✅ How to Enable the Gutenberg Editor for Custom Post Types in WordPress (2025 Guide)

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Back in the early days of Gutenberg (around 2018–2019), many developers were caught off guard by how it interacted with Custom Post Types (CPTs). A common issue? You’d register a CPT, but it would stubbornly load the Classic Editor instead of the sleek new block editor.

Fast-forward to 2025: Gutenberg is now the default and powerful editing experience in WordPress. So if you’re still seeing the classic editor when editing a CPT, it’s time to bring your code up to speed.

Let’s go over how to properly enable the Gutenberg (block) editor on a custom post type today.

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🛑 The Problem (Classic Editor Appears Instead of Gutenberg)

Here’s a sample of an older CPT registration function that still results in the Classic Editor:

function create_posttype() {
  register_post_type( 'companies',
    array(
      'labels' => array(
        'name' => __( 'شرکتهای عضو' ),
        'singular_name' => __( 'شرکت' )
      ),
      'supports' => array('title', 'editor', 'custom-fields', 'excerpt', 'thumbnail'),
      'public' => true,
      'has_archive' => true,
      'rewrite' => array('slug' => 'companies'),
    )
  );
}
add_action( 'init', 'create_posttype' );

Looks fine, right? The 'editor' support is there. But still — no Gutenberg. Why?

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✅ The Solution: Add show_in_rest => true

To make Gutenberg work, two conditions must be met:

1. 'editor' must be included in the supports array (you already have this ✅).
2. Most importantly: 'show_in_rest' => true must be present. This makes the post type accessible via the REST API — a requirement for Gutenberg.

✅ Updated and Correct Code:

function create_posttype() {
  register_post_type( 'companies',
    array(
      'labels' => array(
        'name' => __( 'شرکتهای عضو' ),
        'singular_name' => __( 'شرکت' )
      ),
      'supports' => array('title', 'editor', 'custom-fields', 'excerpt', 'thumbnail'),
      'public' => true,
      'has_archive' => true,
      'rewrite' => array('slug' => 'companies'),
      'show_in_rest' => true, // 👈 This line enables Gutenberg
    )
  );
}
add_action( 'init', 'create_posttype' );

And that’s it. No need for complex filters or hacky workarounds.

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🧠 Why show_in_rest Matters

The block editor (Gutenberg) is a React-based application that relies heavily on the WordPress REST API to function. If your custom post type doesn’t support show_in_rest, the editor can’t fetch or manage its data in the expected way — so WordPress falls back to the Classic Editor.

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🚀 Bonus: Customizing Further

Once Gutenberg is enabled, you can:

• Add custom blocks with block.json
• Use block templates for structure
• Create block variations specific to your CPT

You’ve now opened the door to a fully modern editing experience!

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✅ Final Checklist for Gutenberg-Ready CPTs

Make sure your register_post_type() call includes:

'supports' => array('editor', ...)
'show_in_rest' => true

And you’re good to go! 💪

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🧩 Useful Resources

• WordPress Developer Handbook – register_post_type
• Intro to Gutenberg & REST API

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Have questions or want to take your CPTs to the next level with block patterns or full site editing? Drop a comment below or reach out — let’s build the future of WordPress together. 🌐

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