I’ve been contributing to some discussions that have been happening this week about the new WordPress “Gutenberg” editor. Hopefully constructively. And I think its useful to note where I come from when thinking about Gutenberg.
Firstly, there’s my own context. Mostly as a user of WordPress (I’m using it right now!) but also as a developer. And I’m always aware, when thinking about and commenting on Gutenberg, that I’m not a typical user.
So there’s this second context, which is: what does everyone else think? Here, I’m often guessing (probably incorrectly) what the typical user might want.
But I also have this other, third role/context that I think overrides thoughts of “what do I want” and “what might everyone else want”. That role is WordPress educator and support person. The role where I explain to both the public (sometimes) and to my clients (more often) how to use WordPress, or take questions on how to use it.
In this role, the main question I’m asking is: “How the heck am I going to explain this to someone else?”
I’ll happily take advice in the comments on how to answer that question.