So, WordPress is updating AGAIN…what is the big deal?!
WordPress 5.0 is released very shortly and it’s going to be a big gamechanger. The release date has been pushed back and is now being released on November 27th2018., several Beta versions have been released and WordPress 5.0 Beta 4is currently available if you want a sneak peak! We suggest you don’t try it on a live site though!
Keep up to date with what’s happening in WordPress 5.0 and changes in the release date.
What features will be in WordPress 5.0?
Each WordPress update excites many WordPress developers as they get to play with a bunch of new features each time a new version comes out. WordPress 4.8 came with lots of new features for widgets, making life easier to add things like images and video files in your sidebars. WordPress 4.9 saw major changes in the WordPress customiser, allowing people to schedule updates at a later date, much like what you can do within the WordPress posts and pages.
WordPress 5.0 will be a much bigger update than seen in the previous versions and will include the release of the new WordPress core theme Twenty Nineteen. However, the biggest thing that people are talking about in WordPress 5.0 is the Gutenberg Editor.
What is The Gutenberg Editor?
The Gutenberg Editor is a page builder that has been designed to compete with the likes of Wix and Squarespace. The Gutenberg Editor will completely replace the classic editor that we see now. The idea is that the classic editor can be quite intimidating for many – it often gets overwhelmed by several plugin features and you have to continuously press “Preview” to see how your work is getting on.
The Gutenberg Editor is a drag-and-drop interface which allows you to add your content using “blocks”, much like other page builders such as Beaver Builder, Divi Builder and of course, the mighty WP Bakery Page Builder.
How will WordPress Gutenberg affect your website?
WordPress Gutenberg is a major update and will cause quite a stir. Many of your plugins and themes will stop working as they will naturally be built to work with the WordPress editor. If you have a great theme/plugin developer, they will update their product quickly enough, but this is unlikely to be the case as they will need time to understand exactly how WordPress 5.0 works.
You will also need to learn your way around the new Gutenberg Editor; this may be easy for the newcomers to WordPress, as it’s designed to simplify the learning curve, but for those who have been using WordPress for a while will need to learn a completely new workflow.
How to prepare for the WordPress 5.0 update
If you want to prepare for the release of WordPress Gutenberg to ensure that your website does not suffer the consequences of such a major update, we recommend doing the following tasks:
- You can download the Gutenberg Beta plugin immediately and start learning your way around the new editor.
- Download the Classic Editor plugin! Yes, WordPress anticipates that many of us will hate change and crave the classic editor again. So, you can download this plugin which will bring it back for you!
Worried that WordPress Gutenberg will break your site?
WordPress updates can always cause problems and many customers complain that their site breaks after an update. Well, WordPress 5.0 and the Gutenberg Editor is a major WordPress update and this is more likely to happen than ever.
If you’re worried that your site will break and want a professional to do the update for you, then please get in touch! We are offering a special updating service especially for upgrading to WordPress 5.0 and PHP 7.0.
Going forward, you should consider using a WordPress maintenance service. We offer this as part of our special WordPress Hosting Package. You will get top quality hosting especially designed for WordPress websites and we pro-actively manage your WordPress website so that you never need to worry about WordPress updates again!
