Block editor debacle is the reason I’ll stop teaching WordPress

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  barristertanya · Member · Mar 10, 2020 at 5:36 pm

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  Folks: You’ve got a big problem with this block editor interface. My journalism students are confused by it and your solution of ‘switching’ a block to ‘classic’ editing mode before adding content is cumbersome and tedious. After 12 years of teaching hundreds of University at Albany students on WordPress, I’m about to bail out and seek another platform to teach blogging.

  Oh, I see that my students can purchase a plan for installing the ‘classic’ plugin. Sorry — not a good solution. My students have enormous expenses already and your free site was a way to connect them with your brand.

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  staff-blorbo · Staff · Mar 10, 2020 at 6:21 pm

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  To restore the Classic Editor, follow the steps under “Will I still be able to use the old editor?” at https://en.support.wordpress.com/wordpress-editor/#frequently-asked-questions

  We do recommend the new editor though, and we have some extensive documentation available at https://en.support.wordpress.com/wordpress-editor/

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  barristertanya · Member · Mar 10, 2020 at 9:17 pm

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  Yes, but your site states that setting may not work — which is the case with my students: “Newer sites don’t have this option by default, but if you do find you want to switch to the Classic Editor and don’t have the option, please do contact us and we can help you out!”

  I suggest you temper your enthusiasm about the new editor and get feedback from instructors who teach a diverse range of students. My students didn’t find the “new editor” to be intuitive. They were frustrated by the lack of visible access to additional editing functions. When poor user experiences like this eat up a disproportionate amount of class time, it’s prudent to move on to another hosting service.

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  staff-blorbo · Staff · Mar 10, 2020 at 9:34 pm

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  please do contact us and we can help you out

  That is correct.

  Some themes do require the new block editor, but we can still force those sites to use the classic editor.

  All you need to do is have the site owner contact us via https://wordpress.com/help/contact and we can make that change for them.