Should remain an optional plugin, not core

Sorry to hear that. Care to expand on what feels complicated for your clients? That kind of feedback can help a lot.

The classic editor still powers post types that don’t support REST, and you can also use it as a block — search for “classic” in the block inserter.

I should clarify – Gutenberg as a tool in its own right, is impressive. It’s the inclusion in core, and the resulting growth around it, I object to.

Explaining to a business owner, a less-techie carpet store owner for example, is challenging enough with classic:

“Okay so your contact details and email recipients go in Theme Options just here. Anything in the sidebars and footer that are on every page go in Widgets. Adding to your menu? Go here.
Then click here to create a news story, type your text and hit the blue button to publish”

~ Blank stare ~

Trying it with Gutenberg:

“Click in the area to create a block”
“Where?”
“Anywhere, it’ll create the block automatically”
“How do I add a photo on the left hand side?”
“Okay select the columns”
“I can’t see any columns”
“The step icon at the top, click that to see the document outline and select the columns you want to edit”
“The document what?”
“Just click it, you should see the number of columns in the right sidebar, change from 2 to 3”
“I don’t have a right hand sidebar”
“Click the cog at the top to show it”
“I can see it, but I have ‘Status, featured image’ and some other options”
“Ah, okay you have the page options selected. Near the top, click ‘Block'”
~ 10 minutes later ~
“Okay I’ve added my image, I want it to go live for our sale on Monday”
“Right hand column, under status, we can change the publish date”
“I’m not seeing a publish option, just some colour options..”

A drawn out example, but you get the point. Non-techies want to write simple instructions on a post-it note next to their PC, as they edit perhaps once a month -> Add New, Type in Big Box, Blue Publish Button.

On the other hand, I’ve just finished working on an agency site, and building custom blocks for them. They’re power users, so all good.

I just think WP has lost its way in terms of who most installations are. They’re not bloggers, or agencies, or developers like us. They’re small business owners, hoteliers, manufacturers and so on. Gutenberg should be an add-on for those who want it, just like Visual Composer, Divi or Elementor.

Hope that helps.

Thanks for the clarification and the great example! Agreed things are challenging for normal people, making them less so is the entire focus while also ensuring a healthy ecosystem.

Have you tried using patterns to communicate things like that case (i.e. a design with an image within a column, etc)? Curious if that can alleviate some of the challenges of composing things together.

Better starting points and guidance can be of huge help.

Ultimately, the person from your example is one of the target goals of the project. As more people come online without any web development background tools that are easy to use are paramount. The editor should not feel overwhelming but empowering. We need to continue developing tools that help on ramp people.