Video

Important perspective. We should never lose sight of that.

Thanks for watching!

I'm critical and somewhat disappointed as well, particularly from the perspective of the long-winded and slow transition. Raising these issues makes sense, but we need to manage our expectations. Gutenberg originated and still is somewhat a TinyMCE replacement and a Medium-like content creator, not a page builder. That's where much of the frustration stems from. Apart from this project originating from a certain spirit, some decisions crossed the Rubicon. They locked in elements like the React block "build" process, which was contrary to most tinkerers using interpreter approaches and PHP-focused methods. I had hoped for Vue - it's more flexible and wasn't tied to Facebook, which React back then still was. Being free and open-source doesn't shield WordPress from criticism, but it does alter the dynamics. There's no direct return on investment, so those financing contributors have significant influence. You either benefit indirectly and get it for free, contribute, or fund development yourself. There's little incentive for developers or funders to cater to passive users profiting from the free tool if they're unhappy with the direction. Expectation managment is about acknowledging these dynamics, not exempting the project from critique. That said, it's not all negative and people are listening. The Frontify injection is yielding interesting advancements, and tools like Greyd are showing new possibilities. So there's still potential for positive development in the future. I am rather hopeful given me still only using it as a client facing content tool and not a builder, as I don't see it yet as such. I did start using FES via Ollie for my relaunch, but that hasn't been launched yet. Anne makes a good point about the humanity behind this project. There are many people still pushing hard, and broad, indirect criticism might be very discouraging to them. I think you're in a great position to follow her call to action. It might be beneficial to invite people in positions of power within the project and talk to them. This could help understand how and why certain decisions were made, where things could be improved, or where things went wrong. The idea is to "talk to your neighbors first" - engaging directly with those involved before making sweeping criticisms. But I don't want to put words in Anne's mouth... that's just how I understood her perspective, at least. Love your content, Long answer 🙃

​@@maxziebell4013 as always, I appreciate your thoughtful and well educated responses buddy. :) To reply to a couple of your points, I'd like to think that my video was less a focus on Gutenberg being a poor page builder experience and more about basic UI issues - things like clicking a 'back' button and going to a different screen or the likes of key typography functions hidden out of site with no global way to enable them, etc. Surely, those are things that are UI 101 and a company as large as Automattic with as many people involved would look at those fundamental things and draw a similar conclusion or at the very least, listen to the feedback via GitHub or other channels and make what I would assume would be a simple update to enable that. With WP being open Source and not accountable to it's shareholders, it is somewhat responsible to its users. It is where it is because of those users - commercial, professional or hobbyist. So, when sweeping changes (like Guteberg or FSE) face massive pushback, surely there should be some accountability for those decisions that affect millions. While my video was (I would say) constructively critical of a key aspect, I think it would be a good idea to acknowledge that the criticism wasn't harsh, personal or unwarranted. Sadly, I think and still do, that the issue does not lie 100% at the developers feet (although, I think they have to accept some of the responsibility), but further up the food chain to the leadership that appear to be hellbent on forcing G and FSE on users, regardless of what they ACTUALLY want. But, as always, this is my opinion and I'm happy to have it changed or challenged. I'm also more than happy to speak with anyone involved in WP or Automattic about these shortcomings and limitations (there's or ours) to get a greater understanding of the project.

@@maxziebell4013 "There are many people still pushing hard, and broad, indirect criticism might be very discouraging to them." This was evident in the Cwicly situation where a lot of harsh commentary had team members leave. The answer seemed to be 'you need to be tougher' from those who likely have never built a product or a child and had it called ugly. An often overlooked issue is that Influencer is naturally opinionated as that creates interest in content, - the more controversial the better, but will always end up beholden to their followers because that's where the real power is. So having set an agenda, the pitchforks tend to come out in the more radical elements and at that point we have a faint shadow of the political divide so heavily weighing on the USA right now, but in a free software community. Wordpress worst issue is that so many people rely on it for income. Not just users or designers, but plugin developers and influencers and this is where spin starts to break the whole purpose of the WordPress project - an easy to use open source blog - free for all and helping the internet grow. Plugins are getting ridiculously expensive and far to many updates - WordPress is a quick web builder and in my view a long term maintenance nightmare compared to other systems. Overall Gutenberg looks like a broken promise right now. Sure its evolving, but I think Paul is right to be concerned, although I question the motives of others leading a frontal assault.

