WordPress is the most well-known website platform. When talking about Content management systems alone, WordPress owns 60.8% of the market share. That is how ubiquitous and gigantic WordPress is.
WordPress powers 14.7% of the top websites in the world. Time Magazine, Sony Music, The Harvard Gazette and even Microsoft News itself only function due to WordPress. WordPress is a must-have for the internet.
Now WordPress is just a very simple site builder, it takes a lot of work to create a website in the levels of the bigger ones like Microsoft news and Time Magazine. Without the know-how, it would be very difficult to make a website that is as functional or as elegant as those.
Enter Plug-ins. WordPress plugins can be described as pieces of software you “plug in” to your WordPress website. These pieces of software will then add new functionality or enhance functionality on your WordPress site. Through plugins, you can make your website into anything you can imagine.
Plugins are the heartbeat of WordPress. They are vital to the function of WordPress. WordPress plugins are so embedded in the WordPress environment, that there are over 55,000 plugins listed on the WordPress Plugin Directory.
Some of them are free, some are not. Some of these plug-ins are easy to use, and others take a while of getting used to. Elementor, a page builder plug-in, is a notable one.
Pink1472’s Youtube channel is reviewed in video format 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: A Quick Overview How To Use Smart Slider With Elementor
Elementor, a drag-and drop page builder plugin for WordPress, is the first. As the name suggests, page builders help users build their websites from the ground up.
That said, Elementor is nothing new. Since its release in mid-2016, Elementor has been in the WordPress Plugin Library. It quickly became one of the most popular visual page builders in WordPress. It has not slowed down since then.
Even today, Elementor continues to grow and evolve at a rapid pace, keeping up with the newest technologies.
It is easy to use, as it uses drag-and-drop technology. Elementor is easy to use, even for people just starting to build websites. Most of the process will involve dragging and dropping website elements on your workspace.
Drag and drop builders work on the principle that “what you see, is what you get”. This means that you can see what you create while building or editing your website. This makes it easy to imagine how your website would look as you are building it.
Elementor also allows you to do many things. You can create pages and posts that are more unique than regular WordPress themes.
Elementor will take you to a different interface when you create your page. This is where you get to work on your posts and pages. As such, you do not need to touch the standard editor that WordPress provides.
This interface also does not require you to have any HTML, CSS, PHP, or any coding skills. As stated above, everything is drag and drop and done through a handy user-facing interface.
Elementor is a flexible plugin. It can be used with any current WordPress theme. It can be used to create any page or content layout you can think of.
Elementor works with all types of WordPress themes. Elementor is compatible with all themes, so there’s no reason to be concerned if your theme isn’t compatible.
The Features of Elementor
At first glance, Elementor is what it says it is, a drag and drop page builder for WordPress User to make their pages without using a code.
We wouldn’t discuss Elementor, however, if that is all Elementor can do.
Elementor is not only one of the most popular and highly reviewed page builders plugins in WordPress. It also offers the following features:
Content Elements Galore
Admit it, the name Elementor is pretty strange for something that is a web page builder. It is not page building. Instead, it creates images of a monster that uses the elements to defeat the heroes.
However, nothing is further from the truth and Elementor was not named after a mythical creature or a scary monster to be vanquished. It is named after the building blocks users use to build out the page. These blocks are called elements and form the web site.
These are the things that users need to “drag-and-drop” to form their eye popping designs. These are the Elementor names.
Responsive Design
First came the smart phones. Then came internet of things. The internet can now be accessed by almost any device. The most popular way to browse the internet is still via a personal computer or laptop, rather than using smartphones and tablets.
If you’re the owner of a website and want to get “hits”, you shouldn’t be allowed to pick on any cockfight. You would want both to visit your website. You want your website to look great on any device.
Elementor allows you to do just that. Your website will look great on any device, thanks to its responsive design.
And if you are not satisfied with the default look, there are multiple options provided to allow you to customize and control how it works and looks.
