In December, 2018, with the release of version 5.0, WordPress made a major change to the way you add content. It’s called the Gutenberg Editor.
Here’s more information about it.
It’s a pretty significant change. If you’re up for the learning curve, great. If you’re not so sure, maybe you have another option.
It’s called the Classic Editor, and it’s a plugin you can easily install on your site. With the WordPress Classic Editor, everything goes back to the way it was before WordPress 5.0 was released.
So who should suck it up and master Gutenberg, and who can slide by without it (for a while anyway)?
- If you’re a blogger or freelancer, and you use mostly text and images, you can safely stick with the Classic Editor.
- If you’re a freelancer or solopreneur, or if you use a lot of video, audio, or image galleries, you might want to use Gutenberg.
- If you want much more control over the layout of your posts and pages than you’ve been able to get with WordPress in the past, you definitely want to use Gutenberg.
To Install the Classic Editor
Install the Classic Editor the same way you install any plugin.
- Log into your WordPress Dashboard
- Click on Plugins/Add New, then search for Classic Editor
- Click Install Now
- Click Activate
The plugin is very popular – as I write this, it’s showing over 3 million active installs! So if you’re sticking with Classic, you’re in good company.
To Use the Gutenberg Editor
You don’t need to take any special steps to use Gutenberg. It’s now part of WordPress core, so if you’ve updated to WordPress 5 (which you should have done by now!), you have it.
If you’ve been using the installed Classic Editor plugin, simply deactivate it and you’ll have Gutenberg at your fingertips.
When Your Old Posts are “Classic”
If you’ve had your site for a while and you switch from the WordPress Classic Editor to the Gutenberg Editor, you’ll notice something a little different when you pull up an older post or page in the edit window.
Notice there’s another window within the editor, with “Classic” at the top. This tells you the post was composed outside of Gutenberg. You’ll be able to edit it the same way you would have before, except that you won’t be able to add or edit images within it.
In order to make changes to any images, you’ll need to first convert it to blocks. Fortunately, that’s easy to do.
- Click anywhere within the Classic window to open up the menu at the top.
- Select the three dots over on the right
- Click Convert to Blocks
Now you’ll be able to edit any aspect of the post or page using Gutenberg.
Want More Gutenberg Tutorials?
We’ll cover Gutenberg in some depth in the upcoming Live WordPress Training Course.
Next in the Gutenberg series, How to Add a Post to Your Website Using the Gutenberg Editor.
Other Articles You’ll Enjoy
- Why You Need Just the Right Plugins
- How to Add a Post to Your WordPress Website Using the Classic Editor
- How to Install a WordPress Plugin
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You know that WordPress can make that website-building-thing a whole lot easier for you, but you’re not sure where to start. Or maybe you’ve bounced around a bunch of “helpful” sites and social media and now you’re more confused than when you started.
You just want to cut through the clutter, put up a site that will help you grow your business, and get back to the things you’d rather be spending your time on.
You need The WordPress Beginner’s Blueprint.
