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Beep Beep Boop?

WordPress Beep Beep Boop Editor

This post here is only relevant for the people who have their websites hosted on As most of us noticed, Automattic the company behind the mentioned hosting service, decided to change something that worked for most of us. The perfect old editor. Above you can see a screenshot of the new one.

Beep beep boop loading screen What we got now is a loading screen with a totally childish and nerdy “Beep beep boop” message that we can see several seconds each time we want to create a new post, as it takes quite a lot of time to load the new editor. What we got too is a totally downgraded new editor and it is no wonder that a lot of people are pissed about this issue as you can see here in the forums. To say it right away, if you dislike the new editor too, then please raise your voice in the shown thread of the forum too, as this might help to show them that we are just happy with the old editor and especially that we don´t need downgrades. So, show your rejection if you think the same way.

Until now, the old editor is still there. You either can find the old editor if you go to your dashboard to click on “Posts” and then “Add New” or you click on “Switch to classic mode” if you opened the new editor already. If you go the last mentioned route, it will be saved for a while but the problem is that the classic mode option is just saved as long as you didn´t delete your cookies and cache as it is not stored on the servers. This is a very big issue as many people delete the cookies regularly but several people asked already if they will at some point remove the classic editor completely and the WordPress support couldn´t answer the questions but it looks not good…

Unfortunately, I don’t know the answer to this as nothing is set in stone as we move forward. We are taking all this feedback into consideration to improve the new editor, but whether it will fully replace and permanently remove the Classic editor is unknown at this moment.

But they also mentioned…

The old editor will be available as we work on the new editor.

This looks like they might consider to abandon the classic editor but they are not sure yet if they want to do this. To get this unclear answers, this did upset even more people.

To fully understand what people dislike about the new editor, you would need to quote almost the whole forum thread. It´s indeed a little bit hard to nail it down as there are so many issues with the new editor. But let me try…

1. The “Beep beep boop” message is childish and cartoonish and you have to look on this loading screen for several seconds as the new editor does not load as fast as the old one.

2. Drafts can only be stored offline in your browser but not online as it seems.

3. They removed the word count.

4. There is no spell check button anymore.

5. It´s more difficult to get a short-link now.

6. The panels in the right options sidebar are now closed as default and not opened like in the classic editor.

7. There is not an easy view anymore for categories that are often used.

8. The publish time does not work correctly.

9. The overall design looks as if the new editor is designed for mobile devices rather than desktop PC´s with a wide-screen.

10. The new editor is not integrated into the dashboard as the old one. In other words, the left dashboard bar is not there anymore and that makes the new editor appear unattached from all other wordpress features.

11. In comparison to the old interface, the new one forces you to make more clicks to access features or functions.

12. The copy post function has been removed.

13. The new editor messes up links, images and other HTML code and can add spaces when not needed which means there are still many bugs.

14. There is no auto-saving (drafts) anymore in the new editor

15. The small traffic per hour diagram in the top bar has been removed on the new editor page.

16. Admins or editors can´t edit posts of someone else anymore.

17. You can name links only by HTML code.

18. Photos are small size by default and not large.

19. Adding a YouTube link will embed the video.

20. Categories are sorted alphabetically and there are no child categories in the panel anymore.

21. There is no full-screen button in the HTML editor anymore.

22. Not possible to go to Media Gallery via “Set Featured Image”.

23. Preview an article in the new editor will open a pop-up rather than a new tab.

24. There is no scroll-bar inside the editor.

25. Most-used tags are not there anymore which forces you to scroll through a big list.

26. Modules can´t be moved anymore as in the old classic dashboard editor.

27. The new editor does not warn you anymore if you want to close before saving.

I think I forgot to mention many points but still this is quite a huge list apart from the fact that many people think that the new editor is visually annoying and excluded from the dashboard and several other important functions. The whole design is a mess, buggy and many things have been removed. I just can say it again, if you think the same way, do tell your opinion in the related thread of the forum. It will be a deal breaker for a lot of people if they remove the classic editor and if they force us to use the downgraded new editor.

The problem mentioned by many people is that the old editor just worked like a charm and the usability was pretty nice. A lot of people wonder why there is need for changes for something that worked very well. It upsets even more if you read “Welcome to an easier way to create on!” in the new editor while this is not the case.

I can understand if some people mention with sarcasm that the developers or the wordpress team must have gone mad. It´s everything else but not easier to create content with the new editor. It´s an ugly and annoying design with zero usability and a total downgrade. I can understand if people are upset because I am too.

