Since the Gutenberg block editor was first released in late 2018, the WordPress community has been buzzing. Introducing this new block editor was just the first part of a four-phase plan to modernize WordPress.
Known as the Gutenberg project, this plan will help WordPress maintain its prominence in the website management space as its competitors add new features.
Do you want to know more about the Gutenberg project?
Keep reading to learn:
- What WordPress’s Gutenberg project is
- What the four phases of the Gutenberg project are
What Is WordPress’s Gutenberg Project?
The Gutenberg project is WordPress.org’s four-phase plan to reimagine website content management. Its goal is to empower businesses by making it easier for people to have websites.
The phases of this project center around what you see is what you get (WYSIWYG) customization, collaboration, and multilingual support.
The project’s name plays homage to Johannes Gutenberg, the inventor of the printing press, who revolutionized how information spreads to the masses.
But don’t be confused — WordPress’s Gutenberg Project is not affiliated with Project Gutenberg ( an online library of free e-books).
The 4 Phases of the Gutenberg Project
Let’s see what WordPress’s Gutenberg project entails.
Phase 1: Easier Editing with the Block Editor
In the first phase of the Gutenberg project, the aim was to make it easier to create and edit WordPress posts and pages. Phase one finished up in late 2018, with the release of WordPress 5.0 and the Gutenberg block editor.
The block editor gives users a WYSIWYG writing experience. Users can add dynamic components — including galleries or buttons — to their pages and posts with content blocks, rather than coding.
Replacing the classic WordPress editor is the purpose behind developing the Gutenberg block editor. In fact, WordPress.com (which is different from the software that Bluehost customers use) retired the classic WordPress editor in June 2020.
Phase 2: Full Site Editing Customization Options
The current phase of WordPress’s Gutenberg project enables full site editing through content blocks. Project goals include developing a block directory, WordPress themes that recognize blocks, and navigation blocks for creating menus.
Phase two will make it even easier for WordPress users to customize their websites without coding. This phase is due to be completed by December 2021.
Phase 3: Multi-Author Collaboration
Phase three of the Gutenberg project will introduce multi-author collaboration to WordPress. The update will allow multiple people to edit WordPress website content simultaneously, much like in Google Docs.
This phase of the Gutenberg project is scheduled to start in 2022.
Phase 4: Multilingual Website Support
The final phase of WordPress’s Gutenberg project will make multilingual support a core component of WordPress and the Gutenberg editor. In other words, WordPress will offer official support for site translations and multilingual websites.
WordPress users will no longer need to use translation plugins like the WordPress Multilingual Plugin (WPML) to make their sites accessible to foreign language speakers.
This final phase of the Gutenberg project will take us well beyond 2022.
Just like Johannes Gutenberg revolutionized how information spreads in print, WordPress’s Gutenberg project is attempting to transform how content spreads over the internet. The four phases of the project will make it easier for anyone to build a website without knowing a thing about coding.
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