How many of you are using the Gutenberg editor. I have been using it for a few months now. I have watched it with fascination. While it goes through iterations of changes, like food through a goose. Like many, I feel it was rushed out as the new editor, sometimes even unusable for some projects. It has matured more, but there are things that still leave me scratching my head. The mobile app for it was not even ready for prime time, when they released the editor to the masses.
How many of you are using it? Are you having trouble with figuring out how to do something? I have had a few things crop up
How to add a graphic to your post, and wrap the text around it, is not intuitive for new users.
Also, for some odd reason, and I admit I don’t know how long it has been changed, but to schedule a post for publishing later, has changed from a simple task, to one that makes no sense at all.
Before, you had a blue “edit” link next to the schedule label, this let you set when you wanted to publish your post. Now that is gone, and the only option you see is “immediately”.
I’m sorry. If I want to publish something tomorrow, at a certain time, Immediately is not the option I would comfortably click on. What in heavens name, was wrong with leaving the edit link. But I guess they thought it was less cluttered, and we could read their minds.
So now, you click immediately, even though your not wanting to publish it at the moment, and it brings up a window to set the date and time in the future. Is that logical?
Maybe it’s just me. The new editor is getting better, but still a long way to go. Oh, and while we are here. Anyone know how to change one word, or selected words to a different color? All I get it to do, is change ALL the text in the block to the color.
Comments welcome.
Ron, this all looks like my worst nightmare. I still use the ‘original’ editor from 2012, and have never changed to any subsequent alteration. I recall WP saying that Gutenberg would be forced on us last April, but I ignored that, and it didn’t happen. Yet.
I am very comfortable using WP now, but I hate change, especially when it is NOT progress. The example you show would have had me stumped straight off, and I have heard very few positives about this new ‘block editor’, from anyone.
Best wishes, Pete.
Thanks for the comment, Pete. Yes, it is a block editor now. In a way, once you get used to it, it is easier with some things. However, they are gearing towards “websites”. Those are built in block fashion. The photo gallery option is nice, no need for an extra plug in now. I figure one day they will push everyone onto it. I don’t see them trying to maintain compatibility with two editors.
The classic editor will always be my favorite, but I’ve gotten used to this new one now. If anyone needs help when they do decide to start using it, just shout, I’ll be glad to do what I can.
A while back I tried it but had trouble with photos so I went back to the old editor. I’ve stayed there. No blogger has posted anything positive that would make me want to change. Clicking on “immediately” is not intuitive because it means post right now, not select your options. Are some prepubescents working on this?
“Are some prepubescents working on this?”
I think you solved the mystery, Kate. Probably a room full of young millennials, with too much cappuccino in their blood-stream.
The photo placement, is not as versatile as before. It will place your photo even with the top or bottom line and wrap the surrounding text. Before you could force it to put your picture midway in your paragraph or text.
I tried Gutenberg for about, oh, 6 minutes. After my blood pressure rose and I started to hyperventilate, I opted for a quick return to safe harbour, and here I remain. It’s sooo unfriendly and weird/strange, don’t you find? Maybe if I’d stuck with it I’d feel otherwise, but since I did have the option to go back to the old one… I guess I don’t like change either, like beetleypete above. I suggest you copy/paste your post above into an email to WordPress support. What do you think? And please let us know what happens!
I don’t think an email will help. They seem set on moving towards more of a website look, so that more revenue will come in via businesses.
They have a good platform, I will stick with it as long as possible. I did find it strange at first, but then it just grew on me. I don’t use half the options they have, but I might one day if I feel creative. It would help, if they stopped tweaking things. Such as the change this post refers to.
And with all the colors to choose from, font sizes, and drop cap lettering, how did they miss allowing us to change the color of one word! Unless my computer or WordPress install is faulty. I can change the color of text for the entire block, but not just one, or a few words within the block.
Thanks for the comment, Ellie.
I hated it at first. But as it is here to stay I kept working with it because eventually there will be no choice. The “block” feature keeps popping up when it’s not necessary. The two things about it I really don’t like: “immediately” and that ‘public’ is the default. I make many changes and corrections before publishing a post and find those two functions counter-intuitive and very annoying. And I’ve lost some drafts in the process because I didn’t want to publish immediately. Which meant starting over and wasting time. I wonder why more testing isn’t done before introducing something new!?! 🙂 Sorry, didn’t mean to rant so much but you did ask 🙂
Ranting is good. I think they are using us as the “testers” if you will. It was a mess when they first put it out for everyone to use it. They hadn’t even released a mobile posting app at that time. Many bloggers are mobile on phones or tablets, for goodness sak. I haven’t tried the mobile app again since about 4 months ago.
