One of the biggest updates in WordPress history is coming, but should you actually update?
Here’s what you should know.
The Simpler Days.
I’m one of the few aging people in this field that can remember when WordPress made it’s entrance onto the web’s stage. Most agencies were pumping out their own custom CMS platforms and boasting a variety of new features for each new engagement when WordPress first came out. It was an edge in the selling meetings to have a fancy name for your custom CMS and show it off. These fancy CMSs also required a pretty big price tag to develop, which opened up a window of opportunity for a simple, elegant platform to fill a gap.
That platform was WordPress. And the rest, as they say is history
What’s The Big Deal About 5.0?
Unlike most WordPress updates, 5.0 takes a pretty heavy leap forward in technology and in its approach to website development.
What is creating all the buzz about 5.0 is the release of Gutenburg, the new block-based editor. This shift from the old WYSIWYG editor to Gutenburg is in alignment with the trend in the industry to more complete website editing within the CMS. With the rise of SquareSpace, WIX, and many other DIY website design tools, WordPress has fallen behind somewhat in the ease-of-use category, especially compared to some of these newer, more robust editors.
You can get a tour of Gutenburg here on the WordPress Demo Site: https://wordpress.org/gutenberg/
What Does This Mean For You?
This means that if you are working with an “older” theme by WordPress standards, you might have some issues when it comes to the upgrade. Your site might not explode, but you could have some plugin compatibility issues, and your layouts could go very “off”.
It’s really hard to know how you will be affected. With this update, there is no real way of knowing until you turn on the new editor. It’s like not knowing the temperature of the water until you plunge in. This means as a site owner, to do this update safely means having a developer help review, or at least setting up a development site for the update.
You will get far more functionality in your editor and control in the content layouts moving forward.
Special page scripts or unique styles in the current editor will need to be converted.
You can read more here at:
https://www.graphypro.com/should-i-upgrade-to-wordpress-5-0/
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