Templates
With a drag and drop builder like Elementor, it would not be a surprise if there are people trying to build a WordPress page who do not know a thing about code. It is not surprising to see people who don’t know where to start when creating a website.
These poor souls can be helped by templates. Templates can be used to avoid the “blank page syndrome” that many beginners experience. Elementor provides hundreds of templates that are designed professionally.
These templates are a great place to start when you’re creating a new website. Or they can be used as an inspiration to create your own eye popping websites.
Style options
Aside from templates, Elementor also provides style. With Elementor, you can get a lot of detailed style options that allow for pixel-perfect design. You don’t need to know any coding or custom CSS.
Convenience
With its multiple tools, Elementor makes it a lot easier to build your web pages. Some of which include right-click support where you can get help with a click of the mouse. You can also use the quick find tool to help you locate what you need to build your site with Theme Builder.
The Pro version (paid version), allows users to create entire WordPress themes.
Dynamic Content
Dynamic content refers to any digital or online content which changes and updates based upon data, user behavior, and preferences.
Elementor lets you add dynamic content to your pages using custom fields or plugins such as ACF, Pods, and Toolset. You can keep your pages up-to-date with any changes that you wish to reflect.
Popup Builder
The popup builder is another feature that only Pro users can access with Elementor. Popups can be made into any web page you wish. They are often used to convert leads.
Elementor’s Popup Builder allows you to design your popup using the same tools given for your webpage builder. You can use the same visual, drag-and-drop interface and the “what you see is what it gives you” interface.
Elementor’s Popup Builder will allow you to create popups as striking as your pages.
WooCommerce Builder
WooCommerce is an open-source ecommerce plugin for WordPress. WooCommerce is a plugin for WordPress that allows you to sell products online. Its primary draw is its ease of integration on your site and its customizability.
Elementor allows you to set up an eCommerce store with the WooCommerce plugin. You can create your WooCommerce shop through Elementor using Lementors. You can even include products and integrate it in your design.
Users for Elementor
Anyone can use Elementor. Digital marketers, students and everyone in between. Anybody who plans to create a WordPress website can use the various styles and functions available in Elementor to spice up their pages.
Casual User
Elementor is a great tool for casual users who want to inject some personality and pizazz into their blogs or websites. In fact Elementor is the perfect tool for such a job.
Using the visual interface, it would be very easy for casual users to create groundbreaking or eye-opening designs even without using technical knowledge like coding, custom CSS or whatever programming language available.
Even the free version is good enough for casual users.
Digital Marketer
Elementor is great for digital marketers, teams and individuals because it offers many marketing opportunities.
It can be used as a drag-and-drop page builder to create sales pages or landing pages if you know how to do that. To really increase your sales, you could combine the plugin with Landing Page friendly plugins.
If you want to get serious, you can avail of the Elementor Pro features that allow you to create lead forms. These forms are not far from those plugins that focus more on lead conversion or landing pages.
You can even connect these lead forms to popular email marketing services. It can even be integrated with Zapier, one of the internet’s most well known automation and integration tools.
One feature discussed earlier is the Popup builder.This popup builder is perfect to create opt-in popups. These popups can be placed anywhere on your website and targeted to specific items.
Even the WooCommerce Builder can be used to sell products and services and design your sales pages.
Site Builders
Elementor is the best choice for those who work on websites for clients.
Elementor offers many features that make website building easier and more efficient. The drag and drop feature allows builders an easy way to create a website from scratch. This feature can be combined with the website preview to almost instantly see the results.
You can even choose themes to simplify the process of building websites. These themes can also be used to inspire the next website they create. To create the perfect website, they can combine the functionality and aesthetics of all three.
Flexible themes can be used with the plugin by Elementor users to create 100% custom client websites.
But if you want to code, Elementor still allows you to do that.
Elementor: The Case
We know about Elementor’s features, and we also know who can benefit from the plugin. But we need to understand why Elementor is so important.
First of all, the most basic use of Elementor boils down as a page builder for websites.
