You need everything to create a WordPress page or website that looks great. Sure, the platform’s in-house page builder is always ready to assist you, but the problem is you can’t edit it as much as you’d like because of how bulky and out-of-the-place it is.
Third-party plugins for web design can be used to solve problems you might have with WordPress. One of the most popular is Elementor. Elementor is designed to make it easy to create websites. No coding required!
Are you a believer that Elementor is the right page builder? Or are you undecided? To answer your curiosities, we’re deeply diving into everything it offers.
Here’s a Pinky1472 video review for those who like a visual experience. To get a comprehensive overview of Elementor, you may still want to check out our article below.
Elementor in a Nutshell – What is It About? Elementor Popup Dynamic Content
Elementor is a website builder plugin designed for WordPress. It’s best known for its visual and intuitive drag-and-drop editor that allows you to use a wide range of design assets and blocks and see what your page will look like to visitors in real-time.
With an interface that’s more akin to that of popular website builders like Squarespace and Wix, Elementor lets you either opt for a ready-made professional template or create a good-looking WordPress website from the ground up. This unique platform has one advantage: all the tools that you need to create a website are at your fingertips.
What Does It Have to Offer?
Living up to the reputation of being a very excellent WordPress plugin, Elementor provides a sleek and neat interface that lets you seamlessly go through everything it can offer.
- With Elementor, you’re greeted with an illustrious range of dynamic and attractive themes compared to the more standard and plain templates that often come with WordPress’ in-house themes.
- You get a separate and highly interactive work interface to edit your posts and pages. There’s no single sign of bulkiness associated with WordPress’s similar editor – everything is built to be silky smooth on your end.
- You can keep your current theme, even if it’s from WordPress – Elementor can deal with all WordPress themes as long as they’re compatible with version 5.0 of the platform or higher. The plugin can be used to transform a dull theme into something more appealing.
- All the editing for your pages and sites is done from the front end. You’ll see your work as soon as your customers or visitors see it. This remarkable feature allows you to better understand what design elements keep customers coming back for more.
Elementor as a whole makes it simple to create a stunning page. The interface of Elementor is so simple and packed with useful tools, even people with more advanced knowledge in web design, can use it without any difficulty. This, in turn, has solidified the website builder to be an ideal choice for folks lacking resources or working as a one- or three-man team.
Many similar web designer plugins may offer working individuals a pleasing drag-and-drop experience and a handful of useful tools. Elementor’s standards are not met by all plugins. With that being said, Elementor has gained a positive reputation among many WordPress users – more than three million of them have had the plugin installed on their accounts.
What makes this interesting web design platform stand out from all the rest? What else does it have that others usually don’t? We’ll find out soon as we take a more in-depth look at what Elementor has in store for us, starting with its illustrious list of features.
Meet Elementor’s Features
Fully-packed Template Library
If you’re completely new to web design or you have basic knowledge of it but don’t have enough time to commit to it, Elementor has got your back with its library of over 150 template options to choose from. All of them make the site-building experience easy on your end, as they help turn your ideas into a product that can catch anyone’s attention immediately.
The platform’s templates are classified into two categories:
- Pages – full-length templates that only require you to do low-effort customization
- Blocks – templates for individual and specific parts of a page – examples of which include FAQs, pricing tables, portfolios, etc.
You can find templates from other sources than Elementor’s own and then import them into the platform via the My Templates tab.
Huge Selection of Widgets
It’s not just the vast range of templates that Elementor is lucky to be packed with. The plugin is also rich in widget choices. Widgets can be smaller and more contained elements, which house a variety of content.
There are 60+ widgets that you can use to get a lot of information about how your website should look and the flexibility you have in doing so. These include text-related elements like headings, inner sections, media files such as images and videos, buttons and icons, as well as website sidebars. Elementor also offers testimonials, star ratings and gallery widgets as well as map widgets powered Google Maps.
You can add as many pages as you like to your site. To expand your selection, you can also import templates from third-party sources.
Convenient Drag-and-drop Editing
Elementor’s user interface is the most notable feature. Elementor’s drag-and-drop functionality allows users to create and edit pages as easily as possible. Drag the widget you prefer from the left sidebar and drop it in your workspace. You can also adjust the layout of the page by moving it to another location.
