Well, this is a blow.
I’ve been using this same WordPress editing interface for the past decade, and it works fine. I’ve just found out that it’s apparently being withdrawn, and we’re all being forced to move to the new system as of 01Jun2020.
More information here.
Q: Why do people keep insisting on fixing things that aren’t broken?
A: New brooms, I guess. They think that they have to do something to justify their salaries.
Oh, well, it hasn’t happened yet. Maybe they’re talking about something different, and I’ll be able to continue using the interface that I’ve been perfectly happy using all along. From what I’ve seen of the ‘block‘ editor, it’s clunky, unresponsive, and doesn’t make effective use of screen real estate. I really hope that I won’t have to use that.
I’ve been here before (many times). Sometimes an ‘upgrade’ is indeed actually better, once one gets used to it. And sometimes, it’s not.
We’ll see…
Wibble 
I got into the shit trying to use it some time ago. Just couldn’t do it. Then someone told me how to change it back to the old editor. It now looks like there won’t be the choice. So I’ll be in the shit again!
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These folk who ‘improve’ technological tools all too often don’t consider accessibility issues, nor do they think twice about those of us who really don’t appreciate being asked to use a screwdriver when we’ve been happily banging in nails with a hammer for a long time!
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I know. It makes me mad too. I guess we’ll have to try and fathom it though. 😒
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I have my fingers crossed we’ll still be able to edit via the dashboard. Maybe (just maybe) the one they’re talking about retiring is the other ‘new editor’ — the one you get when you try to edit a post that’s already been published?
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I don’t know. I don’t understand any of it.
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I feel for you, Lorraine. It’s difficult enough for me: I don’t think they’ve taken any account at all of someone in your situation :(
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Thanks Colin. We’ll get through it though. We’ll help each other 😊
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It’s a deal!
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Ok 😎
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Hi Lorraine. I discovered some more info. Please see the postscript to my post at WordPress editor upgrade woes.
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I absolutely loathe (yes, loathe, it’s that vile) the WordPress block editor. Why make things more complicated? It’s not even user-friendly. It’s like a dog that keeps biting my hand every time I interact with it.
I’ve been using it recently to get used to it, and boy, this is going to make me miss the old days of the WordPress editor. What a joke.
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I’ve been hoping to hear “You luddite, the new block editor is wonderful, you’re just an old fogey who’s resistant to change!” — I could deal with that. But your input is not good news.
I suspect that this is the kind of change that would take a lot of effort on the part of WordPress to revert, so I very much doubt that kicking up a stink about it would make any impact. /sigh
Welcome to Wibble, though, Lucy!
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I complained about one of the changes in the past and they told me I could access the “old system” through the dashboard. Hopefully that option will remain. I do everything through the dashboard.
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Oh, I do hope so!
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As I read the article you linked to (posted by the WP folks), I got the impression that we can all elect to use what they refer to as the “Classic” style of editor. It may be that this change is not quite as draconian as it seems.
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After some digging, it would appear that the ‘Classic Editor’ is in fact still available, though you have to jump through some hoops to get to it. Just how long it will still be available, though, is anyone’s guess. WordPress clearly wants us to move to the new ‘Block Editor’. Having now tried it myself, I think it’s actually quite good — although I have concerns as to how accessible it might be for those with sight problems.
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I’m dreading it, as well…
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Me, too — and that’s not good, I don’t like dreading things :( I wish they’d given us more notice (or even asked for our opinions in advance!).
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Ditto!
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That’s another vote for ‘we think this may have been a mistake, WordPress’…
Welcome to Wibble, Sheree!
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😎
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I also love the current one. I don’t want to switch, and I wonder why they’re changing it. Do they actually want to make it more difficult for us to do posts?
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From what they say in the ‘more information’ link I gave in my post above they clearly think that the change is for the better. I wonder how much user testing they actually did on it (and whether that included old fogeys like me who have been loyal to them for years).
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My sentiments too.
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I didn’t know we will be forced to change. How will they do that if we don’t hit the switch button?
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There’s a switch button?
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Maybe . . .
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I use Windows Live Writer for my posts, Pendantry, which to me has the ‘feel’ of the current WordPress editor; I only use the WordPress editor to set the featured image, or make minor tweaks to the post when the occasional formatting issue crops up. I’m totally baffled by the block editor (whatever that means) and the help screen showing the available features moves so fast I can’t work out which feature is which, let alone know how to use it.
