaldridge]

I quite like Gutenberg. Have been using it on one of my sites and it is such a massive improvement over the classic editor in terms of its functionality.

Liking it so far and it will continue to improve and evolve.

 

[obscure]

I found the lack of consistency to be annoying.

Create an image block - decide you want to add text. There is a command to convert it to a text/image block.
Create a text block - decide you want to add an image. There is no command or obvious way to achieve this. You have to create a separate image block above it and merge the two.

Where is the logic in that? It's just bad interface UX design.

 

[fisicx]

With the old editor you could write a load of stuff and then format by clicking on icons. You can still do this with Gutenberg but it's now two clicks instead of one.

And the old option to import a block of content from Word or some other document and convert to text appears to have gone. Wordpress converts everything as it thinks best - which may not be what you want.

And I wanted to add a Div to a page to display an object. You can do this anymore.

If you want to add an image, the default is full sized. You used to be able to select the image size and position, you now have to insert the image and then edit.

And publication now takes two button operations.

I don't have an issue with the block editor - it's just the UX could be so much better. Things that used to be simple now require extra additional actions.

 

[Neromare Works]

With the old editor you could write a load of stuff and then format by clicking on icons. You can still do this with Gutenberg but it's now two clicks instead of one.

And the old option to import a block of content from Word or some other document and convert to text appears to have gone. Wordpress converts everything as it thinks best - which may not be what you want.

And I wanted to add a Div to a page to display an object. You can do this anymore.

If you want to add an image, the default is full sized. You used to be able to select the image size and position, you now have to insert the image and then edit.

And publication now takes two button operations.

I don't have an issue with the block editor - it's just the UX could be so much better. Things that used to be simple now require extra additional actions.

But you can't move blocks in the Classic editor. In Gutenberg you can just drag them! In the Classic - you need to copy-paste all day.

 

[fisicx]

But you can't move blocks in the Classic editor. In Gutenberg you can just drag them! In the Classic - you need to copy-paste all day.

Not really that much of a burden. And you still have to copy and paste if you want to move part of a block. And dragging a group of blocks is a bit clunky.

I see the benefit of blocks. It’s just that the implementation isn’t the best. You need to take more actions to do thinks that we’re once very simple. Try adding a thumbnail to left of a paragraph to see what I mean.

 

[Neromare Works]

Not really that much of a burden. And you still have to copy and paste if you want to move part of a block. And dragging a group of blocks is a bit clunky.

I see the benefit of blocks. It’s just that the implementation isn’t the best. You need to take more actions to do thinks that we’re once very simple. Try adding a thumbnail to left of a paragraph to see what I mean.

This is not a DEBATE. People will read my post, and your reply, and can decide for themselves. I can't but notice you're everywhere, answering on EVERY post, giving expertise on ALL fields in the world.

 

[fisicx]

Of course it’s a debate. That’s the whole point of threads like these.

 

[Neromare Works]

I debated before, and found personally for myself, that it's not worth it. Forums are usually places where people tell things to other people, and people in general don't like other unknown people to tell them things or what to do. Been there, done that. I don't want to tell people what to do. I just tell what I would do - in such a situation. I also don't want people hurt because of my advice. Different situations, different decisions. Feel free NOT to follow my advice. Everyone should decide for himself. I don't want to INTRUDE.

Cheers.

 

[fisicx]

You seem to like the new block editor and that's fine. I and many others are frustrated with its limitations. And that's fine too.

But your main benefit for the block editor was the ability to drag and drop. You can drag and drop using the classic editor. Select the text/media you want to move and drag it to the new location. You have been able to do this for years.

 

[Neromare Works]

You seem to like the new block editor and that's fine. I and many others are frustrated with its limitations. And that's fine too.

But your main benefit for the block editor was the ability to drag and drop. You can drag and drop using the classic editor. Select the text/media you want to move and drag it to the new location. You have been able to do this for years.

I don't know. I just like the automatic paragraphs, I like the moving boxes, the design, the other options I can pick - like the Spacer, and I love the fact that the font I have for the website - it changes in Gutenberg too. So I'm writing with a cool font, in real time, and I'm not only using some ugly serif font, defaulted by WordPress. I can write with Open Sans, Roboto, whatever.

I also don't understand all the negative reviews in WordPress' page. If you don't like it, don't use it. Simple as that. Why ruin people's reputation and demoralize them over nothing. Just install the Classic editor and case closed.

These people... The Internet can be a nasty place sometimes.