Apart from that, Elementor offers right-click support to assist users without having to go over the sidebar for slight edits all the time – something a couple of WordPress web design plugins aren’t equipped with.
Included is a Navigation view section that gives you a comprehensive list of content arranged accordingly to Elementor’s page structure – we’ll discuss that later on in full detail.
Also included within the editing interface is a Finder tool to help you further navigate swiftly between pages or content elements.
Fine-tuned Control over Your Elements
For a basic WordPress page-building plugin, Elementor is surely stuffed with many design options that anyone can enjoy hassle-free. It knows that the finest of details matter when it comes to creating an eye-catching website, so it allows you the liberty to edit and fix every single design element in whatever you’re building.
You can amend some necessary adjustments to your site’s content blocks, widgets, images, and text. You can also modify the font, size, and color of text content and headings.
These are just a few of the basic editing options you have in Elementor. You can also make specific adjustments to the plugin’s content elements. Widget positioning within columns, setting exact margins and padding in numbers, animation effects, and custom CSS settings are part of the plugin’s line of next-level customization options.
Options for Your Mobile-friendly Page
Elementor templates are all mobile-friendly by default. However, you might be curious if you can make some adjustments to your template to suit your needs. You’ll be glad to know that the platform gives you full control to do whatever you want to make your website more appealing on smartphones and tablets, as with everything else.
You can click on the Switch view icon in the sidebar to be presented with three viewing options: one for your desktop, tablet and one for your mobile phone. You can choose from any one of the three viewing options to edit or omit widgets.
A Chance to Look Back at the Changes You’ve Made
Sometimes, a few ‘undos’ actions are not enough to correct a major design error. Similar situations could have occurred if you tried to edit on any other design platform.
Elementor’s Revision History tool is a great help in this situation. With it, you can revert to any of the previous versions of the page you’re editing without sacrificing the rest of your design elements.
Pricing
You can use the entire Elementor plugin for absolutely free. Elementor Pro has many more upgrades and additions than the previous version. You might be interested in one.
Elementor Pro will allow you to explore a wider range of themes, templates and design blocks, as well as custom CSS and advanced programming capabilities. You can also create forms and pop-ups in the platform’s editing interface, integrate with WooCommerce, and use the theme builder.
Elementor Pro offers four subscription options, each tailored to different individuals or groups. The plan also offers a website builder and hosting plans for advanced site management. All tiers are paid annually and share the same premium features; the only two factors that set each other apart are the number of website activations and customer support response time.
Elementor Pro Plans
- Essential Plan – $49/year, 1 pro website activation, 24/7 customer support
- Expert Plan – $199/year, 25 pro website activations, 24/7 customer support
- Studio Plan – $299 in the first year, then $499/year after; 100 pro website activations, VIP customer support in under 30 minutes
- Agency Plan – $999/year, 1000 pro website activations, VIP customer support in under 30 minutes
The Elementor Cloud Website Builder + Hosting plan is $99 annually. It gives you the same features you can expect from any Elementor Pro plan but includes stunning hosting and CMS capabilities. It offers a wide range of templates and design assets. Your website is protected by Google Cloud Platform integration, SSL and robust website management.
Elementor Free vs. Elementor Pro
The tricky part is: Do you feel the free WordPress plugin version is still appropriate for you, or do the Pro versions have such an advantage that you want to give it a try instead?
If you want to build a website or landing page without thinking of adding anything else to further attract your clients, you may choose to stand by the free plugin variant. Elementor Free has many features that are already impressive in retrospect. Its core tools are just as dynamic as those of other web design platforms, which offer the same level or more delivery. So dynamic that even business teams can get away from using the free version instead. Elementor Popup Dynamic Content
Elementor Free allows you to:
- Optimize your website and pages for mobile viewing.
- Check out the version history of your website.
- Make use of fully customizable themes as well as built-in pre-made templates
- Add or edit out website blocks however you need them.