Making websites is not an easy task. Sure, you might know the basics. It is possible that you even know what elements are needed to create a functional website.
However, it is still a fact that websites should be unique in order to carve out their own space in the internet. Although this may sound simple, there are many factors that must be considered when creating a website.
Website navigation and aesthetics are important, as well as security. Each of these must be maintained in a pristine condition to keep users and visitors satisfied with your website’s overall performance.
It will require a lot of effort. Now, put yourself in the shoes of a freelancer or a website designer and you will have these problems multiplied tenfold.
You will need to generate and create new ideas for each client you have or every website you build.
Plugins and page builder apps are a godsend for these people. With lots of features to make the website building process more accessible and easier to use. It will be easier to do the work.
Website designers will need to spend less time tweaking websites based on the preferences of their clients.
Even starting from scratch can be a thing of the past. Many professional-grade templates are available.
This is the core of website builders and webpage builders. They allow the users to have an easier and more accessible time in carving their space in the Internet. How To Use Smart Slider With Elementor
The Examination of Elementor
The Interface
The Elementor plugin must be activated before it can be used. This can be done through the WordPress Repository.
Once you’re done, you can either customize Elementor’s settings to your liking or start creating and designing websites immediately.
The default settings for people just starting out should not be altered. Now we can head over to the pages and open one that we are allowed to edit.
Click on the “Edit with Elementor” button in the upper right corner of the page to begin editing
The dashboard will now have the following parts:
- The Main Canvas where most of the action will take place. This is where you will edit and redesign most of your websites look
- You can drag the Elementor widgets section from which most of the functions and “apps” for your website to be placed before you place it in the main area of our website.
- Elementor Settings
- Open Elementor Widgets
- Global Settings
- Revision History
- Switch View. Switch View. This is where you can switch between different views of how your website will appear on different devices (desktop/tablet, mobile).
- Preview Changes
- Publish
From this interface, you can choose what to do with your website. You have two options: you can start from scratch. You can edit a pre-existing webpage. To get started, you can use a template. How To Use Smart Slider With Elementor
Elementor Structure Hierarchy
Before you can truly begin creating websites in Elementor, you need to understand how it works. In this case, you need to get a grip of how the website elements in Elementor work as well as how they work with each other.
Sure, Elementor might offer a drag and drop builder, which at first glance can make it a chaotic and free builder. However, there is actually a structure to this “madness”. Understanding this structure is key to effective website building (aside from just copying a template.)
Each page created with Elementor has sections and columns
Sections can be described as rows. Each section is the foundation of the page. You can change the size and background of a section. Sections hold widgets and columns. Basically they hold the other elements of the website together.
The sections are divided by columns. Just like the sections, you can control and customize each column individually. Each column is home to multiple content or widgets. As such, you can make each column on a section different from each other.
These are the smallest elements of a website. This is basically the toppers of your website. Your website’s function will be determined by the widgets, while its personality will be determined by the content. These widgets can be customized and styled.
Pre-made templates
While they are not necessary in creating web pages (you can always make them from scratch) , having pre-made templates is always a godsend. Not only do they make your work easier and faster, they are also a source of lots and lots of inspiration.
Elementor offers professionally designed templates that you can use on your website. Each template can be used as-is or modified to fit your needs.
So how many templates do Elementor provide its users? Free users are given 150 and more templates available to use. If that is not enough, Pro users are given three hundred and more templates to play around with.
Then there are the Elementor Kits. These “design kits” consist of a variety of templates. These templates are mostly uniform or share the same design feel. These templates are great for creating websites with a single design theme.
Elementor’s template collection contains both pre-made templates as well as Elementor kit kits. This library holds most of all common page templates for different purposes. Think of a web page, and you might find what you need there. How To Use Smart Slider With Elementor
They have a selection of pages for about pages, contact pages, homepages, landing pages and their various niches (i.e. restaurants, hotels, resorts etc.) portfolios, and even teampages as well as many more.
