The Gutenberg plugin adds editing, customization, and site building to WordPress. Use it to test beta features before their official release.

Tammie Lister

Joen A.

Matias Ventura

<p>“Gutenberg” is a codename for a whole new paradigm for creating with WordPress, that aims to revolutionize the entire publishing experience as much as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_Gutenberg" rel="nofollow ugc">Johannes Gutenberg</a> did the printed word. The project is <a href="https://wordpress.org/about/roadmap/" rel="ugc">following a four-phase process</a> that will touch major pieces of WordPress — Editing, Customization, Collaboration, and Multilingual.</p>
<p>Following the introduction of post block editing in December 2018, Gutenberg later introduced full site editing (FSE) in 2021, <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2022/01/josephine/" rel="ugc">which shipped with WordPress 5.9 in early 2022</a>.</p>
<h3>What Does Gutenberg Do?</h3>
<p>Gutenberg is WordPress’s “block editor”, and introduces a modular approach to modifying your entire site. Edit individual content blocks on posts or pages. Add and adjust widgets. Even design your site headers, footers, and navigation with full site editing support.</p>
<p>Each piece of content in the editor, from a paragraph to an image gallery to a headline, is its own block. And just like physical blocks, WordPress blocks can be added, arranged, and rearranged, allowing users to create media-rich content and site layouts in a visually intuitive way — and without workarounds like shortcodes or custom HTML and PHP.</p>
<p>We’re always hard at work refining the experience, creating more and better blocks, and laying the groundwork for future phases of work. Each WordPress release includes stable features from the Gutenberg plugin, so you don’t need to install the plugin to benefit from the work being done here.</p>
<h3>Early Access</h3>
<p>Are you a tech-savvy early adopter who likes testing bleeding-edge and experimental features, and isn’t afraid to tinker with features that are still in active development? If so, this beta plugin gives you access to the latest Gutenberg features for block and full site editing, as well as a peek into what’s to come.</p>
<h3>Contributors Wanted</h3>
<p>For the adventurous and tech-savvy, the Gutenberg plugin gives you the latest and greatest feature set, so you can join us in testing and developing bleeding-edge features, playing around with blocks, and maybe <a href="https://developer.wordpress.org/block-editor/contributors/" rel="nofollow ugc">get inspired to contribute</a> or <a href="https://developer.wordpress.org/block-editor/how-to-guides/block-tutorial/" rel="nofollow ugc">build your own blocks</a>.</p>
<h3>Discover More</h3>
<ul>
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<p><strong>User Documentation:</strong> Review the <a href="https://wordpress.org/documentation/article/wordpress-block-editor/" rel="ugc">WordPress Editor documentation</a> for detailed instructions on using the editor as an author to create posts, pages, and more.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>Developer Documentation:</strong> Explore the <a href="https://developer.wordpress.org/block-editor/" rel="nofollow ugc">Developer Documentation</a> for extensive tutorials, documentation, and API references on how to extend the editor.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>Contributors:</strong> Gutenberg is an open-source project and welcomes all contributors from code to design, from documentation to triage. See the <a href="https://developer.wordpress.org/block-editor/contributors/" rel="nofollow ugc">Contributor’s Handbook</a> for all the details on how you can help.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p>The development hub for the Gutenberg project can be found at <a href="https://github.com/wordpress/gutenberg" rel="nofollow ugc">https://github.com/wordpress/gutenberg</a>. Discussions for the project are on the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/" rel="nofollow ugc">Make Core Blog</a> and in the #core-editor channel in Slack, <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/tag/core-editor-agenda/" rel="nofollow ugc">including weekly meetings</a>. If you don’t have a Slack account, you can <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/chat/" rel="nofollow ugc">sign up here</a>.</p>


Gutenberg

I don't know why wordpress continues to ship this editor as default. It is painful to work with this. the navigation is terrible

It is terrible

Gutenberg is an excellent tool for creating a website. It took some time to solve many, many challenges when dealing with performances, complexities, and backward compatibility. With full site editing, template editor, and patterns, everything is getting better and better.
There are some rough edges, and some UI improvements would be more than welcome, though.
All in all, great job.

