The issue

Don't you just hate it when this happens?

And what about this? (This case is now gone thanks to #9074.)

I don't know about you, but having the block tools of another block appear when I have not even hovered over that block can be quite annoying, particularly when it overlaps the block I have selected.

To make the side controls easier to reach, there is an area below them where moving your mouse there will make them appear. However, this often gets in the way, especially in nested contexts.

Proposed solution

I think the movement controls and ellipsis should never become visible if your cursor does not first move into within the borders of the block they are attached to. This would reduce the likelihood of the controls suddenly appearing and overlapping the selected block when you don't want them to.

Other notes

This is an attempt to make the current block side controls less confusing and improve the user experience. Since no solution to #6224 has been agreed upon yet, it would be best to improve the current UI as much as possible in case the controls-on-top/bottom idea does not work, and also considering the oncoming merge proposal and WordPress 5.0 deadlines.

Related issues and PRs

• Display block tools underneath the block, instead of to the sides #6224
• Add a delay to the blue outline + block type label on hover #8836
• Move the blocks "More" button (ellipsis) to the toolbar #9074
• Revise sibling inserter to be more consistent, appear in a more logical position, and not overlap the content of the selected block #9202