The struggle we share is making text behave. In other programs, I can place a photo where I want it with the text wrapping around it. I can’t crack this yet, but I don’t have time to play. We were traveling, and now our daughter is visiting for a couple of weeks. We used to be able to put a group of photos together, and I shudder to think how we’d accomplish that now.
Hi, Anne. Actually, the photo part is better. You can make a photo display easier as I recall. I need to try that tomorrow.
As far as the text? When you want to wrap your text around your graphic,
1. Make a block above the text you want to wrap around it.
2. Place your picture or graphic in that block.
3. Then select the look you want. right, or left.
4. The graphic will jump down into the lower block. It will also have markers around the graphic, so that you can size it to the size you like.
I hope that helps a little.
Indeed, that does help. Thanks, Ron. I just have to remember to put the photo block over the text block and tell it which way to move. Got it!
I tried Gutenberg and then asked myself why I was trying it. I stick with the old one. It works for me.
I don’t blame you Elizabeth.
I haven’t taken the time to try the new editor yet. I still am using the old one. You’ll have to share with us if you figure out some of the glitches. 🙂
I’ll try to do a short to medium (or several small ones) about some things To look for. Thanks for the comment!
The only way to change text to a different colour is to use the Classic editor block – and I’ve asked WP support. I try to use the blocks, but the only way to continue to use colour consistently for my headings is to go the old way (even colouring the whole paragraph is a trial if you want to ensue the same colour gets used every time – at least it was last time I tried it).
The other thing I haven’t figured out yet on the new system is how to stop the whole post being sent out as an email to my supporters. As far as I can tell, that line that shows up where you want to break off the email so that readers go to your blog to finish reading is in the Classic block.
So, explain to me, what’s the point of an ‘improvement’if the simplest and most useful bit of it is the original system?
I know how you feel, Cathy. I just noticed, that they apparently have taken away, or moved, the option to change a block from one format to another. As changing a regular paragraph block to an image block or anything else is gone, or hidden from intuitive use.
If I understand your coloring of headers, I have run into the same problem in the past. To make my colored headers,
1. Make a new Block
2. Treat it as if it were text. Text size, bold, center if needed, add the color you want. Just remember the size and color you used.
As far as getting all the text colored,
1. I select a block.
2. Highlight the text.
3. Then look to the right under the heading Block and then down to text color. Unfortunately, you have to do each block, one at the time.
I think they would have done well, to have put a button on the top tool bar to activate classic block only mode. Then we would nearly have our old editor back. I don’t think that is what they want though. They missed the motto KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid!) by a mile in changing to this labyrinth.
You can’t really help others, because they may not have their editor set the same way as yours, due to the myriad of options to display menu items.
I’ll try to do a video on the things I have found, but I’m not a polished professional editor 🙂
Thanks for the comment.
I’m with you on the text colour question. Not only is it all-or-nothing, but you can’t reproduce your custom colour when you next need it without copy-and-pasting the code number for the hue you chose before.
Although I usually like to get to grips with updates early on, I find myself resorting to the ‘Classic’ block more often than should be necessary. Publishing poetry is impossible using the paragraph block as each line return becomes a new paragraph and by the time you scroll to the next lines you’ve forgotten the lines they should rhyme with…
OK, I exaggerate, but it tells you something when software developers have to include a get-out back to the previous version. Have none of them ever used it themselves to know what facilities users are accustomed to?
Sadly, I think they decided to go more after commercial business. Those are the people that use “block” to construct a web page. Bloggers, or blogging, is so broken up using those blocks. They seem to have rushed it out, as they didn’t even have a mobile version for the new editor. I’m not sure if they ever released one, I don’t use my mobile devices much for blogging.
Constantly have to look for work-arounds. If I make a word a “link” then many times you have to use the right arrow key, to escape that mode, or you make the space/s after the link clickable. How weird is that.
I hope this will help you. If I am writing a poem, or something I don’t want broken up. I hold the Shift key, and hit return. It moves down one line at the time without generating a block.
Thank for the nice comment.
Thanks for that get-around. I ought to remember that; it’s like hitting Shift and Return on Facebook when you want a paragraph break but don’t want to send the post yet.
That’s going to save me a lot of going back and copy-pasting (again) from Word when I change something. 🙂
You are most welcome, Cathy. Thanks for your comment.