WordPress version 5.8, the next major release is scheduled to be available in July of 2021. With WordPress version 5.8 the block editor will move to the widget area.

This is another in the series of releases moving the WordPress editor to full-site content block editing. a process that was started back in December of 2018 with release 5.0.

When version 5.0 was released a plugin was also released, called Classic Editor, which disabled the block editor and retained the classic editor so that those individuals who didn’t care for the block editing system could retain the ‘old’ way of doing things.

This will be the case again with version 5.8. Another new plugin will be available which disables the block editing capabilities built into the 5.8 update. The plugin, called Classic Widgets retains the classic method of widget editing.

These two plugins which retain the classic editor operations have set shelf lives. The plugins will be supported and maintained until at least 2022, or as long as is necessary.