In December 2018, the classic WordPress content editor was replaced with a brand new block editor, known as Gutenberg. If you have worked in WordPress in the past, you’ll be use to the Classic Editor.
Now, when you open a page or post that was created in WordPress prior to WordPress 5.0, all of the page content will be in one block called Classic.
Introducing the Classic Block
This is the Classic Block in Gutenberg. The classic block looks and feels a lot like the WordPress Editor you’re used to using. You will need to click on the word Classic to open the old editing features of the TinyMCE Editor.
How to Convert from the Classic to Gutenberg Blocks
There’s no need to convert old content from the WordPress Classic Block to Gutenberg. Unless you need to edit it, the content is just fine in the Classic Block.
- Go to edit page (or post)
- Click on the right hand side of the Classic Block and 3 stacked dots will appear
- Click the the dots to open the Block Settings
- Select Convert to Blocks
- WordPress will automatically put content into the appropriate block. Headings will be in heading blocks, Paragraphs in Paragraph blocks, Lists in list blocks, Images in image blocks, shortcodes in shortcode blocks, and so on…
- Check over the blocks and when you’re sure all is good, update the page or post
And, in case you’re wondering, there is no way to convert all pages/posts on your site in bulk.
Bulk convert
We recommend copying your site to a staging or development space and trying the Bulk Block Converter Plugin. This plugin can scan your entire site and convert classic editor content to Gutenberg blocks. It worked really well for us, but keep in mind that the block conversion process is irreversible. Be sure to backup your site before converting your content to blocks.
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