Among website platforms, WordPress is probably the most famous. When talking about Content management systems alone, WordPress owns 60.8% of the market share. This is how widespread and massive WordPress is.
Even 14.7% of the world’s top websites are powered by it. WordPress is the only reason that Time Magazine, Sony Music and The Harvard Gazette, as well as Microsoft News, function. 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 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.
This is the reason why plugins can be considered as the beating heart of WordPress. They are vital to the function of WordPress. Plugins are so baked into the WordPress environment that the WordPress Plugin Directory features about 55,000+ plugins.
Some are free and some are paid. Some plug-ins are simple to use while others require some time to get used to. One notable plug in is the page builder plug in called Elementor.
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 WordPress Elementor Full Width Image
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.
Elementor is not new, however. 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.
Elementor continues to evolve and grow at an incredible pace, keeping up the latest technologies.
Since it is a drag-and-drop builder. Elementor is very easy to use for those just beginning to build their 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”. That means whatever you see while editing or building your website. It is easy to visualize how your website will look when you build it.
Furthermore, Elementor allows you to do a lot of things. It gives you the ability to create posts and pages that are unique and more eye-oppoing than the standard post or page templates from a regular WordPress theme.
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. You don’t need to use the standard editor WordPress offers.
You don’t need to know HTML, CSS, PHP or any other programming skills to use this interface. 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. It can be used to create any page or content layout you can think of.
Elementor even works on all kinds of WordPress themes. Elementor is compatible with all themes, so there’s no reason to be concerned if your theme isn’t compatible.
Elementor’s Features
Elementor looks like it’s a drag-and-drop page builder for WordPress Users.
We wouldn’t discuss Elementor, however, if that is all Elementor can do.
Aside from being one of the most used and well reviewed page builder plugin in WordPress, Elementor also has 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 items that users “drag-and drop” to create eye-popping designs. And through them, the Elementor name is apropos.
Responsive Design
First came the smart phones. Then came internet of things. The internet can now be accessed by almost any device. Still, the most common way to browse the Internet would be a debate between the personal computer or laptop versus the 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. 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.
You can also customize the look and function of your browser to suit your needs.
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 will be a good place to start whenever you are starting out for a new web page. These templates can also be used to inspire you in creating your own unique websites.
Style options
Elementor offers style as well as templates. 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
Elementor’s many tools make it easy to create web pages. You can access right-click support to get assistance with just a mouse click. 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 allows you to add dynamic content from custom fields and plugins like 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 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.
With Elementor’s popup builder, you are sure to create popups that are as visually impressive as your page.
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 main draw is for its simplicity to integrate on your website and its customizability.
This customizability extends even to Elementor which allows users to create an eCommerce store using the WooCommerce plugin. You can create your WooCommerce shop through Elementor using Lementors. You can also include products and integrate them into your design.
Users for Elementor
Elementor can be used by almost anyone. From digital marketers to students. 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. Elementor is the ideal tool to do this job.
The visual interface makes it easy for casual users, even those with no programming knowledge, to create eye-opening or innovative designs.
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. You could even combine the plugin with Landing page friendly plugins to really hone in on your sales.
You can use the Elementor Pro features to create lead forms if you’re serious. 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.
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
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. 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.
However, Elementor allows you to still code.
The Case for Using Elementor
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.
First of all, the most basic use of Elementor boils down as a page builder for websites.
It isn’t easy to create websites. You might be able to grasp 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. This might sound like an easy task, but there are a lot of factors to consider when maintaining a website.
Then there is the website navigation, the overall aesthetic, not to mention, the security of your website. 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.
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. With lots of features to make the website building process more accessible and easier to use. It will be easier to do the work.
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. 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. WordPress Elementor Full Width Image
The Examination of Elementor
The Interface
Of course, using the Elementor plugin requires installation and activation before using it. This can be done through the WordPress Repository.
With that done, you can choose to customize Elementor’s settings or immediately begin creating and designing a website.
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.
