In a recent Twitter thread, I asked why no one had yet built a “Classic WooCommerce” plugin — something akin to Classic Editor and Classic Widgets.
After all, those two plugins have over 12 million active installs combined, proving there’s a strong demand for keeping things… well, classic.
The tweet triggered a few replies, so I thought I’d expand on the idea here. What would such a plugin actually do, and more importantly, would it be useful?
Let’s dive into this “just curiosity” thought experiment and explore potential use cases, roadblocks, and community sentiment.
The Appeal of “Classic” in WordPress
The success of the Classic Editor plugin is no surprise. It was released as a fallback for users who preferred the pre-Gutenberg interface. Many site owners, agencies, and developers simply didn’t want to retrain clients, overhaul workflows, or adopt a block-based editor that wasn’t quite polished at launch.
The Classic Widgets plugin followed the same logic. With WordPress 5.8, widgets became block-based as well, and users pushed back. Once again, the WordPress community provided a plugin to restore the traditional widget experience.
Together, these plugins suggest a massive segment of the WordPress user base values simplicity, stability, and familiarity over shiny new interfaces.
What Could “Classic WooCommerce” Do?
When I imagined a Classic WooCommerce plugin, I was thinking of something that disables features introduced in recent versions of WooCommerce — mostly aimed at larger stores, but often unnecessary for small shops. Here’s a short wishlist.
1. Disable WooCommerce Admin
Also known as “Woo Admin,” this JavaScript-heavy dashboard includes Analytics, Marketing suggestions, Store Management, and other panels. For many stores, this section is slow, bloated, and rarely used. A Classic WooCommerce plugin could revert to the traditional WooCommerce settings, orders, and reports pages.
2. Disable the Product Block Editor
At some point, WooCommerce will move toward a block-based product editing experience. Right now it’s still in early (re)development, but once it’s released, many users will likely want the option to opt out — just like they did with posts and widgets.
3. Remove WooCommerce Blocks
Not everyone is a fan of Gutenberg on the frontend either. Some prefer classic shortcodes or theme-based templates. A Classic WooCommerce plugin could hide or unregister WooCommerce Blocks from the inserter and restore shortcode-based workflows.
4. Remove the Admin Inbox
The inbox notices for marketing integrations, upsells, and suggestions can be overwhelming. A Classic WooCommerce plugin could hide this area entirely — letting store owners focus on running their shop instead of dismissing messages.
Community Reactions
James asked, “What would it do?” and I answered with the list above. But Katie made a good point: right now, there’s no major shift like Gutenberg was for WordPress core. WooCommerce’s block editor for products isn’t even here yet. Most “modern” features are still optional or ignorable, so there’s less urgency to create an official rollback.
Rich also chimed in with a simple but telling “why?”, reinforcing the idea that WooCommerce hasn’t yet crossed the same user experience threshold that justified the Classic Editor plugin.
In other words, the status quo is still manageable — for now.
Future-Proofing or Premature?
This raises an interesting question: is it too soon? Maybe the time for Classic WooCommerce will come only once the block-based product editor becomes the default — and no longer optional. That could push developers, store owners, and agencies to look for ways to disable it and preserve the current experience.
And perhaps, if that shift does happen, a plugin like this won’t come from the community, but from WooCommerce themselves — just like Classic Editor was officially released by the WordPress team.
What I Will Do
If and when the block-based product editor becomes a problem, or if WooCommerce continues to introduce heavyweight admin features, I might consider writing a mini-plugin that disables them — or at least offers the option. The idea of a lightweight “Classic WooCommerce” toggle is still interesting, and there could be a place for it in the Business Bloomer mini plugins umbrella.
Conclusion
The idea of a Classic WooCommerce plugin might seem unnecessary right now — but looking at how WordPress evolved, it may not stay that way. For developers and users who prioritize control, speed, and simplicity, having a way to say “no thanks” to new interfaces could become essential.
So maybe it’s not “why?” — but “when?”
