Ever since the demise of WordPress’ old distraction-free writing mode, users have been forced to look elsewhere for a truly zen writing experience. Gutenberg’s current design trajectory doesn’t seem to be putting it on track for delivering the minimalist writing environment that many writers crave. The project has a lot of publishing and design-related functionality…
In this episode, John James Jacoby and I discuss the news of the week including DonateWC sponsoring its first recipient to WordCamp Cape Town, WordPress 4.9 Beta 1, and WooCommerce 3.2. We also have a bit of fun with Poopy.life and blurt out a few crappy puns. Last but not least, we dissect Matías Ventura’s…
Gutenberg 1.4 was released today with a new feature that allows users to edit HTML on a per-block basis. HTML mode can be triggered by toggling the ellipsis menu and selecting the HTML icon. This will switch the block between visual and text mode, without having to switch the entire document into text mode. Contributors…
In a post titled Gutenberg, or the Ship of Theseus, Matías Ventura breaks down the vision for how the project will transform WordPress’ content creation experience and the decisions the team has made along the way. Ventura describes how WordPress has become difficult to customize, as online publishing has embraced rich media and web design…
Gutenberg 1.3 was released this week with many small tweaks and improvements to existing features. One of the most visible updates for those who are testing the Cover Image block is the addition of an opacity slider. It brings more flexibility to the feature than the previous on/off background dimming toggle provided. Users can now…
In this episode, I’m joined by special guest co-host Brad Williams, Co-Founder and CEO of the website design and development agency WebDevStudios. Brad shared his experience at CampPress and is looking forward to attending the event again in 2018. We discussed the recent move to moderate all comments on the Tavern again. We covered the…
WordPress contributors have not yet made a final decision on the JavaScript framework to adopt for core, but Gutenberg development continues on with version 1.2 released this week. The update provides a better experience resolving block conflicts when switching between the “classic editor” and Gutenberg. Previously, if a user had created some paragraph blocks in…
The discussion regarding WordPress’ JavaScript framework selection continues in the #core-js Slack channel ahead of next week’s meeting. One of the more recent topics is the possibility of framework-agnostic block rendering for Gutenberg, which would allow developers to extend the new editor using any JS library they prefer. This means that Gutenberg blocks, which are…
While I was supposed to be on vacation last week, I instead had surgery for a broken ankle. Tune in to hear the hilarious explanation on how I broke it. The lesson I learned is to not chase animals out of the yard. John James Jacoby and I discuss the news of the week, including…
After last week’s news that WordPress is abandoning React due to its unfavorable patents clause, the discussion regarding the selection of a new framework is heating up again. As Vue is once again among the leading contenders, I reached out to Vue.js creator Evan You to get his perspective on the possibility of WordPress adopting…
This evening Matt Mullenweg announced on his blog that WordPress has decided to move away from React due to its BSD + Patents clause licensing. Gutenberg engineers will be rewriting the new editor to use another JavaScript framework and Automattic plans to rewrite Calypso as well: We had a many-thousand word announcement talking about how…
The WordPress community is currently knee-deep in Gutenberg takes, as the new editor is poised to impact nearly every corner of the ecosystem when it ships in WordPress 5.0. With billions of dollars flowing through the WordPress economy, tensions are high, as many people support themselves and their families with the revenue earned from products…
Gutenberg contributors continue marching forward this week on their relentless drive to improve the usability of the controversial new editor that will ship with WordPress 5.0. Meanwhile, discussions about Gutenberg’s timing, implications, UI, architecture, and other aspects of the project continue across the web, as the community grapples with what this new editor will mean…
While attending WordCamp Grand Rapids I had the opportunity to interview developers and business owners about their first impressions of the new Gutenberg editor. Many attendees I spoke to had not yet heard of the project but were intrigued and decided to install the plugin on a test site. A few attendees were developers who…
Gutenberg 1.0.0 was released this week as another iteration in the beta period that will continue on with 1.1 next week. Design lead Tammie Lister said the team decided “not let numbers set expectations” and will carry on at the same pace with weekly releases. One of the most visible UI updates in version 1.0…