WordPress 5.0 & Gutenberg Release

On December 6th, WordPress 5.0 was released Worldwide, putting a definitive end to all the rumours circulating within the WordPress community surrounding one of WordPress’s most controversial releases of all time.

The reason for the brunt of the discussion/controversy was the simultaneous release of the new content editor, known as Gutenberg.

The decision to create a new editor was taken by Matt Mullenweg and his Automattic team as a response to where they see the future of the web going. He had this to say about the release.

For many of us already in the WordPress community, it can be easy to forget the learning curve that exists for people being introduced to WordPress for the first time. Customizing themes, adding shortcodes, editing widgets and menus — there’s an entire language that one must learn behind the scenes in order to make a site or a post look like you want it to look.

Over the past several years, JavaScript-based applications have created opportunities to simplify the user experience in consumer apps and software. Users’ expectations have changed, and the bar has been raised for simplicity. It is my deep belief that WordPress must evolve to improve and simplify its own user experience for first-time users.

Our new block-based editor is the first step toward an exciting new future with a streamlined editing experience across your site. You’ll have more flexibility with how content is displayed, whether you are building your first site, revamping your blog, or write code for a living.”

Keeping in tradition with other releases, WordPress 5.0 was called ‘Bebo’ after Bebo Valdés, the Cuban Jazz musician. Additional features from the 5.0 release include a new default theme, Twenty Nineteen, which aims to showcase the real power behind creating content with the new editor.

For any interested listeners, you can listen to Matt’s ‘State of Word’ speech from the U.S WordCamp here, or if you just want to see the slides, you can do that here.

93digital are already building blocks within the Gutenberg editor. Want to know more? Get in Touch