How WordPress Forces Free Bloggers to become Paying Bloggers

For years and years WordPress has always provided bloggers with a FREE venue for personal blogs.  But times are tough, and FREE just isn’t cutting it anymore.  So, what did they do?  Instead of letting their longtime bloggers know that it cost too much to allow them to post as they always had, they introduced something called a Block Editor for them to write their posts.  But this Block Editor was/is lacking in so many respects that it would take me days to list all its inefficiencies.  Fortunately, for a good number of months (6 or so) they gave you the option of using their new Block Editor, OR using the Classic Editor, which is/was extremely user friendly, for creating new posts.  Classic was intuitive, it had a full tool bar, and sidebars for Categories and Tags, and other nifty things to make creating content smooth and easy.  Everyone loved it.  But a few days ago, with absolutely zero warning, they did away with the Classic Editor, leaving only their new Block Editor.

By asking around in the WordPress Help section I found out that there is a way to restore the Classic Editor, via something called Plugins.  So, I followed the instructions that led me to Plugins only to find that when I go to Install the Classic Editor plugin it tells you that Plugins are for Business or eCommerce plan.  NOT the Free plans.  Thereby telling their free users to: SUCK IT!  And:  If you don’t like the Block Editor then there’s the door.  Not very sporting, eh what?

There are more straightforward ways of getting free bloggers to become paying bloggers.  They could have sent out mass emails to the free users, or maybe utilized some kind of internal Message within WordPress, letting us know that the the free days were essentially over, but no.  They took the coward’s way out, by slinking away under the cover of darkness, like when the Baltimore Colts ran off to Indianapolis, or like many years later when the the (old) Cleveland Browns ran off and became the Baltimore Ravens.  In both instances leaving countless fans lost and disillusioned.  It’s a betrayal, and it’s a shame.  But what can you expect from a company in a country that once held a world empire, but is now a shadow of its former self?!

Be well and do good, friends.   —   Your Uncle Rave