Among the highly rated plugins is the Monarch social media plugin. Developed by Elegant Themes, this plugin is designed to make incorporating social media sharing and following into WordPress sites super easy.

It has a range of display options so you can display icons for your users to share your content, which should help drive more social traffic to your site. It also has options for display links to your social media profiles so you can increase your follower counts.

Are you considering using this plugin? Below is a detailed Monarch social media plugin review, in which we discuss the Monarch plugin, its uses, and some of the features that make it stand out as one of the best.

Visit The Monarch Plugin

Introducing Monarch

This is a WordPress social sharing plugin. The plugin is designed to help WordPress users to incorporate social share and follow buttons in their WordPress sites. It offers a variety of button locations and an impressive variety of button styles, colors, and sizes.

This is a standalone plugin, and you do not need to install additional software to run in. The plugin is a product of Elegant Theme, a leading developer of WordPress themes. Elegant Themes is dedicated to producing innovative WordPress plugins, and the Monarch plugin is not any different.

Monarch Installation

The installation process is just like that of any other plugins. When installing this plugin, you are advised to disable any similar plugin on your site.

Go to Plugin →Add New →Upload Plugin→ Browse File→ Monarch Zip File →Install Now→ Activate plugin

Monarch Configuration

Once installed, the plugin needs to be activated to ensure optimal performance.

To configure the plugin, start from the Dashboard. You will find it in the sidebar to the left. It is tucked under the tools tab of the WordPress Admin. Click on Tools and then select the Monarch settings.

You will then be presented with a nice modern looking dashboard where you can begin configuring the plugin to your requirements.

Monarch Settings

To begin setting up the monarch plugin, you should look at the Networks part first.

Networks

Under this category, you get to select the combination of social networks to use. You can add or rearrange the networks to your liking. You can even go a step further and add your name to the networks you selected.

The Monarch plugin has an impressive number of supported networks. With over 20 supported networks currently, it is highly unlikely that you will not find your preferred network among them. Most WordPress users only utilize 3-5 networks.

Enabling networks is as simple as clicking on the Add Networks icon. After this, just click on the tick symbol you see next to your preferred network and Apply.

The other five sub-categories are the 5 locations discussed above. Each sub-category provides a platform when you can choose the icon shape, style, and color. From here, you can also configure the display settings and determine whether you want to enable the share button on pages, posts, or both posts and pages.

Now, a detailed look into the page locations

Location

In this sub-category, you get to select where to place your social settings.  The category offers 5 locations. You can opt to choose one location or use them all at once. The locations are:

• Sidebar – Social button placed on the sidebar
• Pop-Up – Social buttons pop at the end of the page just when a visitor leaves or is about to leave the page
• Inline – Social buttons placed below, above, or at both ends of the article
• Media – Social buttons triggered when one hovers over an image
• Fly In – Social buttons triggered at the bottom- either to the right or to the left

To select any of these locations, all you need to do is click on the tick symbol corresponding with each option.

The location sub-category comes complete with its own settings panel. From here, you can fine-tune characteristics such as icon style. There is a variety of predesigned icons provided for every location. The setting panel is different for every location, but the layout is similar.

Other parameters that are adjustable from each location include orientation and share counts. You can also choose whether to show or hide the share buttons on certain devices such as mobile phones.

Side Bar

This tab represents the floating sidebar location. As highlighted above, the tab offers a chance to choose the shape and style of the icon.

More options can be found on the display settings. Some of the options found here are spacing, sidebar animation, and visibility. The display settings section also allows you to choose the color that you want. Thanks to this feature, it is easy to choose a color scheme that matches your theme.

Popup & Flyin

These two function in a similar way. The only difference is that in the case of popup, the social sharing buttons pop up in an overlay while these buttons are shown at the bottom of the screen in the flyin location.

In the two locations, you can customize the color, size, and icon style. Setting the locations is easy.  You start by adding the title and message you want to display above the buttons. Once this is done, you can then go ahead to align the share icons in your desired columns.

