The developers over at WordPress have been hard at work on the next major update of the content management platform. As long as there are no major issues with the launch, the core development team projects the Gutenberg or WordPress 5.0 release to roll out officially on November 19, 2018. For webmasters, this update will have several changes to watch out for. Since this is one of the largest WordPress updates in over a decade, take the time to familiarize yourself with the upcoming changes. To learn more, here are the anticipated changes for the Gutenberg release.
Default Visual Editor
The primary change of the Gutenberg update includes a new visual editor. While the current WordPress editor is widely used by millions of websites, this new update promises to upgrade the writing experience for content creators. In WordPress 5.0, the visual editor has much more space on the page, taking a “writing first” approach. It offers a much cleaner writing experience overall. Especially if you publish content from a laptop, tablet or mobile device, this gives you additional space to view content as you are writing. The UX design upgrade should be welcomed when the update releases in November.
A Block Based Structure
Next, the Gutenberg update relies on blocks for editing. Previously, the visual editor required using short-codes and HTML. To make the formatting process easier, the WordPress core team created a solution that would allow webmasters to simply work with different types of blocks. The blocks would take on various attributes and types of rich formatting. This change makes it easier for users who do not have a working knowledge of HTML to edit content. Moreover, the blocks generate such high-quality HTML code that it would be difficult to tell the difference if you entered it manually.
More Options For Image Uploads
In the new Gutenberg editor, you can create single image or gallery layouts on any page. If you want to add multiple images to a single blog post, you can just create a gallery. This keeps your post formatting neat and clean. Best of all, you do not need an additional plugin, page builder or custom code to implement your image formatting. You can simply use image blocks to complete your WordPress blogging checklist. On top of that, the new uploading process gives you more options to customize dimensions and image information. With the new editor, it will be easier to upload images and see how they are going to look to visitors after getting published.
New WordPress 5.0 Security Plugins
Since the WordPress 5.0 update makes a major change to the CMS core, we can expect upcoming changes to security plugins. Many themes and plugins will need to get an update to be compatible with Gutenberg. However, we can hope that the new security plugins will take a stronger stance against brute force attacks and injected comment code. These types of cyber attacks are disrupting major websites, platforms and networks online. Similar to previous WordPress core updates, we can expect a number of security and maintenance releases that address WordPress 5.0 security issues specifically. Hopefully, we can look forward to a hardened platform with even less vulnerabilities than before.
Next Generation Of WordPress Themes
After the release of Gutenberg, we can anticipate new themes from developers. Rather than relying on third party page builders, theme developers will find new ways to create experiences using the new blocks framework. These themes will probably be labeled “Gutenberg-friendly” so that you can make the most of the design features associated with the new release. These themes should become the next standard for theme development, ushering in the next wave of WordPress design and development.
Webmasters should take note of the upcoming WordPress 5.0 changes. The updates will give WordPress a much needed major update that will compete with the rise of page builders in the market. The visual editor will receive a complete makeover, from the infrastructure up. In the new editor, you can use content blocks for a rich formatting experience. Similarly, the image uploading and formatting process will become more streamlined. Of course, we will hope to see the continued improvement of security plugins for the new updated WordPress release. Additionally, we will see the rise of Gutenberg friendly themes that make the most of these new editors. These are all major upcoming changes that you should watch out for with the WordPress 5.0 release expected to launch soon.
