It was announced yesterday that the next major WordPress release is scheduled for tomorrow. It is not ready. It is full of known bugs which WordPress plans to fix over the coming weeks and months.
We do not recommend updating WordPress right now. Wait until January when most of the bugs have been resolved.
Reasons to update to Gutenberg / WordPress 5.0 (in a couple of months):
- The new Gutenberg interface is amazing
- It’s faster than the old WordPress editor
- It’s easy to use (once you spend 10 minutes learning about Gutenberg)
- Who doesn’t love building with blocks?
- Your site is using the Genesis theme, and isn’t heavily customized with ACF Advanced Custom Fields add-ons
Reasons not to update (at least in the near future):
- Your custom built theme is heavily customized
- You utilize a Page Builder heavily on your site, for your entire site design (like Beaver Builder or Divi)
- You have specific usability concerns (WordPress plans to make Gutenberg friendly for people with disabilities in the very near future). In the meantime, you can install the Classic Editor plugin to revert back to the original editor.
When you do upgrade, we recommend first backing up your site, of course, and then installing the Classic Editor plugin to retain the old content editor. Once you start using Gutenberg to create content, there’s no going back to the old editor. There’s no harm in disabling Gutenberg right now and waiting for it to mature.
On the bright side, unless you’re already using a page builder, like Beaver Builder or Divi, Gutenberg is a good thing. The new editor makes creating great content a breeze with its easy to use blocks and enhanced functionality. Also a huge plus, our WordPress framework of choice, Genesis, is already Gutenberg compatible.
If you’re already using Beaver Builder or Divi (the only two page builders we recommend), there is no need to also use Gutenberg (as it’s more or less another page builder, and there’s no need for two). In this case, we recommend installing the Classic Editor plugin, which will enable you to continue using your current page builder without any issues.
Here are related articles by Yoast and Advanced Custom Fields, two plugins you may have on your website:
Gutenberg
After you update:
