An earlier decision to hide the Classic block from the block inserter by default in WordPress 7.1 has been reversed following community feedback. As a result, the proposed changes, including a new filter, a migration notice, and the Enable Classic Block plugin, have been withdrawn.
Community feedback prompted a change in direction
The original decision would have hidden the Classic block from the block inserter by default in WordPress 7.1 while keeping existing Classic blocks fully functional and editable. It also introduced the wp_classic_block_supports_inserter filter to restore the Classic block to the inserter, an experimental deprecation and migration notice, and the Enable Classic Block plugin for users who preferred not to use the filter.
With the decision now reversed, Atanasov said the Classic block will continue to appear in the inserter by default. The wp_classic_block_supports_inserter filter and the deprecation and migration notice have been removed, and the Enable Classic Block plugin has also been closed.
Explaining the decision, Atanasov said discussions with members of the community and feedback gathered from different sources showed that the approach “had things largely backward.” However, he did not specify where that feedback originated.
Atanasov said the feedback also changed the direction of the effort. “One of the takeaways is that the Classic block should become obsolete by choice, not by force”.
Future work will focus on understanding why users continue to rely on the Classic block, making the “Convert to Blocks” experience more reliable, developing better conversion and migration mechanisms, improving TinyMCE asset registration and explicit dependency handling, exploring ways to load TinyMCE on demand or asynchronously, and preventing TinyMCE from loading in the block editor when the Classic block is disabled from the block manager.
The discussion also highlighted why some users continue to depend on the Classic block. In the GitHub thread, Jason LeMahieu (lead developer for the University of Wisconsin) said content creators at his organization still rely on Classic blocks because the current Table block lacks features available through their TinyMCE table plugin, which provides functionality “not currently possible with the Table Block.” He added that further improvements to the Table block “would certainly help ease the pain of moving away from the Classic Editor block.”
WordPress 7.1 is scheduled for August 19, 2026, coinciding with the final day of WordCamp US, while Beta 1 is slated for July 15.