Great system for creating websites

The title says it all. The learning curve is huge. Everything about old WordPress is thrown out the window, which is why so many find it difficult. Although the updates are a bit difficult, the evolution is for obvious reasons.

It's great, just huge learn Curve

It can't be used

I have found much use in building with the full site editing capabilities as an engineer. I wanted to craft this review to say that from a power user standpoint it works so much better than the traditional PHP method of building out custom themes. Because you can use blocks, patterns, templates, etc. this makes the whole crafting experience so much better. And that you can extend each with their own react-style components using JavaScript. The WordPress developer will have to be a JavaScript engineer as well. And that is a good thing.

There are other "page/site builders" out there, so it's always up to preference. It's a very challenging marketplace to be in the page/site builder world, so it is a very healthy competition.

Full Site Editing

I don't know why many people write negative reviews, but the constructor is really good and simplifies a lot of things. Good work!!!

The builder keeps getting better and better

Future of WordPress


it's too crammed and the functionality seems limited compared to the classic!


Years later I still can't use it


Many people don't have the patience to edit and have little knowledge, hence the few stars. But this is not Guttenberg's deficiency.


Great block editor!


Each update we are getting closer and closer to an amazing site-editor. 



But, it does have its flaws. Let me list a few that I personally find:




The editor is a bit to "grid" focused. This is annoying sometimes when you want to rotate an image eg 35 degrees without it having to loose edges that are outside of its block



There are a lot of amazing features that are too hidden. Either you have to do one too many click or you stumble upon it by accident. As a newcomer... The concept of blocks is confusing and Gutenberg doesnt do enough in the plugin itself to guide new users.



The fact that the "page updated" dialogue dissappears so fast ... You are unsure if you have updated the page or not. 




There are several other gripes I have with the editor but each update and some plugins fix a lot of them. Keep on working on Gutenberg and the feedback. I just wish people stopped calling it trash because some features they needed werent in it and started to give feedback so devs could work on it to improve it.


Its moving forward


Sure, like most people, I hated it at first, but that was long ago and far away. I <3 it a lot now. 


It has come a long way and is really nice now


I have been experimenting with it from it's launch, compared to other alternatives it has made a very very big leap in the past years but it's still far from being user friendly, you just have to make way too many moves to add a damn full-width section with heading and two columns vs competitors (free/paid).I won't see me / acquaintance that work in this field using this too soon tho.


unintuitive interface; do appreciate the efforts


Why is everyone so minus this plugin. It is quite good and has great potential. If you don't want it, just put the classic editor and use it. All in all 5 stars.


Good block editor


I've been excited with Gutenberg ever since it came. It makes sense for WordPress to have its own content building experience. Adding Gutenberg in WP also brought in much awaited reactJS in WP environment. The inbuilt react & data libraries provide a great structure for building awesome apps. We've created some amazing apps Apps ranging Finance (GPT trader), LMS (AI), Project Management(Micronet), Helpdesk ( BBPress React app + AI support bot ), Social Network (VibeBP, BuddyPress react app). All that was only possible because WP moved to amazing technologies of the 202X. 



The most exciting part is yet to come, the "Site Editing" which will give SquareSpace a run for its money. WordPress is doing some amazing stuff. Great job guys !



p.s : I am posting this review after 4 years of extensive usage Gutenberg, I've quit using & recommending Elementor, Divi, Beaver & oxygen builders. This is the best thing that happened to WP since 2005.


Beautiful code & faster than page builders


Not a user even developer friendly plugin to work with.


Not a user even developer friendly


enough !!! Nobody uses it ! Let it die !!!!!! 


Stop this sh...


I love it but I think it still lacks some blocks and I need to install a block plugin but it makes a perfect foundation to be extended into my exact needs.


Gutenberg is my favorite


Gutenberg seems to be fraught with bugs, and its features feel quite restricted. For instance, adding gallery columns fails to insert any class, disrupting the design, and the drag & drop functionality for elements is far from smooth. Based on my 14 years of experience with WordPress, I believe that immediate improvements to Gutenberg are necessary to prevent detriment to WordPress's overall usability and reputation.


