[deanhills]

Looks as though there is a big change coming with the next design version of WordPress script 5.0.  It is expected to happen before the middle of the year.  It may be a good idea for those who are on automatic updates to change to manual as there may be a chance of conflicts, particularly for more sophisticated themes of WordPress with backend Editors.

The change is mostly affecting editing of blogs and posts.  Instead of having the classic menu on top of the post and blog windows, Wordpress is moving to an editing system of blocks.  When one hovers one's mouse over a section of the post then it brings up a little tool menu similar to what one finds with MS Word.  When you click on the tools it brings up a menu on the right hand side.  The script is available in Beta and a number of people who tried it thought there was lots of room for improvement.  Some complain about the fact one doesn't get a good ability to preview the  posts or pages.  It would also seem the more sophisticated the theme with editing tools on the backend, the greater the chance of conflicts making editing of pages and posts almost impossible to do.  So owners of themes will have to do plenty of changes.  Some plugins that have to do with editing will also have to be retooled.

For those who are interested, here are two videos that explain how the changes work, and what the implications could be for existing themes.

[tryp4vps]

Thanks for the heads up.

That is why I always disable automatic updates for all my Wordpress sites, and I encourage every webmaster to do the same.

Wordpress automatic updates are too easy to break existing themes or plugins. It is always better to update manually for a stable version when necessary.

[xdude]

Looks promising but in practical situations it looks like more of a huge headache. Editing system they have now is simple and straight forward. This system seems heavily relay on Ajex and html5 so it will be a problem for old computers. I wish they would do this change while keeping the old editor.

[deanhills]

Looks promising but in practical situations it looks like more of a huge headache. Editing system they have now is simple and straight forward. This system seems heavily relay on Ajex and html5 so it will be a problem for old computers. I wish they would do this change while keeping the old editor.

Agreed @xdude  If the change was going to make an enormous improvement beyond what we're already getting with the Customizer and some plugins, then OK.  But this may break some really quality and classic paid themes.  Thing is that WordPress is not a perfect script already.  The addition of a plugin in itself can create problems.  So I think there are plenty of users who are going to wake up with huge headaches.  As I imagine no one is going to do their due diligence and test it before the update is launched.  And few who are on automatic updates are going to think about changing to manual.

[Lampard]

That is great, but i think that they must create their own built-in plugins, so that we don't use other plugins which make the WordPress slow, the only problem Wordpress has.

[deanhills]

That is great, but i think that they must create their own built-in plugins, so that we don't use other plugins which make the WordPress slow, the only problem Wordpress has.

I think that is exactly what is going to happen though.  WordPress is going to expect users to develop those plugins themselves, and for developers of existing plugins to adjust the plugins for the new system.  It's going to be the hardest on those developers with paid themes that have backdoor editing tools in place.  I saw it demonstrated.  If you want to get your post up, it looks like codes and stuff mixed up and you basically can't edit your posts or pages.  You'll be forced to get a different theme.

[Kururin]

Hmm for some reason, everyone seems to hate Gutenberg editor with a passion. I mean just look at the review people post on the plugin site. I don't follow WordPress anymore since I have found a better alternative which is Jekyll. It works and have no gui which makes it easier for me to manage through command line