WordPress is the most well-known website platform. WordPress holds 60.8% market share in Content management systems. 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. It goes without saying that the internet would be a different landscape if it weren’t for WordPress.
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 are pieces of software that you “plug into” your WordPress site. 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 essential to maintain and enhance its function. WordPress plugins are so embedded in the WordPress environment, that there are over 55,000 plugins listed on the WordPress Plugin Directory.
Some are free and some are paid. 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. You can still read our article to get an overview of Elementor.
Elementor: A Quick Overview How To Grid Instead Of Columns Elementor
To begin with, Elementor is a drag-and-drop page builder plugin for WordPress. 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 has quickly become one of the most popular, visual page builders in WordPress. From there, it hasn’t stopped and rested on its laurels.
Elementor continues to evolve and grow at an incredible pace, keeping up the latest 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.
Most drag and drop builders operate on the “what you see is what you get” model. 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.
Furthermore, Elementor allows you to do a lot of things. You can create pages and posts that are more unique than regular WordPress themes.
When making your page, Elementor will bring you to a separate interface. 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. Everything is easy to use, and you can drag and drop it through the user-friendly interface.
Elementor is a flexible plugin. It can be used with whatever current WordPress theme you are using. You can make and generate any content layout or page layout you can imagine with it.
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. Rather than page building, it brings about images of a monster who uses the elements to vanquish the heroes.
Elementor is not named after any mythical creature or scary monster. Its name is derived from the blocks that are used to build the pages. 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. And through them, the Elementor name is apropos.
Responsive Design
The smart phones were first. Then came the 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. Both would be welcome to your site. As such, you would want your site to look the best it can no matter the device being used.
Elementor makes it possible to achieve this. 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
Elementor is a drag-and-drop builder that makes it easy to create a WordPress page. It is not surprising to see people who don’t know where to start when creating a website.
Luckily templates exist in order to help these poor souls. Templates can help avoid the blank page syndrome that most beginners suffer from. Elementor provides hundreds of templates that are designed professionally.
These templates will be a good place to start whenever you are starting out for a new web page. Or they can be used as an inspiration to create your own eye popping websites.
Style options
Aside from templates, Elementor also provides style. Elementor offers many options for customizing your design to make it pixel perfect. What’s more is you do not need to know custom CSS or any coding at all.
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 is defined as any digital or online content that changes and updates based on 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. This allows the added benefit of having your pages constantly up to date with any relevant changes you want to be reflected.
Popup Builder
Another feature available only to Pro users of Elementor is the popup builder. Popups are small web pages that can be used into whatever you like. More often than not, they are used for lead conversion.
Elementor’s popup builder allows you to create your popup with the same tools as 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’s target is usually small to large online merchants. Its primary draw is its ease of integration on your site and its customizability.
This customizability extends even to Elementor which allows users to create an eCommerce store using the WooCommerce plugin. Through Elementor you can design your WooCommerce shop using Lementors. You can also include products and integrate them into your design.
Users for Elementor
Elementor can be used by almost anyone. Digital marketers, students and everyone in between. Anyone who has plans in creating a web page through WordPress, can spice up their pages through the different functions and styles available in Elementor.
Casual User
Casual users looking for a way to add pizazz and personality in their personal websites or blogs can use Elementor. Elementor is the ideal tool to do this 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. Zapier is one of the most popular integration and automation tools on the internet.
The Popup builder was mentioned earlier. This popup builder allows you to create opt-in, popups. These popups can be placed anywhere on your website and targeted to specific items.
The WooCommerce Builder can also be used to design sales pages and sell products.
Site Builders
For people whose work involves building websites for clients, there is no better choice than Elementor.
Elementor offers many features that make website building easier and more efficient. Drag and drop allows builders to quickly create a website. This feature can be combined with the website preview to almost instantly see the results.
