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Sarah Gooding

AMP Plugin for WordPress Version 1.0 Introduces Gutenberg-Integrated AMP Validation

Version 1.0 of the official AMP plugin for WordPress was released on the eve of WordCamp US, after two years in development by contributors from Automattic, XWP, and Google. This first stable version has a massive changelog with 30 people credited for their contributions. The plugin is now considered ready for production and is active on more than 300,000 sites.

Version 1.0 interfaces with the new editor that landed in WordPress 5.0. It will display warnings for AMP-invalid markup on a per-block basis, so users don’t have to guess what content is generating an issue.

This release also introduces a compatibility tool that offers detailed information on AMP validation errors. It functions like a debugging page where users can see which URLs are generating errors, along with the site component (plugin, theme, or core) where the markup originates.

Version 1.0 includes granular controls for selecting which templates will be served as AMP. This allows for a more gradual adoption across a site. Users can also opt for Native mode to have the entire site served as AMP.

The plugin has been updated to support four of WordPress’ default themes, including Twenty Fifteen, Twenty Sixteen, Twenty Seventeen, and Twenty Nineteen. The documentation for how AMP was added to these bundled themes serves as an example for how theme developers can make their own themes AMP-compatible.

WordPress users who opt to use AMP on their sites will have a more successful experience with this version, thanks to the improved UI for handling AMP validation errors and the new interface for limiting AMP-support to certain templates.

The AMP for WordPress project is also sporting a new website that features a collection of AMP-ready plugins and themes and a showcase of sites using AMP. It also has extensive documentation for implementors, site owners, and developers. The site provides a central place for news and resources related to the project and its expanding ecosystem of compatible extensions.

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12 responses to “AMP Plugin for WordPress Version 1.0 Introduces Gutenberg-Integrated AMP Validation”

  1. I haven’t yet tried AMP compliance. But, is there a real benefit to AMP when a publisher loses control of the user experience on their own copyrighted assets? I ask this because I’ve noticed that social sharing buttons and menuing systems have lost functionality on many AMP pages I’ve visited. I didn’t even know I was on an AMP page until I backed out to Google results page.

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    • I’ve tried AMP and didn’t like it. Too stripped, too many rules, and sometimes it broke. I’d try to clear my cache after a change, and sometimes it would work, sometimes it would be delayed. So I got rid of it and just try to make everything load as quickly as possible without AMP.

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    • Disclosure: I work on this plugin.

      Hi Peter,
      Good question about whether there’s a benefit to AMP.

      The biggest benefit of AMP is usually performance. There’s a bigger performance improvement when using an AMP cache, like in Google Search or Cloudflare. But load times are still usually faster when loading AMP URLs on their own.

      I’ve noticed that social sharing buttons and menuing systems have lost functionality on many AMP pages I’ve visited.

      Some AMP pages use simple templates, and don’t have menus. The idea of this plugin is to use your own theme, so your menus look the same. For example, here’s Twenty Seventeen with AMP:
      https://2017-theme.amp-wp.org/

      There can still be challenges, as JavaScript isn’t allowed in AMP.

      That’s interesting that the sharing buttons haven’t worked the same in AMP. I haven’t seen that, but I take you at your word, and would be happy to look at an example or help if your site has that problem in the future.

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    • But, is there a real benefit to AMP when a publisher loses control of the user experience on their own copyrighted assets?”

      The idea of the plugin is to give the publisher control over how all of the content looks. AMP pages can look the same as non-AMP pages, using your theme and styling.

      Though there can still be challenges, especially because AMP doesn’t allow JavaScript.

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  2. Here still with a question on the “importance” of having an AMP enabled site.

    1. With websites now optimized to load in less than 3 sec
    2. With 4G LTE of download speed of upto 12Mbps and upload of upto 50Mpbs
    3. With 5G now coming onboard promising us 490Mbps and 1,4Gbps.
    4. I’ve used 4G and all sites i visit are just instant. (Doesn’t even take 2sec load download)

    Qn. What sense is in the rush for AMP now?

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    • Disclosure: I work on this plugin.

      Hi Hamza,

      Qn. What sense is in the rush for AMP now?

      If a site loads in less than 3 seconds on even mobile devices, it wouldn’t be a great candidate for AMP. Though it would probably still get a performance boost from the Google Search or Cloudflare AMP cache.

      It’s not uncommon to see desktop pages load in under 3 seconds, but median mobile page load times can be around 7 seconds (DOMContentLoaded):

      https://httparchive.org/reports/loading-speed?start=2018_01_01&end=latest&view=list#dcl

      You raise a good point about where AMP is most useful. It usually helps mobile users the most, as performance improvements are more needed there. Though it also improves desktop performance.

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