The last step is choosing the buttons’ delay appearance. Appearance is delayed with the help of triggers. The triggers available for these two locations are:

• Timed Delay Triggers – Here, you have a choice to delay time for fly-ins and pop-ups until a reader has been to the page for a given duration.
• Page Leave Triggers – With these triggers, the share buttons pop-up and fly-in just when a reader is about to leave the page.
• After Commenting Trigger – Here, the share buttons appear after a visitor to your site leaves a comment. In most cases, a reader will only leave a comment after staying engaged on your site. The chance of such a reader sharing that content is relatively high especially if the reader found the content helpful. Presenting a share button after the user comment increases the chances of getting the content to a wider audience.
• Bottom Post Triggers – For these triggers, the share buttons pop-up or fly-in when the reader gets to the bottom of the page Most WordPress users prefer to place the social sharing buttons at the bottom of the page. The button look better in this position, and it gives a reader a chance to interact with the content first.
• X Sec Delay Triggers – Here, the share buttons appear when the opened page has been inactive for a certain duration. These triggers work to re-capture a reader’s attention.
• After-Purchase Triggers – These are particularly helpful if yours is an online store. This feature allows you to place the share popup and fly-in right after the customer checks out. Your customers will then have an easy time sharing your site to their friends and family.

Inline Location

This is among the most utilized position and for a good reason too. It is strategic. Given the fact that the social share buttons appear at the top and bottom of the article, sharing becomes easy. A visitor can also read the article uninterrupted to the end.

Aside from just incorporating the social sharing buttons at the top and the bottom of the page, this tab also allows you to drift these buttons from the right or left. It helps that the plugin is responsive and the size of the buttons will adjust depending on the width of the site.

Media Location

This allows you to incorporate social media buttons on top of videos and images. Given the fact that images and videos drive a lot of traffic to a site nowadays, including sharing buttons on them is a smart move.

The Social Follow Buttons

These buttons are for the people who want to follow you from your site.

The follow section of the Monarch plugin comes with even more networks than those available from the share category. With over 35 networks, there are more than adequate network integrations for the average WordPress user.

To enable a new network, just click the big button to select your preferred network. The network integration process depends on the network you choose. For some networks, integration is easy and seamless. Other networks present quite a challenge when it comes to integration. All in all, this plugin strives to make integration easy. A user guide is provided to guide you on the integration process of different social networks.

The follow buttons section has three sub-categories. These are:

Network

On this tab, you get to configure the networks to your liking just like in the sharing category but here you will enter the URLs to your own social network profile pages.

Widgets

From the widgets sub-category, you can configure any social follow widgets.  You can select the icon style that you want and even adjust the widget behavior and appearance. You can also view the available widget options on the sidebar.

Shortcode

This tab allows you to configure any social follow shortcode. The customization options are just like the ones in the widgets subcategory.  Once you have customized the shortcode to your liking, you only need to click on Generate Shortcode, and you will have yourself a unique shortcode.

The shortcode you generate can be used on pages and posts among other areas. The good thing about the shortcodes you generate here is that they are not global. Therefore, you can use shortcodes that are slightly different throughout your website.

General Settings

This category comes with two main settings. The first setting enables you to adjust your count updates frequency. For example, you can set the times you want the plugin to cache and grab social network counts for the networks that support APIs.

You can also disable this feature by setting the frequency to zero. Setting the frequency at zero will also work for the times you want to check counts immediately.

The default frequency for this plugin is 3 hours. You can make the duration shorter, but it is advisable that the frequency should at least be an hour.

The second setting in this category allows you to incorporate custom CSS. This feature will come in handy when you want to change the style of your share buttons or follow widgets.

Monarch Sharing Stats

Aside from making it easy for you to customize share and follow buttons, this plugin also allows you access to data surrounding the social shares on your site.

To go to the analytics view, click on the icon that resembles a bar chart. This will lead you to your site analytic view. The icon is located at the top right corner of the dashboard.

On the analytics view, you will be able to see your data. The data is presented in separate charts and cover the last 7 days. You can also see information for the past 30 days and even for the past year.

The analytic view is important because it allows you to see how people on different social platforms have been interacting with your content. In a single page, you get to see how people are responding to your posts and how many times the posts are shared. Here you will also be able to identify the social platforms that are working for you.

If utilized well, this information can help you increase traffic to your site and increase your following on social media. Just see which social platforms are working for you and pay more attention to them so you can bring even more traffic to your site.

Import/Export Settings

The Monarch plugin also comes with an import and export function. Using this feature, you can export your settings on one site and import them on other websites. This feature can save you a lot of time if you are working on more than one site. You can simply customize one site and use most if not all the details on other sites.

Performance

During our review we found the overall performance of the Monarch plugin impressive.  The plugin comes with all the necessary features to make incorporating of social media into WordPress seamless. Even better, the plugin is quite light-weight to ensure that it does not affect the site’s load time which is an important factor with these types of plugins.

