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Classic Editor

By WordPress Contributors

Description

Classic Editor is an official plugin maintained by the WordPress team that restores the previous (“classic”) WordPress editor and the “Edit Post” screen. It makes it possible to use plugins that extend that screen, add old-style meta boxes, or otherwise depend on the previous editor.

Classic Editor is an official WordPress plugin, and will be fully supported and maintained until at least 2022, or as long as is necessary.

At a glance, this plugin adds the following:

  • Administrators can select the default editor for all users.
  • Administrators can allow users to change their default editor.
  • When allowed, the users can choose which editor to use for each post.
  • Each post opens in the last editor used regardless of who edited it last. This is important for maintaining a consistent experience when editing content.

In addition, the Classic Editor plugin includes several filters that let other plugins control the settings, and the editor choice per post and per post type.

By default, this plugin hides all functionality available in the new Block Editor (“Gutenberg”).

Screenshots

  • Admin settings on the Settings -> Writing screen.
  • User settings on the Profile screen. Visible when the users are allowed to switch editors.
  • "Action links" to choose alternative editor. Visible when the users are allowed to switch editors.
  • Link to switch to the Block Editor while editing a post in the Classic Editor. Visible when the users are allowed to switch editors.
  • Link to switch to the Classic Editor while editing a post in the Block Editor. Visible when the users are allowed to switch editors.
  • Network setting to allow site admins to change the default options.

Reviews

The best editor in WordPress

I’ve tried working with the blocks, I hate it! I sincerly hope this editor will stay forever! I’m working with WordPress for many, many years now and always with pleasure, those blocks in Gutenberg made me looking for another possibillity. Please keep this plugin updated forever and not temporary! Those blocks simply don’t work!

They had better keep support beyond 2022…

It is sad that this plugin has become a necessity for any WordPress site admin and content creator. I gave gutenberg a fair shake, and have to say it is a complete and abysmal failure in the WP universe. Why they pushed this horrible UI on end users makes me think they are in this for their own amusement. They risk alienating their long-time users with this garbage.

This plugin works, and as I said, a necessity. The day it is no longer supported is the day many of us will leave WordPress. This organization seriously needs to rethink this mess they are forcing on everyone. A block-based editor is something a desktop publisher uses, not a content author. I compare it to using Microsoft Word vs. Microsoft Publisher–both are good tools, but one is not a substitute for the other. I could never create long-form content in Publisher, just as I can’t in this gutenberg mess. WP is completely out of touch with who their user base actually is. No, it isn’t the tweaky developer and coder types who apparently like this garbage. It’s those who write for a living and do not want the distraction of these insipid blocks.

This plugin for now is the only way to keep some sanity. And it works as expected.

A Welcome Relief

This is a breath of fresh air in a currently stressful and frustrating Gutenberg environment. Thanks and props to the WordPress team. Happy New Year!

Works just as described

I fully appreciate what the WP team is doing with the new editor and I hope it’s eventually successful. For now, though, it’s not quite there. I tried very hard to like it and use it, but when it kept deleting my own custom (and carefully coded) html, I finally had to switch to the old editor.

I hope the team isn’t too discouraged with this because I know Gutenberg was a very big effort. Please keep trying to get Gutenberg to work well, but thanks for providing this plugin in the meantime.

Read all 391 reviews

Contributors & Developers

“Classic Editor” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.

Contributors

“Classic Editor” has been translated into 41 locales. Thank you to the translators for their contributions.

Translate “Classic Editor” into your language.

Interested in development?

Browse the code, check out the SVN repository, or subscribe to the development log by RSS.

Changelog

1.3

  • Fixed removal of the “Try Gutenberg” dashboard widget.
  • Fixed condition for displaying of the after upgrade notice on the “What’s New” screen. Shown when the Classic Editor is selected and users cannot switch editors.

1.2

  • Fixed switching editors from the Add New (post) screen before a draft post is saved.
  • Fixed typo that was appending the edit URL to the classic-editor query var.
  • Changed detecting of WordPress 5.0 to not use version check. Fixes a bug when testing 5.1-alpha.
  • Changed the default value of the option to allow users to switch editors to false.
  • Added disabling of the Gutenberg plugin and lowered the required WordPress version to 4.9.
  • Added classic_editor_network_default_settings filter.

1.1

Fixed a bug where it may attempt to load the Block Editor for post types that do not support editor when users are allowed to switch editors.

1.0

  • Updated for WordPress 5.0.
  • Changed all “Gutenberg” names/references to “Block Editor”.
  • Refreshed the settings UI.
  • Removed disabling of the Gutenberg plugin. This was added for testing in WordPress 4.9. Users who want to continue following the development of Gutenberg in WordPress 5.0 and beyond will not need another plugin to disable it.
  • Added support for per-user settings of default editor.
  • Added support for admins to set the default editor for the site.
  • Added support for admins to allow users to change their default editor.
  • Added support for network admins to prevent site admins from changing the default settings.
  • Added support to store the last editor used for each post and open it next time. Enabled when users can choose default editor.
  • Added “post editor state” in the listing of posts on the Posts screen. Shows the editor that will be opened for the post. Enabled when users can choose default editor.
  • Added classic_editor_enabled_editors_for_post and classic_editor_enabled_editors_for_post_type filters. Can be used by other plugins to control or override the editor used for a particular post of post type.
  • Added classic_editor_plugin_settings filter. Can be used by other plugins to override the settings and disable the settings UI.

0.5

  • Updated for Gutenberg 4.1 and WordPress 5.0-beta1.
  • Removed some functionality that now exists in Gutenberg.
  • Fixed redirecting back to the Classic Editor after looking at post revisions.

0.4

  • Fixed removing of the “Try Gutenberg” call-out when the Gutenberg plugin is not activated.
  • Fixed to always show the settings and the settings link in the plugins list table.
  • Updated the readme text.

0.3

  • Updated the option from a checkbox to couple of radio buttons, seems clearer. Thanks to @designsimply for the label text suggestions.
  • Some general updates and cleanup.

0.2

  • Update for Gutenberg 1.9.
  • Remove warning and automatic deactivation when Gutenberg is not active.

0.1

Initial release.

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Support

Issues resolved in last two months:

47 out of 82

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