Add a Hook To Hide Inactive Widgets

[BFTrick]

Hello,

This is my first feature request so hopefully I'm going through the process correctly. Onto the request...

Adding a hook to remove or hide the Inactive Widgets sidebar on the WordPress Admin Widgets page would be very useful for developers who don't use the area and want to be able to hide it for better UX.

If this is approved I would love to submit a patch. :)

[ocean90]

What's wrong with

#inactive-sidebar {
    display: none;
}

?

[BFTrick]

I figure that writing this programmatically would be better in case CSS id's & classes or HTML structure would ever change for any reason.

Writing this programmatically might be better for future proofing against plugins or themes that could also manipulate the widget area and all sorts of crazy code that adds extra divs, classes, ids, etc.

Thoughts?

[callumbw95]

Hi all,

I have just taken a look at this ticket now and after reviewing the issue, it's important to consider the significant evolution of widget management within WordPress Core. Since the release of WordPress 5.8, the classic widget system has been superseded by the block-based widget editor. This change aligns widgets with the modern block editor infrastructure and is a key step in the transition towards Full Site Editing (FSE).

The core development team's focus is now firmly on the block editor and FSE components. As such, enhancements or non-critical bug fixes for the legacy classic widget system are no longer being prioritized.

Given that the functionality described in this ticket relates to a legacy system, I am closing this ticket as wontfix. This allows development efforts to remain focused on the current and future direction of WordPress. However, please feel free to reopen this ticket if you wish to discuss this further. 😃