The change affects anyone who still reaches for the Classic block — the legacy TinyMCE-powered editor embedded inside the block editor — when writing new content. Starting with WordPress 7.1, that option simply won’t appear in the inserter, the block library, or slash commands. The goal is to stop new Classic content from being created while leaving existing content untouched.
The commit landed in WordPress core as changeset 62546. The Classic block (core/freeform) remains fully registered, so all existing Classic blocks continue to render and stay editable exactly as before. The Classic Editor plugin and post types that don’t use the block editor at all are not affected — this change is strictly about the inserter inside the block editor.
The rationale comes down to architecture and maintenance. The Classic block is the only block in core that doesn’t behave like a true block — it embeds a separate TinyMCE editor inside the block tree rather than acting as a native node within it. That exception creates ongoing overhead: improvements to the block library frequently require special-casing the Classic block, and those workarounds accumulate over time. With Classic block usage already declining and the Convert to Blocks tool available for years, hiding the inserter entry is intended to shrink that legacy surface area rather than let it keep growing.
Developers who need the Classic block back can use the new wp_classic_block_supports_inserter filter. Returning true brings it back globally; the filter also receives the current post object, so you can conditionally enable it per post type or any other condition. For those who prefer not to write code, a plugin called Enable Classic Block is now available in the WordPress Plugin Directory and handles the filter automatically.
add_filter( 'wp_classic_block_supports_inserter', '__return_true' );Beyond 7.1, the core team is exploring an in-block deprecation notice — currently experimental in Gutenberg — that would surface a one-click conversion prompt inside existing Classic blocks, making the migration path more visible without forcing it. Improvements to the Custom HTML block, freeform conversion tools, and related compatibility layers are also in progress. The full roadmap is tracked in a dedicated Gutenberg issue, with each subsequent phase shipping its own dev note. No release date for WordPress 7.1 has been announced yet, and the rollout is planned as a gradual, opt-out transition.
