[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #54075: Disabling legacy widget previews in the block editor

[WordPress Trac]

#54075: Disabling legacy widget previews in the block editor
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 Reporter:  eatingrules                        |      Owner:  (none)
     Type:  enhancement                        |     Status:  new
 Priority:  normal                             |  Milestone:  Awaiting
                                               |  Review
Component:  Widgets                            |    Version:
 Severity:  normal                             |   Keywords:
  Focuses:  ui, accessibility, administration  |
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 In the new Widget Block Editor, when a user clicks on a Legacy Widget
 **the state shift to a different interface is a jarring user experience**.

 It is additionally confusing because the behavior is different than
 regular blocks in the same interface.

 From what I've seen on multiple production sites so far, the previews
 aren't very accurate right now (though #53801 should help a lot), with
 width and height spacing issues being different than the front end.

 Being able to preview widgets in the Block Editor is also not that
 important since they can be edited in the Customizer -- which actually
 ''does'' show an accurate preview.

 Instead of trying to fix the previews (which may never be 100% possible),
 **I propose we remove Legacy Widget Previews altogether.**

 If that's a nonstarter, we should at least **give users the option to
 disable them** -- and add a filter to do the same.

 @costdev showed us a nifty trick to disable the widget previews via the
 DevTools console: https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/53801#comment:15
 I tried this and found that having the legacy widgets look & behave like
 old-style widgets made it more intuitive and easier to use.

 Additionally, **removing Legacy Widget previews will accelerate adoption
 of the new Widget Block Editor.**

 This will make the distinction between the new/legacy widgets much more
 clear, which will help both users and developers see the benefit in moving
 to new block widgets.

 Note, too, that the very popular Genesis Framework has completely disabled
 the new Block Widget Editor, and I know of at least one other theme that
 has had significant issues with the new editor as well. So disabling
 Legacy Widget Previews may allow them to restore the functionality for
 their users and help further the adoption of the new editor.

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Ticket URL: <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54075>
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