If you haven’t heard already… WordPress 5.0 is here! If you’re a client that has a site on WordPress or are just a Daylight subscriber looking for more information on the newest release of WordPress, keep reading! We’re about to cover the high-level details of what to expect when upgrading to WordPress 5.0 and how Daylight can help ensure your site transitions without a blip.
What’s included?
There have been other major WordPress core updates released in the past, but none have created quite as much chatter as WordPress 5.0. This upgrade is considered more significant than past updates due to a brand new block-based editor it’s introducing, known as Gutenberg. This updated version of WordPress also includes improvements to the WordPress Rest API and theme updates that will make theme creation for anyone without a development background much easier. So if you don’t have a development background, the main feature you’ll want to pay attention to is Gutenberg, as this new content editor will change your entire experience in managing your site’s content and building pages within the WordPress admin.
What If I Don’t Want to Use The New Editor?
If you don’t want to use the new editor, you’re one of many. You’re probably already very familiar with the Classic Editor or don’t have the time to spend learning how to use Gutenberg correctly (at least for now). If this is the case, your site can still be upgraded to WordPress 5.0. You’ll want to install WordPress’ Classic Editor plugin, and by default, this plugin hides all functionality available in the new block editor.
Will upgrading to WordPress 5.0 break our site?
Something to be aware of when upgrading is that if you haven’t updated your site’s WordPress Core, theme or plugins in a long time, there is potential for areas of your site to “break” when upgrading. Daylight recommends checking on your theme and plugins and updating them before you update WordPress Core to try and minimize any site “breaks”. However, it’s a smart idea to have a development team handle the upgrade to work through any changes required to avoid this.
If your site’s plugins and theme are compatible with 5.0, you could upgrade your site yourself. If you elect to do so, ensure you’ve backed up your site before flipping the switch. If you haven’t backed up your site before, Daylight strongly recommends you install a backup plugin and either set up regularly scheduled backups or backup the site manually before updating WordPress Core or any plugins. After upgrading, check over your site to make sure nothing is broken. If there is an issue and you can tell which plugin has caused the problem, you’ll want to deactivate it as soon as you can.
How Daylight Can Help
Daylight has experienced WordPress developers who can quickly help you make the transition. We’ll start by installing WordPress 5.0 on your site’s staging environment so we can test for compatibility before launching the updated version. After testing, we’ll be able to determine whether your website can be successfully upgraded. If your site isn’t ready at that time, we’ll work with you to come up with a solution for updating your site.
If you have more questions on WordPress 5.0 that weren’t answered in this post or would like Daylight to upgrade your site for you—don’t hesitate to reach out to our team at !
