Description

💬
Dear and respected members of the WordPress community, especially those who still believe that “Code is Poetry” — believe it or not, there are people like me for whom this removed feature still matters.

This plugin restores the classic
“Disable the visual editor when writing”
checkbox to user profile settings.

It’s a clean, dependable tweak — made for those who prefer writing in plain text, without distraction, without visual clutter.

No extra settings. No noise. Just the option that once was.

Perfect for:

writers who live in the HTML tab,
developers who avoid visual editors,
or anyone who simply misses that checkbox.

It works with both the Classic and Block editors,
and doesn’t require any additional plugins.

Just install, and enjoy the silence of plain text.

How It Works

A checkbox labeled “Disable the visual editor when writing” is added to each user’s profile page.
When checked, the plugin disables visual editing features and saves the preference (rich_editing = false).
Both TinyMCE and Gutenberg are bypassed — only the plain text editor is shown.

Additional behaviors (enabled by default):

Prevents loading of unnecessary editor scripts and styles for users who opt out.
Removes visual editor metaboxes when not needed.
Displays a dismissible admin notice if visual editing is disabled but the plugin is no longer active.

Compatibility

Works with both Classic and Block (Gutenberg) editors.
Compatible with the Genesis Framework and most modern themes.
Functions independently — does not require the Classic Editor plugin.
Honors native WordPress capabilities like user_can_richedit and use_block_editor_for_post.

Screenshots

Legacy versions of WordPress where the checkbox was removed.
The restored checkbox — default state (unchecked).
The restored checkbox — active (checked), visual editor disabled.

Installation

Upload the plugin to /wp-content/plugins/ or install it directly via Plugins > Add New.
Activate the plugin.
Go to Users > Your Profile, check “Disable the visual editor when writing”, and save changes.
Done. The editor will now default to plain text for that user.

FAQ

Does this really disable Gutenberg?: Yes — for users who disable the visual editor. The plugin uses native filters to bypass both Gutenberg and TinyMCE.
What about other users on the site?: Nothing changes for them unless they also choose to disable the visual editor in their profile.
Do I need the Classic Editor plugin installed?: No. This plugin works entirely on its own.
Is it safe to use with other editor-related plugins?: Yes — as long as those plugins respect WordPress coding standards and core filters.
Is this plugin actively maintained?: Yes — by a developer who still writes in HTML mode.

Reviews

vizons ☀️ 6️⃣ 26, 2025 1 reply

I was completely distraught yesterday to find that every time I saved my post in classic editor that it kept saving it in visual mode. I use a Mac and write all my posts in textedit plain text mode so I can style it with css and then paste all of my writing/code into the classic editor. I was deeply depressed yesterday about the fact that the WordPress developer team decided to remove the text/code saving capability. The way they downgraded this option is completely backwards because for people like me who never had the “disable visual editor when writing” in user profile checked, it causes major issues when writing and saving in text/code mode. I never had that option checked before they completely removed it because the classic editor always worked the way I like to use it which is stay in text/code mode when writing and saving my posts. As you said in the post on your website about restoring the freedom of choice concerning the classic editor, they took away our freedom to use classic editor according to our preferences. I am NOT a fan of wysiwyg editors. I like having full control over what I create. Thank you many, many times over for creating this plugin. When I found it this morning, it was like the sun came out from a dark, dismal day!!!!!

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Contributors & Developers

“Classic Visual Editor Options” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.

DVeb

Translate “Classic Visual Editor Options” into your language.

Interested in development?

Browse the code, check out the SVN repository, or subscribe to the development log by RSS.

Changelog

1.0.0

Initial release.
Plugin was originally submitted as “Restore Visual Editor Options.”
Renamed to Classic Visual Editor Options for clarity and naming consistency.

Classic Visual Editor Options