- Updated November 14, 2018: Added link to plugin “Disable Gutenberg” (#18). Added link to CalmPress (#19) Living in Florida, I am contemplating a recount of my own for this post. Who needs 20 methods to avoid something…. haha. — Birgit xđź’•
- Updated October 9th, 2018 – Added Mika Epstein’s Selective DeGutenberging (#17)
- Updated August 31, 2018 – Added “Reading List: What the Fork (WTF)
- Updated August 27th, 2018, added the option of leaving WordPress ecosystem and community altogether, highlighting four alternative CMSs.
- Updated August 2nd, 2018 added a 12th method to the Gutenberg Call-out section.
- Updated August 1, 2018 added an 11th method to the Gutenberg Nag section.
Gutenberg, the new visual editor for WordPress will be merged into Core as the default editor later this year, when WordPress 5.0 will be released.
In August a “Try Gutenberg” call out was released with WordPress 4.9.8 with a button to to install the Gutenberg plugin for post and pages or install official Classic Editor. If you install the Classic Editor, you will be able to keep using the current editor beyond the merge of Gutenberg into Core.
Beyond this global opt-out method, developers, consultants and site admins can make more nuanced decisions on how Gutenberg is implemented on their sites. Here is a list. If you find one missing, feel free to post a link in the comments and we’ll update the post.
Caveat: Use at your own risk. We did not test the latest versions of mentioned plugins.
Built-in Methods and Plugins maintained by Core Contributors
Gary Pendergast, summarized built-in Methods that will be available when Gutenberg is merged into Core.
Note: There is not a single method. It’s all depends on context.
The Classic Editor plugin is the option for reverting to the classic editor across an entire site. It’s being advertised prominently in the upcoming WordPress 4.9.8 release as an option to install now, in preparation for WordPress 5.0. If you’re a site builder who wishes to opt your clients out of the block editor, installing the Classic Editor plugin (and contributing with bug reports or fixes) is the best long term solution to ensure the classic editor will continue to be available.
For metaboxes, it’s already possible to opt-out of the block editor, this API will be merged into Core.
For CPTs, the gutenberg_can_edit_post_type
filter will be renamed when it’s merged (probably to block_editor_can_edit_post_type
, or something of that nature), but will also be available as a code-based option.
Methods to avoid Gutenberg nag or modify it.
Built into Core with with 4.9.8
For site – owners, the easiest way is to just use the “Dismiss” link on the right side. Once you dismiss the prompt it won’t show up again. Wow, that was easy:-)
Via code in a plugin or in a file stored in /mu-plugins folder
add_action( 'init', function() {
remove_action( 'try_gutenberg_panel', 'wp_try_gutenberg_panel' );
});
Code language: JavaScript (javascript)
The is also a new filter try_gutenberg_learn_more_link
“that allows hosts or site owners to change the link, to provide extra information about Gutenberg, specific to their service or site. ” (Quoted from the trac ticket)
More details on both can be found on the Core Make blog

Plugins to disable the notice
There are a few plugins available that suppress the so called “Gutenberg Nag”.
- Paul Biron, release lead for 4.9.8 created a plugin to hide the Gutenberg Nag for different user capabilities. At the moment, it’s only available on GitHub
- David Decker made his available on GitHub.
- Luciano Croce published the “Dismiss Gutenberg Nag” on the WordPress plugin Repository
- Jeff Starr’s plugin “Disable Gutenberg” does a lot more (see below) and it also disables the Gutenberg admin notice.
Additional Plugins available on the WordPress Plugin Repository
Over the last four months, plugin developers also created various solutions to have a more granular control over Gutenberg editing experience.
- Gutenberg Ramp – published by WordPress VIP team, allows you to enable Gutenberg on a post level basis for CTPs if they support the editor.
- Jeff Starr’s plugin “Disable Gutenberg” completely disables Gutenberg editor, and gives us the choice to do it by post type or user role.
- Sara Gooding on WPTavern reviewed the Classic Editor Addon Plugin, that also implemented a feature to disable the 4.9.8 nag, but also needs the Classic Editor plugin installed.
- Gutenberg Manager by the unCommons Team, also allows you to disable Gutenberg for selected Custom post types.
- With Lee Rickler’s plugin GutenBeGone – you can disable individual Blocks that come with Gutenberg
- LittleBizzy published yet another plugin: Disable Gutenberg
WordPress Fork Proposals
ClassicPress
A recent start-up, intending a fork of WordPress 4.9.8, probably one of the last versions without Gutenberg. At the time of this writing (8/27/28), it’s not ready for anyone to jump on board. Stay in the loop via the website. “Forking is a features” Gary Pendergast, a WordPress Contributor blogged in August.
CalmPress
CalmPress is the name of another WordPress 4.9 fork. “to get a more stable and calm experience to all of its users” writes Mark Kaplun, the initiator of CalmPress. It’s not intended as a “one-man hobby”, but it’s what it looks like at this moment. You can follow along the progress via its blog
Leave WordPress – Community and Ecosystem
There are plenty of options to leave the WordPress eco sytem, depending on your needs and goals. W3Tech covers approximately 300+ Content Management Systems. There are the commercial walled-garden options: Shopify, SquareSpace, Wix or the proprietary software Adobe Experience Manager. Below, you find three examples of modern CMS to check out as developer.