The library gives and receives. You can export web pages that you are happy with to a template so you can reuse them whenever you want.
This makes it easy to choose a design when you are building another page that shares design or function elements from your previous pages. These designs can be shared to the wider community online.
Elementor allows you to design a page from scratch
Elementor allows you to build and design your web page either from scratch, with a pre-existing template. Although it’s easier to use a template to create one, it is worth learning how to make one yourself.
We can see the effectiveness of the Elementor plugin’s functions by looking at it.
To start:
- Open a blank page and click “Edit With Elementor”
- There will be a “+” button. Click on it to add a new section
- You will be presented with a page that has a selection of sections in it. Pick the one most suited to your needs. It is best to choose one that has enough columns to meet your needs.
- Now that you have your sections, you can start picking your widgets in the Elementor drag and drop them to your columns where you want to place them.
- When you are satisfied with where you placed your elements, you can customize them in the Content, Style, and Advanced Sections. It is a good idea to experiment with the different options until you find the style that suits you best. How To Use Smart Slider With Elementor
Editing a Pre-Existing Page in Elementor to Suit your Design
After learning how to create web pages with Elementor from scratch, we can now look at editing instead of building one from an existing page. You can find pre-existing pages from many sources.
These templates can be taken from your saved pages. Some can come front he dozens of templates available from Elementor’s library. They can also be templates you have imported into Elementor.
No matter the source, one thing is true: Editing a webpage from a pre-built page is a lot easier than building one from scratch.
Let’s move on.
- Adding in a new widget is the same as doing it from scratch. You just take the widget you want to use from the Elementor Panel and then drag it to where you want to place it on the page.
- You can also arrange widgets in the visual preview by dragging them and dropping them to the new place.
- Editing text from content boxes is just as simple. You just need to click on the box and then type the new text you want on the visual preview.
- Remember, you can always add new sections and columns. This is particularly useful if you need to create new layouts of your widgets.
- By clicking on the widgets, you can modify them in the same way as text. It will open the appropriate widget setting in the sidebar. This section is broken down into three tabs: Style, Content, and Advanced. These settings can be adjusted until you find the right setting. How To Use Smart Slider With Elementor
The Price of Elementor
With all the features elementor provides its users, it seems too good to be true that it is just a free plugin. Yep, you heard it right. Elementor is FREE
You might have noticed that the Pro version is mentioned. It is true that there is a Pro version. However, you don’t really need to go pro to enjoy almost all of Elementor’s benefits and features.
The official WordPress repository contains Elementor’s main plug-in. It’s completely free with no signups or registrations required. You will also need this main plugin if you want to go Pro.
Speaking of the Pro edition. There are currently four plans. Each of these plans adds more benefits and features. You will get a different amount of Pro Website Activation depending on the plan you choose.
The plan are as follows:
| Essential Plan | Expert Plan | Studio Plan | Agency Plan |
| $49 per Year | $199 per Year | $299 per Year (1st year only)
$499 |
$999 per Year |
| 1 Pro Website Activation
100+ Basic and Pro Widgets
300+ Basic and Pro Templates
60+ Pro Website Kits
Theme Builder
WooCommerce Store Builder
Landing Page Builder
Premium Support |
25 Pro-Website Activations
100+ Basic and Pro Widgets
300+ Basic and Pro Templates
60+ Pro Website Kits
Theme Builder
WooCommerce Store Builder
Landing Page Builder
Premium Support
Elementor Expert Profile |
100 Pro Website Activations
100+ Basic and Pro Widgets
300+ Basic and Pro Templates
60+ Pro Website Kits
Theme Builder
WooCommerce Store Builder
Landing Page Builder
VIP Support
Elementor Expert Profile |
1000 Pro Website Activations
More than 100+ basic and pro widgets
More than 300+ Pro and Basic Templates
60+ Pro Website Kits
Theme Builder
WooCommerce Store Builder
Landing Page Builder
VIP Support
Elementor Expert Profile |
The case for going pro
There is a great debate if when talking about going Pro with Elementor. A lot of people find it hard to reconcile paying for a service that already offers 90% of what it can do for free. This really boils down to Elementor Pro.
