WordPress 5.0 due for release on Nov 19th (what to do to prepare)

WordPress 5.0 is still software in development, so we don’t recommend you run it on a production site, but it’s advisable to test your site with the new version to make sure there are no issues and to allow time to fix anything that does go wrong. Please contact us if you need your website tested with WordPress 5 and we’ll be happy to take a look and provide an estimate for testing.

WordPress 5.0 is slated for release on November 19th.

The Block Editor

The new Gutenberg block editor is now the default post editor, replacing the current “classic” WordPress editor. Sites developed by O’Brien Media using Elementor will continue to use that editor for Elementor based content, and will switch to Gutenberg for standard pages.

The Gutenberg block editor provides a modern, media-rich editing experience. You can create flexible, beautiful content without writing a single line of code.

WordPress developers have recognised that website owners might not be ready for this change quite yet. If that’s the case, it’s possible to install the Classic Editor plugin now, which will keep the editor you’re familiar with as the default, even after you upgrade to WordPress 5.0.

Twenty Nineteen

Along with the new block editor, there’s a new default theme, called Twenty Nineteen, which takes advantage of the new features the block editor provides. You can read more about Twenty Nineteen in its introduction post, and follow along with development over on the GitHub repository. The WordPress team have made previous themes, all the way back to Twenty Ten, look good in the new block editor.

Beta testing

There are two ways to test the WordPress 5.0 beta: try the WordPress Beta Tester plugin (you’ll want “bleeding edge nightlies”), or you can download the beta here (zip).