Ghost 2.0
Founded by John O’Nolan, a former WordPress Core contributor, and Hannah Wolfe, Ghost’s 1st version was released in 2013. It’s a blogging platform entirely written in server-side JavaScript based on nodejs. The open-source software is available for self-hosters as well as a hosted solution, maintained by the Ghost Foundation.
Drupal
Drupal, is the other major PHP-based open-source content management system with a large community. Lately, it made headlines, for efforts to integrated Gutenberg in its own code base.
Craft CMS
Craft is another PHP/MySQL based Content Management System, just released in it 3rd version. Back in April, the Craft Plugin Store was opened, integrated with GitHub and annual updates for residual income for the developers.
Photo by Jamie Street on Unsplash
21 Comments
Hi Brigit,
Thanks for the heads up on the name change to block_editor_can_edit_post_type
Further heads up… Seems like they went with a slightly filter different name (as of WordPress 5 beta) use_block_editor_for_post_type – and in addition now, use_block_editor_for_post also.
You are welcome! Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment! Happy August!
By Post Author
Hi Birgit,
Any updates on the final replacement for the filter that can be placed in functions.php file.
Currently add_filter(‘gutenberg_can_edit_post_type’, ‘__return_false’); works but I havn’t seen this or its replacement mentioned in this post?
Hi Stephen,
I posted your question in the Slack channel #core-editor this morning and learned the following:
You will not see _gutenberg_ prefix in 5.0. Gary Pendergast is leading the effort to get rid of these code name in one task, and maybe even with a plugin release before the merge.
By Post Author
Thanks for the quick reply. We will have to wait a bit longer to see what options are available in terms of a simple filter in the functions file.
I was curious about this, too.
[…] In de geest van de drukpers heeft een actieve ontwikkelaar de website Gutenberg Times gemaakt. Daar kun je veel informatie vinden over de ontwikkelingen. Ook hoe je de editor kunt vermijden. […]
[…] For now the release of WordPress 4.9.8 is going forward. If you need to avoid the Gutenberg Nag, or Gutenberg for that matter we listed 11 methods in a different post. […]
[…] out more ways to avoid Gutenberg (there are […]
[…] But if you’re not ready for the Gutenberg editor and don’t want that nag notification in WordPress 4.9.8 displaying on your site? My friend Birgit Pauli-Haack gathered 12 methods to avoid Gutenberg on your website. […]
[…] week ago we collected the 12 Methods to avoid Gutenberg in post. No surprise it was the most read post last […]
[…] want to cater to the people who don’t want Gutenberg in Core, beyond the already available Methods to avoid Gutenberg. They oppose Gutenberg in principle. Others fear the Classic Editor might not be around long […]
[…] more granular control over which content and post type is edited with Gutenberg, you’ll find 16 Methods to avoid Gutenberg editor, when it becomes available in WordPress […]
Hi Birgit,
Just getting back to you. I’ve been testing WP 5 the over the last few days and digging around in Classic Editor plugin I found the following:
add_filter( ‘use_block_editor_for_post_type’, ‘__return_false’, 100 );
Adding this to the functions.php file ( preferably a child theme ) disables Gutenberg in WordPress 5, no need for a plugin.
You can pre-populate this filter into current 4.9.8 versions so they are ready when WP is officially launched.
Caveats: the above filter won’t disable the plugin version of Gutenberg and we could see another name change to the filter.
Thank you Stephen for your update. Also, Gary Pendergast published: Block Editor Filters for 5.0 today: https://make.wordpress.org/core/2018/10/30/block-editor-filters/
Thanks for the link to Gary’s filters. They will be useful.
Starting to warm to many aspects of Gutenberg…hell froze over! There are still many niggles but the one big hurdle is locating all the blocks with hover. From testing this issue is accentuated where third party plugins start nesting blocks within blocks, its gets really frustrating. The vendors are doing some great work with these blocks so it would serve us all well if the Gutenberg devs could crack the nutshell of finding stuff in the UI.
[…] 17 Methods to Avoid Gutenberg on Your WordPress Website […]
[…] — Pauli Systems (@PauliSystems) October 2, 2018 The WordPress Community Deserves the Why on the Timeline of v5.0 19 Methods to Avoid Gutenberg on Your WordPress Website […]
Hi Birgit, just wanted to let you know I’ve recently released yet another plugin for selectively enabling or disabling Gutenberg given different conditions. Or rather, setting which editor will be used by default according to cascading settings checks, and also providing buttons to easily change between them. I did this because I believe there needs to be more flexibility for a combination of both using and not-using Gutenberg on a site, to help more smoothly transition to it being available in core soon.
Even though there are programmatic solutions available for this, they are not easy for end users to implement, and are somewhat more complex when there are a number of conditions to take into consideration. So having these all coded and tested in one place to provide a user interface like this seems to be a better way forward, rather than just a the limiting choice between “on” or “off”. https://wordpress.org/plugins/guten-free-options/
[…] 19 Methods to Avoid Gutenberg on Your WordPress Website | Gutenberg Times […]