Elementor Pro offers many other benefits, in addition to the ones mentioned above. These include: How To Use Smart Slider With Elementor
- 50+ additional content elements or modules
- 300+ additional page templates
- A theme builder (which allows you to change headers and footers for your current theme)
- WooCommerce Builder (which allows you to rebuild your WooCommerce Product Pages
- Popup Builder (which allows you create popups and then integrate them with an on-opt-in form, some offers or discounts).
- Visual form builder (which can be integrated with multiple and popular marketing tools)
- Global widgets can be used on the website, even if they are not on the same page.
- For further customization, add custom CSS to any Elementor Blocks
- Sidebar widgets and widgets can be used to deploy Elementor elements
You can choose Elementor Pro Version if you don’t think these extra features are sufficient or you require some of these features on your website. How To Use Smart Slider With Elementor
Elementor: The Pros and Con of Elementor
Pros
- The core product for Elementor is entirely free. Elementor is free to use, unlike many plugins.
- There are plenty of features to use for creating your webpage. These features are also very simple to use.
- This allows users to create custom web pages or layouts using eye-popping designs that are not possible with the default theme or WordPress’ basic builder.
- Drag and drop builders eliminate the need to have HTML, CSS, orPHP skills. Elementor is your friend!
- Chooses the “What you see is what you get” approach, makes it easy for you to build your website without switching to previews. This approach can help you save time.
- All pages made with Elementor are responsive. They even allow you to view how they would look on mobile, desktop, or tablet as you are building your website.
- The plugin provides detailed settings for all alignments, margins, and padding values. All details can be fine tuned.
Cons
- Sometimes, the custom styling to links does not always go as intended.
- There are times where you can get stuck with Elementor’s default typography and color settings.
- It can be difficult to correct misaligned elements, particularly when it comes to their margin values. This is because most blocks, columns, and content elements have their own margin settings.
- Some people have observed that Elementor can sometimes slow down the overall speed of your website. How To Use Smart Slider With Elementor
The Verdict on Elementor
Elementor is an excellent page builder. Elementor has everything you need to build a simple page. It caters to both beginners and veteran page builder alike. You get all its features at a low price.
So if you are looking for a drag and drop page builder plugin for WordPress, you will never go wrong with Elementor.
I would even go far as to say that the developers of Elementor have struck themselves gold and never really let go since then. It is incredible that Elementors are still one of the top choices today, given their age.
Elementor Frequently Asked Questions
Is Elementor compatible with WordPress themes?
Elementor Works with all themes as long as they follow the coding standards of WordPress set by its Codex.
Can Elementor be used with other WordPress plugins?
Elementor can be used with nearly all WordPress plugins.
There might be some incompatibility issue here and there, but you can report these incidents to Elementor’s support for them to locate and find a solution about the issue.
What is Elementor Pro?
Elementor Pro, the advanced version of Elementor, is available.
Unlike regular Elementor, it is not free. It adds many features and completes the tools web designers need to create a professional website. How To Use Smart Slider With Elementor
Why is the Studio subscription to Elementor Pro discounted?
Elementor simply wants to offer a lower entry price point for their studio plan.
This is a great deal at 40% off However, this only applies for one year. During renewal users will have to pay the regular, full price of the Studio plan.
How do I pay for Elementor Pro?
Elementor Pro can be paid for using Stripe, PayPal or any other credit card.
Is there a Demo Version for Elementor Pro? How To Use Smart Slider With Elementor
Elementor Pro does not have a Demo version.
However, they do offer a refund policy that lets you cancel the pro plan as well as get a refund within the first 30 days. If you are interested in the Pro version of Elementor Pro, you can pay for it and then use it for one month to decide if it is worth keeping.