Hey Gina ~ WordPress specifically has stated multiple times that you have the option to remain with the Classic Editor if you have a website that just doesnt seem to be able to handle the new method of Gutenberg.
Do I have to switch to Gutenberg when WordPress 5.0 is released?
Not at all. When it’s released, you get to choose what happens. You can install the Classic Editor plugin today and when 5.0 is released, nothing will change. We’ve commited to supporting and updating Classic Editor until 2022. If you’d like to install Gutenberg early, you can do that now too. The Classic Editor plugin has been available for 13 months now, and Gutenberg has been available for 18 months. Both have been heavily promoted since August 2018, and more than 1.3 million .org sites have opted-in already to either experience, so nothing will change for them when they update to 5.0.
From https://gutenbergtimes.com/mullenweg-on-gutenberg-roll-out-plan/
Gutenberg is not, and will not ever be backwards-compatible with Classic. WP is taking a completely new step in the direction for the survival and growth of its software. Gutenberg is meant to be the tool to be used for probably the next decade.
Once upon a time, back in 2003 when it first began, WP was literally just a blog site manager. It wasn’t until 2008 that it really became useful for large enterprise companies. And WP has used, essentially, that same codebase/approach since at least 2008. That’s over ten years of the original codebase doing an amazing job (obviously with significant updates and features added).
Gutenberg is a rebuild, which is why, moving forward, you can choose and be able to manage your site as you have been able to, but only by using the Classic Editor plugin.
I hope that helps clarify why “backwards-compatible” doesnt apply to this situation.
