Terrible.

@lesliedeanbrown Bummed to hear that this has been your experience. If you’re open to sharing more, I’d appreciate hearing specifics, like what’s been most painful? Have you run into any recent bugs? What would help make the experience more intuitive? All of these things will help me ensure your feedback is heard.

I’ll gladly share my experience and provide some constructive criticism. Because I was having a bit of a bad evening last night truth be told. And to leave a 1-star review without any explanation is, well, slack.

First of all, until the gutenberg editor came along, I think many of us took the classic editor for granted. Maybe if I had not have had (and learnt wordpress with) the classic editor, I would have persevered with ‘G’ (let’s call gutenberg G).

Some background. I have been using wordpress ever since around about 2008/2009. Before that I had to code my own html because there was nothing available (that I knew of) for creating my own website.

Since then I’ve really grown to LOVE wordpress. Everything about it! Everything was going smoothly until Gutenberg came along. I now operate about 10 websites with wordpress. It’s very addictive! You can check out my main website lesliedeanbrown.com and from there you can find most of my wordpress sites.

Back on topic. The main trouble with it (for me) is that it has never been intuitive. I should not have to be taught how to use it with a mini little tutorial. It should be simple enough that it works without any explanation whatsover. What can I say? It makes me feel old. I do not have time to learn a new way or system of doing things.

The classic editor just worked. There was the title, there was the actual post or page entry. You published it, and you saw the result instantly. No further explanation was necessary. It was just as familiar as the old microsoft word from 25 years ago. That’s what it reminded me of. That’s half the reason I still like it.

So anyway, using the classic editor, I chose my themes to get the layouts that I wanted. I know that the classic editor has limitations, but if I wanted columns in my blog post I’d probably go and find some sort of plugin for that (and I will). I think that’s part of the problem with it. You are trying to use the editor to create layouts. Isn’t that the theme’s job?

G requires more button clicks than the classic editor to create a post or page. Isn’t the aim of a good user interface to *reduce* the amount of work one must do? Much of the time all we want to do is publish something as fast as possible. I don’t like workflows that increase the amount of time it takes me to do something.

Ultimately it’s easier for me to go and find and use the trusty classic editor plugin than it is for me to learn how to use G. I am lazy. But you can learn a lot from lazy people! (or so Bill Gates said, didn’t he?) They have easier ways [shortcuts] for doing things.

Think of it this way, imagine if the google search editor required more mouse button clicks to search for something. Do you think it would be as successful as it is today? Not likely. More likely someone would have come along and made it simpler. There’s such a thing as “collective intelligence”…

The other ‘problem’ I have with G is that it is now the default when it should be an option. Just look at how many installations and positive reviews the classic editor plugin has. 5 MILLION installations, 1000 reviews and the average feedback is 5 stars.

The very first thing I do when I start a new wordpress site is to install the classic editor plugin. Right?

So now fast forward a few years. And the wordpress team didn’t learn their lesson (or so I think) and introduced G for widgets. I only realised this last week, because I don’t use many widgets, they make professional websites look too much like blogs.

I can understand why G was invented, but what I don’t understand is why it was made the default on ALL new wordpress installations.

Essentially what I’m saying is that wordpress now suffers from something in the design industry known as “feature creep”. The introduction of more and more features into a system, ever more features, which inevitable makes it more complicated to operate.

“What would help make the experience more intuitive?”
I would say don’t assume new users know how G works. The G team obviously knows how it works. But you’re too close to it. The best advice I can give you is to monitor how someone new to it reacts. Maybe an older person who is not tech-savvy. Or give it to a 3/4/5/6/7 year old. Watch how they interact with it. Do you think they would be able to figure G out? Then watch how easily they proceed with the classic editor. Or else perhaps get the G team to read a book on UI/UX? (I haven’t btw)

• This reply was modified 3 years, 3 months ago by lesliedeanbrown.

Other than that, you haven’t shown me how I can benefit from using G.
I’m kinda struggling with some themes that are based on page builders (I hate them).
So show me what is possible with G and a basic theme. Make a video. Show me some sample layouts, otherwise I can’t visualise it.

Perhaps the issue is the whole blocks thing. If I want a two column grid, why can’t I simply click a button like in word that has two little columns on it? That is what I would prefer to see. No but first you make us put everything inside a block. Why?! Imagine if MS word was like that!