Nobody did ask us, we are forced to beta test a senseless new editor. As mentioned, there are still workarounds to open the classic editor but this results in more clicks. I am somewhat annoyed by all this which means my post frequency will heavily slow down. I go even so far to research about other hosting companies because if they force the new editor upon us and if they remove the old editor completely, it´s likely that I will leave to switch to self-hosting to enjoy writing with the editor that always worked in my opinion.

For now, I just follow the mentioned thread about the issue and watch what will happen but it might be that I meanwhile explore other options like different hosts because it´s a major problem for me if they force me to use tools that just got downgraded.


    • Yep. What I dislike is the fact that there was zero communication with us before the changes happened, which shows how much they care about our opinions. Zero.
      Then I still don´t get why there is need for a new editor when the old one was just great. Reading the latest staff answers, it seems as there is no “backward”.
      They don´t really listen to the people. It´s insane. I expect more too from a company with this name.

      • Hello Dennis,

        It is sad/annoying/confusing/strange/et cetera that they do not at least communicate with us about major changes (I can accept them not telling us about minor and/or some medium-level changes even though I would like to know about those as well when possible) that they want to make to get feedback from us first and to let us know what is going on so that we can prepare ourselves for major changes before they happen, and to remind us that we are somewhat unofficial/unpaid beta testers because most users probably do not know this.

        They own Polldaddy and it is integrated into, why are they not at least using it/polls to get our opinions/feedback before they make major changes like this?

        They have the New blog/website, The Daily Post blog/website, The Forums, and various other blogs/websites/services so why not use those to communicate with us and get feedback?

        There are people willing to beta test for free, why not let us/them help test these things and give feedback before they are released publicly?

        How are untrained people like me often able to instantly notice/find bugs/glitches that many of the trained/certified/professional/educated/experienced/et cetera developers who make these changes do not seem to notice during their alleged beta testing and after beta testing as ended (do most of them even blog on (Maybe they should pay me to be a bug/glitch finder and beta tester since/because I seem to often notice things that their experts seem to miss, and I need a job 😀 )

        I could go on and on with more questions/comments/et cetera but I will not, it is confusing and unacceptable to me that any company/organization/et cetera would not follow some of these basic ideas/suggestions/whatever, especially a company like Automattic/WordPress who I have higher expectations for.

        Maybe your Zero comment is right/correct, and maybe that explains why stuff/things like this keep happening at over the years; and why they still have not learned it seems.

        I am still confused why they would make a new editor when the old editor still has some problems that need to be fixed, and it could use some improvements as well?

        I also do not like how they keep creating new things separate from the Dashboard, I like using the Dashboard, yet/but they have some things separate from the Dashboard for some strange reason(s) like: the Reader, the improved Stats, the improved Comments I’ve Made, Blogs I Follow, Freshly Pressed, Recommended Blogs, and Find Friends; why not have everything at the Dashboard for those of us who always try to use the Dashboard when possible?

        Anyway, I better stop there because I could go on and on and I need some sleep, I apologize Dennis. 😀

        Thank you,
        -John Jr

      • Hi John. I agree that there should be way more communication before changes but what bugs me the most is that some things run so well that I don´t even understand why they want to change it or create something new. In this case it is the editor.

        I don´t get why there is a need to create a new one when the old one worked so well. Another major problem I have is one you mentioned too…. the old editor feels totally integrated into the other workspace, the dashboard while the new one doesn´t. If you´re using all features often then you will immedietly notice that it takes way more clicks to access several features with the new editor because the dashboard sidebar is away.

        I participated in many betas, mostly for games but also in some software and website or service beta´s. What they did here is taking away the usability of the very well designed user interface.

        But as you, I could go on and on to count up all the flaws of the new editor and it would take a long time. It´s not even only about bugs. as I know they will remove bugs but the usability is a big point for me. There is this trend to make all things so easy that even the last one could understand it. But to be honest, it might now be that even my mother could understand the new editor because there are less confusing things such as the dashboard but if she is really interested to create a blog, that is another question.

        Considering this, the question comes up if there is really a need to make things easier?
        I dont think so. Those who went so far to create a blog, those are either the people who understand pretty much about the internet and computers or they are smart enough to get the things sorted to create a blog because they are interested doing so.

        Certain things must be more complex and there is a reason why. Talking about graphic design for example, there is a reason why Windows just comes with the Paint software and there is a reason why there is a market for much more complex products such as Photoshop. It´s because if people are interested in graphic design, they will notice soon that Paint is not enough and they will go the route to purchase software that is more complex and that comes with a much bigger tool set resulting in more freedom of content creation. No matter if Photoshop is harder to use, even a beginner will get into it at some point because there is a very huge community and the internet is full of informations about it. Those who want to learn, will learn because this community is self-sustaining and cooperative.

