Each major version of WordPress comes with tons of new features and updates. WordPress 5 comes with one huge change since the original release of WordPress. A new and updated shiny editor: Gutenberg Editor. The story of WordPress 5 starts and ends with the new block based Gutenberg editor.
We are not talking about the German Inventor, or the free eBook library (which is fantastic by the way). We are talking about the new editor that comes shipped with WordPress 5 (although we believe that it is named after the German guy). Gutenberg editor brings a complete re-imagination and redesign of the WordPress editor. It is expected to change the way we create and deliver our content. It also goes beyond just being an editor and becomes a customiser allowing you to set layouts and add complex components.
Unfortunately, with big changes comes heaps of rebuilding work. It is hard to accept that a refined platform such as WordPress has to adapt to the ever changing internet space. Without innovation, everything loses its crown. Gutenberg editor is a massive leap forward and there are still more updates coming to make it even better.
Yes there are flaws to the editor and the release was rushed, but it offers a solid base to build upon.
The Gutenberg Editor
We have already covered most of the features of Gutenberg in our earlier post. Gutenberg provides everyone an improved page building and editing experience. With new updates, new functionalities and shortcodes will be introduced along with it. Plugins that are not currently compatible with the editor, will need an update. New Gutenberg-friendly themes will flood the themes market designed to accommodate the new features.
For more information on the Gutenberg Editor, please view our earlier post WordPress 5 Beta and Guterberg Editor Features
Twenty Nineteen (2019) – the new WordPress Theme
WordPress 5 also comes with the latest new theme -Twenty Nineteen. The latest theme is a minimal, responsive theme built on the Gutenberg editor. The focus is on typography and showcasing text and image combinations that loop a visitor into the site. We will be utilising all the blocks and combination of Gutenberg in our demo site (link down below). It will be on the Twenty Nineteen theme as well for you to test out and check.
Major Changes to Expect
Putting Gutenberg aside, WordPress 5 bring a more intuitive site-building experience. Because of the old classic editor, there has been a lot of website builders and hosted platforms cutting into WordPress’s market share. With 5, WordPress shoule improve improve the site-building functionality and stay ahead.
Also the ever improving Rest API will help developers create applications using the platform as a framework.
Theme creation will also be made easier and accessible, with lower barriers to entry for developers.
Parting thoughts on WordPress 5
While it doesn’t seem like there is a lot of changes on WordPress 5, if we look over the last year, the platform has really changed a lot. Since version 4, there has been market changes, widget updates, customiser, scheduling design changes etc.
While these changes are incremental, the plaform has improved a lot in the last year. The latest release has finally tackled the main issue it had: the rise of website builder plugins which slow down your site and cause a lot of bloating. The new WordPress 5 is a lean and healthy whole-website which does all the customisation by itself.
How to upgrade from WordPress 4
If you have a WordPress 4 website, you will need to be slightly careful when upgrading to WordPress 5. Depending on how complex your website is, we reocmmend one of two ways below
- If your website doesn’t have eCommerce, website builders and doesn’t have complex layout pages, then please install the Gutenberg editor first, change all the pages over to the new Editor then upgrade the platform.
- If your website has eCommerce, external website builders and/or complex layout pages, please wait a bit for all the plugins to update compatibility to the new version of WordPress. Please check all the plugins in the backend to make sure they work with thew new version of WordPress and then run an upgrade on a staging site. If everything works fine on the staging site, run an upgrade on your main site.
About WordPress
WordPress is arguably the most powerful blogging and website content management system (or CMS) in existence today. The latest version of WordPress has been downloaded more than 30 million times. 60% of all CMS run websites run on WordPress.
WordPress 5 Demo website
NetON maintains and upto date demo site of the latest version of WordPress that you can browse through. Click here to view WordPress Demo Site
WordPress Development Services
Neton is your go to team for any WordPress development services in Australia. Our team is constantly working on Website Development, UX/UI, Design, Hosting, Strengthening Security, running SEO OPtimisation on Websites and upgrading Core and Plugins. Whether you are starting a small blog or an enterprise fortune 500 company, we can help build and maintain your website for the best results online. If you have any questions, or if you need a quote, please don’t hesitate to contact us. Please call us or email us on the details on our Contact Us page.