Will the Classic Block ever go away?

  • I wasn’t sure where to ask, and sadly google is just turning up way too much non-authoritative sources.

    So I know there’s supposed to be an end to the Classic Editor Plugin at some point, which is fine and makes sense in the Gutenberg timeline. But more specifically what is the deprecation schedule (if any) of the Classic Block? I’ve noticed that if the Classic Editor Plugin is removed, I can edit a page that’s not been converted to Blocks and still have the Classic Editor functionality within the Classic Block (along with the option to convert it).

    This implies the support for Classic Block is NOT provided by the Classic Editor plugin but is integrated into Gutenberg.

    TL;DR: Is the Classic BLOCK for Gutenberg going away? If so, when?

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  • This implies the support for Classic Block is NOT provided by the Classic Editor plugin but is integrated into Gutenberg.

    At its core, the Classic Editor is just the open source TinyMCE editor wrapped inside WordPress’s content posting functions, and the Classic Block just a collection of TinyMCE buttons.

    And note that there are several plugins out there that EXTEND the TinyMCE editor found in the Classic Editor, and there are several plugins (and even themes) that use the TinyMCE editor for various user input functions. A quick search for “TinyMCE” in the WordPress plugins database returned over 1,000 results!

    So while the Classic Editor plugin might go away (at least as an official plugin), I don’t see TinyMCE itself (and hence the Classic Block) going away at all or anytime soon.

    And even if they were to go away, I’m 100% bullish that Gutenberg would then be able to natively load (and allow for editing) content previously created with the Classic Editor.

    And if all that fails, you can safely bet that there will be numerous community plugins to fill the gap, as there are already.

    So, in short, there should be no fear of “content lock-in” if you find it necessary to use the Classic Editor (though I personally don’t find any reason to continue to use it… but each to their own.)

    I hope that helps to give some context. But I’m neither a developer nor in any way connected with “official” WordPress developments — so please treat all the above with the maximum disdain that it deserves ??

    Thread Starter sporkme

    (@sporkme)

    Thanks – I also wanted to triple-check that the Classic block remains so I not only deleted, but removed the plugin (and restarted apache, php-fpm, redis, etc.) and the Classic block remains. I assumed this would be the case, but just wanted to be sure. ??

    I would LOVE to hear any kind of official word on what the prognosis is for this block…

Viewing 2 replies - 1 through 2 (of 2 total)
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