It looks like from June my posts won’t have a featured image, and may appear terribly formatted on occasion. Sigh.
I suppose I’ll get used to the new editor one day, but they’ll already be working the next replacement now, so is it worth even bothering to try?
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Hmm… I wonder if we’re talking about the same thing? From this and other comments in this thread I’m now wondering whether WordPress is talking about the editor built into the dashboard, or not — that’s the one I don’t want to lose, myself. (You mention ‘making minor tweaks’, which I can make through the dashboard editor — if I hit the ‘edit’ link on the post itself, that brings up a different editor, one that really is a monstrosity.)
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I go into the dashboard by clicking the ‘My Sites’ button (top left) and then click on the posts option from the list here. I then select my post and the pop up appears advising the new editor is coming.
There’s another dashboard which is accessed through the WP Admin link (at the bottom of the list of ‘my sites’ options), and I get the same pop up there.
Perhaps the monster is coming from all angles! 🙄
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OMG you’re right. I just tried ‘Dashboard > Posts > Add new’ and the monster came straight up :(
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There’s no escape, then…
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It seems maybe so. (I did notice however that if I hover over the post titles in ‘Dashboard > Posts’ I’m given the option to use the ‘Classic Editor’. Haven’t yet figured out how to use that for NEW posts, though.)
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I found a place where the pop up doesn’t appear, but don’t want to say where just yet… just in case.
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May I be cheeky and include a link to two training videos I have created specifically for those of you being forced to go to the block editor.
Feature image, you need to go onto settings, button on right side, scroll down past categories and tags and it us there.
Link is below. I haven blogging for 4 years and last year on blog editor. One of the things I show is how to set a feature image.
https://thoughtsnlifeblog.com/2020/05/30/how-to-use-the-classic-block-on-the-block-editor-on-wordpress-com/
I hope this is helpful.
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Thanks for sharing this, Bella. You make it seem easy. I shall persevere with things when the changes come in.
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Well, from one neo-Luddite to the other (perhaps) I completely understand your dismay. While I’ve known that WP intended to toss out the old for the new (even if many of us don’t like it) I thought it wasn’t happening until January 2021, so join you in the shock of having to learn the block editor in 8 days. For awhile, they have given users the ability to toggle in between the two editors so I don’t understand why they can’t continue doing so. The little bit I’ve dabbled in it hasn’t been a great experience. I, too, find it clunky and difficult to maneuver, cumbersome for cut/paste, and it doesn’t do what it indicates. Personally, I think WP has done a great disservice to all of us non-tech users…and even to the more skilled like yourself. I’m not finding WP or Block Editor to be very friendly. :-(
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I think you’re right on the ‘disservice’.
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Oh dear. I haven’t been blogging as all of you on this post clearly. I have been blogging for 4 years and one year on the block editor. I know a lot of my blogging friends are on the classic block and being forced to move. So I created two training videos, 1 the basic of the block editor, 2 how use use the classic editor on the block editor whilst you get use the block editor. I include the link below if you want to have a look, it might be helpful. I plan to do more how to use certain blocks videos and get them on my blog quickly helping the wider wordpress.com community.
Here is the link .
https://thoughtsnlifeblog.com/2020/05/30/how-to-use-the-classic-block-on-the-block-editor-on-wordpress-com/
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Here is a WordPress Zoom meeting in my area about our upcoming problems.
May MSP WordPress Meetup – Gravity Forms: Ask Me Anything
Thursday, May 28, 2020, 11:00 AM
Online event
,
21 WordPress Enthusiasts Attending
Due to COVID-19, this will be an online Zoom meetup. RSVP to get the Zoom meeting URL (it will also be emailed the day of the event). We welcome WordPress users, developers, and enthusiasts of all levels! – – – – – – – – – – TOPIC: Gravity Forms: Ask Me Anything 11am-12pm Description: Let’s talk about Gravity Forms. Gravity Forms are the easiest, m…
Check out this Meetup →
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It’s good that folks are talking about it. Maybe WordPress will listen…?
(Have never used Zoom myself. I heard that they had a serious security breach a short while ago.)