There are even themes to make the website building process easier. These themes can also be used to inspire the next website they create. They can use the aesthetics, functionality, form, or any combination of the above to build the perfect website.
Flexible themes can be used with the plugin by Elementor users to create 100% custom client websites.
However, Elementor allows you to still code.
Elementor: The Case
While we know of Elementor’s features and we know who can benefit from using the plugin, we should probably get to know why we should use Elementor in the first place.
Elementor is a page builder that creates websites.
Making websites is not an easy task. Sure, you might know the basics. You might even know which elements to include to make a very 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. These problems will be ten times more if you are a freelancer or website designer.
For each new client or new website you build, you will need to create and generate newer ideas to make it unique.
These people will find plugins and page builders apps a blessing. There are many features that make website building easier and more intuitive. Work will take less time to consume.
From the multiple features such as dynamic content, version features, and drag and drop builders, Website designers will have to spend less time fine tuning websites depending on their client’s preferences.
Even starting from scratch can be a thing of the past. Thanks to the multiple professional grade templates available for use.
This is the core of website builders and webpage builders. They make it easier and more accessible for users to carve their own space on the Internet. How To Grid Instead Of Columns Elementor
The Examination of Elementor
The Interface
The Elementor plugin must be activated before it can be used. You can do so through the WordPress Repository.
With that done, you can choose to customize Elementor’s settings or immediately begin creating and designing a website.
For people who are just starting out, the default starting settings should not be changed. Now we can head over to the pages and open one that we are allowed to edit.
To start editing: On the upper right side of the page, click on “Edit With Elementor”
This will bring about the dashboard that has 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 can either start from scratch. Edit an existing webpage. To get started, you can use a template. How To Grid Instead Of Columns 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.
Elementor may be a drag-and-drop builder that can seem chaotic at first glance. There is a structure to all this “madness.” This structure is essential for effective website building, and not just copying a template.
Each page created with Elementor has sections and columns
Sections can be described as rows. Each section is the basis of the page. You can change the size and background of a section. Sections hold widgets and columns. They basically hold all the elements together.
The sections are divided by columns. Each column can be customized and controlled individually, just like the sections. Each column is home to multiple content or widgets. You can also make each section’s columns different.
These are the smallest elements of a website. These are the main elements of your website’s toppers. The function of your website will depend on the widgets and its personality will depend on the content. Of course, you can still customize and style these two.
Pre-made Templates
Although they aren’t necessary for creating web pages, you can still make them from scratch. However, pre-made templates are always a blessing. 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. You can use each template as is, or you can edit them to suit your needs or tweak them a little to make a perfect fit.
So how many templates do Elementor provide its users? Elementor offers 150 templates to free users. If that is not enough, Pro users are given three hundred and more templates to play around with.
There are also the Elementor Kits. These are “design kits” that consist of a collection of templates. These templates have a common design or are generally uniform. These kits are perfect for crafting whole websites that carry a singular vision on its design aspect.
Both the pre-made templates and the Elementor kits are available on Elementor’s template library. This library contains most common templates for various purposes. Think of a web page, and you might find what you need there. How To Grid Instead Of Columns 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 teampages are also available.
The library not only gives, but it also receives. You can export web pages that you are happy with to a template so you can reuse them whenever you want.
This allows you to easily choose a design for a page that shares design elements or functions with your other pages. These designs can be shared to the wider community online.
Elementor allows you to design a page from scratch
Elementor lets you create and design your website from scratch or 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.
Through examining it sprocess, we can clearly see how good the functions of the Elementor Plugin is.
To begin:
- Open a blank page and click “Edit With Elementor”
- You will see a “+” button. Click on it to add a new section
- A page will appear with a variety of sections. Pick the one most suited to your needs. It is best to choose one that has enough columns to meet your needs.
- Once you have created your sections, you are able to drag and drop your widgets from the Elementor to the columns you wish to place.
