Everything is a Block: How WordPress Rewrote the WYSIWYG
By Steve Persch
Adding structural concepts to a CMS is easier than removing them. Drupal has collected the concept of blocks, regions, Panels, Panes, layouts, beans, theme hooks, render elements, view modes, Views, and the list goes on and on. WordPress, that other GPL, LAMP stack CMS from the early 2000s, has the same problem of too many ways to do the same things. So WordPress is starting fresh by rewriting the central component of most WordPress sites, the WYSIWYG that controls the body field.
The Gutenberg editor that will land soon in WordPress core strikes a new and better balance between showing content editors how posts will be rendered and exposing the underlying structure. It is widely expected that once the body field goes Gutenberg, the entire page will too. Drupal tends to turn site building tools into content editing tools. The WordPress community is doing the reverse.
This presentation will cover:
* The WordPress mission to Democratize Publishing
* The functionality of Gutenberg
* Modern JavaScript and React usage
* Community reaction
Learning Objectives & Outcomes:
Attendees can expect to learn about how WordPress is answering many of the same questions facing the Drupal community. I hope the outcome is a questioning of assumptions around how Drupal sites, and Drupal itself, are built.
https://2018.tcdrupal.org/session/everything-block-how-wordpress-rewrote-wysiwyg
Adding structural concepts to a CMS is easier than removing them. Drupal has collected the concept of blocks, regions, Panels, Panes, layouts, beans, theme hooks, render elements, view modes, Views, and the list goes on and on. WordPress, that other GPL, LAMP stack CMS from the early 2000s, has the same problem of too many ways to do the same things. So WordPress is starting fresh by rewriting the central component of most WordPress sites, the WYSIWYG that controls the body field.
The Gutenberg editor that will land soon in WordPress core strikes a new and better balance between showing content editors how posts will be rendered and exposing the underlying structure. It is widely expected that once the body field goes Gutenberg, the entire page will too. Drupal tends to turn site building tools into content editing tools. The WordPress community is doing the reverse.
This presentation will cover:
* The WordPress mission to Democratize Publishing
* The functionality of Gutenberg
* Modern JavaScript and React usage
* Community reaction
Learning Objectives & Outcomes:
Attendees can expect to learn about how WordPress is answering many of the same questions facing the Drupal community. I hope the outcome is a questioning of assumptions around how Drupal sites, and Drupal itself, are built.
https://2018.tcdrupal.org/session/everything-block-how-wordpress-rewrote-wysiwyg