Performance may differ depending on the WordPress theme. While the slight lag may be negligible on one website, the story may be different for another website. This is not to say that this plugin is poor where performance is concerned, far from it.  Most people who have used the plugin have nothing but good things to say about its performance.

We recommend you test out the loading time difference on your site, as long as you are using a cache plugin we don’t think you will find much difference. The extra shares on your content and follows on your social profiles should make the trade-off worth it.

User- Experience

The user interface is easy to understand. The dashboard is very clean, and the details are well arranged into categories for easy accessibility.

The buttons are designed to be highly customizable. They are also extremely appealing. Overall, the Monarch plugin provides 3 button shapes, 4 inline buttons hover effects, and 5 sidebar button hover effects. To configure most of these functions, all you need to do is click on the option that you want.

The plugin is responsive and the icons will respond to suit any screen. You can incorporate the share functions without having to worry about messing up your site’s appearance.

In simple terms, the dashboard is designed with the user in mind. The plugin features allow users to easily incorporate social networks to their WordPress sites and see how well their sites are performing on these networks.

Monarch Documentation

Documentation for the Monarch Plugin is extensive. On the documentation page, you will find detailed information on how the plugin works and enough tips on how you can utilize this product on your site. Everything from the installation process to the rundown on every feature is included. The explanations are easy to follow and understand. Even if you have not interacted with a social share plugin before, understanding all the steps will be easy.

Given that this is an Elegant Theme product, the Elegant Themes support forum provides a wealth of information on the functioning of the Monarch plugin. You can either search for topics relating to your problems or simply submit your ticket. Your question will be answered in the shortest duration possible. Joining the community will also ensure that you stay updated and help you understand the Monarch plugin better.

Sometimes there might be a queue on the support forum. This means that it may take a while to get your answer. That said the forum works as the best source of because people who are actually using the Monarch plugin among other Elegant Themes products provide the answers.

For a quick answer to your question, you can also go to YouTube. There are numerous tutorials and videos readily available online. These are perfect if you are more of a visual learner or simply want clear illustrations of how everything works. Just do a random search on the topic you are concerned about, and you will have more than enough resources to get your answers from.

Effect on Load Time

With all the above features, it is expected that the plugin will have a negative effect on performance. Is this the case with the Monarch Plugin?

Well, in our experience the effect of the Monarch plugin on load time is negligible. The difference for a basic site is just a millisecond.  If this sounds like a deal breaker for you, then this plugin is not for you. However, we would like to point out that this is as good as it gets when it comes to social sharing plugins. Similar plugins are known to have a significant effect on load time and some end up doing more harm than good.

Monarch Pricing – Get Money off With Our Deal

The membership for this plugin is set at $89 per year. For this price, you get full access to all Elegant Themes plugins and themes. You also get technical support and Photoshop updates and files for the duration your subscription is active. While this amount may seem steep, the truth is that it is quite reasonable. Just consider the close to 90 premium themes and more than 5 plugins you get. All these additions come with technical support and updates.

The lifetime membership fee is set at $249. For this price, you get lifetime access to Elegant Themes plugins and themes among other features. Even if you do not plan to use the other plugins offered in this platform, less than $250 for a lifetime membership sounds like a good deal.

It is important to note that Monarch is only available on Elegant Theme Developer and the Lifetime Membership. In the case of personal pricing, you will not get access to Elegant Themes plugins hence you cannot access the Monarch plugin.

There is a 30-day refund policy for the developer pack. In case you do not like the way the plugin works, you will be fully refunded. Try this and other Elegant Themes plugins and get your money back if you think the product is not the right match for your site.

Luckily, AlienWP also has access to a special deal which will save you 20% off the purchase price of a membership, simply follow this link or visit our Elegant Themes Coupon code page to access the deal.

With our deal discount you can get the yearly access for $70.

Monarch Pros & Cons

Pros

• Deliver great-looking social share buttons
• Great sharing feature with five sharing location options
• Responsive plugin meaning that the share buttons will look great on different devices
• A wide selection of social networks with over 20 social share networks and close to 40 social follow networks. All the networks that matter are included.
• User-friendly interface and straightforward self-explanatory features. Easy to set up and configure
• Provide stats for website performance on different social networks making it easy for you to measure overall site performance.
• Allows you to hide the share numbers until they get to a certain number. This works to prevent negative social proof.