        I always saw the same here at wordpress. I really prefer this route. I learned a lot from long time bloggers back then, up to the point that I wouldn´t consider myself a beginner anymore today. Today I wouldn´t say that wordpress or blogging is complex but I did say it as a beginner. I just noticed that I demand certain things, and if they take them away, it feels as if my hands would be bound while creating content here.

        The long thread with all the concerns of the wordpress users, the thread should have been a warning for them. Because we are the people who use the tool set everyday. Some of us do even pay for it which means we are customers too. As a company leader I would want to create tools for my customers and not for an unrealistic potential target group such as the mentioned people who probably never even heard about blogging.
        But that´s exactly how the new editor looks like. It looks like the Facebook messenger that is there to send two sentences to a friend or family member. And beep beep boop? Oh my… 😀

    • So true. Never touch a running system. I think nobody in the forum understands why they put all the energy into a new editor while the old one worked so well.

  1. Hello Dennis,

    Yeah, it confuses me as well as to why many developers seem to be changing things unnecessarily and for the worst, and WordPress still has not really explained why they made this new editor or answered certain basic questions regarding/about it.

    I have also taken part in various beta tests, and I agree.

    I actually find this trend to be more confusing, not easier, where many developers seem to be making things more complicated/illogical/confusing to me by hiding/removing certain settings/features/et cetera and spreading/putting some settings/features around in strange/illogical places, and making many other strange design choices that confuse/annoy me instead of making things easier for me; and I am confused and wondering how are these supposedly trained/educated people making such illogical/strange choices/changes that seem to lack common sense?

    It seems that their view of what is easier and more balanced for the average person is much different than ours, and it makes no sense to me logically. 😀

    This trend is making it more annoying/confusing to use various online and offline services/programs/et cetera in my opinion.

    Anyway, I better stop there, thank you for replying Dennis. 🙂

    -John Jr

    • I agree. It makes no sense. I saw this so often. I think some people in the forums have brough up some nice theories why companies do it. I think it´s just “hipster” stuff and has to do with the mobile trend. Some companies go so far that they even design mobile UI´s for desktop applications. They think it is cool while desktop users usually and logically disagree due to the bad usability of a mobile user interface. What makes it strange is that WordPress is quite late to the party. Other companies got already their lessons from the user base. I remember Microsoft… they thought it would be cool to give desktop users something like a tablet user interface. How it did end, we all know it. People didn´t accept it and Windows 8 didn´t sell, and if so, only via pre-installed market. There is no need for mobile friendly UI´s on a desktop or notebook system, that´s what customers thought.

      Other theories are that WordPress thought to design an easier to understand editor to attract more beginners (profit). But the problem with it is that they scare away the long time users or semi-professional bloggers.

      However, these are just theories and we can´t know it. For us, it is indeed just annoying.

      • Hello Dennis,

        Those are some good theories/hypotheses/guesses, I could add more to that, but I will not. 😉

        I am still using Windows 7 (and Ubuntu 14.04 LTS), but I have definitely heard the many negative comments about Windows 8; but I would try it if it was/were free and/or cost under $50 😀 . 😉

        I wonder if WordPress will ever explain why they are doing this, and explain some other decisions that they made in the past (one small example of many is the removing of Zemanta integration without warning, and without reason)?

        -John Jr

      • Talking about Windows 8, I just know that Microsoft offered a patch that allows user to remove or disable this tablet styled UI thingy. Never tested it as I don´t own Windows 8 too. I use Windows 7 on my desktop system. Played with Linux several times too but most of my games wouldn´t run there so that I rather use Windows 7. But WIndows 9 is in the making and I know that Microsoft will go back to the roots related to the UI. Saw some early screens anywhere in the internet and thought it would look pretty nice.

        The only real explanation that I found from WordPress was when I opened the new editor because they write there “Welcome to an easier way to create on!”. Made me laugh. Too funny, especially as we are aware of all the other user concerns 😀

        I liked the features of Zemanta too. But in this case it might be that I don´t dislike it that they removed it because… They said “We’re working on improving our editor to incorporate some functionality previously provided by Zemanta.” For example here:
        If the features will be a standard, this is not too bad I think. I stopped to use Zemanta back then because they always tried to place their own links in my articles as well. I removed these links in the code and got bored of it. I think I prefer it if WordPress offers an own solution and alternative to Zemanta.

