How to Rearrange WordPress Metaboxes in the Gutenberg Editor
One PublishPress user asked us if it's possible to rearrange metaboxes in Gutenberg.
This users has installed PublishPress Checklists and wanted the checklist area to be at the top of sidebar when writing posts. This image show the move they wanted:
In the older “Classic Editor” this move was possible. Users could drag-and-drop all the metaboxes into a different order.
Unfortunately, in the first few versions of Gutenberg, there were limited options for re-ordering metaboxes.
You could not reorder the default metaboxes. This means that you can't change the order of “Status & Visbility”, “Permalink”, “Categories”, “Tags”, “Featured Image”, “Excerpt” or “Discussion”. Those will always be the top seven boxes.
However, you can rearrange metaboxes in the lower section. So in the image below, you can reorder “Yoast SEO”, “Checklist”, “Notifications”, “Metadata” and more.
The inability to move the default metaboxes is a limitation in Gutenberg that did not exist in the old Classic Editor. We hope this limitation will be removed in a future version of WordPress.
Note that these arrows also allow you to move Gutenberg metaboxes to-and-from the sidebar.
Although Gutenberg is a step forward for WordPress, some elements are confusing. We’ve written about how to add GIF images and show code in Gutenberg, plus how to hide image captions.
Long-term, we're very positive about Gutenberg. If you do want more options for your blocks in Gutenberg, check out the PublishPress Blocks plugin. We're also looking forward to cool new features such as collaborative editing in WordPress.
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The Pro versions of PublishPress plugins are ready for Gutenberg. They are packed with extra features to help you manage your content. Get a PublishPress membership today for full access:
Marius
I moved a metabox (“details of podcast”) from the main area (beneath Gutenberg editor) to the plugins section in the sidebar. But I cannot get it back to its origin, only up and down within the sidebar.
Is there any trick moving metaboxes between those areas? (I can’t remember how it worked at the first attempt)
Steve Burge
Hi Marius. I think that feature seems to have broken in WordPress 5.5 🙁
Tracy
I’m experiencing the same issue as Marius. I hope they fix this going forward.
Mike F
Same issue here.
esf
With the same issue, I installed the Classic-Editor-Plugin, activated it, rearranged the metaboxes and then deactivated it.
blickwerker
@asf this did the trick, thanks!
zsp
@esf omg thanks for this trick!