Switch to Classic Editor
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Is there any way I can switch to the classic editor for my WordPress.com blog? I’m blind, and I find the block editor frustrating to use with my screen reader, software that lets me use a computer independently.
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Staff are promoting the classic block found within the block editor. You would probably be more comfortable working with the classic editor which you can still reach from the WP Admin dashboard.
https://wordpress.com/support/editors/
https://wordpress.com/support/wordpress-editor/blocks/classic-block/ -
Hi. I tried looking for the classic editor in WP Admin but couldn’t find it. That webpage on editors doesn’t tell you where to look either. Can you tell me how to find it?
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Hi there,
Can you provide some more details on what you find problematic with the editor when using a screen reader?
The developers over on WordPress.org who make this editor have made significant improvements in terms of accessibility over the past year, and I’m sure they’d want to know of anything that isn’t working as it should.
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I just find dealing with the blocks not as easy as dealing with one edit box. It’s not always clear which block is being edited when I try to use the different rich text options, and when I move around to select text I end up moving into other blocks or selecting multiple blocks instead of the text of one block.
I can use it, but I thought it might be easier for me to use the classic editor.
Another issue is that sometimes when I’m pressing backspace to remove text, my screen reader, NVDA, doesn’t always read the letters I’m backspacing like it should. -
Thanks for the details.
As @themagicrobot said above, you’ll still be able to use the classic editor from WP-Admin. You can switch to the classic editor by opening the option menu in the block editor, and selecting the Switch To Classic option.
Let us know if you have any trouble with that, and we can also switch this preference for you.
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So do I start a new post through WP Admin to find this? I started one from my blog’s home but couldn’t find the option to switch anywhere.
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You’ll need to go directly to WP-Admin at https://lifewithmultipledisabilitieshome.wordpress.com/wp-admin/edit.php, yes.
When you create a new post and get taken to the block editor, there’s a menu button represented by three dots, …, in the top-right corner. I’m afraid I don’t know how your screen reader software will represent that, though. If you click that, at the bottom of the menu that appears should be an option to switch to the classic editor.
Once you’ve done that, you’ll need to come to WP-Admin every time to create a new post, but it should remember your preference for the classic editor and select that automatically once you’ve switched it the first time around.
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I just tried that, and the only options I see in a menu my screen reader calls more tools and options are visual editor, code editor, and jetpack.
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I find the easiest and quickest way is to go to WP Admin Posts -All Posts and click the arrow at the side of “Posts Add New” button top left. Then I am presented with a choice of which editor to use. (The “Add New” in the WP Admin black left hand menu doesn’t appear to “remember” my preference).
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Interesting. When I click add new, it takes me directly to the block editor and I can’t find anything about the classic editor.
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Not “Add new”. If you click the arrow next to “Add New” a drop down menu appears giving you a choice of editor.
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Sorry, as a blind person this is a bit confusing. I just looked again, and I see a button that says screen options and another that says help. When I expand either of these I don’t see anything about the editor.
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No, I’m sorry that WordPress can’t make things accessible to all. Those buttons are on the far right of the screen. You need to be over on the top far left where it says “Posts”. Next to that is the “Add new” button. To the immediate right of that button is an arrow. Perhaps that doesn’t display with your screen reader, but if you left click a mouse in that area of the screen just a few mm to the right of “Add new” then the block or classic options appear.
Also the list of existing posts lower down the screen all have an option to edit them using the classic editor.
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To be clear to someone using a screen reader I should have added to the above
but if you left click a mouse in that area of the screen just a few mm to the right of “Add new” then the clickable choice of block or classic options appear below the “Add new”.button
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I don’t know if this will work for you, but I’m finding that if I want to get the classic editor to show up, if I type in the normal block editor and then, when I want a new paragraph, press the shift key on my keyboard at the same time as the enter key, it creates a new paragraph without triggering a new block. And at least a few of the classic editor’s rich text options are available.
@themagicrobot – I can’t see the classic options anywhere near the Add New button (either the one in the wp-admin drop down menu or the one above the All Posts area), and haven’t done in weeks. All the wp-admin ‘New Post’ buttons (and anything near them – which is usually just an extension of the same field) just take me straight to the default block editor.The system the OP is using plus her browser may have something to do with what her screen-reader is or isn’t seeing.
Just some thoughts.
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I can’t see the classic options anywhere near the Add New button (either the one in the wp-admin drop down menu or the one above the All Posts area), and haven’t done in weeks.
The fact that everyone isn’t presented with the same things (which appears to depend on how long one has had an account here) is one of THE most frustrating things about using the WordPress editors. Having to open a post in the Block editor and then clicking on the three dots to return to the classic editor seems a mightily clunky way of working. I’ll wait and see what happens June 1st when the My Sites editor is removed. Perhaps things will be simpler from then on?
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Hi @living4god1991,
I have switched your site’s editor to the Classic editor.
Let me know if there’s anything else I can do for you. I’m happy to help.
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