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You would think that the developers of this time-waster of an editor would build something that does NOT require the non-developer to sniff around the page editor like a rodent searching for cheese. But noo! They actually have built an editor that requires you to do just that.
First off, when I decided to set my valuable time aside to scratch away at this thing, I psychologically prepared myself for the INEVITABLE frustration that I KNEW WordPress developers would commit me to. Because WordPress has ALWAYS been a frustrating piece of software; however, I did NOT prepare enough.
Let’s begin with my hair-pulling experience with the Drop Cap feature (using the Opera browser): When I turned on Drop Cap, in the Gutenberg DEMO, you could immediately see the drop cap applied to the first letter in the paragraph, Good! +1 (claps like a seal). But then I needed to scroll down a bit so I made the MISTAKE of leaving the typing area to actually scroll down the page (that’s NOT supposed to be a problem), and when I returned to the paragraph to finish my typing, the typing mechanism was slightly FROZEN (which made me blink like a confused baby seal). After blinking for a few seconds to reset my cognitive circuits, I commenced typing and made a typo. Then ALL the helios in the universe broke loose. That single little backspace DELETED EVERYTHING I HAD TYPED. (Screams silently.)
That is when I sat back in my chair at my desk, and huffed a really loud sigh – more of a bark – (which brought my children into my office to check on my welfare – your children start doing that once you advance in age past 40). I had to sit there for about AN. HOUR. Trying to figure out what had just happened. Yeah, it took me an hour. I eventually figured out that with Drop Cap turned on, the Gutenberg editor becomes a true monstrosity. It doesn’t work. SO. In order for me to get the typing mechanism back, I had to turn Drop Cap feature to OFF. But it took me an hour to figure that OUT!
I also tested the Gutenberg editor outside of its DEMO and tried it on a Page inside my WordPress test install. I experienced the EXACT same problem with the Drop Cap feature turned on. I also noticed that while typing, the drop cap was not applied to the first letter of the paragraph as it had been while testing it in Gutenberg DEMO. The editor’s typing mechanism doesn’t work while Drop Cap is on because you can’t backspace without deleting everything.
I also could NOT figure out how to SIMPLY wrap an image in text, either aligned right or left, AND I could not insert an image into my columns (I LOVE the columns feature it’s SO needed.) I surmised that I would have to code that in, which makes the editor USELESS BLOAT. With the current WordPress editor, I don’t have to code my images to get them to wrap within text. It happens automatically. (I can also EASILY do that in Joomla without coding as well.) So correct if I’m wrong, but I thought Gutenberg is supposed to alleviate the headache of having to code almost everything? As for the rest of the features, this editor put me in a state of emotional and cognitive STRESS, and literally gave me a stress headache, so I actually had to get away from it and stop using it, just to calm the bleep down. I’m not testing anything else in Gutenberg because I have two books I’m working on, and a deadline to finish them.
As a basic non-technical user of WordPress (I’m not a developer, although I can code my way around my sites and make necessary changes when needed – I had to learn to do that years ago when I decided to use WordPress to build my websites) I have to say that this editor, in its current state, is NOT fit to be built into the WordPress core. This editor will send a LOT of your non-technical users RUNNING to SENSIBLE blogging/CMS platforms (my favorite is Joomla). I used Joomla years ago, before deciding to use WordPress. After ten years of using (struggling to use) WordPress, I have to admit that I made a gross error in judgment (the developers at StudioPress convinced me, a few years ago, to not delete WordPress from my server and consequently return to Joomla). But the Gutenberg beast of a NON-editor has brought back all of those horrifically frustrating memories of having to struggle just to get WordPress to do more than spray letters on a page and plop images here and there (my word processor already does that just fine, to a degree).
I have to be honest and say that I have already made the necessary preparations, mentally, to say goodbye to WordPress and to migrate my website properties back to Joomla, and all thanks to my nightmare of an experience testing the Gutenberg editor. I didn’t have the mental energy to test it any further. As a published author, I do NOT have any time to waste to stare at a screen doing absolutely nothing but scratching my head and huffing and puffing trying to figure out why some useless content editor (Gutenberg) is destroying all of my work!!!!! Joomla has a very easy-to-use text editor. You can choose different modes including a more sophisticated builder or a simple editor which makes typing (or pasting) your content a breeze. Gutenberg editor is NOT a breeze, it’s a fricken HURRICANE HARVEY! All I can say for your Gutenberg editor in its current state is: Not on my sites. I will remove WordPress from my server before that happens.
If I could give this Gutenberg editor an official negative rating, as in -3, I would. You lost points for causing me emotional distress, and for wasting my time.
- This topic was modified 19 minutes ago by Sophia1one.