So, you’ve tried out the Block Editor and it’s not for you. But after “switching back” by installing a plugin—like Disable Gutenberg or Classic Editor—you are seeing some weirdness. Maybe it’s unexpected things in the editor or maybe it’s that blocks still showing up on the page or post after they’ve been removed. How can you fix that?

If you just want to control the editor used for events – you can use the checkbox under Events -> Settings -> General to disable the block editor for events. In fact, if you are using a plugin to disable the block editor for all post types, we recommend you uncheck this box to help prevent “weirdness”.

We hope you’re testing on a staging site because that’s the safest way to make sure changes or updates to your site never reach your visitors. Either way, we’ve got you covered and have some steps to get things back to normal.

Step 1: Locate the post in question

First things first: find the post that is causing you problems and open it in the editor.

Assuming you’re in the Classic Editor, you will see two tabs on the right side of the WYSIWYG editor. The first tab is Visual and the second is Text. These toggle the view of the editor between editing content using the formatting tools provided at the top of the editor versus editing content in plain HTML.

Toggle between the visual and text editors when using the Classic Editor

Don’t see those tabs? Go to your profile (at [your-site]/wp-admin/profile.php) and make sure the visual editor checkbox is unchecked:

Make sure the Visual Editor option is unchecked in your profile so that you can see it when using the Classic Editor

If that option isn’t working, then talk to your admin because there may something else at play—like a plugin or theme conflict—and you’ll need it for the next step!

Step 2: Clear out the HTML comments

All good? Once you’re back in the post editor and have selected the Text view, you may see something like this in the editor:

<!-- wp:tribe/tickets -->
<div class="wp-block-tribe-tickets"><!-- wp:tribe/tickets-item {"hasBeenCreated":true,"ticketId":325} -->
<div class="wp-block-tribe-tickets-item"> </div>
<!-- /wp:tribe/tickets-item -->

<!-- wp:tribe/tickets-item {"hasBeenCreated":true,"ticketId":357} -->
<div class="wp-block-tribe-tickets-item"> </div>
<!-- /wp:tribe/tickets-item --></div>
<!-- /wp:tribe/tickets -->

These are the tickets block and nested ticket blocks and all of those funky arrows, slashes and dashes are how WordPress converts blocks back into HTML when the Block Editor has been disabled. Any line of code that is wrapped in a comment can safely be deleted. In other words, that’s anything that starts with…

 <!-- wp:

…and ends with

-->

For example, this is a line that can safely be deleted:

<!-- wp:tribe/tickets-item {"hasBeenCreated":true,"ticketId":325} -->

If you want to play it really safe, save the post first, then start deleting those lines. This will ensure that all your plugins react appropriately to the “new” interface.

Please note that deleting these lines means that if you change your mind later and switch back to the block editor, the event blocks will be removed. You will have to manually re-add them!

Step 3: Re-save the post and confirm the fix

Now that the HTML has been cleaned up, go ahead and re-save the post and check it again on the front end. Has the funkiness cleared up? We hope so because those comments are the most common cause for issues when switching between the Block Editor and the Classic Editor.

Are you still having issues even after removing those comments? Visit our Help Desk and let us take a look.

PS & Step 4: What if I want to use both editors?

Recently, the Classic Editor plugin has allowed finer-grained control, including individual preferences and switching back and forth between editors. We have tried to keep up with these changes for compatibility. However, some caveats are in order:

  • Each editor will work properly on its own.
  • You can always completely remove block support for events by unchecking the setting under Events Settings > General.
  • If event blocks are enabled, events created or edited in the Block Editor will contain the comments (blocks code) and will be detected as block posts on the front end – thus displaying blocks. Even if the last editor used was the Classic Editor.
  • Removing the block “comment” code and then switching to blocks may appear as data loss – don’t worry, your metadata is safe, it’s just been hidden because the block code has been removed. You’ll have to re-add the blocks.
  • All that being said, we do not recommend or currently support switching back and forth between editors.