You need everything to create a WordPress page or website that looks great. The platform’s page builder is available 24/7, but you won’t be able to edit the site as often as you would like due to its size and location.
Thankfully, third-party web design plugins are there to address those woes you may often experience with WordPress’s own, and one of the most notable is Elementor. Elementor is designed to make it easy to create websites. Plus, no coding is required!
Are you a believer that Elementor is the right page builder? Or are you undecided? We’re digging deep into all it has to offer, in order to answer your questions.
For those of you who prefer a more visual experience, here is a video review from the YouTube channel Pinky1472. 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? What Is Drop Cap In Elementor
Elementor is a website builder plugin designed for WordPress. It is best known for its intuitive and visual drag-and-drop editor. This allows you to create a variety of design assets and blocks, and then see how your page looks to visitors in real time.
Elementor’s interface is similar to popular website builders such as Squarespace or Wix. You can either choose a pre-made template or build a custom-made WordPress website. One good thing about this one-of-a-kind platform is that all the tools you need to build a website are within your reach – all without the added hassles of coding that may get in the way of enjoying it.
What Does It Have to Offer?
Elementor is a WordPress plugin that lives up to its reputation. It offers a clean and simple interface that allows you to quickly navigate through all it has.
- 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.
- To edit your pages and posts, you have a completely separate interface that allows for interaction. There’s no single sign of bulkiness associated with WordPress’s similar editor – everything is built to be silky smooth on your end.
- Elementor will work with any theme that is compatible with WordPress version 5.0 or higher. You can use the plugin to refine your dull-looking theme into a more eye-catching one.
- 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. Its interface is designed to be so streamlined and filled to the brim with essential tools that even those who may need more expansive knowledge in web design can navigate through it with no problems. This has made the website builder an excellent choice for those with limited resources or who work in a small team.
Numerous similar web design plugins might offer working people a pleasant drag-and-drop experience as well as a few useful tools. Still, not all of them can live up to Elementor’s standard. 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 is it that makes this web design platform unique? 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.
Two categories are available for the platform’s templates:
- Pages – Full-length templates which require very little 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
Elementor has a lot more than just a wide range of templates. 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
If there’s one thing that Elementor is most prominent for, it has to be its highly convenient user experience. It has been best-known for its drag-and-drop capabilities, allowing users to build and edit pages as freely 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
Elementor, a simple WordPress page-building plugin is packed with design options that can be used by anyone. Elementor understands that every detail is important when creating a website that stands out. It allows you to modify and fix any design elements in the site you are building.
You can amend some necessary adjustments to your site’s content blocks, widgets, images, and text. You can also change the font, sizing, and color of your text content and headings.
Those are some of the basic editing tools you can explore in Elementor. The plugin also has more advanced options to let you tweak specific adjustments to your 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.
Just click the Switch view icon along the sidebar, and you’ll be greeted with three viewing options, each for the desktop, tablet, and mobile phone. You can choose from any one of the three viewing options to edit or omit widgets.
An opportunity to look back at the changes you’ve made
Sometimes a few ‘undo’ actions may not be enough to fix a huge design mistake. You might have encountered similar occurrences if you tried editing on any design platform.
That’s where Elementor’s Revision History feature comes in handy. 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.
The Pricing
The Elementor plugin is offered completely for free, letting you take full advantage of all its core web design features and elements needed to create a good-looking site or page. Elementor Pro has many more upgrades and additions than the previous version. You might be interested in one.
Among the things you may get to enjoy if you choose Elementor Pro include exploring an expanded library of themes, templates, and design blocks; custom CSS and advanced coding capabilities; creating forms and pop-ups within the platform’s editing interface; integrations with WooCommerce; and, of course, 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 Less Than 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. You get a remarkable range of design assets, templates, and editing capacities, and your website is fully protected with 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?
The free plugin version is a good option if you don’t want to add any extra features to your website or landing page. 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. It is so dynamic that business teams can use the free version. What Is Drop Cap In Elementor
With Elementor Free, you can:
- Create optimized mobile-friendly versions of your site and page
- Go through your website’s version history
- You can use fully customizable themes and pre-made templates.
- You can add or modify website blocks as you wish.
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. It offers a lot more value than the free version. What we mean by it is you have more options to explore and more features to give you the extra edge. These include:
- A growing list of more than 300 themes and over 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 WooCommerce are available, with templates blocks and widgets to help you create an online storefront.
- The ability to create your personalized theme from scratch through its Theme Builder feature. What Is Drop Cap In Elementor
However, unless you wish to license multiple websites, Elementor Pro shouldn’t be viewed as the only way to expand the WordPress plugin. As previously mentioned, Elementor Free is already sustainable enough for most users – there are plenty of flexible themes and templates out there that can be integrated with Elementor, a notable example of which is Astra.