If the ability to build and license more than one website is what you’re looking for, Elementor Pro may be a more logical option. One of its advantage that sits above the free version is that there is a lot of value added to it. This means that you have more options and more features to help you get the most out of your software. These include:
- An expanding list of over 300 themes and 100+ premium block templates;
- Global widgets allow you to use the same widget on multiple pages and not have to modify it individually.
- If you are looking for more ways to draw potential customers, there is a front-end form creator and a pop up editor.
- Integrations with the popular e-commerce platform WooCommerce, complete with template blocks and widgets that let you build an online storefront;
- The ability to create your personalized theme from scratch through its Theme Builder feature. Elementor Popup Dynamic Content
Elementor Pro should not be considered the only way to grow the WordPress plugin if you don’t want to license multiple websites. Elementor Free, as mentioned above, is sustainable enough for most users. However, there are many flexible themes and templates that can be integrated into Elementor. Astra is a notable example.
Using Elementor: How Does It Work?
To get the Elementor plugin to start, the first thing you will need to do is install and activate it in WordPress. Once you’ve installed it, there’s a settings panel that you can visit if you wish – you may opt to modify whatever you want to see while you do the editing. You can also go to WordPress’s pages section.
You will see the Edit with Elementor link located along the bar above your canvas. You will be immediately redirected to the builder interface as you click the button. This image shows you how it looks. Elementor Popup Dynamic Content
Based on the image, here are some things you should know as you explore this interface.
- The canvas or workroom. It takes up the largest part of the screen.
- The widgets area. Situated on the left side next to the canvas, it contains lots of content and design elements that are ready to use.
- Settings. It is represented by three horizontal lines. This symbolise the ability to access a variety of fonts and colors.
- The Open Elementor widgets button. Essentially considered a form of the menu button, it allows you to return to the widgets list – nine little squares represent this.
- The Global Settings button. This button is represented by the cogwheel icon. It takes you to more advanced settings.
- The Revision History button. Displayed as a clock icon, it allows you to take a look at the history of previous versions of your page or website.
- Switch View. You can convert your desktop page to tablet-friendly or mobile-friendly versions by clicking the small monitor icon. This icon can be used to edit the content you wish your customers to see on their smartphones.
- Preview your changes. Once you click the tiny eye icon, you’re given a full look at the changes you’ve made to your page before you’re ready to publish it.
- The Publish/Update button. When the shaped button turns green, you are ready to publish. It’s gray if your page is being updated. This time, unlike green, you cannot click it. Elementor Popup Dynamic Content
Structure Hierarchy
Before you can begin building, it is important to understand the structure hierarchy Elementor uses. If you’re especially new to website design, this similar framework has been abided by many experienced creators and other basic web design platforms.
In Elementor, your primary goal is to create a page. A page is where it usually contains a series of sections and the columns that come after that.
A section can be described as a row you can customize with many design elements such as background, colors and sizing.
The columns, on the other, go inside a certain section. These are the places where widgets and content elements are located. Each widget can be customized and sized separately.
This is Elementor’s hierarchy structure.
Page > Section > Column > Widget/Content element
Designing a page
Let’s create a page now that we have an understanding of the skeletal structure. On WordPress’s page design interface, click the Edit with Elementor button. Soon you’ll see a plus (+), highlighted in red violet. Click on it to add a section. Elementor Popup Dynamic Content
Next, you will need to choose the structure for your section. You may choose a single column or multiple, depending on what type of content you wish to add. From there, you may populate those columns with content elements. Drag any widget from the interface’s widget section and drop it onto those columns, whether it is a heading or an images. You can even adjust or rearrange them and sections and columns within the page.
Once you’re happy with the structural placement, now is the time to retune the finer details to make the page look more presentable. You can explore three main editing tabs: Style, Content, and Advanced.
It is easier to design a pre-existing theme page than it is to create one from scratch. You would usually only need to make minor adjustments between sections, columns, and widgets, unless you are adding a new design element. With Elementor’s drag-and-drop functions, refining some necessary changes has been made much easier than the more advanced processes done through coding.
The disadvantages: What else is missing?
We don’t mean to mislead you, Elementor is certain to be one of the best WordPress web design tools. However, nothing in this world is always perfect. There are many things we love about the world, but there are some things you might find annoying.