​@@polarxta2833 Wow, thank you for this detailed comment. I absolutely agree. I don't know if this is also a US issue, as the polarization is strong over there (me being from Europe). Nearly all Europeans, including politicians (though they don't always voice it out loud in case he becomes president again), think that Trump is a joke and still do (populist). In my opinion, the entire US political system is like a game with two parties and it doesn't really feel like diverse representation. Having multiple parties, which lessens the divide, has its problems as well, but makes people see consensus and compromise more. This long-winded opinion leads to my main point: This polarizing approach seems to spill over to plugins and frameworks as well. At least recently, it felt like there was a harsh tone and people kicking others while they're down. I really and deeply find it offensive to disguise honest critique while being an influencer and peddling some sponsorship or product. In Europe, if there is product placement or sponsorship, this always needs to be marked. Influencers and product owners are sometimes undermining this by offering tutorials and thoughts while implicitly selling just "the solution" without mentioning it. This is highly problematic in my opinion and as such in need of nuance (precisely what's missing). These are not aimed at any particular influencer, just some general thoughts on the matter.

@@maxziebell4013 Amen brother :)

If by “they” you mean Anne and me… then yes and no. You can participate and help change things, but this is like a rolling train; much like Wikipedia, you won’t be driving the train the moment you onboard. On the other hand, the project has a large committee structure with many non-developers, and Slack and other channels can wear you down. WordPress is an open-source project, so keep that in mind, and you are free to choose alternatives. I often do, and even within the WordPress ecosystem, you can use many approaches if you want to build on the existing plugin ecosystem. I had a section prepared for that, but we never got there. Being an open-source contributor is either a task of passion or a position that is partially or fully sponsored by the company you work for. WordPress thrives on engagement and develops itself, so there isn’t really a “they,” more an “us”… but most are not willing to participate and just want to profit from the project. In the episode, we also talk about layers of abstraction and dependencies. If you are committing to WordPress, you are buying into the whole history and structure this project entails.

@@maxziebell4013 Thanks for the well thought-out reply, Max.

@@maxziebell4013 Even in the beginning of Gutenberg, everyone was complaining and writing bad reviews about it. But guess what? This should have been an indicator to change something, yet nothing happened. So, I appreciate CZcamsrs like WPtuts and Kevin Geary for making videos about it and complaining.

@@KariposTheOne The WordPress project, largely driven by its community, initially formed around and focused on the spirit of open source and user empowerment (web 2.0 era) rather than commercial interests. There was significant resistance to commercial plugins and themes, and debates around the GNU General Public License (GPL) were common. Over time, financial realities led to a gradual acceptance and integration of commercial elements within the WordPress ecosystem. The project's spirit and trajectory have evolved slowly, shaped by its community and contributors. The process of reform and improvement within WordPress, much like in any long-standing institution, requires patience, effort, and a deep understanding of its history and values. Mostly, change is driven by those who actively participate and contribute to the project, injecting fresh ideas and energy. The project does not owe anything to its passive beneficiaries, but it thrives on the contributions and innovations of its active community.

An interesting point of view Max and certainly a possibility - but, abstracting that further, a reliance on WordPress itself holds a similar risk factor. At which point, we should all no go an relearn HTML, CSS and JS and start building from scratch again. lol I think a broader lesson of not putting ALL of your faith in a single product would be the safer approach for many (I include myself here). I think this is what separates the dabblers from the professionals (and I'm not talking quality of design, but understanding business risks and failure points). Maybe this is a conversation in it's own right that deserves some attention. :)

​@@WPTuts :) Totally, much appreciated, this comment continues both threads we are engaged in. I agree, Gutenberg, imo, it's an interface with shortcomings in trying to serve too many approaches (content and now builder, and maybe professional when theme.json and code is exposed more). In general: This particular excerpt and discussion follows a lengthy analysis of AI integration in WordPress, concluding that current AI is most effective when closely tied to the web stack (setting my mood). Don't get me wrong, I appreciate GUIs like Bricks with its class-first approach, but I find its state management, similar to Gutenberg's, sometimes problematic for current AI integration (may change soon with multi-modal AI). Both abstract components in ways that may hinder AI effectiveness. I would propose that professional WordPress page builders offer both simple and advanced modes (for web designers and professionals). The advanced mode should ideally even expose the underlying page structure and state, particularly useful for FSE themes (in which you can do this by FTP, locally already). I could also see a Microthemer with its Gutenberg-like integration as a nice blueprint for switching to an advanced mode. Cheers!

