The problem:

As of WordPress V5.0 they have inflicted the block editor onto us.  I suspect this is a very bad attempt at a sort of year-1 finger-painting for web page creation.  It may suit one page school projects quite well for anyone who has grown up with cellphones and is not familiar with a real computer.

If you seriously maintain a WordPress based web site, the original editor seems to be far more functional and productive.

The Solution:

Go to Plugins, Add New and install the “Classic Editor” plugin and activate it.  In Settings, Writing, you can set the default editor and whether users can choose.

I found the solution in this short but very helpful Youtube video.

A Serious Concern:

I chose WordPress years ago because it was capable, stable, consistent, popular and well supported.  I get the impression that it is now moving away from being a serious web site creation tool and is being targeted more at cellphone users.

This could be a big problem when you have put so much time and effort into a web site then have the platform put it at risk.  I am probably an unusual case having a lot invested in the site, all DIY.

I Wonder Why:

Why did they make such a big change that is bound to upset a lot of serious users ?

• are they looking towards another group of users.
• are the developers not really site managers and have gone off the rails.
• will they ignore the initial backlash then force the change on everyone.

Disable Automatic Updates

This is possible if you want to stop WordPress from making such sweeping changes without your consent.  It does mean that you will have to manually apply updates to keep up with security – but you have a choice and can consider the consequences before going ahead.

Note:  this requires access to your server – C-panel or similar access.

You can disable automatic updates by adding this line to your wp-config.php file:

define( 'WP_AUTO_UPDATE_CORE', false );

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