What the Gutenberg WordPress Editor Means for Digital Marketers

If you follow the WordPress community, especially recently, then you’ve heard of the new Gutenberg WordPress Editor and probably have a good idea what this article is about. If you’ve not heard of Gutenberg, let’s talk about what it is and what it means to you.

Gutenberg (the same Gutenberg who invented the printing press hundreds of years ago) is the new editor for WordPress, replacing the infamous WYSIWYG editor. I’m actually using it right now to write this post. In its most basic form Gutenberg is still just a text editor, however, it comes with blocks for you to use to create much more. Think of all the things shortcodes, widgets and TinyMCE gave you and wrap them up into a nicer looking interface, and you’ve got Gutenberg. Okay, maybe it’s not quite that simple, let’s take a look.

As you can see, the blocks give a clean look to the page. You get a feeling for what the post will look like without having to open the preview, something developers and content creators do dozens, if not hundreds of times while creating a simple website. But beyond that, you have more fine-tuned control over font size, text color and background color. These blocks open the door for many customizations that would previously not have been available without the help of a developer.

What does Gutenberg mean for digital marketers?

Overarchingly, it means more control, less mistakes. No more missing the closing shortcode or wishing you could add that “one thing” to the widget in your sidebar. But, right on the tails of that point, Gutenberg definitely has a bit of a learning curve. Depending on how comfortable a user already is in WordPress and working with shortcodes, this could be a nice relief. However, for users who are used to just going into the current editor and writing content, Gutenberg could be a little confusing. While there will still be access to the “classic” WYSIWYG editor, it will likely have limited use amongst all of the new blocks and available features.

Let’s break it down. Gutenberg offers more control. Most WordPress setups allow for fairly easy text editing, whether its a basic post using the WYSIWYG editor or a complex page using Advanced Custom Fields, you’re able to go in and change the text. But what happens when you want to move one item below or another, or swap an image on the left and a text on the right? You call your developer. But with Gutenberg, less code-savvy creators will have the ability to move things around as they like, giving you the freedom to have your site exactly the way you want it.

Gutenberg also leads to fewer mistakes. Gone are the days of forgetting how to use a shortcode or missing the closing tag. Gutenberg comes with the ease of using blocks to create everything you need. You just add the block you want and plug-in your content. Then you can drag it around, or easily delete it, without having to worry about affecting the rest of the page.

Right now, Gutenberg is available to try as a plugin, but it will become a part of the WordPress core in the next major 5.0 update later this year. Is your site ready? Contact Pyxl today!

Updated: Apr 13, 2022