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. No coding required!
Do you think Elementor could be the right page builder for you? Are you still 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? How To Add A Section 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.
With an interface that’s more akin to that of popular website builders like Squarespace and Wix, Elementor lets you either opt for a ready-made professional template or create a good-looking WordPress website from the ground up. This unique platform has one advantage: all the tools that you need to create a website are at your fingertips.
What Does It Have to Offer?
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.
- Elementor offers a wider range of attractive and dynamic themes than the standard, plain themes that are often included with WordPress’ in-house themes.
- To edit your pages and posts, you have a completely separate interface that allows for interaction. WordPress’s similar editor is lightweight and easy to use.
- You can keep your current theme, even if it’s from WordPress – Elementor can deal with all WordPress themes as long as they’re compatible with version 5.0 of the platform or higher. The plugin can be used to transform a dull theme into something more appealing.
- The front-end handles all editing of your pages and websites. You’ll see your work as soon as your customers or visitors see it. This outstanding feature gives you a better understanding of which design element keeps them returning for more or otherwise.
Elementor, as a whole, makes it easy for anyone to use when it comes to creating an impressive page. The interface of Elementor is so simple and packed with useful tools, even people with more advanced knowledge in web design, can use it without any difficulty. This 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. Elementor’s standards are not met by all plugins. Elementor is a well-respected plugin that has been installed on more than 3 million WordPress accounts.
What is it that makes this web design platform unique? What other features does it offer that others don’t have? We will soon find out as we look deeper into Elementor’s features, beginning with its impressive list.
Meet Elementor’s Features
Completely-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. They make site-building easy as they turn your ideas into products that will grab attention.
The platform’s templates are classified into two categories:
- 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.
If you wish to expand beyond Elementor’s in-house template selection, you may find them from tons of third-party sources all over the internet and import them onto the platform under the My Templates tab.
Massive Widget Selection
It’s not just the vast range of templates that Elementor is lucky to be packed with. The plugin is also rich in widget choices. Widgets can be smaller and more contained elements, which house a variety of content.
With a whopping total of 60+ widgets, you gain lots of insight into how you want to structure your website as well as the flexibility of doing so. Some of those include text-related elements such as headings and the inner section, media files like images and videos, buttons, icons, and website sidebars. Elementor also offers testimonials, star ratings and gallery widgets as well as map widgets powered Google Maps.
You may add as many as you want to your page. To expand your selection, you can also import templates from third-party sources.
Convenient Drag-and-drop Editing
Elementor’s user interface is the most notable feature. 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. Similarly, you may tweak some adjustments between the page’s elements by dragging it to a different 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.
You will find a section called Navigation View that provides a complete list of content, arranged according to Elementor’s page layout. We’ll talk more about that later.
The editing interface also includes a Finder tool that will help you navigate quickly between pages and 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 modify the font, size, and color of text content and headings.
These are just a few of the basic editing options you have in Elementor. You can also make specific adjustments to the plugin’s content elements. The plugin offers advanced customization options that include widget positioning within columns, custom CSS settings, animation effects and exact margins and padding for numbers.
Optional Features 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. The platform allows you to customize your website to look better on tablets and smartphones, just like everything else.
You can click on the Switch view icon in the sidebar to be presented with three viewing options: one for your desktop, tablet and one for your mobile phone. You can choose from any one of the three viewing options to edit or omit widgets.
A Chance to Look Back at the Changes You’ve Made
Sometimes, a few ‘undos’ actions are not enough to correct a major design error. Similar situations could have occurred if you tried to edit on any other design platform.
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.
Elementor Pro will allow you to explore a wider range of themes, templates and design blocks, as well as custom CSS and advanced programming capabilities. You can also create forms and pop-ups in the platform’s editing interface, integrate with WooCommerce, and use the theme builder.
Elementor Pro has four main subscription plans, each designed for various individuals and/or groups. It also includes a special website builder and hosting plan for next-level site management. All tiers can be paid annually and all share the same premium features. The only thing that sets them apart is the number of website activations, and the time it takes to respond to customer questions.
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.
Elementor Cloud Website Building + Hosting is $99 per year. 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 is already feature-rich in retrospect – its series of core tools are as dynamic as other web design platforms where their premium plans bring the same level of delivery. So dynamic that even business teams can get away from using the free version instead. How To Add A Section In Elementor
With Elementor Free, you can:
- Create optimized mobile-friendly versions of your site and page
- Check out the version history of your website.
