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WordPress 2019: Predictions and Expectations

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WordPress is a continuously growing technology.

The wold’s most adopted CMS keeps changing and upgrading to meet industry standards and makes everyone happy. That’s the reason why mighty WordPress is responsible for more than 31% of the websites on the internet. This is simply awesome.

There are many new changes coming to WordPress sometime soon with the launch of WordPress 5.0. The REST API and Gutenberg are promising to revolutionize WordPress development. In this post we’re going to take out a crystal ball and make some predictions about WordPress for 2019.

Predictions and expectation: WordPress in 2019

The REST API

The REST API will have little impact on users, but it will have a major impact on the developer community. It has changed WordPress by bringing the front end developer community on board. There are only a few sites using REST API. But, real-world websites like Wired and the New York Times are using the WordPress REST API in cool and unexpected ways.

The awesome thing is that custom applications will be added to the WordPress dashboard and you’ll be having the Admin Panel on REST API. You’ll be able to use WordPress as a framework to manage content for any of your web applications. Ultimately, you’ll have iPhone or Android apps running on WordPress.

It also offers a great deal to all those publishers who want to make their move to WordPress. Embrace the WordPress REST API and you can easily separate your front-end delivery from the CMS. It can be useful in powering multiple front-ends from the same content- website or app. In the coming year, we can expect businesses will be using WordPress as a part of complex multi-service workflows. Thus, it will be a great platform for large publishers who wants to integrate WordPress with their current workflow. 

Looking forward, the REST API will provide a solid foundation to create more scalable applications.

A new WordPress editor, Gutenberg

Gutenberg has created quite a buzz among WordPress enthusiasts. The beta version has been released and the WordPress community is testing and resolving issues for the stable version release. It will be launching sometime soon with the WordPress 5.0 release.

Matt Mullenweg announced the tentative release date to be November 19th for the long awaited new WordPress editor-Gutenberg.

Gutenberg is coming and yes, it is going to transform the overall editing experience on WordPress forever. The new block-based approach will allow for easy drag-and-drop functionality.

Blocks are higher level than HTML and will enhance the editing experience with a plan to implement block as a foundation for easy customization. Hence, you’ll be able to customize your media-rich posts with ease and efficiency without any technical assistance from any WordPress developer.

In Gutenberg, there will be blocks for everything and you can easily customize the following components in WordPress with the help of drag-and-drop functionality.

Text: Paragraph, List, Heading, Subhead, Table, Button, Classic Block, Text Columns

Media: Image, Cover Image, Image Gallery, Audio, Video, Embeds, Shortcodes

Quotes: Quote, Pullquote, Verse, Code

Code: Preformatted, Custom HTML, Shortcodes, Embeds

Layout: Columns, Text Columns, Separator, & Read More

You can imagine how convenient it will be customizing your blog or page for your desired look and feel!

Gutenberg compatible themes & plugins

Since Gutenberg is going to become a core part of WordPress, theme and plugin companies are already geared up for the change and making their themes and plugins Gutenberg compatible. There is a huge opportunity to create themes using drag and drop builder. 

So you will need to check your plugin and theme compatibility with the advanced Gutenberg editor. 

There is still plenty of time before the final release of Gutenberg and you need to test it for your WordPress site along with your themes, plugins and codes. Carry-out the testing in an orderly manner, and this will spare you from potential issues that can make things cumbersome and break your website.

It is advisable to make a backup of your website and update your themes, plugins, and core code before implementing Gutenberg to your WordPress site. First, update your WordPress plugins as they are lightest in weight. After that, you should update the theme and ultimately update the core version.

If you want to embrace the change, then get prepared and start testing Gutenberg for your website by creating a testing environment. 

Upgraded security and GDPR

Security for your WordPress website should be obvious. Website security is a crucial factor in building a website in WordPress. If a website is not secure, users will be skeptical about browsing the website. 

In 2017, Google announced that HTTP sites will show a “Not secure” warning, whereas HTTPS sites will have green lock signal as a secure sign. Since then every business has been shifting their sites from non-secure HTTP to the secure HTTPS domain for a safer browsing experience.

More importantly, 28.9% of visitors look for the green address bar in their browser before they make any further decisions about their purchase or sharing their information on any website.

This trend will continue to grow and impact business and users in 2019.  All websites (those who hasn’t shifted yet) will have to shift from HTTP to HTTPS to ensure users feel safe and secure while browsing. Upgrading to HTTPS tells your visitors that hackers can’t access their data. This means that website owners need to buy a SSL Certificate to secure their websites.

Also, WordPress websites will be GDPR compliant with their plugins, especially for those which are responsible for the user data collection. 

On 25 May 2018, the European Parliament made it a compulsory norm for every business to have a General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) compliant website. So, if you own a website and want to do business in EU countries, you need to make your website GDPR compliant by asking for user consent before collecting, storing and using that data for business purposes.

In 2019, we’ll continue to expect more WordPress plugins to follow the regulation to ensure safer and more secure WordPress websites.

A move toward enterprise solutions

We can clearly see that WordPress is moving towards enterprise solutions with all the new changes and amendments. However, some of the biggest brands on earth such as CNN, Forbes, TechCrunch, Sony, BBC America, and Mashable are already making their online presence felt using WordPress. This trend will continue to grow in the coming year and we’ll see more enterprise companies shift towards WordPress.

Also, WooCommerce will become enterprise-ready in 2019 with better scalability and adaptability. We’re expecting that the new block-based approach will make it easier to manage your online store. The big companies and enterprises will adopt WooCommerce to build their online stores. Businesses will have more dynamic themes, better data control, security and affordability to launch and maintain their Ecommerce business.

These are the changes that will exceed our expectations from WordPress in 2019. And that’s how WordPress will continue to cater to one-third of the internet. We hope you’ll make yourself ready for these changes by embracing them. 

Get ready to create a better, safer and interactive experience for all.

About the author

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Nick Patel

Nick Patel is marketing head at WebbyMonks, agencies' most preferred Front End and WordPress development agency. He pens down his knowledge and experience on WordPress, digital marketing and Web design. He loves to explore cutting-edge technology in the digital world. When not writing for technology, you can find him fishing, shooting with his camera or brewing coffee. Feel free to connect with him on Twitter and LinkedIn.