Making Sure Photonic will not Break with Gutenberg

WP 5.0 is expected to drop on 6th December, and with it comes the Gutenberg editor. How does it impact you if you are using Photonic?

I will try to cover all possible scenarios:

Scenario 1: You have got Gutenberg and are using Photonic for the First Time

You have nothing to worry about. Just start using the “Photonic Gallery” block like you would use any other block.

Scenario 2: You have not got Gutenberg yet (you will later) and are using Photonic for the first time

Follow these steps:

1. Go to the setting Photonic → Generic Options → Generic Settings → Custom Shortcode.
2. Put in some value there, e.g. photonic. Do not use gallery – every other word is fine. Save.
3. You are now ready to create galleries in your posts by using the “Add / Edit Photonic Galleries” button on your editor.

Scenario 3: You have got Gutenberg and you also have Photonic galleries on your site using a custom shortcode (i.e. not gallery)

You are fine!

1. If you want to edit old posts and you click “Convert to blocks” all your Photonic galleries will be preserved.
2. For new posts you can use the “Photonic Gallery” block

Scenario 3: You have got Gutenberg and you also have Photonic galleries on your site using the gallery shortcode

This needs a little more work:

1. Go to the setting Photonic → Generic Options → Generic Settings → Custom Shortcode.
2. Put in some value there, e.g. photonic. Do not use gallery – every other word is fine. Save.
3. Now go to Photonic → Prepare for Gutenberg. Under the section “Am I using the Gallery Shortcode with Photonic?” you will see a list of posts where the gallery shortcode is being used for Photonic.
4. You can do one of the following:

1. Click on “Replace Shortcodes” on individual posts. That will replace the gallery shortcode with what you set up in step 2 above.
2. Or, select a set of posts, click on “Bulk Actions”, pick “Replace Shortcode”, then click “Apply”. That will replace the gallery shortcode with what you set up in step 2 above for all selected posts.

It is advisable to back up your posts before you do the above.

• You can now use “Convert to blocks” without fear of losing your Photonic galleries. For new galleries you can use the “Photonic Gallery” block.

Please feel free to post queries for help.