Warning: I’m going to be writing, videoing and maybe even podcasting a lot of posts in the coming months on the topic of Gutenberg. It’s the new editor inside of WordPress 5.0. You can follow all the “gutenberg” related posts here.
While I wanted to dive right in and start the in-depth instructions I usually do on topics I thought I really needed to start with a 1,000 foot view (if that makes sense). By the way – this is the FIRST post I’m writing here in Gutenberg. I’ve been using it on my test sites and fun sites for a while now. I’m also going to illustrate some of the things I show in the video below. Most of these are not going to be a regular occurrence on this site – I’m talking about you drop cap 😉
First of all, let’s start by talking about the change. Gutenberg is a huge change from what the old editor was. Gutenberg deals in what is called “Blocks”.
WordPress.org describes blocks as…
Blocks are an abstract unit for organizing and composing content, strung together to create content for a webpage.
Blocks are hierarchical, in that a block can be a child or parent to another block. One example is a two-column Columns block can be the parent block to multiple child blocks in each column.
Sounds greek? That’s ok. In human terms these blocks are just sections that are broken up to make up a page or a post. Each section (block) can have it’s own attributes. As new plugins and themes jump on the Gutenberg bandwagon more and more of these blocks are going to become available to you and you are going to be able to do some incredible things!
Why Gutenberg?
That was a heading block I just added by the way. Gutenberg was that guy that came up with a different style of printing press. What was so different about it you ask? He didn’t invent the printing press just a different style that used moveable blocks of text. Once you get into this whole WordPress 5.0 thing you’ll see the connection.
Who Moved My Cheese?
Change isn’t always bad and it isn’t always good. How you deal with change is largely up to you though and I heartily recommend reading or rereading this book if you are struggling with Gutenberg. Here’s a link to it in Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Who-Moved-My-Cheese-Amazing/dp/0399144463/ . I can’t think of a more apt time for that book than right now.
The truth is, it’s going to be ok. Everything you had in the old editor is in the new editor. Yes, some of it has moved but once you get used to where it is it’ll be so much easier. PLUS… there’s so many new things you can do now and so much more is coming down the road. It’s going to be more than ok, the future is looking bright!
Example: This is a cover image block
I can write text right over the top!
You couldn’t do that with the old editor – could you?
Here’s a quick tour of some of the basics in the Gutenberg editor. I would suggest you start a new post on your site and play around with everything. What does this do, how about that? Save it as a draft and the preview on your site. It’s pretty amazing the things you’ll be able to do!
Gutenberg from 1,000 feet up…
So go ahead and start playing in Gutenberg. Have fun, learn stuff, create. It’s going to all be ok and in the coming weeks we’re going to cover even more and get really tricky!
Photo by Katrin Leinfellner on Unsplash
He's an avid hockey fan, rides a mountain bike, sometimes rides a road bike, has a few motorcycles (he had a really fast one, bought a cool orange one, rode a really slow one, and now,a perfect "BDR Weapon"). If that isn't enough, he makes cheese and sourdough bread, loves strong beer and good red wine, and poorly plays the Mandolin.
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