Description
The Gutenberg Block Manager is an intuitive tool for WordPress site admins to globally manage the enabled/disabled state of each block. Disabled blocks will be removed from the block inserter on post edit screens.
Features
- Globally Enable/Disable Blocks – Unlike the block manager functionality in the Gutenberg editor, this tool will globally enables/disables blocks for all users on your site.
- Block Search and Filter – Quickly locate blocks using the block search functionality in the sidebar.
- Filter Hooks – Use the
gbm_disabled_blocksfilter to control blocks fromfunctions.php. - Category Switcher – Functionality for changing the categories Gutenberg blocks.
Filters
gbm_disabled_blocks
Use the gbm_disabled_blocks filter to control blocks via backend code. This makes it easier to control the status of blocks across multiple WordPress environments.
add_filter('gbm_disabled_blocks', function(){
return ['core/buttons', 'core/columns', 'core/freeform', 'core/table'];
});
Screenshots
Block Manager WordPress Admin 
Disable all (or some) of the useless Embed blocks 🙂 
Disable entire block categories with a single click.
Installation
How to install Block Manager.
Using The WordPress Dashboard
- Navigate to the ‘Add New’ in the plugins dashboard
- Search for ‘Block Manager’
- Click ‘Install Now’
- Activate the plugin on the Plugin dashboard
Uploading in WordPress Dashboard
- Navigate to the ‘Add New’ in the plugins dashboard
- Navigate to the ‘Upload’ area
- Select
block-manager.zipfrom your computer - Click ‘Install Now’
- Activate the plugin in the Plugin dashboard
Using FTP
- Download
block-manager.zip - Extract the
block-managerdirectory to your computer - Upload the
block-managerdirectory to the/wp-content/plugins/directory - Activate the plugin in the Plugin dashboard
Then navigate to wp-admin -> Settings -> Block Manager to use the plugin.
Reviews
November 19, 2022
2 replies
I wanted to like this plug for the nice UI design. When I open the block manager screen, the two grey tabs where block listings are suppose to display are empty. It looks like some kind of glitch.
Update: I added a couple more review stars for author's response. Hopefully the issue gets fixed soon.
September 15, 2022
1 reply
Having the ability to disable some of the more obscure, unnecessary blocks is essential and this plugin features on every site I work on.
Thanks!
January 17, 2022
1 reply
It makes the job done! Thanks
August 15, 2021
3 replies
I love this plugin! I already had my own code to whitelist certain blocks in the editor, but I couldn't figure how to remove certain core-embed blocks. But with this plugin, I'm able to remove those blocks as well! I abandoned my custom code and just used this instead.
It would be nice to see it have a feature to restrict blocks to certain roles. PublishPress Blocks has this, but it's very clunky and also adds its own blocks. I prefer a simple Block Manager like this one
//updated my review again because it now works
May 8, 2021
1 reply
Thanks Darren for this handy tool!
It seems to me that this functionality should be part of WordPress core. Before installing this plugin, I was typing /im to insert an image, and then having to choose between "Image" and "Imgur." These words look very similar and also have almost identical block icons. The dropdown for /im also shows Flickr, Vimeo, and Animoto.
I wanted to remove those blocks, so naturally I went to the default / core Block Manager. Unfortunately, to my surprise, or at least in my experience, the default Block Manager does not provide a way to remove Imgur, Flickr, Vimeo and Animoto.
Thanks again for helping to declutter and simplify the publishing process!
Reviewed with:
WordPress 5.7.1
Gutenberg Block Manager 1.2.1
March 8, 2021
1 reply
This is great for simplifying things for clients. Love the ability to re-categorize!
Any plans to allow the hiding of individual block controls? There are a bunch of advanced settings many clients could do without.
Contributors & Developers
“Gutenberg Block Manager” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.
Contributors
“Gutenberg Block Manager” has been translated into 3 locales. Thank you to the translators for their contributions.
Translate “Gutenberg Block Manager” into your language.
Interested in development?
Browse the code, check out the SVN repository, or subscribe to the development log by RSS.
Changelog
1.2.4 – November 30, 2022
- HOTFIX – Fixed issue with plugin not working on
editscreens.
1.2.3 – November 19, 2022
- FIX: Added fix for blank screen when users have JetPack plugin enabled.
- FIX: Fixed issue with missing semi-colon in Block Manager export functionality.
- FIX: Added fix for only loading the block removal script on
NewandEditscreens.
1.2.2 – August 17, 2021
- NEW – Added new Reset option that will clear all disabled blocks.
- FIX – Added fix for possible issue with icon width on blocks admin page.
- UPDATE – Updated tab navigation inside the plugin to make it more clear which section was being edited.
1.2.1 – February 28, 2021
- UPDATE – Added Category Switcher support for all block including core Gutenberg blocks.
1.2 – February 27, 2021
- NEW – Added new Category Switcher.
- The Category Switcher provides functionality for changing the category core Gutenberg blocks.
- Changing a block category will update the location of the block in the Gutenberg Block Inserter while editing posts.
- FIX – Fixed issue with missing semi-colon in export code.
- UPDATE – Various admin UI/UX updates.
1.1 – January 19, 2021
- NEW – Added new
gbm_disabled_blocksfilter to allow for disabling blocks via functions.php - NEW – Added
Exportoption to dynamically build a pre-populatedgbm_disabled_blocksfilter. - NEW – Added Grid/List view toggle.
1.0.1 – January 2, 2021
- NEW – Added support for Embed blocks (Twitter, Facebook, Spotify etc). These blocks were changed in WP 5.6 and the handler had to be updated to manage the active/inactive states.
- FIX – Fixed REST API warning for missing
permissions_callback.
1.0 – January 6, 2020
- Initial release