- 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 Grid Instead Of Columns Elementor
Editing an Existing Page in Elementor To Suit Your Design
Now that we’ve learned how to design web pages from scratch with Elementor, it is time to look at the process of editing rather than building one from a pre-existing page. Pre-existing pages can come from a variety of sources.
These templates can be taken from your saved pages. You can find many templates in Elementor’s library. Or they can be other templates that you have imported into Elementor.
It doesn’t matter what source you use, editing a page from a pre-built webpage is much easier than building it from scratch.
Let’s get on with it.
- 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.
- Rearranging widgets on the visual preview is also done by dragging the said widget and dropping it to the new location of where you want to place it.
- It is easy to edit text in content boxes. 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.
- You can customize your widgets the same way you edit text, by clicking on them. 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 Grid Instead Of Columns Elementor
The Price of Elementor
It seems unbelievable that elementor is a free plugin when you consider all of the features it offers. 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. If you wish to upgrade to Pro, this plugin will be required.
The Pro edition. There are currently four plans available. Each plan has more features and benefits. 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
More than 300+ Pro and Basic Templates
60+ Pro Website Kits
Theme Builder
WooCommerce Store Builder
Landing Page Builder
Premium Support |
25 Pro-Website Activations
More than 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
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 |
1000 Pro Website Activations
More than 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 |
The Case for Going Pro
When it comes to Elementor Pro, there is much debate. Many people struggle to pay for a service that offers 90% of the benefits it could offer for free. To be honest, this actually boils down to what Elementor Pro offers.
Elementor Pro offers many other benefits, in addition to the ones mentioned above. This include: How To Grid Instead Of Columns Elementor
- 50+ additional content elements or modules
- Additional page templates available in 300+
- A theme builder (which allows you to change headers and footers for your current theme)
- WooCommerce Builder allows you to rebuild 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
- Deploying Elementor elements in sidebars and widgets
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 Grid Instead Of Columns Elementor
The Pros and Cons of Elementor
Pros
- Elementor’s core product is completely free. Unlike most plugins, you do not need to get the Professional plan in order to get the most out of Elementor
- You have many options to create your website. 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!
- The “What you see, is what you get” approach makes it simple to build your website. This can save a lot of 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.
- This plugin allows you to adjust all alignments, margins and padding values. You can literally fine tune all details of your page.
Cons
- Sometimes, the custom styling to links does not always go as intended.
- Sometimes you may need to stick with Elementor’s default typography or color settings.
- It can be difficult to correct misaligned elements, particularly when it comes to their margin values. Because most content elements, including blocks and columns, have their own margin settings, this is not possible.
- Some people have observed that Elementor can sometimes slow down the overall speed of your website. How To Grid Instead Of Columns Elementor
The Verdict for Elementor
In conclusion, Elementor is a splendid page builder. Elementor has everything you need to build a simple page. Both beginners and veterans can use it. You get all its features at a low price.
Elementor is the best drag-and-drop page builder plugin you can find for WordPress.
I’d even say that Elementor’s developers have made a fortune and have not stopped trying since. It is incredible that Elementors are still one of the top choices today, given their age.
Common Questions about Elementor
Does Elementor work with WordPress Themes?
Elementor Works with all themes as long as they follow the coding standards of WordPress set by its Codex.
Does Elementor Work with other WordPress plugins
Elementor can be used with nearly all WordPress plugins.
You might have an incompatibility problem. Elementor can help you to find and fix it.
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 Grid Instead Of Columns Elementor
Why is there a discount for the Studio subscription of Elementor Pro?
Elementor wants to provide a studio plan at a lower price.
At 40% discount, this is a fantastic deal. However, this only applies for one year. During renewal, Studio plan users will be required to pay the full price.
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 of Elementor Pro available? How To Grid Instead Of Columns Elementor
There is no Demo version for Elementor Pro.
They do have a 30-day refund policy which allows you to cancel your pro plan and get a full refund. 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.