With everything happening with WordPress in relation to widgets and blocks, plugins like GD Clever Widgets Pro increasingly look outdated and becoming obsolete. But, for now, GD Clever Widgets Pro is safe from retirement.
WordPress 5.8 changed a lot of things and brought a new Widgets panel using Blocks Editor. And, GD Clever Widgets Pro has been updated, and support for the updated editor is included, but at the same time, the plugin is not going to have all its widgets converted into real blocks.
The work to convert so many widgets into blocks, and maintain any compatibility with the widgets would be very complicated and time-consuming, and the truth is that this plugin doesn’t have a big user base, so dedicating too much development time is not going to happen. Also, the plugin works just fine as it is, and it works with WordPress 5.0 and newer, and also ClassicPress 1.0 and newer.
The development plans for GD Clever Widgets Pro, after the release of version 3.2 (adding WordPress 5.8 compatibility), is to have the plugin remain as it is, and for now, no new widgets will be added, and the plugin will get regular maintenance and security updates. The plugin status will be revised at the end of 2022, and a decision will be made then if the plugin get’s retired or continue development and in what capacity.
