Blocking it in or out?

Published on by Laura Bloomsbury

Are you using the Gutenberg editor yet for WordPress posts and pages?

At first I shied away from trying out this beta version of the content block editor (nothing to do with beta blockers but the frustration of using it might raise blood pressure).

Anyway today I decided to suck it and see as currently there is always the option to revert back to Classic mode for when it all goes wrong – but I believe this will disappear with the WordPress 5 update so thought it best to start learning now.

Basically it is all about BLOCKS – ready-made pieces of code that we drag and drop onto the page

Everything—including content, images, quotes, galleries, cover images, audio, video, headings, embeds, custom codes, paragraphs, separators and buttons—will turn into distinct blocks. 

The complete Anatomy of the Gutenberg WordPress editor

I’m still working my way through the learning process and it’s not as simple as it sounds – so here is the source of the Gutenberg Editor with tour and links to all the blocks and how they work –

Go Gutenberg 

And how has it been received so far?

Not good –  there are many criticisms. I for one feel there are too many bells and whistles whilst the block coding is too restrictive – and frankly too blocky (every paragraph is treated as a separate whole -leaving no individual word editing or even just line break). In short, there is much less capacity for individual control of formatting but I notice that one block is html and another gives the choice of classic formatting so I might have to edit the posts that way – we shall see.

And if you prefer coding you can view the block as visual editor or html simply by clicking on it. And in the right window of the editor, there is the choice of adding more CSS to the block – 

At this development stage it is clunky too – and here is a review well worth reading for a flavour of what we simpler folk  are up against.

7 reasons not to switch to the Gutenberg Editor

But it’s coming to your WordPress 5 soon – in fact 

November 27th, 2018

though that date could be pushed back to January if needed..and I suspect it is

Either way I shall be away from the virtual world by then and enjoying some much needed real time. 


meanwhile here is a much better example of block building
(btw – this is what’s called a cover image – opacity adjustable)

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13 thoughts on “Blocking it in or out?”

  1. Impressed that you tried it! After reading a few articles about it written by actual IT gurus, I feel even less inclined to give it a go, even if you have the option to go back to classic. I think I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it…

    1. it is rather too picky and constrictive rather than complex – it’s not that I am resistant to change but I do want change for the better if I have to have it!

  2. This is going to be essential and thank you, Laura! I toyed with it for a few moments and then ran screaming into the virtual night. I’ll pop back in here and follow your road signs 🙂

  3. You are quite brave. I tried it for a few minutes and ended up thinking I’d have to give up blogging if I’m forced to it (which I know — the forcing of it on us — is going to happen). I don’t mind change when it makes things better/easier/faster, but WP usually comes up with clunky stuff that doesn’t work well if you use lots of images or write long blog posts. Ah well. I suppose I ought to try it again before I have no other option. I’ve been looking at other blogging platforms. Just in case.

      1. I’ve often thought that was the case, Laura. They had a lot of trouble last time they tried to roll out a new editor and ultimately had to allow us the choice of the “classic” editor or the new one. I’m still using the classic. I tried and tried and tried with what people were calling the beep-boop editor. I still try it on short posts. I just don’t like it for anything long and involved. I want to be able to focus on my writing and the flow of images. Those two things interact with each other and if I have to add in a clunky editor that doesn’t always do what I want it to do, it throws off everything.

        1. I too use Classic to do most of the drafting & resort to some beep-bop just before publishing – with Gutenberg we will run out of editing choices. There is a condescension to have a Classic option in one of the Gutenberg blocks – what do you think?
          The Classic Block

  4. I flip to html (on Blogger) when I need to sort small details.
    I imagine that option will become ideal for you as you lay out your poetry.
    It is a bonus to be able to tweak tiny details, if you really want to.

    1. Not sure how it is all going to pan out Diana – am using Gutenberg just to get used to it …tweaking tiny details is the bit that seems to have been taken away from us – may have to write in html and even learn some CSS as this code can be added to each block.

      1. The learning curve can be an engrossing distraction. Or could be tear your hair out. I haven’t seen any enthusiasm FOR Gutenberg across the WP blogs I read.

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