In 2019, developers plan to extend the changes in WordPress 5.0 well beyond posts and pages to sidebars, footers, menus, and more. The process will eventually make it possible to change different parts of your site within a common interface. But, for now, this change is just the post editor: WordPress developers are calling it “Gutenberg,” for the platform revolution it’s leading. Hold on to your mousepads!

Easy Preview, Revise, and Publish

A big benefit of the new editor is that there are fewer surprises when publishing posts, and it helps break the endless cycle of save-and-reload we do to preview our content before we publish it. This means you can expect the content in the editor to look more like your published work in the front-end.

With this release, you can look forward to a much more flexible and intuitive content creation experience, making it that much easier to create the content your audiences are hungry for.

Building With Blocks Boosts Creativity

Content in the new editor is built with blocks. Blocks can be textual elements — such as paragraphs, lists, blockquotes, and headings — and also galleries, buttons, social embeds, and more.

Mixing these rich elements with written content used to require hard-to-decipher shortcodes, but the new editor will make it easier to arrange your page the way you want, and see where different elements will appear.

We’re especially stoked about the adjustable side-by-side Media & Text block, which provides an easy and flexible way to do something that can feel iffy and brittle in the old editor.

It’s ready when you’re ready.

This new editor has been heavily tested on hundreds of thousands of sites, so it’s set to be a reliable new tool. However, some sites may depend on plugins or themes that aren’t yet updated to be compatible with the new features of WordPress 5.0 — so, some of us may have to wait before diving in.

If your WordPress website is running on a customized theme, or you just aren’t ready for the WordPress Revolution of 2018, never fear!  WordPress developers have also created the Classic Editor plugin for those of us who like things just fine the way they are, thanks. Install and activate the Classic Editor plugin and you can continue to use the old editor a while longer; developers have committed to supporting it through 2021.

Need someone to talk to about WordPress 5.0? We’re still getting to know it better, too, but we’re here to go on this journey together with you.

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Pssst! The video clip above above was recorded on the Gutenberg live demo site, where you can try out the new editor right now.

We all have New Year’s resolutions – and if your resolution in 2012 was that you’d start blogging more often, chances are things have started to stagnate by now! But not to worry – in this second part of “Making 2015 Awesome”, we’ll address what you can do for your blog and blog audience to dust things off and move successfully into the new year.

1.) Get your tech up-to-date.

If you haven’t been logging in to your blog much lately, you may be missing out on some overdue upgrades. Keeping your blog platform ensures that you are able to use the newest technology – which can make things easier, or more secure. No matter the platform you use – if it is running on a server you own, you should update it at regular intervals.

The same goes for any third party plugins you may have installed to extend your blogs functionality. Just be sure to back up your data before you make any significant changes, so you don’t end up with a crisis instead of some light cleaning. And while you’re at it, go ahead and delete the plugins you don’t use, and any spam you might find.

2.) Review what worked – and what didn’t.

Did you have a great idea for a post or post series last year? Did you spend a ton of time researching it, putting it together, and polishing it – only to see that nobody really read it? Did you see something quick-and-dirty you posted on the fly draw your biggest audience yet? Or have you been avoiding your blog stats altogether? Now is the time to face the facts, and learn from what worked and what didn’t.

If you’re trying to boost your brand, it’s vital that you attract an audience who will read what you post. Knowing what worked for you last year helps you build on those successes as you move forward. Knowing what tanked allows you to save time and energy, by not repeating previous mistakes!

3.) Start posting quality content.

Quality content drives traffic – we see this time and time again! But one well-written post will not make a flagging audience take note. Take the time to post regular, engaging posts about topics you know your audience is excited by – this is where point number two comes into play! The most successful blogs are those where quality and frequency remain consistent.

If you’re not sure where to start, start with a year in review, then move to posts announcing something new for the new year.  Do a series of “best of” posts. Touch back on an old subject matter that you blogged about several months prior.

4.) Start something new!

The new year is a great time to start a new project, series or idea. Start a new collaboration, launch a new package deal, coupon, or service. Get people interested in what you are working on and planning for the new year.

Portland branding agency – Portland web design – Upswept Creative