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. After you have installed the plugin, you will see a settings panel. You can modify any content while editing. Otherwise, you may head straight 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. The image below perfectly illustrates what it looks like. What Is Drop Cap In Elementor
Based on the picture, here are a couple of things that you should expect as you explore the interface:
- The workroom or canvas. 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. Symbolized by three small horizontal lines, it is where you get to access a wide range of colors, fonts, and other design assets.
- The Open Elementor Widgets button. It is essentially a menu button that allows you to return the widgets list. Nine little squares are used to 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. It is displayed as a clock icon and allows you to view the history of pages or websites in your past versions.
- 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 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. What Is Drop Cap In Elementor
Structure Hierarchy
Before we can even begin building, you must first understand the structure hierarchy that Elementor follows. This similar structure has been used by many web designers, including those who are more experienced in website design.
Elementor’s primary goal is to create pages. A page is a collection of sections and columns.
On the one hand, a section is a row that you can customize with plenty of design elements, such as background, colors, sizing, and more.
The columns, on the other, go inside a certain section. These, in turn, are where the widgets or content elements are placed. Each widget can be customized and sized separately.
To recap, this is how Elementor’s structure hierarchy plays out:
Page > Section > Column > Widget/Content element
Designing a page
Now that we know how the skeletal outline works, let’s go ahead and create a page. On WordPress’s page design interface, click the Edit with Elementor button. You’ll soon notice a plus (+) button highlighted in red violet – click on that to add a new section. What Is Drop Cap In Elementor
The next thing you must do is select the structure of your section. You can choose to have one column or several columns depending on the type of content that you want. You can then populate the columns with content elements. Simply drag any widget from the interface’s widget area and drop it onto them, be it a heading or an image. These widgets can be rearranged and rearranged 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. There are three main editing tabs to explore: Content, Style, 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 Lacking?
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.
- Although most of Elementor’s features can be used for free, some may find them to be essential, but they are only available in Elementor Pro. This may prove frustrating for some. You can’t set sitewide styles with the free version. Instead, you are limited to only a few pages at a time. What Is Drop Cap In Elementor
- Some editing refinements may not go exactly as you wish them to. You may find that the default font and typography of certain links is what you have chosen, even if you add your own styling. You may also have trouble finding the margin value if the alignment of your design elements is not correct.
Who Should Use Elementor?
Elementor is filled to the brim with expert-level core features and tools included in the free version, plus more useful upgrades in any of the Elementor Pro plans. Furthermore, most users will likely find it easier to grasp than other WordPress web design plugins.
With that being said, it’s no wonder why many individuals like Elementor as a whole – it’s both a popular DIY solution for folks who may not have on-hand expertise with web design and a quick, feature-rich platform for a wide range of businesses.
However, there are some specific users we have in mind that will find Elementor to be a more suited choice. These include:
- Casual internet users. Bloggers and hobby website runners, in particular, will enjoy the wide, customizable benefits gladly offered by Elementor.
- Digital marketing professionals. Design tools aside, most of Elementor’s features are built to be marketing-ready – from the seamless integrations to thousands of platforms using Zapier to the pop-up and e-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. What Is Drop Cap In Elementor
Alternatives to Elementor
Just because Elementor has advantages that may far exceed other contemporary web design plugins doesn’t mean you should consider it as the only choice worth considering.
Many WordPress web design plugins offer similar functionality to Elementor. Some may only offer a few. WordPress’s web design features are not for everyone. We all know this. That’s why plugins were created.
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. Beaver Builder is a more straightforward plugin than the others, but it packs as many design tools as you need into one platform. These are already enough to create an attractive website.
Other noteworthy web design plugin alternatives to Elementor include SeedProd and the SiteOrigin Page Builder.
Final Verdict: Is Elementor Worth Trying?
Answering the question is 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. What Is Drop Cap In Elementor
It’s easy to see why so many people continue to use this plugin to build websites and pages. We believe that Elementor stands out from most web design plugins because it allows individuals of all skill levels to build whatever they wish with no major obstacles in the way. 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. Otherwise, the free plugin for WordPress will work just as fine!
FAQ What Is Drop Cap In Elementor
Can I upload or export my templates to Elementor?
Yes, Elementor can import your templates. Apart from letting you create one from scratch with the help of the Theme Builder feature, you can import your personalized themes into the website builder under 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 types of pages can I create using Elementor?
Elementor allows you to create landing pages, homepages, landing page, landing pages and about pages.
Elementor Pro subscribers can create websites, and even online shops.
Is Elementor slowing down my website?
Elementor will not slow down your website so that it takes as little time 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. Nonetheless, both equally bit faster than the version made through, say, Beaver Builder.
The reason why WordPress websites that are made using plugins take longer may derive from multiple factors: poor hosting, large media files, slow themes, and too many plugins at work.