The Gutenberg editor is WordPress’s built-in block editor. Since WordPress 5.0, it replaced the old classic editor as the default way to write and design content. Instead of a plain text box, you build pages and posts by adding and arranging blocks — individual pieces of content like paragraphs, images, buttons, and columns.
How It Works
Everything in Gutenberg is a block. Want to add a paragraph? That’s a block. An image? A block. A video, a table, a call-to-action button? All blocks. You drag, drop, and arrange them to build your layout visually.
Why It Matters
- No shortcodes needed for basic layouts
- Visual editing — see roughly what you’ll get
- Reusable blocks — save a block and use it on multiple pages
- Block patterns — pre-designed layout templates to speed up building
Full Site Editing (FSE)
Gutenberg has evolved beyond just posts and pages. With Full Site Editing (FSE), you can edit your entire site — headers, footers, sidebars — using the same block editor. This only works with block-based themes.
Classic Editor vs Gutenberg
Some people still prefer the Classic Editor plugin (the old way). It’s totally valid. But Gutenberg is the future of WordPress, and most new themes and features are being built around it.
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