If you‘ve been around WordPress for a while, there‘s a good chance you‘ve heard of Elementor. Active on over 5 million WordPress sites, it‘s one of the most popular page builder plugins out there.
But did you know that Elementor Pro lets you go beyond just building individual pages? With the Theme Builder functionality, you can actually design your entire WordPress site using the same visual, drag-and-drop interface – no code required.
In this in-depth Elementor Theme Builder review, I‘ll take you through everything this powerful tool has to offer in 2024. You‘ll learn how it works, see real examples, and find out if it‘s the right solution for your needs.
Let‘s dive in!
How the Elementor Theme Builder Works
At its core, Elementor Theme Builder lets you visually design all the different "parts" that make up a WordPress site. This includes:
- Header
- Footer
- Archive pages (e.g. blog index)
- Single post/page templates
- WooCommerce shop & product pages
- Search results
- 404 page
Essentially, if it‘s part of your WordPress theme, you can probably design it with Elementor Theme Builder. The implications here are huge – you‘re able to build 100% of your site using the intuitive drag-and-drop editor.
The magic happens through Elementor‘s template system. Instead of editing your theme‘s template files directly, you create new templates right inside the Elementor interface.
For each template, you can choose from a variety of pre-designed options or start from scratch. Then, you‘ll be able to customize every aspect using the visual editor.
One of the standout features is the ability to set display conditions for each template. For example, you could create one header for your blog posts and a completely different header for your sales pages. Or apply a template to only certain categories, authors, or post types.
The level of flexibility is incredible, especially for WordPress users who are used to being constrained by their theme. With Elementor Theme Builder, you can let your creativity run wild.
Building Your Header & Footer
Let‘s take a closer look at how you actually build different parts of your site with Elementor Theme Builder, starting with the header and footer.
Creating a new header or footer template will give you access to new Elementor widgets built specifically for these areas. You‘ll find options for your site logo, navigation menu, search bar, and more.
What‘s great is that all of these pull in dynamic content from WordPress. For example, you can set your header to automatically display whatever menu you‘ve created under Appearance → Menus. Or show the logo you uploaded in the Customizer.
This dynamic approach means your templates will automatically adjust as you make changes to your site. No need to go back and manually edit your Elementor template every time.
As you build your header or footer, you can take advantage of the same visual editing interface you‘re already used to if you‘ve used Elementor before. You have full control over the layout, spacing, colors, typography, and more.
Once you‘re happy with your design, simply choose where you want it to display – like sitewide or only on certain pages. Elementor will take care of the rest and your custom header/footer will instantly appear across your site. It‘s really that easy!
Designing Archive & Single Templates
Another powerful feature of Elementor Theme Builder is the ability to fully customize your archive and single post/page templates.
Archives are a bit like your blog index page. They display a list of your latest posts, but can also be used for other post types like portfolios, events, or WooCommerce products.
With Theme Builder, you can completely control how this list looks. Customize the layout from a simple list to a multi-column grid. Change which metadata shows up – like author, date, categories, or excerpt. And even insert custom content between the posts.
Of course, you‘ll get access to the same dynamic content widgets found elsewhere. One of my favorites is the Archive Posts widget which lets you display the list of posts. It‘s highly customizable and gives you a ton of different layout and info display options.
You‘ll also be able to set conditions for where your archive template appears, down to specific categories or post types. The granular control is really handy, especially if your site has multiple post types that each need their own unique archive layout.
On the flip side are single post templates. These control what an individual piece of content looks like, including the layout and which metadata displays.
Just like other templates, you can build these visually and utilize dynamic data from WordPress. Display the post title, featured image, content, custom fields, and more.
What‘s really neat is the ability to create templates for custom post types. For example, let‘s say you have a "Portfolio" post type. With Elementor Theme Builder, you could design a completely custom single portfolio template, different from your regular single post template.
The applications for this are endless – from job boards to real estate listings to online courses. If you can dream it up, Elementor Theme Builder can probably handle it.
WooCommerce Builder
For you eCommerce folks out there, Elementor Theme Builder also works with WooCommerce. You‘ll be able to customize your shop page, product pages, and other WooCommerce-specific layouts.
The process works just like building any other template, except you‘ll see some new WooCommerce widgets to control product info, add-to-cart buttons, pricing, and more.