Full of bugs and very outdated features


It have been a couple of years but I still don't see any proper solution for Responsive design  


Very bad experience for responsive layout


I really want to love you Gutenberg but why you choose to be hated?


I want to love you but...


I've been using Gutenberg for quite some time now, and it's a bit disappointing that, even after all these years, many of the core issues still remain unresolved. In fact, new bugs are often introduced, and simple tasks that used to take one click now require multiple steps. From a usability standpoint, it's arguably more complicated now than it was in the early days.



There are also noticeable limitations, and the overall layout and UI still feel unorganized. That said, I do appreciate the concept behind patterns — it's a powerful idea with a lot of potential for building consistent designs.



Despite its current challenges, I remain hopeful. With time and proper focus, I believe these issues will be addressed, and Gutenberg will evolve into one of the best default page builders within WordPress.



🔍 Overall: The user experience needs significant improvement, but the foundation is there. Let’s see how it develops in the future.


a joke!


I rarely get any error with Gutenberg, but whenever I do, it is a painful process to point out the cause and it takes time. But It works better than it used to before. :)



Though I also like the idea of some used that says that there should be option for people to not use this instead of TinyMce


If works flawlessly till it's not.


Gutenberg has come a long way! It’s now fast, flexible, and gives total control over layout and design without relying on extra plugins. The block-based approach makes creating pages super easy once you get used to it. Great work by the Gutenberg team!


Flexible and Modern Editing Experience

After 8 years of development, the result is disappointing!

Disappointing!


When I originally reviewed this editor I gave it 1 star. Months later I changed my review to 3 stars, then later 4. And now, I'm updating this review to 5 stars. I think this is a fair review considering all of the work put into this and the fact that the editor has significantly improved over the years.



Overall, once you learn where everything is, it’s powerful. If someone asks me: Elementor/Other or WP Block Editor (Gutenberg)? I'm going with the block editor every time. It's much simpler and cleaner, yet still powerful.Also, creating block themes is easy and fun (check out the block editor theme creating plugin)!



As it continues to improve, WordPress will continue to grow. Simple as that.


I get it now - Best building and editing experience for WordPress


I love blocks and I love the block editor. It's great to install this plugin and get a peak at what is coming. This really deserves more stars. 


This deserves more stars!


It’s lightweight, but you should not be using a visual editor specially with AI now. I will not spend any more resources on Gutenberg in 2026. Bring back the Classic Editor natively and allow users to create their own CMS CF + CPT with a native ACF integration (or SCF lol). Users aren't stupid now, especially with AI allowing them to design their own vision.


Its lighweight but you should not be using visual editor, specially with AI now


I've been using Gutenberg since its early days, and while it was rough around the edges back then with plenty of stability issues, it's come a long way. I now use it across all my websites, and the experience has been fantastic. The features are solid, my sites look great with no bugs to speak of, and it's noticeably lightweight compared to Elementor—which honestly feels outdated now.


Gutenberg keeps improving


I've been using Gutenberg/Editor for the last 3 years and I'm super happy with it. Now it's stable and provides everything needed to be the primary builder for different types of sites.


It became a really great tool


This way of developing sites, fundamentally changes how we work with content, and with a little adjustments in your thinking, you will not want to go back. 



Be aware that this plugin is the bug fixes, and experiments, for the core block editor, in between releases. This plugin does not add the block editor, but it does add fixes and enhancements that are being currently worked on. That said, to get the most from it, go to the "Experiments" section, and enable some of the features there, and see what you can get from the future of WP. Without any experiments enabled, you will still get the fixes that are coming in the block editor's next release.


Embrace the change, don't just listen to the slop


Gutenberg has its flaws, but it has great potential and, most importantly, it doesn’t burden a website the way external page builders do.



I’ll take the opportunity here to promote my free plugin that improves the UX of the block editor - BlockUX Workflow. It’s available in the WordPress repository.



Wishing you efficient website building!


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