Divi Builder does no longer work with CP

The Divi Builder of newer versions of the theme (3.25.x, perhaps also earlier versions) does with CP no longer work in the backend. It can only be used in the frontend, and this could be very disturbing.

Note: With the Plugin Classic Editor the Divi Builder still works in the backend of installations with WP 5.2.x.

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This is also a problem in WordPress 4.9.x — my developer is already in conversations with them about this. It’s because they’re not triggering existing code in the back end that they are using in the front end in order to remain compatible with 4.9. This is when using the “new experience” Divi builder.

Conversely, I’m seeing some instances where the reverse is happening when using their old builder.

If you have a little time, it would be helpful for you to also reach out to Divi to let them know you are having this problem with ClassicPress. We have also mentioned it. The more people they hear from, the more likely they are to fix it.

If you prefer to work in the back end and want to get back to the old builder, I have a trick you can use to get there from the back end — if that’s useful to you, let me know.

I’ll post here when I hear something else back from Divi — last I know they’d kicked it upstairs.

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I use Divi daily and it works fine. Do not use the Divi Builder, first of all, it’s completely not necessary. Use Divi instead and it works fine. It works even better now without CP since they’ve basically eliminated the need for it. You can just tinker with the settings use the “classic” Divi experience and you then have WP before Gooberborg. I update ClassicPress and use the latest version of Divi on many of my sites and they all work just fine. I don’t use a developer but do all the client work myself, so can verify it works just fine. I’m also very active on all Divi groups on FB and no issues to report.

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Glad to hear it Voltaire, thank you for sharing your experience with it! I generally use the back end “classic” experience but one or two of the sites were on the “new” experience and this is when I discovered the problem, myself.

I’m a little confused by your statement “do not use the Divi builder… use Divi instead”. I do use the Divi Theme, which has the Divi Builder in it. Are you using the standard editor with the Divi theme?

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Thank you, Michelle, for your information.

I mentioned using ClassicPress to the Divi support and asked to fix the issue.

If you could let me know about the trick I would be very happy. :wink:

EDIT: The Divi Builder seems to work again with Divi 3.25.4.

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Absolutely!

EDIT: I just saw your update while I was typing! I’m so happy they fixed it so quickly (2 days!) – they mention it in the changelog here:

I’m still going to post the trick in case it’s useful to someone in the future.

The trick is this:

Go to one of the offending pages with the spinning dots. Right click on the “Switch Back to Classic Divi Builder” and select “Inspect Element” from the menu. Your inspector will open up in DevTools and a Div will be highlighted. You’ll need to drill down to find the exact target link within inspector… I’ll attach a screenshot so you can see what mine looks like. You are looking for a link that looks like this:

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Once you’ve located it, right-click and copy that link. Paste it into the browser. It will kick you back to the dashboard. Go back to the page you were looking at before and VOILA – sanity will be restored. :slight_smile:

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Definition of “sanity” may vary by user :wink:

I’m glad they fixed it, that is not a very fun workaround.

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Divi has been updated successfully and actually you do not need ClassicPress with Divi sites. Basically Divi has new settings that get rid of their Gutenberg editor/CMS (for now at least). I’d have to find the link but it’s all in the settings and they have pretty good tech support and forums. If you use Divi with WP (as it is currently) you can go to the settings and use “Classic Editor” and enable all those settings in the Divi settings and everything will work as is and as it was a year or two ago. Their Visual Builder is fine, just very different if you’re not familiar with it.

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@voltaire do you still have sites on WP 4.9+ or are on CP that are using Divi, and are you finding issues with the visual builder after the last Divi update?

Not sure if this helps @BlueSkyPhoenix but I just thought i’d share my experience. I’ve got two sites running Divi, both running on the same VPS with an identical set up. Both are also running CP 1.1.0. The only difference is one is running Divi 3.20.2 and the other 3.26.1.

Site A: CP 1.1.0, Divi 3.20.2

Editor Status
Classic Builder backend OK
Classic Builder frontend OK
New Builder OK
Switching from New to Classic No problem

Site B: CP 1.1.0, Divi 3.26.1

Editor Status
Classic Builder backend OK but slow
Classic Builder frontend Unusable. Random bits of JavaScript appear on page (see image below)
New Builder OK
Switching from New to Classic No problem

Having looked at the change log (https://www.elegantthemes.com/api/changelog/divi.txt), there doesn’t appear to have been any updates specifically for WP4.9.x or anything that addresses the issues I’ve been having.

I don’t think I’ll be using Divi for any new sites but if I do, I’ll stick with version 3.20.2. Most likely however, I will use something else altogether.

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Hi @1stepforward thanks for the added info. I had my dev look at it and he is of the opinion that the issue is a coding error involving a missing “addAction” function in the Divi/includes/builder/orig-frontend-builder/assets/backports/hooks.js file.

Suspecting that this file was the cause of the error, he we took an entire “frontend-builder” directory from a slightly older, working version of Divi (prior to the creation of the back ports mechanism, added sometime between 3.20 and now) and moved it to the current version of Divi. With this change, the Visual Builder loads without any issues.

To explain – the back ports mechanism checks for WP pre-5.0 and if it finds that it’s an older version, it adds the React bits that are native to WP 5+ that Divi’s Visual Builder needs to run on pre-5.0.

