Gutenberg: Adding custom fields to the block editor

When Gutenberg was first launched in WordPress 5.0, users lost the ability to create their own custom fields directly from the editor. Eventually, this was added back in but, by default, they’re turned off.

If you have the need to use custom fields, let me take you through how to switch them back on…

1. When in the editor, click on the 3 vertical dots in the top right-hand corner.

2. Click on Options

3. Under “Advanced Panel”, tick “Custom Fields”

4. You should now be presented with a “Enable & Reload” button

5. Press this to add the custom fields back again.

To switch off custom fields, simply go through the above process again, this time unticking the “Custom Fields” option.