Thanks so much for watching!

@@mr.matt.eastwood All Good, I'm currently in Thailand on a working holiday. So, just picking up the second half now. Love what Greyd is doing, still not convinced to use that horrible Block Editor :)

@@wpeasy Similar situation here. But this whole episode has given me a ton of food for thought. Will re-watch it myself over the upcoming days.

You might find yourself mentioned, I wanna say, occasionally ;-) Thanks for checking it out!

@@mr.matt.eastwood that was an excellent discussion from all participants; thank you for sharing! Max’s comment at the end, where he said that Gutenberg is a content editor and a tool to “assemble” a page, not a page builder itself, is spot on in my opinion. There are a lot of things I dislike about the way the block editor behaves, but I think a lot of the hate directed toward it comes from people who are trying to shoehorn it into being something it isn’t. Also, your warning that I was mentioned a few times made me panic. I was sure that someone was going to eviscerate me for something, so thanks for giving me a break. Instead, it just amped the imposter syndrome up to 11 ;)

@@AdamSLowe Hi Adam, Yes, I appointed you to the “Bridge Builder Challenge” and hope to see you on the show sometime. It’s not about being perfect, but showing up and sharing workflow or/and ideas with your fellow imperfect human developer friends. 🎉 Best regards ☀️

@@maxziebell4013I’m game. Prepare to be amazed at my inability to hold a train of thought for more than… squirrel!

@@AdamSLowe I was also all over the place and dancing around… but it was fun I must say. They "boys" are very friendly and welcoming people.

Just rewatching my part: Correction AlphaGo… not Fold

I'm just rewatching some bits and noticing it too :-D Man's gotta stay in shape!

@@mr.matt.eastwood True, true, and drink less coffee…I am blaming all technical errors on the worldwide outage today. 🤓

@@wanja8461 No, I do have a license for OxyProps but but for Structeezy. I did use Swiss Knife from dPlugins although they haven’t updated that in a while it worked decent. Not perfect and I wanted to demonstrate that, but ran out of time. There is also a problem as Bricks doesn’t have a native class importer… you can import classes, but again with an abstracted JSON Format. CSS cars are fairly easy to import, but all these mentioned steps are separate imports. No “easy” copy and paste… and you need third party tools. Hope that changes soon…

I too am waiting to see Bricksforge node based editing.

Sure! docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/10eyPxhUtouuKvDjwUf_i62QsyZlL4II3SYLvErZeqRU/edit?usp=sharing From there, you can make a copy of it on your own Drive.

I've used AT for over a year now and wouldn't want to miss it, it's dynamite. That said, I'm just starting my first project ever with ACSS and I find it really interesting to discover all it can do. I wouldn't want to do without AT, but I look forward to having ACSS in my stack in the future. And yeah, the more CSS you know, the more you get out of ACSS.... but then again, really anything for that matter.

We're really glad to have him on the show!

Thanks for watching!

Danke! Yeah, it's an option. Thing is, we don't have hi-res photos of these guys, so scaling across the whole screen width (even half) doesn't work that well. tbh I'm not the biggest fan of the current mosaic layout, but the client likes it and I think it looks nice enough. Would love a Ken Burns effect! If we do another round of work on this website in the future, I will push for higher-resolution visuals and propose that.

Glad to help!

Love it! Let me know if you have any feedback. First time for me doing a series like this. Have fun watching 🙂

Yeah that was my big takeaway. If you ignore all the sizing controls on the Content tab and use the Layout tab instead, you're fine. Has been fine that way for me.

@@mr.matt.eastwood I informed Bricks they said they are aware of the bug and are working on fixing it but it will require a major refactoring of the icon and controls apparently... what you can do as a workaround for now is activate your custom class on the icon then head to the styles and css section... write css there for fill, height and width etc... then it will work...

@@antonichristian5845 Nice! Thanks!

Thanks Nick! We're happy to have you in the audience :-)

Only AT on this build. I have an ACSS license but haven't yet used it. I'm starting another project right now (recording that too, including conception and design in Figma) and I think I'll make this my first ACSS project. Thanks for watching! I can very very highly recommend AT, it's dynamite.

