Description
Writing Tools for the Block Editor makes Gutenberg calmer, cleaner, and genuinely easier to use — and adds the everyday tools writers and editors keep wishing it had.
Gutenberg is powerful, but its interface can feel busy and unforgiving. This is a lightweight skin and toolkit that smooths the rough edges — without replacing the editor, forking it, or turning it into a page builder.
Editing tools you’ll use every day
- Find & Replace across the whole post, with a live match count and optional case-sensitivity. Links, markup, and code blocks are never touched.
- Undo on delete — remove a block and a one-click “Undo” appears, so accidental deletions are easy to recover.
- Clear Formatting — strip messy inline formatting from any selection in one click.
- Live word count for the selected block, not just the whole post.
A calmer canvas
- A quieter, more focused editor — softer chrome, a restrained accent colour (choose teal, sage, or slate), and a tidier List View.
- An always-visible “Add block” button, so adding content never depends on hovering to find a hidden control.
- A friendly one-time tip that teaches keyboard navigation between blocks.
- An optional toggle to reduce autosave frequency on slower sites.
Lightweight and safe by design
- Loads only inside the editor — zero scripts, styles, or slowdown on your live site.
- Purely visual and additive: it never changes your block markup or saved content.
- Works alongside your theme and other block plugins.
No settings page to wrestle with, and no bloat. Just a better editing experience.
Screenshots
Installation
- In your WordPress admin, go to Plugins Add New Plugin and search for “Writing Tools for the Block Editor”, or upload the plugin ZIP via Plugins Add New Plugin Upload Plugin.
- Activate the plugin through the Plugins screen.
- Open any post or page in the block editor — the improvements are applied automatically. Open the Writing Tools panel from the editor’s top-right toolbar for Find & Replace, word count, the accent picker, and performance options.
No configuration required.
FAQ
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Does the WordPress block editor have find and replace?
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Not on its own. Writing Tools for the Block Editor adds a Find & Replace panel to the editor sidebar — search your whole post, see a live match count, and replace across every block at once. Links, markup, and code blocks are left untouched.
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Does this slow down my website?
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No. It loads only inside the WordPress admin block editor. It adds nothing to your live site’s pages and has zero impact on front-end performance.
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Will it change or break my existing content?
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No. It is purely visual and additive — it never modifies your block markup or saved content. Find & Replace only changes the text you ask it to.
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How do I clear formatting in the block editor?
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Select the text and click the Clear Formatting button in the block toolbar. It strips inline formatting — bold, italic, links and more — in one click.
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Does it work with Full Site Editing / the Site Editor?
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Yes. The core editor improvements apply in both the post editor and the Site Editor. Some tools are specific to the post editor.
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Is it compatible with other block plugins?
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Yes. Because it works at the CSS/UI layer rather than replacing or forking Gutenberg, it is compatible with third-party block libraries.
Reviews
There are no reviews for this plugin.
Contributors & Developers
“Writing Tools for the Block Editor” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.
Contributors
Translate “Writing Tools for the Block Editor” into your language.
Interested in development?
Browse the code, check out the SVN repository, or subscribe to the development log by RSS.
Changelog
1.0.0
- First public release on WordPress.org. Includes the calmer editor skin, Find & Replace, Clear Formatting, undo-on-delete, per-block word count, the accent picker, the reduce-autosave toggle, and the Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+F shortcut.
0.8.4
- New: keyboard shortcut — press Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+F in the editor to open Find & Replace with the search field focused. (Shown in the editor’s Keyboard Shortcuts help.)
0.8.3
- Improved: more comfortable spacing in the Find & Replace panel — the “Replace with” field and the “Match case” checkbox now have room to breathe.
0.8.2
- Housekeeping: renamed the plugin’s internal PHP constants and functions to a longer, more distinct prefix, following WordPress.org naming guidelines. No functional changes.
0.8.1
- Fixed: a script dependency typo prevented the editor enhancements from loading. All features now load correctly.
0.8.0
- New: a “Reduce autosave frequency” toggle that slows background saving and checks, easing typing hitches on slower sites.
0.7.0
- New: Find & Replace. Search the post’s text and replace across all blocks from the Writing Tools panel, with a live match count and an optional case-sensitive match. Links, markup and code blocks are left untouched.
0.6.0
- New: removing a block now shows a brief “block removed — Undo” message, so accidental deletions are easy to recover. It stays quiet when you simply press Ctrl/Cmd+Z.
0.5.0
- New: a one-click Clear Formatting button in the text toolbar to strip inline formatting from a selection.
- New: a live word and character count for the selected block in the Writing Tools panel.
0.4.0
- New: a one-time tip teaches arrow-key navigation between blocks (dismissable).
- Calmer block inserter — rounded, responsive hover on blocks.
- Header utility icons recede until hovered, keeping focus on your content.
- Improved focus visibility for the plugin’s own controls, including high-contrast mode.
0.3.0
- List View: clearer hover feedback and more comfortable row spacing for easier scanning.
0.2.0
- Added a persistent “Add block” button at the end of the content, so adding a block no longer depends on discovering the hover-only inserter.
- The editor canvas now follows the chosen accent colour.
0.1.0
- Initial release.