Should You Use Gutenberg on Existing WordPress Websites? from Ava Brooks's blog

After the release of WordPress 5.0 the complete style of managing, creating, and storing content has been changed as it introduces a new block editor i.e. Gutenberg Editor which uses blocks. However, you will find some themes and plugins which still do not provides a compatibility feature with Gutenberg editor.

The new editor is created in such a way that it will replace the classic editor in a complete way. However, if you want to use the classic editor it can be used as a plugin. For now, the Gutenberg is been prepared for site owners so that they can get familiar with Gutenberg easily.

Because the previous editor i.e. classic editor is kept as a second choice it is important to know the facts and figures and know whether one should use Gutenberg for their website or not.

To provide you answers to all these questions we have talked about some factors that need to be considered. Some items are given below that will make you think about Gutenberg before switching from the classic editor.

The Future and past of your content

The people who are used to the classic editor will actually find it difficult working with Gutenberg at the start because they usually follow the particular format to create blog posts and pages. 

But now the Gutenberg has totally changed the scenario. Considering this as a serious aspect you can think about whether to choose Gutenberg or not.

The task of bringing up the speed will be difficult for the people who own heavily loaded content websites. They might need to visit every small piece of content and use a new block-based format. 

But this task can be easier if you use Gutenberg. Gutenberg will actually convert posts to blocks.

For new items, you can also refactor some previous content if you want to use Gutenberg. In such a case, it will be possible to format some of the pages with the new editor. However, the future blog posts will be based on block-based.

To make sure that Gutenberg does not harm any of your existing content you can utilize conjunction with the classic editor. Only you can format the content that you wish to.

Is your website customized?

When you create your website, you might have set all things properly to take the advantage of the classic editor. Or possibly you might have used a page builder plugin or custom fields for more complex layouts.

If your website is utilizing the custom ways for the creation of content, switching to Gutenberg then there are possibilities that you might need to face some issues. 

For example, turning page builders off can break your custom layout. That means here also you will need to refactor each and everything to make use of the new editor.

If you are looking to use Gutenberg then make sure that you have tested everything temporary environment i.e. staging environment.  Also choose Gutenberg WordPress themes to get all features of Gutenberg Editor to ensure you do not miss anything. This will help you to avoid any future failure or technical issues in future.

Client education and workflow

Gutenberg is easy to use but still, you need to have the technical expertise, or at least you should have knowledge of website creation. Consider an example of news website which has various authors including the editorial process and content creation team. In short term the complete new type of editor can hurt it a lot.

If your client is someone who is responsible of managing content then they will struggle a lot while using Gutenberg. Previously the creation of blog posts was the process of just few minutes with classic editor but now the task has become harder.

Time to redesign?

For using WordPress because Gutenberg offers so many fundamental changes you might feel uncomfortable starting while using it on an existing website. If you think that it's time to redesign your website then just go ahead as it is the perfect time to use both.

Because Gutenberg offers plenty of features and options the redesigning of your website will open up so many opportunities and help you to educate your clients and refactor your content. Also, the best thing is that you will be able to implement the modification in a staging environment.

Go with the right option

If you are really looking to experience the flexibility of new editor then you should choose Gutenberg, else you can stick to classic editor. Also make sure to choose gutenberg WordPress themes so that it offer all flexible feature.