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WordPress 5.0 – Your Ultimate Cheat Sheet

WordPress 5.0 has landed! ✈️ The latest and greatest version of WordPress (the absolute best blogging platform) is available and has been turning heads ever since it got released on Dec 6th, 2018.

Here’s what to make of it, and especially if you haven’t followed all the 5.0 hype for the last year or so. But even if you have, this handy cheat sheet will provide you with an overview of what has changed in WordPress 5.0 and how to best take advantage of the new features.

This is your cut-out-‘n-keep WordPress 5.0 cheat sheet. ✂️

WordPress 5.0 Cheat Sheet

Your ultimate #CheatSheet to #WordPress 5.0 - all shortcuts, tips and tricks 🗒️
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The main changes in WordPress 5.0

1. New block-based content editor for posts and pages

… otherwise known as Gutenberg.

Here’s what it looks like vs the classic editor:

GutenbergClassic editor
new wordpress gutenberg editor
WordPress classic editor
'Wait up! I didn't ask for a new editor! How do I get the old one back?!' 👈 click here
No problem, just install the Classic Editor plugin. It gives you the option to either replace the new block-based editor entirely or have both editors enabled – where you get to choose which one you want to use on a per-post basis.

2. New default theme - Twenty Nineteen

2019

Theme designed with full block-based editor compatibility and with various purposes in mind:

  • ✍️ blogging
  • 📸 photo blogging
  • 💰 business
  • 🙌 nonprofit

Gutenberg quick-start guide 🚀

General definitions

  • Block – any element that you use to build your content.
  • TinyMCE editor – the “old” WordPress editor.
  • Settings toolbar – the sidebar where you can configure post/block details.
  • Block Navigation – a quick look at all the blocks in your post.
  • Visual Editor – the default WYSIWYG editor.
  • Code Editor – lets you work with HTML and block formatting.
  • Unified toolbar – attaches the formatting toolbar to the top of the editor.
  • Spotlight Mode – fades all blocks except the active block.

General tips

  • Insert blocks with the + icon
  • Each paragraph is a separate block
  • Quick change blocks with / to save time
  • Move blocks with drag-and-drop or arrows
  • Check for extra blocks from your plugins
  • Configure global options in Document sidebar
  • Configure individual blocks in Block sidebar
  • Drag image files into Gutenberg from your desktop
  • Learn keyboard shortcuts to save time
  • Click the Information icon to view word count
  • Gutenberg automatically saves your draft
  • Create reusable block templates to save time

WordPress 5.0 keyboard shortcuts in Gutenberg

Block shortcuts

  • Duplicate selected block – Ctrl + Shift + D
  • Delete selected block – Shift + Alt + Z
  • Insert new block (before) – Ctrl + Alt + T
  • Insert new block (after) – Ctrl + Alt + Y
  • Change block type – / + "Name of block"

Text formatting shortcuts

  • Select all content in block – Ctrl + A
  • Select all content in post – Ctrl + A x2
  • Clear selection – Esc
  • Insert link – Ctrl + K
  • Bold – Ctrl + B
  • Italics – Ctrl + I
  • Underline – Ctrl + U
  • Strikethrough – Shift + Alt + D
  • Monospaced font – Shift + Alt + X

Editor interface shortcuts

  • Save draft – Ctrl + S
  • Show/hide settings toolbar – Ctrl + Shift + ,
  • Switch between Visual/HTML editor – Ctrl + Shift + Alt +M
  • Undo last changes – Ctrl + Z
  • Redo last undo – Ctrl + Shift + Z
  • Open block navigation menu – Shift + Alt + O
  • Move to next part of editor – Ctrl + ' OR Shift + Alt + N
  • Move to previous part of editor – Ctrl + Shift + ' OR Shift + Alt + P
  • Move to nearest toolbar – Alt + F10

How to access the old editor

Use the official Classic Editor plugin to 100% disable Gutenberg

OR

Use the Classic block to insert the TinyMCE editor inside Gutenberg

How to edit raw HTML

Use the Ctrl + Shift + Alt + M keyboard shortcut to edit entire post

OR

Click three dots icon and select Edit as HTML to edit individual block

OR

Insert Custom HTML block to add HTML as a single block

Default available blocks

  • Paragraph – regular text
  • Image
  • Heading
  • Gallery
  • List
  • Quote
  • Audio
  • Cover image
  • File
  • Video
  • Button
  • Classic – TinyMCE editor
  • Code – Display code
  • Custom HTML – Insert HTML
  • Preformatted
  • Pullquote
  • Table
  • Verse – for poetry
  • Columns
  • More
  • Page Break
  • Separator
  • Spacer
  • Media & Text – side-by-side
  • Archives
  • Categories
  • Latest Comments
  • Latest Posts
  • YouTube
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Vimeo
  • Imgur
  • Tumblr
  • SoundCloud
  • Flickr
  • Spotify
  • Animoto
  • Cloudup
  • CollegeHumor
  • Dailymotion
  • Funny or Die
  • Hulu
  • Issuu
  • Kickstarter
  • Meetup.com
  • Mixcloud
  • Photobucket
  • Polldaddy
  • Reddit
  • ReverbNation
  • Screencast
  • Scribs
  • Slideshare
  • SmugMug
  • Speaker Deck
  • TED
  • VideoPress
  • WordPress.TV
  • WordPress.com

💡 Want the Gutenberg keyboard shortcuts in a more printable form? Click here – direct download. 💾

Third-party plugins with custom blocks

Themes built for the block-based editor

📚 Learn more about the new block-based editor / Gutenberg:

Other things to know about WordPress 5.0

All the previous default themes are now compatible with the new block-based editor. Including:
  • Twenty Ten
  • Twenty Eleven
  • Twenty Twelve
  • Twenty Thirteen
  • Twenty Fourteen
  • Twenty Fifteen
  • Twenty Sixteen
  • Twenty Seventeen
  • and, of course, Twenty Nineteen

Better accessibility thanks to integrating aria-label attributes. This means better cooperation with screen readers that seek out text labels for objects such as buttons, etc.

Support for the upcoming PHP 7.3 release. Though, WordPress still works with PHP as old as 5.2.4.

How did we get here?

Counting the 5.0, there have been 33 major versions of WordPress to date. The last one of which – 4.9 – has been downloaded 170+ million times (at the time of writing).

The original classic editor – aka. TinyMCE – has been with WordPress pretty much since the very beginning, in one form or the other. Some other important milestones include:

  • WordPress 1.2 – gave us plugins
  • WordPress 1.2 – gave us localization
  • WordPress 1.5 – gave us themes

WordPress’ 5.0 codename is Bebo. Which is yet another addition to WordPress’ hall of jazz fame. Thirty-three other jazz musicians have had a WordPress version named after them so far.

The WordPress user interface has changed a lot as well, but that’s a story for a whole different time. Actually … wait, we’ve done that one already! Here’s the evolution of WordPress UI, version by version. (Especially cool to look at if you want to see how nearly the same the old TinyMCE editor looked like throughout all these years.)

Are you excited for WordPress 5.0? Speak up in the comments below.

And, again, here are those Gutenberg keyboard shortcuts in PDF form. 💾

Your ultimate #CheatSheet to #WordPress 5.0 - all shortcuts, tips and tricks 🗒️
Click To Tweet
…

Don’t forget to join our crash course on speeding up your WordPress site. With some simple fixes, you can reduce your loading time by even 50-80%:
 

Or start the conversation in our Facebook group for WordPress professionals. Find answers, share tips, and get help from other WordPress experts. Join now (it’s free)!

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