We took this information to the Divi support team and offered them a fresh install of WP 4.9.11 with no activated plugins and Divi’s most recent version so they could test, and their consistent response to us was “Update WP and then we’ll look at it.”.

Obviously if I update WP to 5+, the issue goes away.

I spoke with 4 separate Divi support people and repeated my findings multiple times, and none of them are willing to look at the issue.

I also asked them: “If you’re not going to support the Visual Builder on WP versions prior to 5, please remove the capacity to switch to the Visual Builder.” Then, at least I can keep my clients from trying to use something that’s broken… but no.

The final words from them on this topic were,

“I am afraid we can’t provide support for outdated WordPress as we keep our products compatible with the latest version of WordPress so we can’t guarantee support for older versions.”

On WP5+, they have created their own “Classic Editor” switch in Theme Options that allows you to disable Gutenberg without needing an additional plugin. When I asked them how long they’d support that, they answered:

As long as WordPress provide this feature, Divi will be compatible with it and will give you the option to disable the Gutneberg either via theme option or this plugin.

In all my digging around, I did see that the WP Classic Editor Plugin has changed their language slightly:

Classic Editor is an official WordPress plugin, and will be fully supported and maintained until at least 2022, or as long as is necessary.

Small consolation, since WP may deem it no longer necessary at any time… :frowning:

The whole thing is very reminiscent of Yoast’s insistence on updating WP, and I suspect that at the core, $$$ is behind this too. It’s very upsetting.

I use Divi because I am a designer, not a developer. Divi allows me to focus on design and takes 90% of the struggle out of building a website for me. It also allows me to build sites affordably for small businesses who otherwise would either DIY it or hire some hack. It’s powerful, versatile and (up 'til now) stable.

I love what I do and I love the business owners I work with, but not one of them could afford to hire me if I had to hire a developer to implement my designs from scratch; nor could I afford to continue to earn a living by only earning the “design” portion of a site build for these little guys. I’d be forced to leave the businesses who need my expertise the most and go after bigger corporate and government contracts…

I’ve been there/done that and although the money is nice, there’s little joy in it. I wouldn’t last.

This is the core of why I became involved with ClassicPress to begin with – I saw the writing on the wall for small businesses and my passion for the underdog brought me here. I know a lot of people here are anti-page-builder and that CP isn’t headed down that road… but I am hoping that along the way, I’ll find a way to continue to help my micro-businesses with a solution based on ClassicPress.

And… KUDOS to anyone who read this far. :slight_smile:

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:grimacing:

:grimacing: :grimacing: :grimacing:

I got involved with ClassicPress because I don’t like to see (or use) broken software that just doesn’t meet its users’ needs effectively.

In this case maybe there is a filter which you can use to remove the capacity to switch to the Visual Builder?

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Thanks James. My developer has created a workaround to “delete” the buttons that let a user switch to the Visual Builder so it looks like that’s the only other viable option here, but that’s kinda not the point. The point is Divi should fix their broken code and I should not be paying my dev to do their job for them. (you would think so, anyway…)

sigh…

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I’m not seeing that error. In fact, I get no error at all in the dev console or in the PHP logs. But clearly something is broke.

Very reminiscent of the toxic WordPress culture as a whole. The culture I so desperately want to get away from.

Yes, I think we can all see where this is going.

I totally understand that. Divi and similar themes do have their place…but we don’t need their **** you attitude. In most cases, I develop my own custom theme for each client, but that’s my choice and I don’t pass that cost onto the customer. I do it because it’s easier for me. I find it so frustrating working with page builders and themes that want to control absolutely everything. With few exceptions, I only use themes if the customer has specifically asked for one.

That’s what we’re all hoping and I’m still confident we’ll get there. We really could do with a major backer or two or three or four. But from what I’ve seen of the community, we’re all determined enough to see this through.

I made it! :trophy:

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Interesting that you don’t get that error, but you’re on 3.26.1 and the error I’ve got is in 3.26.3, so perhaps it’s the minor bump that introduced the error…

And that is the beauty and the curse of web design, isn’t it? So many people with so many different talents and so many different ways to approach the solution to a problem.

Thanks for your help and your thoughts on this!

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I use Divi as well.

I’m a designer but also a developer so I can get under the hood and do some really cool things with a child theme.

Lately, I’ve only been using the new Divi builder and don’t activate the classic editor anymore. With the wireframes layout, you can get the same block look that I like to work with.

What I’ve noticed is that the builder and the websites are much faster when using the latest WordPress and Divi release. Now that they have added WooCommerce layout options it’s even better to work with.

The release of Divi 4.0 is going to allow for full theme editing from header to footer.

It’s clear to me that if I want to keep using Divi and all it’s great new features, then I need to embrace the new WordPress no matter how much I dislike it.

As time goes on I suspect the older versions of Divi will run into problems as will other plugins once the classic editor is discontinued which we all know it will be at some point. This is my biggest reason for not embracing Classic Press. There is not enough support for it in the plug-in community yet. That may change but until it does I just can’t switch over to it.

I still follow Classic Press to keep up with what’s going on with it, but at this time I don’t have any sites running it and don’t have any problems building new sites under the new WordPress.

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Well, Divi appears to have finally acknowledged their problem, temporarily at least…

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I just tested Divi 4.0.4 with the compatibility fix for CP and it works!

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