- 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:
- An expanding list of over 300 themes and 100+ premium block templates;
- Global widgets that allow you to use and edit the same widget across multiple pages without having to edit it individually;
- If you are looking for more ways to draw potential customers, there is a front-end form creator and a pop up editor.
- Integrations with the popular e-commerce platform WooCommerce, complete with template blocks and widgets that let you build an online storefront;
- The ability to create your personalized theme from scratch through its Theme Builder feature. How To Add A Section In Elementor
Elementor Pro should not be considered the only way to grow the WordPress plugin if you don’t want to license multiple websites. 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.
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. You can also go to WordPress’s pages section.
You will see the Edit with Elementor link located along the bar above your canvas. As soon as you click on the button, you will be redirected to builder interface. This image shows you how it looks. How To Add A Section In Elementor
Based on the picture, here are a couple of things that you should expect as you explore the interface:
- The canvas or workroom. It’s a huge part of the interface that takes up most of the screen.
- The widgets area. It is located on the left side, next to the canvas. It contains lots of content as well as design elements that can be used.
- 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. It is represented by the cogwheel icon and takes you to the more advanced settings.
- The Revision History button. Displayed as a clock icon, it allows you to take a look at the history of previous versions of your page or website.
- Switch View. You can convert your desktop page to tablet-friendly or mobile-friendly versions by clicking the small monitor icon. This icon can be used to edit the content you wish your customers to see on their smartphones.
- Preview Changes. Click the small eye icon to see all the changes to your page.
- 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. How To Add A Section 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 where it usually contains a series of sections and the columns that come after that.
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.
On the other hand, the columns are located within a specific section. These, in turn, are where the widgets or content elements are placed. Each can be styled and sized individually.
To recap, this is how Elementor’s structure hierarchy plays out:
Page > Section > Column > Widget/Content element
Designing a Page
Let’s create a page now that we have an understanding of the skeletal structure. Click the Edit with Elementor link in WordPress’ page design interface. You’ll soon notice a plus (+) button highlighted in red violet – click on that to add a new section. How To Add A Section 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. From there, you may populate those columns with content elements. Drag any widget from the interface’s widget section and drop it onto those columns, whether it is a heading or an images. 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. You can explore three main editing tabs: Style, Content, and Advanced.
Designing a pre-existing or pre-made themed page is much easier than doing so 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?
Don’t get us wrong – based on what we’ve shown you so far, Elementor is surely poised to be among the very best WordPress web design plugins out there. However, nothing in this world is always perfect. While there are many things that we love about it, there are a few that some of you may find inconvenient:
- The editing interface can be a bit buggy on some occasions. It’s speedy, swift, and ultimately convenient, but it does so well, too fast to the point where it freezes altogether. With that in mind, you might need to refresh and reopen it to get it back on track.
- 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. How To Add A Section 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. On the other, you may have difficulty locating the exact margin value whenever the alignment of your design elements is off.
Who Should Use Elementor?
Elementor 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. Elementor offers many customizable benefits that are especially useful for bloggers and website owners.
- 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. How To Add A Section 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.
There are plenty of nice web design plugins for WordPress that deliver close to the same level as Elementor, with some that may offer only 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 tools are enough to make a website look great.
Elementor is not the only web design plugin you can use. SeedProd, Page Builder are also notable alternatives.
Final Verdict: Is Elementor Worth Trying?
To answer the question: yes. If you’re searching for a top-notch drag-and-drop page-building instrument for WordPress that’s stuffed with professional-grade design tools and features, with most of those core features offered for free, look no further than Elementor. How To Add A Section In Elementor
It’s easy to see why so many people continue to use this plugin to build websites and pages. Elementor is different than other web design plugins in that it allows anyone to create whatever they want with no restrictions. Elementor isn’t like other web design plugins that require you to upgrade to a higher plan, or to purchase a paid license. This ensures there is enough space for everyone.
Before we let you explore Elementor, here’s some advice: If your job involves creating websites for clients or running multiple websites, we recommend that you use Elementor Pro. Otherwise, the free plugin for WordPress will work just as fine!
FAQ How To Add A Section 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 pages can I make with 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 won’t slow down your website to the point where it will take as many seconds as possible to load. However, a website that was built using this plugin may be two seconds slower than the one made from WordPress’s built-in website builder. Both are still faster than the Beaver Builder version.
WordPress websites made with plugins can take longer to build due to multiple factors, including poor hosting, large media files and slow themes.