Hey Anne, thanks for watching! And nice to hear from you :-)

Don't think so. Where did you see that?

@@mr.matt.eastwood yes, he has it hidden in the blog. Are you down in the Hunsruck by any chance. Great scenery there from what I remember from the Heimat tv series.

@@vaughanprint Saarland, actually. Never been to the Hunsrueck either, but I hear it's gorgeous. I grew up in the Taunus area, it's very much worth visiting too - beautiful landscapes, rolling hills, forests.

Hey I think I deleted your comment by mistake. You posted about disabling Google Fonts in Bricks settings, right?

@@mr.matt.eastwood I did. Google font needs to be disabled or else the font goes to google’s servers by default.

Saw this frame on a website called winwinit dot eu that I randomly happened upon. I looked into the DOM to see how they built it and then shamelessly stole the concept, knowing I can just straight-up rebuild exactly that (with my own tweaks as I want them) with in Bricks without needing any duct tape or WD40. Thinking back to my Beaver Builder days, it would have been so much more difficult to cleanly build this. With Bricks, it's just so straightforward! I really wanna take a look at Divi 5 when it comes out. I'm really happy we have a proficient Divi user in our roster for an upcoming Bridge Builders episode, that way we can look at Divi 4 and then again Divi 5 when it comes out. About AI, I'm kinda torn. When I see Elementor, Divi etc. shoving it into their builders, I'm so happy Bricks is doing none of that. On the other hand, I wonder if that just makes me a cranky old man about to become obsolete. ;-) Thanks for watching @vaughaprint !

Yea, sounds just like how Elementor handles it, right?

@@markjszymanski yes.I think so.

The fun is all mine! :-)

Good thoughts! Thanks and props for watching the whole thing :-)

Very cool. Thanks for the additional insights, pinned!

@matthias5421 Thanks for this amazing snippets, it's my go to since I discovered it back in 2021. I've had a weird issue for the first time though recently where everything was working perfectly fine but once I moved it in the client's server on WPEngine, it didn't work on the page that is set as homepage, only that page. It would load on other pages. After clearing the server cache, it would load the fonts again but after a few minutes, the font would not load, and even the "ma-customfonts-info" in the footer would not be present.

Thanks!

Hmm, odd. Did you remember to clean up completely each time before trying a new variant? For instance, if you go from uploading the .php as a plugin to the root of the plugin folder, then activate it in WP, the script will create the "fonts" folder in uploads. If you wanna get rid of everything again, you'll wanna double-check the state of things via SFTP. So check that the .php is really gone from the plugins folder and the "fonts" folder no longer exists. Apart from that, I couldn't tell you what might be going wrong, always worked for me.

@@mr.matt.eastwood the fonts folder doesn't matter. The snippet checks if the folder exists, and creates it if necessary. If it already exists, it's fine.

@@mr.matt.eastwood Its properly something I did :-) And I am sure it works, have used the feature before using another approach though.

@@mr.matt.eastwood As I am an all time Windows user, that has moved to Mac. It was the plugin file I had created that was created incorrectly by me.Now everything is dandy 🙂

I am pretty sure it has to do with the script settings you chose on WPCB. That happens to me all the time. But on the other hand, if the plugin version works fine, why bother?!

Thanks Jeff! We aim to please :-) I gotta say, too, that it feels like we're finding our groove. With Kevin and Brian, I felt like I was missing half of what they were doing, but this time I was able to follow Jonathan's and Ruben's building more closely. It might also be because we had less action in the live chat this time, plus we now have Brendan on the team so more people to keep an eye on the chat.

Also, why is it that CZcams keeps deleting (or simply not posting) comments? Happened to me before, happened to conversation partners of mine and now you mention it as well. So weird.

@@mr.matt.eastwood no clue, it’s happening to me on other channels too. Maybe it’s because I referenced the breakdance website (I used to post on the b-boy forums back in the day when it was still a breakdancing site). Crazy how a Wordpress builder now owns the domain.

@@mr.matt.eastwood it used to only happen on news channels but it is happening everywhere now...AI malfunctioning?

