Staying with 4.9.8 but installing security updates

I wrote about this elsewhere but I updated a 4.9.8 WordPress to 5.0 and activated the Classic editor plugin. It was on a production server that would have been a real pain to fix had it broke. I did an optimize on the database, a backup of everything and installed the Classic editor Plugin but I didn’t activate until after the upgrade to 5.0.

Not a problem anywhere I can see yet and I have the Classic editor and Gutenberg there on demand from the posts or pages dashboard list.

That’s going to be my stance with my clients including on the Multi-sites I’m responsible for unless I find an insurmountable problem as I finish up testing. Some clients probably won’t be given the Gutenberg option until they ask for it depending on their situation.

So you might want to look into that setup for your own install(s). My install of 5.0 and then activation of the Classic editor Plugin went without a single hiccup. The Classic editor dropped me into the proper settings page to select Gutenberg, Classic editor, or both.

I chose to keep both editors available while defaulting to Classic and then took a quick look at my posts list in the dashboard. There is now the option to chose either one. How cool is that?

1. No, the Gutenberg plugin will be expanding to be Phase 2. The editor portion is in core now. It will have a minimum WP version of 5.0.

2. You don’t have to do a thing if you haven’t done anything to change the default of which updates are installed (a variable in wp-config.php). Minor releases are auto-updates by default, so you can stay on 4.9.8 and it will update to 4.9.9 when there is a security release. But you won’t get any new features.

Thanks @jnashhawkins for your reply. I appreciate it. I am aware of the Classic plugin and the Disable Gutenberg plugin but I was hoping to stay on 4.9.x versions so that it may be easier to migrate if I ever decide to move to ClassicPress which I will look at in the next 6-8 months. I know that I could upgrade to WordPress 5 as there is a ClassicPress tool for migrating from that version also but I just want to stay with 4.9.x for now and keep Gutenberg completely out of my core installs.

Thanks also @joyously for your help.
1. It’s a pity the Gutenberg plugin won’t receive further updates. I feel it would have been useful so that users could continue testing until they feel comfortable upgrading to 5. Instead, following your reply, I have set up a local wamp install for version 5 and will continue to test each Gutenberg/version 5 update there.

2. I had WP_AUTO_UPDATE_CORE set to false in wp-config and when I removed it I was prompted in Admin > Updates to update to 5.0.1 instead of 4.9.9. I updated to 4.9.9 manually and will wait to see how things develop with the new editor over the coming months.

I think it’s a pity the new editor has moved from a multi-paragraph text model. I know it was a design decision but, in my opinion, it makes text manipulation more difficult than the classic editor. For example, I highlighted two sentences in Gutenberg and because they were wrapped in two separate blocks I couldn’t format them. That’s a simple example but I just feel it was a lot easier to manipulate text in the Classice editor when paragraphs/lines weren’t trapped in blocks. Also, if I align an image right or left of text it’s locked in place. I can’t move it up or down afterwards. In the Classic editor if I aligned an image and wanted to move it’s position afterwards I could drag and drop it anywhere. I tested this with the default WordPress theme with the same results.

In any case it will be interesting to see how things develop in 2019. Thanks again both for your replies and advice.

Hi @joyously,

Can you please confirm that the Gutenberg plugin is not being updated? Otto in a WP Tavern comment states the following.

The Gutenberg plugin will continue to be updated with new features, it’ll become the “development” version of the block editor, so people who want to use the latest stuff can just update and activate the plugin again.

Thanks,

Pádraig

You want me to confirm something I never said? Otto and I said the same thing. They will be using the Gutenberg plugin to develop Phase 2. The editor portion is already in core, but the javascript packages that comprise it are in the Gutenberg plugin. They will be removing the PHP portion that became the core functions that load the editor.
Phase 2 is about bringing the same interface to other parts of the admin panel outside the editor.

Thanks and apologies for my misunderstanding. The editor portion is the part I am interested in. That part will not be updated in the plugin, only in core? I don’t give a hoot about Phase 2 at the moment but want to make sure I’m following the editor updates.