  2. Hello Dennis,

    Yeah, I think that they called it Windows 8.1 or something like that (I also do not own or have Windows 8 because of the price, among other reasons 😉 ), and I use my Windows partition for games as well and to use certain programs that are not available for Linux; and I use Linux the rest of the time (I am using Linux (Ubuntu) as I type this) because GNU Linux distributions are usually free and usually open source, among other reasons. 😉

    Yeah, I read rumors online that Microsoft is possibly going to reveal some previews/information/et cetera of Windows 9 next month:

    Yeah, that message made me laugh and roll my eyes as well, and I probably made some sarcastic comments about it as well. 😉 😀

    I would prefer the alternatives to Zemanta as well, I actually like’s Related Posts better than the one in Zemanta, but has not made replacements for the other parts of Zemanta that I also/do use.

    There are a few things that I do not like about Zemanta as well but I do like the In-Text Links, Recommended Tags, and Recommended Images; and I am still waiting for to make alternatives for those features (when I last asked about this they probably had no current plans on adding these features, but they hope to maybe make some new features in the future), and so until then I started back using the Zemanta browser extension for those features (I do not use the features that I do not like) but I do use the Related Posts instead of the Zemanta version. 😉

    -John Jr

    • Yep, Zemanta offered way more features. I pretty much hope too that we will get those features soon. It´s sad that they answered you that they have no plans to add more of these features on WordPress. This is what I mentioned anywhere in the forums… instead of creating a new editor while the old one worked so well, they should rather add some nifty features on top. I really won´t need all kind of plugins but Zemanta had some very nice features and I believe everybody would agree. These would actually improve our editing. They put their energy in the wrong place if you ask me.

      • I could be wrong about that but that is what I think that they told me, but I can not remember when/where/in which topic I was possibly told this (I have some many topics that I am subscribed to that finding it will not be easy, but if I find it I will try to remember to share a link to it). 😉

        The closest thing that I found so far was:

        I definitely agree that at times they seem to be putting their time/energy/resources/et cetera in the wrong place(s) unfortunately. 😦

        -John Jr

      • It is also interesting that this is yet another thread that is closed. They usually close all kind of threads. I´ve been active in so many forums and I know that some dislike it if people push dead threads. However, in some cases it makes sense. If someone asks for new features for example, why do they close it? It might be that some others would like to vote for it with a comment as well. It shows they simply don´t want to find out what kind of requests get a lot of comments over the time. :/

  3. Yeah, I think that topics should not be closed unless it is necessary (the topic is solved, the breaking of forum rules, et cetera) and/or unless it is closed by the person who made the topic, and I do not like how topics automatically close in a month if no one comments; and I do not like how there is no option for the person who made the topic to un-close it.

    I can not tell you how many times that I reported a bug, it goes over a month without being fixed, and so comments are automatically closed; and so I have to open a new topic or post in another topic instead just to be able to comment to let them know that the bug is still not fixed and to ask if they plan on fixing it or not, and so that/this is annoying and could use some improving.

    -John Jr

    • Exactly. A support forum makes no sense anymore if they automatically close all kind of threads. Forums are made to create an open end discussion. If it makes sense with every thread this is another question but in a support and suggestion forum this makes sense because it´s not unlikely that others join a discussion if they have additional ideas, bug reports, suggestions and what not. Also, as a user I rather would search for threads with the same problem that I have, rather than creating new ones for my own issues. But in the wordpress forum you usually find only closed threads because they do this automatically and after a short period, right.

  4. I actually switched back to the old editor last night. I dislike the set up of the new one with a passion.
    I will say, and I’m not suggesting doing so, but there are other alternatives out there for posting to WP blogs. You could make blog posts using a weblog client, writing program, or even email. But again, there’s a possibility for change.

    • Yes I know about the alternatives but I prefer to work with the old editor and within the CMS of WordPress. Fortunately and as you said, it’s still possible to use the old one. I still use the old one too even if it cost me some extra clicks each day to open it but fortunately it saves the settings at least for the time until I delete cookies on my system.

  5. I don’t like the new wordpress editor too. I always switch to old editor when it come up.

    one more issue with new wordpress is you need to click your profile to find sign out link. Why don’t they make sign out link in drop down menu like old wordpress?

    • Yea same here. I access all old pages as the old editor. I do also open the old stats page through the old dashboard page. The whole new design is not in my favor. As you said, several things are much harder to use with the new design and the drop down menu is missing stuff too. I agree.

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