— My Thoughts After Building Custom Tools

WordPress has changed a lot over the years.
One of the biggest changes was the move from the Classic Editor to the Block Editor (Gutenberg).

After spending years building WordPress plugins, themes, layouts, and custom editor tools, I’ve developed a mixed opinion about both systems. Neither one is perfect. Both have strengths, weaknesses, and different types of users they work best for.

Instead of taking sides, I think the smarter approach is understanding where each editor shines.

✨ The Classic Editor — Simple, Fast, Familiar

There’s something very comfortable about the Classic Editor.

It feels lightweight, straightforward, and focused on writing content instead of managing layouts. For developers and long-time WordPress users, it still feels natural.

✅ What Makes Classic Great

🔹 Fast and responsive
🔹 Cleaner HTML output
🔹 Easier for long-form writing
🔹 Less visual clutter
🔹 More predictable styling
🔹 Better control over markup and structure

For developers who work heavily with CSS, custom plugins, or theme consistency, Classic still has a huge advantage.

You know what the output will look like.

That matters.

⚠️ The Downsides of Classic

Classic Editor was never really designed for modern visual layouts.

Creating:

  • columns

  • feature sections

  • styled buttons

  • responsive layouts

  • interactive content

usually requires:

  • shortcodes

  • custom HTML

  • plugins

  • page builders

For non-technical users, this can become difficult quickly.

🧱 Gutenberg / Block Editor — Powerful but Sometimes Messy

The Block Editor completely changed the editing experience in WordPress.

Instead of just writing content, users can now visually build layouts directly inside the editor.

That’s incredibly powerful.

✅ What Gutenberg Does Well

🎨 Visual layout creation
📱 Better responsive structure
🧩 Reusable blocks and patterns
🚀 Modern editing experience
🖼 Easier media handling
📦 More flexibility for non-developers

For many users, Gutenberg removes the need for large page builders entirely.

That’s a huge achievement.

⚠️ The Problems Developers Run Into

This is where things become more complicated.

The more visual freedom users get, the more difficult consistency becomes.

Sometimes blocks generate:

  • too many wrappers

  • bloated HTML

  • inconsistent spacing

  • theme conflicts

  • styling chaos

One theme may make a block look beautiful…

Another theme may completely break it.

As developers, we end up fighting:

  • global styles

  • button styling

  • heading styles

  • spacing systems

  • theme overrides

  • plugin conflicts

And once AI-generated content gets involved, things can become even more unpredictable.

🤖 AI Changed the Conversation

AI tools are now generating:

  • headings

  • buttons

  • layouts

  • sections

  • styled HTML

  • emoji blocks

  • embeds

The problem is:
AI output is often inconsistent.

One prompt may generate clean markup.

Another may create deeply nested wrappers, random classes, and inline styling everywhere.

That’s why I personally started moving toward a more controlled editing system.

🛠 My Personal Direction — A Hybrid Approach

Instead of choosing between Classic or Gutenberg completely, I prefer a middle ground.

I like:
✅ the simplicity of Classic
✅ the visual flexibility of blocks
✅ controlled layout systems
✅ reusable design presets

Over time I started enhancing TinyMCE with:

  • custom emojis

  • preset column layouts

  • image editing controls

  • animated text styles

  • gradient buttons

  • background controls

  • spacing tools

  • styled content blocks

  • embeds and visual enhancements

The goal was simple:

👉 Give users creative tools without turning the editor into complete chaos.

🎯 Why Controlled Systems Matter

Unlimited freedom sounds great…

Until users accidentally create:
❌ broken layouts
❌ mobile issues
❌ inconsistent spacing
❌ unreadable designs
❌ plugin/theme conflicts

Sometimes users don’t actually need total freedom.

They just need:
✔ good layouts
✔ nice buttons
✔ responsive columns
✔ visual enhancements
✔ consistency

That’s where preset systems become extremely powerful.

👨‍💻 Who Is Each Editor Best For?

📝 Classic Editor Is Great For:

✅ writers
✅ bloggers
✅ developers
✅ clean publishing workflows
✅ controlled styling systems
✅ lightweight websites

🧱 Gutenberg Is Great For:

✅ visual creators
✅ non-technical users
✅ layout-heavy pages
✅ modern content builders
✅ landing pages
✅ reusable design systems

⚖️ Final Thoughts

I don’t think WordPress editing should be treated as:

Classic vs Gutenberg

I think the real answer is balance.

Classic gives speed, simplicity, and control.

Blocks give flexibility, visuals, and modern workflows.

The smartest systems usually combine both ideas:

  • structured layouts

  • controlled components

  • reusable design tools

  • clean publishing workflows

At the end of the day, the best editor is the one that helps users create beautiful content consistently without fighting the platform.

And honestly…

Sometimes less freedom creates better websites.

By Dwight Collins