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Right now, it’s the best way to have meetings.
I found this meeting on the right bottom of my dashboard page. There may be local groups in your area who are also meeting.
I’m joining so I can learn about it, because unfortunately, it’s not going away.
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Supposedly there will still be an option to use the classic editor after June 1st, but I’m reasonably sure that the good folks at WordPress will make it challenging to invoke that option.
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Do you happen to know whether the ‘classic editor’ is the one (that I’ve always used) that’s accessible via the dashboard?
PS Welcome to Wibble, Fandango! Good to see you here!
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Not sure, but in the past there was a way to toggle between the classic (which is what I use) and the block editor. I’m hoping that option will remain as of June 1st.
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I dread upgrades. And improvements.
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Well, I don’t mind ‘improvements’ myself, provided that they’re genuine improvements from the users point of view, and that they’re implemented gradually.
But I do dread ‘upgrades’ that are BIG changes foisted upon the unwilling.
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Yeah, but how many improvements really make the thing better?
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Ellen, read my latest blog and you will be relieved . There is a hack, you can use the classic editor in the block editor. I created a training video. Planning to do more training videos. But for now have a look at he link below. Might help you all.
https://thoughtsnlifeblog.com/2020/05/30/how-to-use-the-classic-block-on-the-block-editor-on-wordpress-com/
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I haven’t even tried to use the block editor. If they remove the one we are using now, I don’t know what I will do!!
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The jury may still be out on which editor they’re actually going to remove. I for one hope that it’s not the one that’s built into the dashboard.
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Keeping my fingers crossed !
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Don’t panic! Or at least, that’s what I can take from their post here: https://wordpress.com/blog/2020/05/18/say-hello-to-the-wordpress-block-editor/
Two editor options to choose from if you don’t want the block editor. Looks a pretty simple choice to me. Or perhaps I’m not old enough to find anything older than that familiar.
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That article looks much the same as the one I linked to, in their support pages. Only this one has 773 ‘likes’… and 43 comments. I started reading through the comments, thinking maybe I’d stick my tuppence in at the end, and then thought Wait, what? 773 likes but only 43 comments? — and only then did I twig that comments were closed. I bet they had to do that to counter the hailstorm of complaints!
One good point one commenter made is that they can’t decide what to call their various different editor systems. I want to retain the one that I’m used to using… except that all I know it as is ‘the one that’s in the dashboard’ (I think, maybe, it’s called ‘classic editor’?)
Trying hard not to panic. That’s very good advice, thank you :D
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I really dislike the block editor. I hope that will not be the one I have to use.
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I’ve just used it for the first time to create a new post (not yet published) and, although it’s very different, I haven’t (yet) found anything that I could do in the ‘Classic’ (is that what it’s called?) editor that I can’t do in the ‘Block’ editor. There’s still time, though….
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Forgive me for plugging a training video I created for those being forced to shift to the block editor. I have been blogging for 4 years and last year on block editor. I have created two videos, one that shows how to create a basic blog post using the block editor. And the other is a hack, how to use the classic editor in the block editor. See link below, I hope it helps. I do appreciate that I haven’t been blogging long, and there might be some third editor I have no clue about. Forgive me in advance
https://thoughtsnlifeblog.com/2020/05/30/how-to-use-the-classic-block-on-the-block-editor-on-wordpress-com/
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I have been blogging for 4 years and the last year I have used the block editor and it has really improved and I think it really will everyone’s blog shine that much brighter than they do today.
I know many feel whyyyyyy!
So I created a couple of traing/ demo videos of how easy it is and dare I say fun. One of the video is a quick tour of the basics and the other is what I call a baby step or even a hack. WordPress have kindly created a block called the classic block, which effectively is the classic editor. So this can be used to get your blog posts out, while you secretly learn the block editor.
Forgive me for including a link to my blog post that contains the demo video here in this comment. I know it is cheeky and against blogging protocol.
But, I think you and your friends might feel a bit better knowing there is an option for 1st june. I will also be doing quick trainings on the most used blocks and post them on my blog to help those being forced to move across.
Here is the link:
https://thoughtsnlifeblog.com/2020/05/30/how-to-use-the-classic-block-on-the-block-editor-on-wordpress-com/
Forgive my cheekyness 🙂
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