WordPress But Not As We Know It
- WordPress,
- Gutenberg
- Compatibility
New Way of Editing
WordPress is looking to replace the current content editor with a new way of editing content called Gutenberg (aka WordPress v5.0), named after Johannes Gutenberg, who invented a printing press with movable type more than 500 years ago. WordPress is looking to introduce Gutenberg in reaction to competition from site/page builders like Wix and Squarespace.
The big difference from the current editor is that it will use a block-based system to build up content. Every heading, paragraph, image, list, and other content you add will be a block. Each block will have unique properties and settings.
The advantage of this is its great flexibility and repeatability. When you create content, you can work with and customise each block. You can move the blocks around, and even make individual blocks reusable so you can build them once and use them in different locations and different views.
This will replace the concept of posts and pages. A post is a specific piece of content that has a pre-configured header, sidebar, and footer. The use of blocks will mean a more modular approach where views are built using templates. This means the content creator can pick and choose what pieces go into each view and how they are laid out. Even the WordPress theme as we know is likely to be replaced by something else.
This is intended to reduce the visual difference between how content is crafted in the admin part of WordPress and how it's rendered on the frontend. It also opens up the possibility of unifying all the different parts of the site building process, like the customiser and widgets.
One Step Forward...
So, Gutenberg should be a significant step forward for WordPress however, there maybe a problem.
WordPress has always been proud of its backwards compatibility and it has endeavoured to maintain compatibility with older versions of WordPress so that they do not break the platform in terms of the core and plugins. They have always followed a "design for the majority" philosophy, which argues that the "average WordPress user simply wants to be able to write without problems or interruption." New versions have always coped with content produced using older versions. The advantage of such a system is that their users have stayed with them because upgrading has not meant abandoning or having to reproduce the content they had already created with WordPress.
The downside of backwards compatibility is that the source code has become large and outdated. In fact, WordPress can still run on a version of a programming language (PHP v5.2.4) that is so old it has not been supported since 2011!
Gutenberg is a departure from the 'backwards compatibility' philosophy in that it's expected to break some sites. It's likely that once it's incorporated into the source code, some users will experience problems the next time they try to edit a page or post.
Breakages Ahead?
At the moment WordPress is receiving a number of reviews some of which praise the plugin, more than half of which are complaints and pleas from WordPress website owners due to the "test" Gutenberg plugin breaking their site or causing an issue (at the time of writing this article there were 245 (1 star ratings) to 170 (5 star ratings).
Checking back just over a month later (August 8) and with the release of WordPress v4.9.8 which contains an invite to "Test the new editor today", or the option to install the Classic plugin; there are 468 (1 star ratings) to 213 (5 star ratings).
The day before WordPress v5.0 is due to be released (December 6) there are now 929 (1 star ratings) to 394 (5 star ratings).
According to Amazon's Alexa about 30% of the top 10 million websites in the world are built using WordPress and a market share of about 60% of sites using a CMS. These sites will have a range of different owners. Some of them will be individuals who have set up their websites, but the majority will be developers, freelancers and agencies who have used WordPress to build sites in the past, currently manage WordPress sites, and may intend to use WordPress for every site they create in the future.
With such a large change to the way the WordPress editor will work it stands to reason that there will be conflict with some plugins. Making websites built pre WordPress v5.0 will require work to make them Gutenberg compatible which might come at a cost.
Will Developers Remain Loyal?
Many plugin developers are already hard at work to make sure their plugins will be compatible with WordPress v5.0.
Unfortunately for WordPress users there doesn't appear to be a central repository to check if individual plugins are compatible. The Gutenberg Plugin Compatibility project which was addressing plugin compatibility is now closed and on checking the database it is out of date e.g. WooCommerce is listed as not being Gutenberg compatible but users are being strongly encouraged to install the latest version of WooCommerce v3.5.1 before updating to WordPress 5.0. Another example is Foogallery which is also listed as being incompatible but the developers have updated the plugin to address any WordPress v5.0 issues.
In order to be sure that your plugins will play well with Gutenberg you'll need to check developers websites for updates on progress towards Gutenberg compatibility or setup a test copy of your site to allow you to check whether there are any compatibility issues.
The Future Of WordPress?
If you are using WordPress on a new site where backwards compatibility is not an issue, Gutenberg is going to be a powerful feature that could elevate WordPress above its competitors even further and drive their market share even higher. However there is no way to know how the changes to WordPress will affect current users who will have to "get used to" and embrace the "new editor" which is significantly different from the tried and trusted Classic Editor.
There is an argument that the best way for WordPress to survive is to offer the WordPress core with and without Gutenberg, or to offer Gutenberg as a separate plugin which users can choose to install. This will inevitably mean the two versions will diverge, those wanting backwards compatibility using one version and those happy to work with Gutenberg using the other.
WordPress has also been looking at other solutions, including using a plugin to disable Gutenberg, and software that automatically detects whether to load Gutenberg or not. It's not yet clear which solution the company is planning to implement.
Gutenberg is available as a plugin which can be used for testing compatibility, however it's important to note that as of writing this article Gutenberg is in a state of flux, it is still being developed with updates being made weekly, so it may change considerably before the final version becomes available. Only a couple of weeks ago, in response to a number of reviews, the plugin author stated "How Gutenberg will be merged is yet to be decided" and "It's important to note that right now what happens during 5.0 isn't set".
However it's clear that Gutenberg will be implemented — its simply a case of when.
Addendum
#1 WordPress v5.0 is scheduled for release on November 26, 2018 where there will be a "dry run for release of WordPress 5.0 and 24 hour code freeze", all being well this will be followed by the full release of 5.0 on Nov 27. This date may change. For up to date information check the WordPress 5.0 Development Cycle blog.
#2 The Classic Editor plugin will be officially supported until December 31, 2021. It will be guaranteed to work as expected in the most recent major release of WordPress, and the major release before it. In 2021 we will evaluate continuing maintenance of the plugin, based on usage. We expect continued maintenance to be fairly trivial.
#3 Gutenberg Status Update of 5.0. "The date for 5.0 release is under consideration, given it's not plausible for it to be the on 27th. More to follow."
#4 WordPress 5.0 RC3. The third release candidate for WordPress 5.0 is now available! WordPress 5.0 will be released on December 6, 2018.