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
- The Elementor widgets area where most of the “apps” and functions for your website can be dragged from before putting it in the main working area of our website
- Elementor Settings
- Open Elementor Widgets
- Global Settings
- Revision History
- Switch View. where you can switch between views on how your website will look like on different gadgets (desktop, tablet, or mobile)
- Preview the Changes
- Publish
This interface allows you to choose what you want for your website. You can either start from scratch. You can edit a pre-existing webpage. You can even use a template to get you started with your work. WordPress Elementor Full Width Image
Elementor Structure Hierarchy
Understanding how Elementor works is essential before you can create websites. This is where you will need to understand how Elementor works and how they interact with one another.
Elementor may be a drag-and-drop builder that can seem chaotic at first glance. 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 are essentially rows. Each section is the basis of the page. You can add a background in a section, change its sizing, and do more customizations. Sections hold widgets and columns. Basically they hold the other elements of the website together.
Columns meanwhile divide the sections. Each column can be customized and controlled individually, just like the sections. 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. 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. These widgets can be customized and styled.
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. Each template can be used as-is or modified to fit your needs.
How many templates does Elementor offer 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.
Then there are 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.
Elementor’s template collection contains both pre-made templates as well as Elementor kit kits. This library contains most common templates for various purposes. You might think of a website page and find the information you are looking for. WordPress Elementor Full Width Image
There are pages for contact pages, about pages, landing pages, and niches. 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 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. While it is easier to build one from a template, it is still worthwhile to learn how to build one from scratch.
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. Preferably the one with enough columns for 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.
- Once you’re satisfied with the placement of your elements, you can modify them in the Content and Style sections. It is a good idea to experiment with the different options until you find the style that suits you best. WordPress Elementor Full Width Image
Editing an 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. Pre-existing pages can come from a variety of sources.
They can come from your own saved pages. You can find many templates in Elementor’s library. Or they can be other templates that 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 get on with it.
- It is easy to add a new widget. Simply drag the widget that you wish to use from your Elementor Panel to the place you want it to be 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. Simply click on the box to open it and then enter the text you desire 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 is divided into three tabs: Content, Style, and Advanced. Play with these settings until you find something you fancy. WordPress Elementor Full Width Image
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 completely free
That said, you might have noticed that there is a mention of a Pro version. And it’s true there is a pro version. To enjoy most of Elementor’s features and benefits, however, you don’t need to be a pro.
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.
Speaking of 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.
These are the details of the plan:
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
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
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
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
There is a great debate if when talking about going Pro with Elementor. Many people struggle to pay for a service that offers 90% of the benefits it could offer for free. This really boils down to Elementor Pro.
Aside from the ones listed above, Elementor Pro has its other benefits. This include: WordPress Elementor Full Width Image
- 50+ Additional content elements or modules
- 300+ additional page templates
- You can create a theme using the theme builder.
- 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 that can be integrated with many popular marketing tools
- Global widgets that can be used through the website (even not on the same page)
- For further customization, add custom CSS to any Elementor Blocks
- Deploying Elementor elements in sidebars and widgets
If you think these additional features are enough, or if you need some of these features for your webpage, you should definitely go for Elementor’s Pro Version. WordPress Elementor Full Width Image
The Pros and Cons of Elementor
Pros
- The core product for Elementor is entirely 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.
- The drag and drop builder removes the need for HTML, CSS, or PHP skills. No Coding is Required when you got Elementor by your side
- The “What you see, is what you get” approach makes it simple to build your website. This approach can help you save time.
- Elementor pages are all responsive. You can even see how your pages would look on mobile, tablet, and desktop while you build your website.
- The plugin provides detailed settings for all alignments, margins, and padding values. You can literally fine tune all details of your page.
Cons
- Sometimes the links’ custom styling doesn’t always work as expected.
- 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.
- Elementor can slow down your website’s overall speed, according to some users. WordPress Elementor Full Width Image
The Verdict on 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 provided they adhere to the WordPress Codex coding standards.
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 is the more advanced version of Elementor.
It is not free, unlike regular Elementor. It adds many features and completes the tools web designers need to create a professional website. WordPress Elementor Full Width Image
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?
The folks at Elementor access Stripe, PayPal, or any credit card to pay for Elementor Pro.
Is there a Demo Version of Elementor Pro available? WordPress Elementor Full Width Image
There is no Demo version for Elementor Pro.
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.