Wait for Gutenberg or built something in ACF?

Question

I have a client who has requested something, that's straight out of the box, if I was using ACF. However... Gutenberg should be here any minute now and revolutionize who the editor works.

I've looked around for an estimated release-date for WordPress 5.0 or some official document, stating if it's final that Gutenberg will be part of core (which I hope). And if so, - a rough timeline for when 5.0 is released. Because I'd rather spend time solving this issue in Gutenberg and be forwards combatible for a while, than do a quickfix now with ACF and not know if it'll be outdated mere days from now.

I've googled for an hour without finding answers to any of them.

My questions are:

1. Can I see an estimate or a guess-timate for a WordPress 5.0 release?
2. Is it for certain that Gutenberg is the new default editer? And have the development team said anything about, what is going to happen with TinyMCE? ... Ideally, then I'm looking for official WordPress statements.
3. If I were to install the Gutenberg plugin today. What happens then if/when Gutenberg becomes part of core? I hope/assume that they've considered it, - but I'm afraid of making a solution for a client based on, that I hope someone considered something.

Answer 1

Can I see an estimate or a guess-timate for a WordPress 5.0 release?

5.0 won't be released until Gutenberg is done, and "this year" is as specific as anyone's gotten for that. At some stage it was supposed to be early this year, but it's already April and there's still a fair bit to go.

The FAQ states:

We are hoping that Gutenberg will be sufficiently polished, tested, iterated, and proven enough to be merged into WordPress 5.0, with an estimated release date of 2018.

You can also keep an eye on progress on GitHub.

Is it for certain that Gutenberg is the new default editer? And have the development team said anything about, what is going to happen with TinyMCE? ... Ideally, then I'm looking for official WordPress statements.

It will be the default editor. There's a page on wordpress.org about it and the FAQ.

If I were to install the Gutenberg plugin today. What happens then if/when Gutenberg becomes part of core? I hope/assume that they've considered it, - but I'm afraid of making a solution for a client based on, that I hope someone considered something.

Gutenberg isn't finished, or even feature complete. The plugin is available for testing, and some people are already building products based on it, but they will be following development and ensuring that it maintains compatibility as Gutenberg develops and eventually merges into Core. If you build a solution on top of it now, I would plan for future updates to ensure it continues to work.

A plugin is already available that will disable Gutenberg and keep the current editor around.

Personally, I would not build a client project on top of Gutenberg until it's in Core. Something personal, maybe, but not something where the immediate future has so much uncertainty. If I were developing a public theme or plugin, I would be working on compatibility now, but client projects are different and probably won't be getting the ongoing attention needed to deal with what is essentially still beta software.

It's also worth noting that Advanced Custom Fields plans to support Gutenberg, so this isn't an entirely either-or question to begin with. ACF won't stop working when 5.0 is released.

Answer 2

Just for your information since i'm goging to reccurring meetups of the wordpress community Gutenberg will propably not be a part of the core in the next mayor update 5.0.