Description

Up to WP 6.5, it was possible to insert a block at the bottom of the editor by clicking in the space there. In WordPress 6.6, this is no longer possible.

This appears to have been instigated by #60697 .

The removal of the ability to insert blocks has caused other bugs; for example, it broke spacing to metaboxes ( #63882 ). An accessibility concern was also raised that it was impossible for people to insert a block at the bottom with keyboard only ( #61391 ). However, the (past + future) fixes for those two issues do not help regular users.

It appears the 'intended' solution is now to select the last block, and then press enter. This makes sense if the last block was a plain paragraph, as you see the blinking cursor and it is completely logical to press enter to move to another line. If, the last block is something else - for example, column content - it is completely illogical to regular site editors that you have to click a paragraph within the block, shift the focus to the wrapping columns block, then press enter. In fact, in the majority of (all?) editors outside of WordPress, selecting something in the editor then pressing enter would actually overwrite / delete that content.

Myself and others are downgrading clients to WP 6.5 as the current behavior is too confusing.

Step-by-step reproduction instructions

1. Create a page with some blocks.
2. Click at the bottom of the editor.

Screenshots, screen recording, code snippet

No response

Environment info

WP 6.6, no Gutenberg plugin.

Please confirm that you have searched existing issues in the repo.

• Yes

Please confirm that you have tested with all plugins deactivated except Gutenberg.

• Yes