Disable Meta Box Resizing

WordPress 7.0 turned the meta box area at the bottom of the post editor into a collapsible, drag-to-resize panel. It is a nice addition for some, and a constant source of accidental drags and hidden fields for others.

This plugin gives every user their own switch. Turn it on and the panel goes back to how it behaved before WordPress 7.0: no drag handle, no collapse toggle, the meta boxes simply sit below a full height canvas again.

Because they sit below the canvas, they start off screen. A Meta boxes bar stays on the bottom edge of the editor to say they are there: press it to jump to them, press it again to come back to the content. It only scrolls out of the way once you have scrolled past it yourself.

The setting is stored per user, so one editor can keep the resizable panel while another turns it off. Nothing changes for anyone who leaves the option alone.

Where a user sets their own preference

Two places, both writing the same value and both applying immediately without reloading the editor:

• Editor → Options (⋮) → Disable meta box resizing. Reachable in one click while writing.
• Editor → Options (⋮) → Preferences → Appearance → Meta boxes.

And one place outside the editor:

• Users → Profile → Editor meta boxes. Useful when an administrator sets it up on behalf of someone else.

What an administrator can configure

Under Settings → Meta Box Resizing (or Network Admin → Settings → Meta Box Resizing on multisite):

• Default state — whether resizing starts out disabled for users who have not chosen for themselves. Users who did choose keep their own setting.
• Uninstall — whether to delete the plugin’s settings and every stored user preference when the plugin is uninstalled. Off by default, so nothing is lost on a reinstall.
• Users list — adds a read only column to the users overview showing each user’s setting, plus a dropdown to filter the list on it.

On multisite the settings live in the network admin, and each site’s Settings menu links through to them.

The plugin’s row on the Plugins screen has a Settings link straight to that screen, for anyone who can open it.

A short walkthrough shows an administrator around the settings screen the first time they open it. Until they do, a card beside the Settings menu points the way; Not now puts it off. It can be taken again at any time from the link at the bottom of the screen, and after an update that adds steps, only the new ones are shown.

Display modes

The settings screen and the walkthrough follow the way each administrator has set up their computer and their profile:

• Dark mode — when the operating system is set to dark, the plugin’s settings screen turns dark as a whole.
• More or less contrast — stronger text and lines, or softer ones, in both light and dark.
• Admin colour scheme — the accent follows the scheme chosen on the profile, darkened where it would otherwise be hard to read.
• Forced colours (Windows High Contrast) — the system’s own colours take over, and cards keep a visible edge.
• Reduced motion — no animations, and the walkthrough scrolls without smoothing.

The Meta boxes bar in the editor follows the contrast and forced colours settings too.

Good to know

• Development happens at github.com/acato-plugins/disable-meta-box-resizing. The uncompiled sources of the editor script and stylesheet ship in /src, next to the compiled files in /build.
• The plugin only touches the post editor. The site editor has no meta boxes and is left alone.
• Two pieces of user meta (the preference, and which walkthrough a user has seen) and one settings array. No front end code.
• On WordPress older than 7.0 the plugin deactivates itself and explains why, since there is no resizable panel there to switch off.