WordPress has evolved over the years with new and exciting features to make publishing your content simple, yet dynamic. WordPress 5.0 is no different and takes it to a new level. Even though the latest release came out in 2018, read more about what’s changed.
WordPress 5.0 Upgrades
If you’ve been using WordPress for some time now, you know the changes it’s gone through with 4.8 and 4.9. In 5.0, you now have the new block-based editor known as Gutenberg, among other changes and upgrades that includes how the platform handles releases, a more intuitive site-building experience, and easier building of custom themes.
Continue to learn about these changes that make WordPress 5.0 a very appealing upgrade.
Changes for WordPress 5.0
Before we delve into WordPress 5.0, let’s take a look at the prior changes from WordPress 4.8 and 4.9. With 4.8., we got various new widgets and improvements, along with a valuable enhancement to how links work in the visual editor.
With WordPress 4.9, the team took a significant step toward a more user-centric way in which to customize and manage websites; this included considerable improvements to the Customizer, introducing exciting functionalities to widgets—a powerful text editor for editing code.
These changes pale in comparison to WordPress 5.0, and higher—5.3 will be addressed in an upcoming blog.
Gutenberg Editor
The biggest change for WordPress 5.0 is the new Guttenberg editor. With tons more options in which to choose, you can get your posts the way you want them. That means for webmasters, a customizable experience that doesn’t involve learning a lot of code. Guttenberg brings a whole new content editing interface with a variety of new features. Plainly put, it competes with modern website builders to stay relevant in today’s market.
Gutenberg brings some significant changes to your favorite themes and plugins. You’ll probably see more Guttenberg-friendly themes pop up, which are designed to make it easier to use all the new features it offers. One example is the Atomic Blocks theme that allows you to customize your font style, body, title font sizes, content width, and much more. It also includes page-building blocks for testimonials, notices, calls to actions, sharing icons, and buttons.
Page builder plugins could lose some relevance. Even though there are many great page-builder tools in WordPress, Gutenberg won’t match them—just yet. It may, however, dissuade people from using them in the future.
Furthermore, if you don’t want to or feel comfortable using the Gutenberg editor, you can still keep the classic editor by installing the official Classic Editor plugin.
Twenty Nineteen WordPress Theme
Built to allow you to see in the editor what you’ll see on your webpage, the team at WordPress designed their 2019 default theme to show off the block editor. It’s intended to be adaptable to a wide range of websites, such as launching a new business, a photoblog, or a non-profit. It has plenty of whitespace with classic and modern serif body text to look aesthetically pleasing on all screen sizes.
Fewer Updates
Another major change for WordPress is the reduction of updates. You used to get about two major releases a year with a plethora of mini updates throughout; however, the WordPress core team is moving away from scheduled releases. The idea revolves around removing the pressure of predetermined deadlines, which allows the platform to take bigger leaps. Now, when you get updates, they will be more meaningful.
WordPress REST API
Unless you’re an experienced developer, you may not be aware of what the WordPress REST API is and why it’s an exciting upgrade. REST(Representational State Transfer) is a particular type of API that is developed following specific guidelines developers can use when building them; this ensures that the APIs function correctly.
API (Application Programming Interface) enables two applications to talk with each other and helps expand WordPress’s platform, making it easier for developers to connect it with other sites and applications. With this new update, developers have it easier creating applications using the platform as a framework.
More Intuitive Site-Building Experience
WordPress already corners the market regarding market share, and by improving the site-building functionality, it aims to hold the market share from the rise of hosted website builders, such as:
- Squarespace
- Wix
- Strikingly
- Weebly
- Shopify
- Sitebuilder
Upgrading to WordPress 5.0
If you’re ready to upgrade to WordPress 5.0 or higher, it’s crucial you test your plugins and theme, to ensure they work properly. Reach out to a WordPress developer if you have a custom-built solution to get it updated. Your WordPress host can’t fix it for you. Also, you will have to manually update to WordPress 5.0, unless you have it specifically configured for auto-updates.
It’s essential to create a staging environment on a test site, so it doesn’t affect your live site. Also, completely backup of your WordPress site if you don’t test on a development or staging site. (recommended)
At REVITY, we use the latest WordPress to build a beautiful and functional website for companies. With our team of experts, we utilize a whole spectrum of marketing services that include content, SEO, SEM, graphic design, social media, reputation management, and much more. Contact us to learn more.
