Since the introduction of the Gutenberg editor, a rift has opened up in the WordPress community. What was intended to be a modern, flexible tool to simplify content creation has provoked contrasting reactions. On the one hand, some see it as a major step forward, a means of competing with platforms such as Wix or Squarespace. On the other, many developers and experienced users find the editor neither mature nor intuitive, despite almost 10 years of development.
I’m one of those who suffer with the publisher. But I still have faith.
Two visions of the publisher
On the one hand, Kevin The Kevin Geary is working on a project called Etch, which aims to dispense with the Gutenberg editor altogether by offering an alternative. It’s a sentiment I partly share. Despite almost 10 years of development, Gutenberg is not yet complete. The user experience is confusing for developers, and for end-users, there’s still a long way to go to reach a level of quality comparable to the competition.
On the other hand, Nick Diego Nick M Diego embraces every new development with enthusiasm. He proposes projects to extend existing blocks and takes a proactive approach to getting things done. By showing what’s possible, he helps the community move forward. Although he works for Automattic and may seem biased, his approach is clear and pragmatic.
These two visions are a good representation of the tensions surrounding Gutenberg: on the one hand, those who feel frustrated by a tool that still seems to be in development; on the other, those who see each update as an opportunity to advance the WordPress ecosystem.
My journey with WordPress
I’ve been using WordPress for 20 years and have followed its evolution closely. New features have often been invaluable tools, enabling me to extend the CMS and adapt it to my customers’ needs. It’s been a pleasure to work with, and in the end, it’s been a win-win situation.
But with Gutenberg, it’s different. My relationship with him is less clear, and the trust is no longer the same. I constantly have to ask myself: should I change the way I work? Will this investment really improve my profitability and my customers’ experience?
Key areas for improvement
For me, the debate should focus on the following points:
- Unified user experience
Currently, WordPress administration is split between two different interfaces. This gives the impression of a product in perpetual work, almost experimental. A single, consistent interface would boost user confidence.
- Optimizing CMS management
Interaction with the database, creation of post types and metadata should be central functionalities, and not managed via extensions. In addition, queries should be simplified and optimized.
- Responsive Design
A UI base that allows designs to be easily adapted to responsive is necessary. While complex designs will always require code, there should be a minimum framework for non-technical users.
- Synchronizing compositions with theme files
Currently, synchronized compositions can no longer be modified directly via theme files. Allowing developers to manage these compositions via an IDE would greatly improve the development experience.
- Multilingualism
Multilingualism is a source of endless frustration. Solutions like WPML are often too complex and full of bugs, while Weglot is expensive. A native solution in the WordPress core is long overdue, and it’s about time we implemented it.
Nevertheless, I’m adapting. I’m closely following the development of the site editor, documenting my processes and modifying my working methods. There’s an element of faith in this approach. I believe that the community will eventually improve the tool in the right direction.
WordPress has always known how to evolve, and I trust the community to keep Gutenberg moving in the right direction. However, it’s essential that the editor becomes a more coherent, intuitive, high-performance tool to enable developers and users to fully embrace it. For me, the improvements proposed here are crucial steps towards achieving this.