For many years WordPress has been the premiere blogging platform. Now this is changing.

Beginning in 2013, the team developing the core of WordPress has been working on a revolutionary new vision of what WordPress aims to be. No longer content to be the world’s favorite blogging platform, WordPress is intent on becoming the world’s favorite site building platform.

There have been many services in the last 5-10 years that have aimed to make it easy for non-specialists to create a website. Wix, Weebly and SquareSpace come to mind. The new goal for WordPress is to become a better site building platform than the world has ever seen.

This is an ambitious goal, more far-reaching than any of its updates in the past. That’s why it has taken four years and isn’t completely operational yet. (There is a plug-in [beta test version] that has the beginnings of the functionality that you can experiment with, here: Gutenberg Plugin).

Over time, you will see more and more “drag and drop” functionality included. And what you will be able to drag and drop will become more than just words. You will use the new capabilities to insert complex objects into posts, pages, widgets, etc.

The future looks exciting. For over 10 years, IM NewsWatch has been published on the WordPress platform. We are looking forward to employing the new features when they are available for general use.

You should be aware, however, that the new power will come at a cost: the admin interface will have to expand to accommodate these new capabilities. If you want just a simple blog, you may have to pare down the functionality some way or get to know features just so you will know how to ignore them.

There’s an interesting write-up (suitable for non-specialists) by Morten Rand-Hendriksenthat will explain a lot of the details of this new vision for WordPress here: How Gutenberg Will Shape the Future of WordPress.

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