Well, today, we’ll be introducing WordPress’ native editor, Gutenberg. We’ll be covering its history and benefits over using other, third-party drag ‘n’ drop editors like Elementor.
In subsequent articles, we’ll be covering using Gutenberg, not only for creating on-page content but also for editing certain aspects of your theme.
The history of Gutenberg #
OK, so maybe using the word “history” is a stretch, but it has been around since December 2018 when WordPress v5.0 was released.
Before Gutenberg we had the WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor which was basic and rudimental. But it had been a staple of WordPress.
Initially there was a bit of controversy over the introduction of the Gutenberg editor, developers and bloggers either installed the plugin ‘Classic Editor‘, or used certain themes and custom scripts to revert it… Us included at the beginning. Upon reflection, we just weren’t used to it and fighting change!
Still, as of today, the ‘Classic editor’ plugin has over 5 million active installs, so people are still rebelling, but we’re not entirely sure why as Gutenberg is awesome, let’s take a look as to why.
The benefits of Gutenberg #
Super fast #
Being the default editor of WordPress, a huge amount of time and effect has gone into making it slick and streamline by cutting out bloat (unnecessary code) and using the latest web technologies.
In speed tests against popular drag ‘n’ drop editors like Elementor & Divi, Gutenberg always comes out on top, at least from the articles we’ve read and what we’ve experienced first hand: example speed test.
Easy to use (once you get used to it) #
The interface is very seamless, it’s almost like you’re typing out a WordDoc, only with lots of cool design features (more on that in subsequent articles).
There are plenty of keyboard commands too to make editing your content fast and efficient.
You get a front-end editing experience, back-end.
What do we mean by that? Although you’re editing the page/post from inside the admin panel, your interface and the page you create looks and feels almost exactly as if you were editing it front-end.
More secure #
Gutenberg has many out-of-the-box blocks meaning you can do and achieve more with fewer plugins. And the fewer plugins, the better as that reduces the exposure to third party code.
Often hacks and data compromises are performed on sites where plugins, themes and the core software are out of date, that’s one of the big reasons updates are released.
Columns #
With the use of columns you can easily create grid based websites, which is the corner stone of responsive, modern web design.
To sum up the benefits #
Using the native editor means you no longer have to rely on drag ‘n’ drop builders to achieve great design, quickly with ultra fast speeds.
Using Gutenberg #
Check back soon as we’ll be releasing articles on editing with Gutenberg.
Side note, if you don’t have a WordPress website to try it out with, you can use WordPress’ dedicated page here.
Happy blogging!