Is the first block already there, already set up on the very first page or post?
I can’t remember.
But if not, why not?

Effectively the classic editor is already one block, yes?

Hi @lesliedeanbrown,

I appreciate the breakdown you shared! I may not be able to answer everything, but I’d love to see where I can possibly shed light on things to make your workflows a little easier.

G requires more button clicks than the classic editor to create a post or page.

Totally agree that clicking a bunch of buttons to add a block can be quite a hassle. One thing I like to do to cut down on button mashing is to use the backslash to instantly call a list of blocks in the editor. Starting with that / also allows you to search directly in the editor.

I’m kinda struggling with some themes that are based on page builders (I hate them).

Filtering for Full Site Editing themes is a good way to get an example of what Gutenbergs capabilities are building toward in a theme setting https://www.ads-software.com/themes/tags/full-site-editing/. Of these themes, I’ve personally played around with Tove and Clove myself and found the Pattern blocks pretty neat for quickly setting up a site or page/post structure.

So show me what is possible with G and a basic theme. Make a video. Show me some sample layouts, otherwise I can’t visualise it.

Content is ever-growing, but we do have some good videos up on Youtube that I think can help with this, like this recent exploration of 5.9 and Block themes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r59aR1tmY6k&t=4s

Is the first block already there, already set up on the very first page or post?

Can you share more about where you’re expecting these blocks to be? Are you talking about after activating a new theme?

Effectively the classic editor is already one block, yes?

That’s correct, there is a classic editor block https://www.ads-software.com/support/article/classic-block/

• This reply was modified 3 years, 3 months ago by Destiny Kanno.

Can you share more about where you’re expecting these blocks to be? Are you talking about after activating a new theme?

I’m talking about when I start a new page or post. With the classic editor, I can instantly start typing into what is essentially a text block.

With G, you first make me select a block out of loads of others. But nine times out of ten, it’s going to be a text block isn’t it? G is making it that much harder for me to just start writing on a blank page or post. It’s a UI/UX issue.

Why can’t you make the default first block be a text block (just like the old wordpress classic editor)?? And what I mean is, it’s already set up there so you can just start typing into it. No dragging and dropping would be necessary.

Then have some other option/setting so that if you’re a photographer or whatever, you can change the default to some other block (like an image or gallery).

Look at google, they don’t make you click an extra mouse or keyboard button to be able to do a google search. In fact they offer predictive text input to save you from typing the rest of a word or sentence. And in some other search queries (I think windows and other websites), you don’t even have have to press the enter button, it just initiates the search as you are typing.

I think this is why a lot of people could not get used to G and preferred the old way. People liked (and still like) the classic editor because it is essentially a document editor (like MS word). It’s not primarily a layout function.

Also, can I switch back and forth between the classic editor and G? On the actual page or post itself I mean, not in the admin settings. I.e.easily. If not, why not?

I used G the other day because I wanted a 2/3 column. And it worked, but it wasn’t like going from visual editor tab to text/code/html tab. It was a pain.

Why can’t there be three tabs on pages and posts? Gutenberg, visual and text? (and then still make the default tab open at the visual tab??)

I’m talking about when I start a new page or post. With the classic editor, I can instantly start typing into what is essentially a text block.

When starting a new post or page, the default block is a paragraph block. This block is effectively a “text block”, allowing you to hit the ground running with writing content without pressing any other buttons.

Also, can I switch back and forth between the classic editor and G?

Switching between the Gutenberg plugin and the Classic Editor isn’t currently possible. This is because the Classic Editor plugin changes the entire Editor experience to be how it previously was, while the Gutenberg plugin enhances the current Core Editor experience.

I used G the other day because I wanted a 2/3 column. And it worked, but it wasn’t like going from visual editor tab to text/code/html tab. It was a pain.

I’m finding that the column feature is improving so much lately, I’m glad you gave it a go! By clicking the three vertical dots, you can switch from visual to HTML editing similarly to how we did with the old Editor.

Why can’t there be three tabs on pages and posts? Gutenberg, visual and text? (and then still make the default tab open at the visual tab??)

That would be interesting! I guess folks are trying to cut down on the number of visuals on the screen, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t make that suggestion in GitHub https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues. ??