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I have a client who has requested something, that's straight out of the box, if I was using ACF. However... Gutenberg should be here any minute now and revolutionize who the editor works.

I've looked around for an estimated release-date for WordPress 5.0 or some official document, stating if it's final that Gutenberg will be part of core (which I hope). And if so, - a rough timeline for when 5.0 is released. Because I'd rather spend time solving this issue in Gutenberg and be forwards combatible for a while, than do a quickfix now with ACF and not know if it'll be outdated mere days from now.

I've googled for an hour without finding answers to any of them.

My questions are:

  1. Can I see an estimate or a guess-timate for a WordPress 5.0 release?
  2. Is it for certain that Gutenberg is the new default editer? And have the development team said anything about, what is going to happen with TinyMCE? ... Ideally, then I'm looking for official WordPress statements.
  3. If I were to install the Gutenberg plugin today. What happens then if/when Gutenberg becomes part of core? I hope/assume that they've considered it, - but I'm afraid of making a solution for a client based on, that I hope someone considered something.
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  • They've said that at least "for awhile" one will be able to disable Gutenberg and use the current editor. I've seen a number of different dates proposed and like you haven't seen anything that looks like an official target date at this point, other than "probably this year." The "best" approach - use ACF or Gutenberg - is probably off-topic here as it would be primarily opinion-based; I will say you could go either way, since Gutenberg is available as a plugin now, and ACF has promised support post-Gutenberg.
    – WebElaine
    Apr 11, 2018 at 19:18
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    For new-comers: gutenbergtimes.com/mullenweg-on-gutenberg-roll-out-plan
    – Zeth
    Jun 21, 2018 at 13:11

2 Answers 2

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Can I see an estimate or a guess-timate for a WordPress 5.0 release?

5.0 won't be released until Gutenberg is done, and "this year" is as specific as anyone's gotten for that. At some stage it was supposed to be early this year, but it's already April and there's still a fair bit to go.

The FAQ states:

We are hoping that Gutenberg will be sufficiently polished, tested, iterated, and proven enough to be merged into WordPress 5.0, with an estimated release date of 2018.

You can also keep an eye on progress on GitHub.

Is it for certain that Gutenberg is the new default editer? And have the development team said anything about, what is going to happen with TinyMCE? ... Ideally, then I'm looking for official WordPress statements.

It will be the default editor. There's a page on wordpress.org about it and the FAQ.

If I were to install the Gutenberg plugin today. What happens then if/when Gutenberg becomes part of core? I hope/assume that they've considered it, - but I'm afraid of making a solution for a client based on, that I hope someone considered something.

Gutenberg isn't finished, or even feature complete. The plugin is available for testing, and some people are already building products based on it, but they will be following development and ensuring that it maintains compatibility as Gutenberg develops and eventually merges into Core. If you build a solution on top of it now, I would plan for future updates to ensure it continues to work.

A plugin is already available that will disable Gutenberg and keep the current editor around.

Personally, I would not build a client project on top of Gutenberg until it's in Core. Something personal, maybe, but not something where the immediate future has so much uncertainty. If I were developing a public theme or plugin, I would be working on compatibility now, but client projects are different and probably won't be getting the ongoing attention needed to deal with what is essentially still beta software.

It's also worth noting that Advanced Custom Fields plans to support Gutenberg, so this isn't an entirely either-or question to begin with. ACF won't stop working when 5.0 is released.

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  • As gutenberg uses a different database format than currently used by wordpress, there will be no way to truly disable it. The only way to disable it will be to install the plugin you point to before upgrading to 5.0. That plugin just removes the UI, which might be enough if you hadn't edited any content in gutenberg, but might fail short if you did. Apr 13, 2018 at 13:31
  • Eh? No it doesn't. Blocks are store in post_content as HTML, with HTML comments separating them and possibly containing extra information used by blocks. Moving between Gutenberg the classic editor and back might make for an unsightly preview or cause blocks to no longer be interpreted as the original block, but it will still work. Apr 13, 2018 at 13:37
  • man, think.... how many plugins read post_content and manipulate it (for migration for example), and how many of them remove comments first? and who said that all the block will not contain in the comment anything which do not already exists in the pure content itself? No one is going to test the reverse direction, therefor there is no reason to anticipate it will just work. Apr 13, 2018 at 13:47
  • Which does not constitute a "different database format". And WordPress uses comments in content for functionality already anyway (<!-- more -->). Apr 13, 2018 at 13:57
  • yes, when the expected content of a field is changed that constitutes "different DB format" just like when a function that used to return positives ints starts to return negatives as well, is a change of API, and you need to adjust your code and make sure that previous assumptions still hold, even if there was no actual change in the function declaration Apr 13, 2018 at 14:02
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Just for your information since i'm goging to reccurring meetups of the wordpress community Gutenberg will propably not be a part of the core in the next mayor update 5.0.

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  • hmmm, please point to a canonicaal source for that Apr 13, 2018 at 13:27
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    "Gutenberg will ship with WordPress 5.0, but the release will come out when Gutenberg is ready, not vice versa" — Matt Mullenweg Apr 13, 2018 at 13:33

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