Tried it – are we doomed?

  • Dear Devs.

    I’m also a dev. I’ve been one for 12 years. I’ve invested countless hours learning and re-learning HTML, PHP, SQL, CSS, JS and Apache settings. And after a lot of pressure to mass produce sites with preset functionality really quickly with people who don’t know or hate to use code, WordPress itself. And writing plugins for it. And making themes for it. And evading its quirks.

    I gave Gutenberg a try for an hour on a fresh single-site install about 2 weeks ago. Let’s tally the results:

    – Can’t switch back to regular editor, no matter how many times I press that button.
    – Image block alignment to center just didn’t work. Where’s the code editor?
    – Where did all the settings go? Like custom meta fields, post type, template selector etc.
    – Didn’t dare to see what’s inside, and what it puts out and into the db yet. Or how it behaves on a multisite. Or test it with all the other plugins. I dread the day I would have to crawl around the database on some serialized data hunt.
    – In the end, with it wanting to be mandatory, I saw it more as a burden, than as a relief.

    Unfortunately, there exists an inverse relationship between “fancy, quick, one-click drag-and-drop solutions” and stability, reliability, and maintainability. (Praise be the exceptions.) I see a serious problem with making a decision to ship it in version 5.0, while at 4.9.8 it still has bugs no editor should have, not to mention a reliable one. Therefore I beg you, delay it at least until all wrinkles have been smoothed out, make it a plugin until then, and give it more time in live environments.

    You know, I’m the one my collegues and clients turn to when stuff breaks or doesn’t work, or should be customized, unless it’s the server itself. I can’t count the times a theme (or library or framework etc) has promised to be responsive, or easy-to-use, when it wasn’t. Or the times it just broke a site. Or left trash around. Or had a disagreement with other installed stuff. I’m quite fed up with over-hyped, flashy stuff that just fails to do what it’s for.

    IT IS HIGHLY PROBABLE, that with this update a huge majority of existing sites will crash and burn. Will have to REBUILD them from SCRATCH. That is what the future holds for us who do this kind of work if this is incorporated into the core, and it’s not a bright one.

    TL;DR:
    – At 4.9.8 it still has bugs no editor should have, not to mention a reliable one. Therefore I beg you, delay it at least until all wrinkles have been smoothed out, make it a plugin until then, and give it more time in live environments. WE WORK WITH THIS TOOL!
    – Whoever wants a -good- website, has to either have knowledge about code, or have someone do it for them. There is no easy way around.

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)

  • Looks like my story. I totally agree with @kados.
    On the other hand I will continue on a separate website to “learn” Gutenberg and use it on my tryout website.
    The Gutenberg editor is at times NOT userfriendly at all and bad for Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) like all pagebuilders.

    Moderator Samuel Wood (Otto)

    (@otto42)

    www.ads-software.com Admin

    @kados Judging from your issues, seems like you had some bits not actually working properly. Did you see any Javascript Console errors? Best to ensure that you had the actual experience, without any weird breakage or interference with the interface.

    designsimply

    (@designsimply)

    > Can’t switch back to regular editor, no matter how many times I press that button.

    This does not happen for me. When I go to Posts and click the “Classic Editor” link and then the Continue button, posts open normally for me in the editor. I tested with WordPress 4.9.8 and Gutenberg 4.2.0-rc.1. It would be helpful to know a bit more information about your case. Are there any errors in the console (as Otto asked)? Does a blank page load or is the “Classic Editor” link below your posts in the Posts page simply unresponsive completely?

    > Image block alignment to center just didn’t work.

    Is it possible the image was full width? You may need to make it smaller after you insert the image before centering becomes obvious. I did test centering an image just now, and it worked in my test.

    > Where’s the code editor?

    For the post overall, it’s in the More menu at the very right in the top toolbar. You can also edit code for each block individually by clicking the More menu in the block toolbar (three dots) then clicking the “Edit in HTML” option.

    > Where did all the settings go? Like custom meta fields, post type, template selector etc.

    Advanced panels for custom fields added by plugins such as ACF were added in 4.1. Support for general custom fields is currently being worked on and should show up in 4.3.

    Did you mean post format? You should see the option to select a post format under “Status & Visibility” in the settings sidebar if you are using a theme that supports them. Template selector should be there for pages, again if the theme supports them.

    Thread Starter kados

    (@kados)

    @webitman @otto42 and @designsimply
    Thank you for your replies. Esp. the answers to “Where’s the code editor” and “Where did all the settings go”. THB I did not have the console up at the time. Now that you mention it, I will next time.

    But, if some part did not work properly in a totally standard shared hosting environment, however will they work for the multitude of users out there (who don’t necessarily know what the console is even)?

    Fortunately (!), I have too much work to even return to it in the near future. Would be interested in following and maybe contributing to the development of this editor (on the long run), but so few hours to do it in.

    For now, I’ve enforced to turn off upgrades on all our main multisite systems, (thank god WP has a constant for this) and have been monitoring plugin upgrades closely. I’ll also try the Typo3 CMS as an alternative.

    I still stand by my opinion: it is a riky and unreliable undertaking.

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)
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