Term Description (core/term-description) is broken in 6.4-RC2

[danieldudzic]

Description

With 6.4-RC2 the core/term-description block is not registered.

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It seems that #51053 was made in order to hide the Term Description block from the post editor (and just have it available in the template editor).

For context, this change breaks the Term Description block used in our patterns in WooCommerce Blocks: woocommerce/woocommerce-blocks#11300

If this change is not reverted, 6.4 will cause breakage for users currently using those patterns but not having Gutenberg active.

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Trac ticket: https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/59755

Step-by-step reproduction instructions

1. With a block theme, open Appearance > Editor.
2. Open Templates > All Archives.
3. Try to add the Term Description block. Notice that it's missing from the Inserter.

Screenshots, screen recording, code snippet

6.3.2 - working correctly

• Editor: ​https://cloudup.com/cFcrg4DDyPY
• Inserter: ​https://cloudup.com/cG1_EShVyHH
• Front end: ​https://cloudup.com/carnkP-W2W6

6.4-RC2 - broken

• Editor: ​https://cloudup.com/cKfLlO3vAb4
• Inserter: ​https://cloudup.com/cVFZb3A8uvy
• Front end: ​https://cloudup.com/cJa31wewZZD

Environment info

No response

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

[hellofromtonya]

As noted in the Trac ticket:

• The block changed to experimental in WP 6.3.0, but continued to render in WP Core without the Gutenberg plugin activated.
• This regression is a BC break as it rendered before 6.4, but no longer does in the backend or frontend.
• What changed in 6.4?
• What the change intentional?

[hellofromtonya]

With 6.4 final in a little over a week, pinging some folks @carolinan @aristath @ockham and 6.4 editor leads @SiobhyB @mikachan @karmatosed @annezazu @bph

[SiobhyB]

👋 folks, I'll work on a PR for this shortly and request a review from everyone Tonya just @-mentioned. Thanks so much for pinpointing where the regression was introduced @danieldudzic!

[SiobhyB]

I spent a bit of time attempting to figure out a way to restore the block so that it wasn't available in the post/page editor, but opted to simply revert the regression in #55669. My thinking behind this is as follows:

• We're extremely tight on time, given we're late into Friday and the hope is to have 6.4 finalised on Monday.
• The original bug (Term Description block should only be available in the FSE template editor. #38552) wasn't a new regression and had been available in core for over a year. There isn't an urgency to include a fix for it in 6.4 and we can address it separately.

I'll go ahead to request reviews from the folks mentioned in this issue.

[SiobhyB]

Addressed in #55669 and re-opened the original bug in #38552.

[carolinan]

I don't mind the revert for solving it short term.
But I don't feel like we have tracked down the real underlying issue?

The description of the problem in the WooCommerce repository shows that what is being edited is a template, which means the user is not attempting to add this block in the block editor*/ post editor.

[SiobhyB]

But I don't feel like we have tracked down the real underlying issue?

I think you're right, we chose the quickest route towards avoiding the breaking change in time for the 6.4 release. For the future, it would be ideal to investigate a fix for the original problem described at #38552 and explore ways to limit the block to the template editor. Or, is there another aspect to this that I'm missing?

The description of the problem in the WooCommerce repository shows that what is being edited is a template, which means the user is not attempting to add this block in the block editor*/ post editor.

Indeed, an inability to access the block via the template editor was the problem. Reverting the changes in #51053 resolved the problem, so it's now possible to access the block via the template editor again. I think we're all in agreement that, ideally, the block should not be available from the post/page editor.