It’s almost here! Time to get ready

If you’ve logged in to your site lately, you may have noticed a new message encouraging you to test the new editor, Gutenberg. 

It’s kind of a big deal in the WordPress world and brings a much different page editing experience to the user. Gutenberg is more on par with the various page builders out there.

There’s a lot to be said about Gutenberg, but here’s what YOU need to know:

• If you want to test the new editor early, go ahead and install it. Right now, it’s a plugin, but it will come with WordPress version 5.0 when it is released in the next few months
• To be proactive, install the Classic Editor plugin. This will ensure that when your site is upgraded to WordPress 5.0, it will still function as normal
• Make sure you have good backups of your site in case something breaks. You should always do this, but especially now

Read more about Gutenberg on wordpress.org (and try it out there, too!), wpmudev.org, wptavern.com or codeinwp.com. 

On the blog last month, I wrote about WordPress themes. (What’s with all the options? Free? Paid? Page builders? Hiring someone?) I love doing research and as a result of writing the post, I ended up purchasing the Elementor Pro plugin. The free version of Elementor is really robust, and the pro version blows it out of the water. 10/10 would recommend.

I also wrote about avoiding ongoing fees related to your WordPress site. A lot of devs and agencies offer monthly maintenance packages where they take care of a bunch of things for you, but you can do all of this yourself if you’re a DIYer and have some extra time.

Have a great August and as the song goes, I’ll see you in September!

P.S. Later this month I’m headed to Minnesota for 1) cuddles with my new nephew and 2) WordCamp Minneapolis. You’ve heard me talk about it before, but WordCamp is such a great place to meet new people and learn new things. If you haven’t been to one, I highly recommend it.