The official AMP for WordPress plugin has received a major update, including the ability to build websites solely with AMP.
That means new sites can be built with AMP from the ground up, with no need for duplicate versions of each page.
In theory that would also solve the hidden URL problem that many publishers have with AMP.
When AMP versions of pages are served in places like Google News and Google search, the original publisher URL is not displayed.
If a site was built entirely with AMP then there would be no need for a separate AMP version. So the URL served in search results would be the publisher URL.
However, due to the limitations of AMP, it’s not feasible for all sites to be built solely with that technology.
Site owners would have to carefully consider the pros and cons before going all-in with AMP.
With this update to the plugin, there’s also an option to enable AMP only on specific sections of a site or disable AMP on specific pages.
Other New Features
The latest update to the official AMP for WordPress plugin also comes with other features, which include:
- Content sanitizers: To help substituting HTML tags for their corresponding AMP components, implement optimizations, and feed validation information to the plugin compatibility’s tool.
- Compatibility tool: Assists with further AMP debugging.
- CSS Tree Shaking: To assist in the process of putting the CSS-house in order in cases where existing CSS rule exceed the maximum limited permitted on single AMP pages.
- Core theme support: Enabling full AMP validity for four default themes (i.e. 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019).
- Gutenberg integration: Enabling AMP content creation fully integrated with WordPress 5.0.
- Various enhancements: Including code, performance, and developer experience improvements.
- Compatibility enforcement: To ensure that a site stays AMP compatible and that only AMP-valid content is ever served
The developers emphasize that this is still not a complete turn-key solution.
“It is important to note that the plugin is not a completely turn-key solution to “AMPlify your site”, but instead functions as a key enabling technology for a fully AMP compatible WordPress ecosystem.”
In the future, there is expected to be turn-key solutions. For now, the AMP Project is focusing on ecosystem adoption