@@user-eo1vz9lt8g So annoying. One thing I discovered yesterday is that if you click on "Sort by" at the top of all comments and select "Newest first", it actually un-hides a bunch of comments that simply won't show if you have the default "Top comments" selected. I'd say that's a loose f#cking interpretation of the word "Sort", but what do I know. After all, I'm not a native English speaker 😀 lol

Such a great thing to have. I get that SVGs are disabled iN WP by default because security, but for those of us who know what we're doing, it's a blessing to have a builder that allows SVGs out of the box.

In that case, just use Astro

Agreed. I remember touching on this subject in one of the episodes (or perhaps one of the conversations around it), but it's an easily overlooked aspect.

I disagree, the idea of using greenshift or breakdance for gsap stands like a dumbed down version of using page builders .... Bricks is quite ahead in that regards ... For me the yardstick in decision making is simple. 1. For starter to intermediate dynamic sites with not much of conditional usage and animations. GP GB combo is the best without a doubt 2. But if you need a site you are building for serious business and need to build dynamic websites quickly...bricks is a no brainer...

@@curefilms perfect example of the dev circle jerk. It’s like paying someone to mow your lawn. Do you think the homeowner cares if the landscaper cuts the grass with a John Deere or a Honda mower? They don’t give two sh*ts as long as the grass is cut and looks nice. Same for a car. Do you care if a mechanic uses Milwaukee or Dewalt tools to fix your car? Look how many successful businesses have Webflow or Wix sites. Do you honestly think the vast majority of the audience cares as long as the site functions, looks good, is quick, and easy to use?

@@curefilms Why are Bricks fans always telling us their builder is best? Its getting a little sad frankly.

Here is an example bash script I like to use: #!/bin/bash # Define the root directory and the output file ROOT_DIR=$1 OUTPUT_FILE=$2 # Check if both arguments are provided if [ -z "$ROOT_DIR" ] || [ -z "$OUTPUT_FILE" ]; then echo "Usage: $0 <root_directory> <output_file>" exit 1 fi # Reset the output file using truncate truncate -s 0 "$OUTPUT_FILE" # Find all .js and .css files, read their content and save to the output file find "$ROOT_DIR" -type f \( -name "*.js" -o -name "*.css" \) | while read -r file; do echo -e "File content for ${file#$ROOT_DIR/}: " >> "$OUTPUT_FILE" cat "$file" >> "$OUTPUT_FILE" echo -e " --- " >> "$OUTPUT_FILE" done # Copy the content of the output file to the clipboard cat "$OUTPUT_FILE" | pbcopy echo "Files have been gathered into $OUTPUT_FILE and copied to clipboard"

I replied with my script, but it was deleted/hidden by CZcams algorithms, probably because it was a bash script.

If I can't share the cake, I'll share the recipe. "Create a bash script named aggregate_files that aggregates all PHP, JS, and CSS files from a specified source directory into an output file. The script should include the full path of each file, followed by its contents, separated by a line of dashes (---) and two newlines. At the end, copy the output file's content to the clipboard using pbcopy. Ensure the script accepts the source directory and output file as parameters."

Speaking for myself, it's mostly because WordPress (and especially page builders like Bricks, Oxygen et al) allows us professionals to do our job more efficiently than hand-coding. Still doesn't mean any random dude should go in and faff about with it. I'd wager Kevin would respond in a similar manner.

@@mr.matt.eastwood page builders like Bricks are a barrier to professionals. Who wants to write random CSS in random places that’s not linted or under version control? This idea that a CSS file or a JSON file is scary to professional developers is ludicrous. Transpilation/compilation and build systems are not new or advanced. Write a Gutenberg block, it’s not hard at all; you’d get all the consistency for those “verticals” without the awful editing UX.

@@bosco7717 I think there's a lot of merit to your argument. In the end, it's different workflows for different folks. That's the beauty of WordPress. We all get to work the way we prefer :-)

Thanks Brendan! Check out the playlist, episode 1 dropped yesterday :-) Next one's coming on Monday!

Ha, true, I never realized that 😀

The main difference is that the dude from A Clockwork Orange talks less ....

@@mrnordjr He's also better than I am at the old ultraviolence :-/ To be fair though, I used to play with IDDQD.

I can see that scenario coming, yes. I like that you point out at the same time where that will lead (and leave) us as humans, because I had the same thought, but couldn't think of putting it so succinctly. "creative directors overseeing AI employees" is a great choice of words.