One of the more unique eCommerce features Elementor offers is the ability to insert related product and upsell widgets. You can even choose exactly which products show up for more strategic promotions.
While you‘ll still likely use native WooCommerce functionality for things like cart and checkout pages, Elementor Theme Builder is excellent for making your store match the look and feel of the rest of your site.
Using Dynamic Content to Build Custom Sites
On the surface, Elementor Theme Builder already offers a ton of flexibility. But when you dive into its dynamic content capabilities, that‘s where the true power is revealed.
In a nutshell, dynamic content lets you insert data from custom fields and taxonomies into your Elementor designs. If you‘re not familiar with those terms, they essentially let you go beyond the standard WordPress fields and store extra metadata.
Here‘s an example – let‘s say you‘re building a site that lists apartments for rent. With Elementor Theme Builder, you could create a custom post type for apartments. Then, you might add custom fields for details like price, bedrooms, location, and amenities.
Using the dynamic content widgets, you‘re able to display all of that unique data right inside your Elementor templates. You could even use the custom fields to power search filters or display apartments on a map.
That‘s just one example, but really the sky‘s the limit. You could build a job board, a directory site, a review database, or anything else you can think up.
By combining custom post types, fields, and taxonomies with Elementor Theme Builder, you can create completely custom sites without ever touching a line of code. That‘s a really powerful concept!
Do You Still Need a WordPress Theme?
We‘ve covered how Elementor Theme Builder can essentially replace your WordPress theme. So does that mean you don‘t need a theme at all?
Well, not exactly. Every WordPress site needs a theme to work, even if it‘s only acting as a very basic foundation. But you definitely don‘t need to think about your theme choice as much.
Since Elementor Theme Builder is part of the Elementor Pro plugin, you‘ll install it alongside a regular WordPress theme. If you wanted, you could even use Elementor‘s own barebones Hello theme and build everything else with Theme Builder.
That said, there are still some benefits to choosing a lightweight theme to pair with Elementor. Options like Astra or GeneratePress give you a solid set of global styling controls that can make your design process even smoother. They also ensure that any non-Elementor pages on your site (like 404 pages) look good with minimal effort.
At the end of the day though, your theme becomes much less important when using Elementor Theme Builder. The real magic is happening in the Elementor interface itself.
Is Elementor Theme Builder Right for You?
Now for the big question – is Elementor Theme Builder a good fit for your needs?
If you‘re looking for a way to build custom WordPress sites without hiring a developer, I think it‘s an excellent option. The level of flexibility and control is unmatched, especially for a visual page builder.
I also really like that you can use Theme Builder for both simple customizations and more complex, data-driven sites. So whether you just want a custom header on your blog or you‘re looking to build a full-fledged directory, it can adapt to your needs.
The fact that it‘s all bundled into the already-powerful Elementor Pro plugin is also a big selling point. You get access to Theme Builder, the popup builder, tons of extra widgets, and more, all for one price.
As for potential drawbacks, there is a bit of a learning curve with Theme Builder compared to just using the regular Elementor widgets on a page. Beginners might feel a bit overwhelmed at first, but there‘s plenty of documentation available.
It‘s also worth noting that if you want to get into the really advanced dynamic content stuff, you‘ll likely need some technical knowledge to set up the custom post types and fields. But even then, Elementor makes it as easy as possible on the theming side.
All in all, if you want the power to build custom WordPress sites without relying on a developer, Elementor Theme Builder is one of the best options out there. It‘s flexible, beginner-friendly, and can potentially save you a lot of time and money.
Elementor Theme Builder: Build Your WordPress Site Visually
Elementor has come a long way from its early days as a basic page builder. With the addition of Theme Builder, it‘s now a complete design solution that can handle pretty much any WordPress site you throw at it.
The visual interface is excellent for seeing exactly what you‘re building in real-time. Adding dynamic content is also surprisingly intuitive once you wrap your head around the basic concepts.
Whether you‘re a freelancer, agency, or business owner looking to DIY, Elementor Theme Builder can be an invaluable tool in your belt. Taking the time to learn its ins and outs is well worth the effort.
So if you‘re ready to take full control of your WordPress site‘s design, give Elementor Theme Builder a try. It might just revolutionize the way you build websites.
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