On June 20th, the biggest WordPress event, WordCamp Europe 2019, opened its gates for over 2700 WordPress enthusiasts and experts. For three days, ideas and perspectives were exchanged, new contacts were made and future ways were shown. One topic was on everyone’s lips: The WordPress Gutenberg Editor.
Since the release of WordPress 5.0 in December 2019, Gutenberg is an integral part of the popular CMS. The opinions of the WordPress community about the block editor differ widely. Is Gutenberg an opportunity or a step in the wrong direction? One thing is for sure: Gutenberg will influence and shape the future of WordPress decisively.
Mullenweg: We Have a Long Way to Go
At WordCamp Europe 2019, Matt Mullenweg, co-founder of WordPress, gave an insight into the progress and forthcoming developments of Gutenberg. To a question from the audience about the general development progress, Mullenweg replied:
It’s pretty early still. I see a very, very long road ahead.
Summer Update 2019 Recap
A lot has happened already! At the moment, we are in Phase 2 of the Gutenberg roadmap. Here are the latest innovations at a glance:
- Plugin Blocks Integration
- Hide or show different blocks via Block Manager
- Cover Block with nested block elements
- Integration of preexisting widgets as blocks (e.g.: Latest Posts)
- Block grouping
- Nesting in Columns and Columns width adjustment
- Snackbars (Popup notices)
Coming Soon:
- Installing new Blocks via Gutenberg
- Block Directory for finding new blocks and educating people
- Navigation blocks
Experimenting with:
- Motion Animation for blocks
- Footnotes block
- Resizing of blocks with Snap to Grid
- Gutenberg for Mobile Apps
Gutenberg enables us to develop much richer experiences.
Matt Mullenweg
The WordPress Community and Gutenberg: An exciting journey
The current innovations that come with Gutenberg create curiosity about what else to expect! Gutenberg poses challenges for the community but also provides a framework for new opportunities.
Gutenberg secures the Future of WordPress
WordPress is one of the most popular Content Management Systems in the world. About one third of all websites use WordPress. No wonder! WordPress can be easily adapted to individual needs thanks to numerous plugins and themes. The aim of the Gutenberg editor is to make writing and composing content much more intuitive. Keyword: Usability. The opinion of many in the community: WordPress needed this step to be able to assert itself against other CMS and website builders, and to follow the spirit of the time.
Gutenberg as Framework of Possibilities
Media theorist Marshall McLuhan once said “The medium is the message”, meaning that it is not the content, in our case the content of a website or blog, that counts, but the medium that transports the content. It is the medium that shapes society: our ways of thinking, our behavior, our communication, and perception. Gutenberg will affect us in this sense. We can understand Gutenberg as a new medium that can significantly change the way we transport and process information.
With its new features, Gutenberg inspires the community to go new ways. In his talk, The promise of Structured data and blocks Omar Reiss, CPO of Yoast, refers to Gutenberg as an opportunity for a new kind of information management. For him, with Gutenberg we are moving from an “Internet of pages” to an “Internet of objects”, in which data is structured and interconnected by blocks, thus forming a network of information.
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This is only one of many examples. A look in the schedule of WordCamp Europe 2019 shows: Gutenberg is an important topic and offers a lot of potential for new ideas. We are eager to see what the future holds.
WordCamp Europe 2019: A space for Ideas
Besides Gutenberg, there were many other interesting topics at WordCamp Europe 2019. At this point, I would like to highlight the talk Working a world apart: Navigating remote working professional relationships by Dee Teal. She gave us a great insight into the challenges a remote team has to meet. For Dee, it is all about one thing: Empathy. At Inpsyde, we work 100% remotely and her talk spoke from our souls. Learn more about Remote and the Future of Work.
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The WCEU 2019 was an incredible experience. Many thanks to the organizers who not only ensured a smooth process but also a relaxed and open atmosphere. You offered us a great space for ideas! And many thanks to the WordPress community. You are a wonderful example of openness, tolerance and high commitment. See you again at WordCamp Europe 2020 in Porto!
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