How to Disable the WordPress Gutenberg  Editor

The best way is to install the official Classic Editor plugin created by the Automattic team.

WordPress 5.0 will be released on 12/7/2018, and with it comes a new editing experience known as Gutenberg.

Good Idea, Wrong Implementation

I’ve been actively working with Gutenberg now for about 2-3 months, and while I like the concept and agree a better editor is very much needed, I don’t like the implementation. I foresee a lot of trouble for the people I work with, and for much of the web that is currently powered by WordPress.

To avoid broken websites, confused and frustrated clients, and havoc within your WordPress websites you can preemptively disable the Gutenberg editor entirely by installing the following official plugin from the Automattic team.

Install the Classic Editor Plugin

The Classic Editor plugin restores the previous WordPress editor and the edit post screen, making it possible to use all the plugins you currently do. You can support existing meta boxes, shortcodes, and more all while using the editor you’re farmiliar with.

I’ll be publishing more shortly about how to work with Gutenberg without going crazy, their are some sound ways to leverage Advanced Custom Fields to create Gutenberg blocks that I highly recommend over the ways provided by Automattic.

Hopefully this post helps you avoid mayhem for your clients when WordPress 5.0 is released later this week.

Meet the Author

Kevin Leary, WordPress Consultant

I'm a freelance web developer and WordPress consultant in Boston, MA with 17 years of experience building websites and applications. View a portfolio of my work or request an estimate for your next project.