- Sometimes the editing interface can be a little slow. It’s speedy, swift, and ultimately convenient, but it does so well, too fast to the point where it freezes altogether. To get it working again, refresh it and reopen it.
- Though most of Elementor’s features are offered for free, there are a few that may appear essential but are only limited to Elementor Pro, which may be a bit discouraging for some. For instance, you can’t set site-wide styles in the free version, as you’re essentially stuck to a few pages simultaneously. Elementor Popup Dynamic Content
- You may find that some editing adjustments don’t work as you expect. You may find that the default font and typography of certain links is what you have chosen, even if you add your own styling. On the other, you may have difficulty locating the exact margin value whenever the alignment of your design elements is off.
Who should use elementor?
Elementor has a wealth of expert-level features and tools. The free version includes these, as well as additional useful upgrades for any Elementor Pro plan. It is also easier to use than most other WordPress web design plugins.
It’s easy to see why so many people love Elementor. Elementor is both a popular DIY tool for those who don’t have the necessary web design skills and an intuitive platform that can be used by a broad range of businesses.
We do have a few users in mind who will find Elementor more suitable. These are:
- Casual internet users. Bloggers and hobby website runners, in particular, will enjoy the wide, customizable benefits gladly offered by Elementor.
- Digital marketing professionals. Elementor features can be used for design purposes, but they are also marketing-ready. This includes seamless integrations with thousands of platforms via Zapier and pop-up and online commerce widgets.
- Site builders. If creating websites for a handful of clients is your day job, then Elementor is a great stepping stone to get you to where you want to be. Elementor Popup Dynamic Content
Alternatives to Elementor
Elementor may have some advantages over other web design plugins, but that doesn’t make it the best choice.
Many WordPress web design plugins offer similar functionality to Elementor. Some may only offer a few. We all know by now that WordPress’s in-house web design feature is not everyone’s cup of tea – that’s why the plugins were created in the first place, to make the experience much better by the mile.
Right now, there are two other leading WordPress web builder plugins out there that are on the same par as Elementor in terms of features: the Divi builder by Elegant Themes and Beaver Builder. Divi, one on hand, offers the same feature-rich range as Elementor and has the same ability to edit your website from a front-end interface as your clients see it. However, despite giving off a very similar edge, it somehow doesn’t include a free option. On the other hand, Beaver Builder may not be as flashy as the other two plugins, but it still manages to pack as many essential design tools as possible into one platform. These are already enough to create an attractive website.
Elementor is not the only web design plugin you can use. SeedProd, Page Builder are also notable alternatives.
Final Verdict: Is Elementor worth trying?
To answer the question: yes. Elementor is a premium drag-and-drop page building tool for WordPress. It’s packed with top-quality design tools and features. Most of these core features are offered free. Elementor Popup Dynamic Content
There’s no question as to why people keep coming back to this impressive plugin to create pages and websites. Elementor is different than other web design plugins in that it allows anyone to create whatever they want with no restrictions. Elementor isn’t like other web design plugins that require you to upgrade to a higher plan, or to purchase a paid license. This ensures there is enough space for everyone.
Before we let you explore Elementor, here’s some advice: If your job involves creating websites for clients or running multiple websites, we recommend that you use Elementor Pro. The free plugin for WordPress will still work fine.
FAQ Elementor Popup Dynamic Content
Can I upload or export my templates to Elementor?
Yes, Elementor can import your templates. You can create a new template using the Theme Builder. Additionally, you can import your personal themes to the website builder via the Templates tab.
In a similar function, you can export your templates to be used on other WordPress sites – a handy function if you work for multiple clients as a website-building professional.
What pages can I make with Elementor?
Elementor allows you to create landing pages, homepages, landing page, landing pages and about pages.
If you’re subscribed to Elementor Pro, you can create full websites and even online stores apart from numerous pages.
Is Elementor slowing down my website?
Elementor won’t slow down your website to the point where it will take as many seconds as possible to load. However, a website that was built using this plugin may be two seconds slower than the one made from WordPress’s built-in website builder. Both are still faster than the Beaver Builder version.
WordPress websites made with plugins can take longer to build due to multiple factors, including poor hosting, large media files and slow themes.