A message from WordPress seemed to start the day well – an anniversary greeting as I’ve been on WordPress 10 years. Then the kick in the teeth: not only is a new editor is to be introduced but it will be the default, though the classic editor will be “available as a plugin”.
Gutenberg
They are calling it ‘Gutenberg’, which doesn’t bode well; it’s certainly arrogant as Gutenberg brought about a real publishing revolution and, of course, there’s already the Gutenberg Project which, by making so many of the best writers ever freely available to all, was close to being a similarly far-reaching publishing revolution.
I’m just hoping that this new WordPress editor applies only to the self-hosted blogs run under WordPress.org, not those constructed under WordPress.com. If the current excellent ‘classic’ editor is available only as a plugin then I might surmise it will be available only under WordPress.org.
Fixing things which ain’t broke
I’ve commented before on the tendency of projects run by ‘techies’, like WordPress, to fix things which ain’t broke. I read a note from WordPress on what the new editor was all about; I’m not completely computer/IT illiterate but I did not understand a single word – all about ‘blocks’ written, presumably, for block heads. (I may have also said before that WordPress needs some good technical writers!)
So far I’ve been able to ignore the message which appears every time I begin a new post, that the ‘new’ editor is better and easier – not for me it’s not. I tried it of course. Terrible. And, although I now write most of my blog posts on an iPad, the app is also terrible and I ignore it.
I hope I’ve got it all wrong as if turns out that WordPress.com users like me are forced to use the new editor I’ll probably be saying “Goodbye WordPress”.
PS. Although grumpytyke was born ten years ago, it was quite a bit later that he began to post (about four years later!).
October 13, 2018 at 8:55 am
I am still using the ‘old editor’, having refused to adopt the so-called ‘improved editor’ some time ago. I too fear the change to ‘Gutenberg’, and do not want to have to re-learn how to blog, all over again.
The obsession with fixing things that ain’t broke is everywhere. I hate it.
Well done on your ten yeas.
Regards, Pete.
October 16, 2018 at 12:33 pm
I’m glad to hear that someone else is unmoved by the ‘improvements’. I know your ‘name’ very well from ‘Eddy’s’ blog (he’s been quiet of late), an association which began when I was toying with the idea of building something strawbale and finding he hailed from Skipton. We’ve never managed to meet though we’ve had a couple of near misses.
October 16, 2018 at 4:27 pm
He’s still around. Two daughters now, and working hard. He doesn’t post much though. 🙂
October 10, 2018 at 10:06 am
Please do not say goodbye to WordPress, I have yet to get such a message.
September 16, 2018 at 11:35 am
Happy Anniversary! Word-upon-word marvelous things are being built 🙂
September 16, 2018 at 4:18 am
I said the same thing about Word seven. They took away the autofill. So disappointing for me. I type medical file summaries for a living. I had to learn type entire words like spondylolistheis, malleolar, pneumonia, etc. I hope the new editor is easier to use. Sometimes techies do what’s easier for them! Not the people who actually use the programs.
September 15, 2018 at 3:42 pm
Happy Anniversary! Wow! Ten years? That’s quite an accomplishment. May you have many more years of stress free writing. 😉