Working in the block-based content editor

The block-based content editor is the latest and greatest addition to WordPress. The project started its life under the name of Gutenberg and was in development for around two years before it was finally included in WordPress 5 as the primary content-editing tool:

What you can see in the preceding screenshot is the main view of the block-based content editor. Also notice the helpful onboarding tips that provide you with assistance during your initial encounter with the new editor.

So why is it called the block-based editor? Because of the way the editor handles content and manages their structure. The content that you have within your posts or pages is divided into individual blocks, one below the other, all arranged neatly on a (digital) canvas.

Before block-based editing, WordPress used a traditional what-you-see-is-what-you-get editor. It used a classic paragraph-based structure—an approach very similar to how you'd build a Google or a Word document. However, such a traditional structure isn't always suited to handle the modern content requirements of the web. In other words, it makes it hard to build elaborate, visually pleasing blog posts or pages and present them effectively on different devices.

Block-based editing makes more sense since each block of content can be treated individually and handled differently depending on the device used to view the content. Moreover, it's easier to rearrange blocks than it is paragraphs.

So what can a block actually be? Think about everything that can be put on a web page. This includes the following:

• Blocks of text
• Images
• Videos
• Quotes
• Headings
• Tables
• Buttons
• Embeds from third-party websites (such as YouTube or Facebook)
• And much more 

The following section of the chapter describes how to use the block-based editor to create your first blog post.