The Paradigm of WordPress Gutenberg

A RealTime Paradigm

In real time another paradigm comes in the form of technology through the printing press. Named after it’s predecessor the Gutenberg Editor comes to WordPress. It means the editor will have a facelift. The icons will be the same, their functions won’t change, but they’re in a different place.

Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press which revolutionized the way people produced the printed parchments. As the blocks were laid onto the tray we now lay the blocks onto the web page.

This new system of block building, is also called the modular system. Modules are used to build the content on the page within the Divi Theme. This is one of the excellent features of the Divi Theme.

Oddly enough in the world of developers, there is a backward kind of thinking. The irony of this thinking is, it is so named “backwards compatibility.” Meaning you can roll back a version and use an outdated one instead of an updated one. Why? I would rather use the most updated version instead of an older version.

But nevertheless, you’ll find the nervous developer predicting the end of something because it means more work for them. What comes out is the truth of the matter, nothing ends.

The Coming Change

The WordPress Classic Editor has familiar icons which we use to place the content onto the web page. These familiar icons won’t disappear, they might be in a different place. WordPress is designing its own Page Builder. The most advanced way to build content on a web page.

Page Builders are developers who worked to solve the problem for the users of WordPress not to have to place the content into HTML brackets when writing a blog post.  Change isn’t easy for everyone. You still have developers who  “write” their blog posts in the “text” area, which by the way is the area where you can see the HTML tags. Perhaps it gives them the feeling they’re still doing the “tech” work as it used to be.

Websites are becoming more sophisticated and easier to use. The code is complex, but it runs in the background. The Page Builder lets you put the content directly into the page or blog post without having to have knowledge of HTML. This post is written using the Divi Builder built into the Divi Theme. It is a Page Builder.

The State of the Word US WordCamp 2017

Every year Matt Mullenweg, the co-founder of WordPress gives an update on the progress of the world’s most used software, WordPress. The video recording shows the Gutenberg editor in action and how it changes the WordPress editor.

Developers, desingers, and users of WordPress attend the WordCamp events. At the most recent WordCamp in Nashville, the developers of the most used Page Builders came together, Divi, Elementor, Beaver Builder, and Visual Composer in an iconic picture captured by Jason Champagne of Elegant Themes. These developers are the top of their field and produce excellent Page Builders used with WordPress Themes. Now WordPress core is introducing the Gutenberg Editor. Named after the Johannes Gutenberg, the inventor of the printing press, the Gutenberg WordPress Editor uses building blocks, or placeholders. The area where you place and style the content.

The same concept is used in the Page Builders. You are using the module as a place holder for the content, with the ability to style the content within the module.

The Gutenberg Editor won’t end it all for everyone. WordPress is an open source software. Developers from all over the world contribute to the WordPress core. WordPress is the most used software in the world. Everyone uses it, and they’re not about to abandon it just because WordPress introduces an improvement and gives us the user the best experience.

How will this Affect the Page Builders?

The developers working with the top Page Builders will incorporate the Gutenberg Editor into the existing Page Builder. The command icons on the toolbar won’t change. What will change are some WordPress Themes built with the current default editor, may not be able to incorporate the Gutenberg Editor.

The Page Builder feature in the Divi Theme is a plugin as are all the Page Builders used in WordPress themes. This time the WordPress core software will have a Page Builder.

As with all new software it’s only a matter of time after using it for a while, you’ll see how it operates. We’re a whole lot smarter with technology than we’ve been led to believe. Finally, we’re getting over the hurdle of not believing everything we see in print.

The paradigm of the Gutenberg editor into WordPress core is no different than what it was when the printing press was invented. People thought the end had come because books were available to be read by everyone.

The dire predictions of the end of WordPress are from those who are afraid of change. The Gutenberg Editor is a real time paradigm, it’s goal is to elevate everyone’s ability to create content with WordPress.

2021 The WordPress 5.8 Update

Today in 2021, sometime after this post was written, the Gutenberg Editor has begun to change the existing WordPress core. This change has not been well received and the WordPress community has suffered as a result.

The WordPress 5.8 update cancelled out the features that are in use by 3rd party Plugins. It has also caused the Widget area to ‘disappear’ and be unrecognizable from it’s original ease of use. 

The Media Library now only loads the first tweny images. You have to click for more images and another twenty images will load. This adds extra work when looking for an image. The infinite scroll feature worked well before the change.

This has created a split in the community and the division has created Classic Press.

WordPress is an outstanding software and over 65% of websites use WordPress worldwide. This means that a large number of websites are affected. The classic version of WordPress was its excellent intuitive interface and ease of use.

Classic Press is the statement of the developers and users of WordPress worldwide.