Gutenberg 4.5 was released a few days ago, and it “matches the first 5.0 RC feature set.” Some notable additions include: (1) a minimal multi-selection block panel; (2) the “Disable Visual Editor” option can be set on a per-user basis; (3) drafts are saved on preview; (4) a different default editor font may be specified per locale; and (5) link rel and class settings are part of the image block inspector.
WordPress 5.0‘s first release candidate deadline was missed, but it is out now. Other than Gutenberg, developers and testers should note that all the WordPress default themes included have been updated to support Gutenberg, translatable strings can be used in JavaScript now, PHP 7.3 is supported, and so are simple ARIA labels. That last item should improve the accessibility of the content in posts and pages.
Also important to note: “The WordPress 5.0 release date has shifted from the 27th to give more time for the RC to be fully tested. A final release date will be announced soon, based on feedback on the RC.”
Matt Mullenweg tweeted that he will be opening up some “listening office hours in the next week so people can talk directly” with him about Gutenberg.
Matt Mederios posted a video on his Matt Report channel where he offers some thoughts about the “communication and leadership challenges” surrounding Gutenberg and WordPress 5: “I feel that there are stronger visions for Gutenberg — the technology around Gutenberg — but they’re not being shared.”
I like this concept of a “ScratchPad” or sidebar notes that Nick Hamze has created for Gutenberg. It’s something I need, but I’ve never found a suitable solution for the classic editor.
“Theme Support” is a small plugin created to help you manage Gutenberg color palette and font sizes more easily.
Matt Cromwell writes about the need for product owners to consider the “mental friction” of continual updates like Gutenberg and how they may affect users. According to Matt, WordPress Core authors can head off a lot of anxiety through constant communication, testing, small releases (when possible), detailed changelogs, and the timing of the releases themselves.
Joe Casabona has a video series of brief interviews with developers implementing Gutenberg. The third episode features Bill Erickson. Bill notes how a client site can be designed with Gutenberg in mind: “Gutenberg is a block editor and not a page builder, but if you have unique content that wouldn’t work for the classic editor it’s a good thing.”
Speaking of Bill Erickson, if you are interested in learning how ACF can help with Gutenberg block development, then you should check out Bill’s post explaining how he created a dynamic Table of Contents block.