Cons

• Share counts are sometimes inaccurate
• Buttons design is not consistent for all themes
• The floating sidebar location is limiting as it can only be displayed on the left
• Media sharing is restricted to posts

Should you get the Monarch Plugin?

You can’t deny that this plugin can make all the difference when it comes to social sharing. Yes, it comes with all the right features but is it a worthy investment?

Well, if you are on any Elegant Themes membership, this is a no-brainer. Even if you are on personal pricing, the upgrade will cost you slightly over $20 for a full month of unrestricted use. For the theme Developer and Lifetime Membership plan, you get this plugin at no extra cost at all. The Monarch plugin is part of the plugins that this Company offers in these two plans.

If you are a member of Elegant Themes, getting the subscription just to use the social sharing plugin does not make economic sense. The $89 price is quite expensive for one plugin.

If you really like what this social sharing plugin has to offer, just become an Elegant Themes customer. This way, for one price, you can get a versatile solution that will also allow you to design your pages and even create your website from scratch. The Elegant Themes page builder Divi and other plugins by this team are highly rated and are among the best in the market.

Who is Best Suited for the Monarch Plugin?

Given the fact that this is a user-friendly plugin, even a novice WordPress user can use it with relative ease. There is adequate information, both in text and video, that is readily available online. The dedicated Elegant Theme community is also a great help as far as enhancing the user experience is concerned.

When you consider the features, this plugin is designed to work great for both novice and seasoned WordPress users. Numerous social networks are available and just as many options are available for those who want to customize the different features to their liking.

The plugin is responsive thus ensures that site appearance is not affected even when viewed from different devices. This is in addition to the fact that the plugin also comes with triggers that can be set to respond to users’ interactions on the site.

If you are an elegant theme customer, the monarch plugin is perfect for you. You will need to pay a little more if you are on the personal pricing plan as the plugin is only available in the Theme Developer and Lifetime Membership plans.

Conclusion

This is another high quality plugin created by Elegant Themes, we love their products here at AlienWP as they are always well-designed and maintained and updated as needed. The customer support is also top notch, you can be assured of a good experience when purchasing a product from ElegantThemes.

That said, it is important to remember that the plugin is offered as part of a package membership. While grouping the Monarch social media plugin with others that works for Elegant Themes customers, it locks out a good number of other WordPress users who do not with to use the Divi theme, Bloom Plugin or other plugins which come with the package. So you have to think to yourself, does this plugin represent $89 ( $70 with our coupon) worth of value to me ? On it’s own, possibly not, combined with a theme or another plugin, probably yes.

If you are looking for a solid social media plugin, and most websites these days will need one, then we can highly recommend the Monarch plugin – it does a great job for what it is.

Visit The Monarch Plugin

They say that numbers do not lie and as per current numbers, this sure is an impressive product. So what makes the Elementor plugin tick? Why does it stand out in a highly competitive market? Below is a detailed Elementor plugin review that answers the above questions and so much more.

In this review, we discuss how the Elementor plugin works, its key benefits, and some of the areas we think have room for improvement. We will also go over the features that set it apart from other page builders. In short, we want to make you understand what the rave is all about and explain why everyone who has used Elementor cannot stop talking about it.

Visit Elementor

What is Elementor?

Elementor is a drag-and-drop visual page builder for WordPress. Drag and drop here means that can drag and move design elements such as images, buttons and so on. The visual bit means that you can see exactly what your visitors will see as you design.

Elementor comes with a handy interface that allows you to create pages and posts. Once you enable Elementor on your WordPress editing screen, the page builder entirely takes over the process of page editing.

Elementor just like any other page builder allows you to create attractive page layouts and designs from scratch. Regardless of your WordPress theme, you can create impressive page and content layout and the good thing is that you do not need to be a designer or possess any page building skills.

Elementor comes in two main versions. There is the basic version that comes at no cost at all. You do not need to pay to access it and neither do you need to pay anything to use any of the features available.

There is the pro version that comes with additional features. This version comes at a cost of $49 per year for a single site and is aimed at people who need more functionality, elements and the ability to construct complete WordPress themes.

Just like any other page builder, the Elementor page builder is designed to make page layout easy. It is created to be user friendly and ensure that those who have no design skills at all can use it with ease.

Elementor Plugin Notable Features

Elementor is packed full of features, so let’s take a look at what’s on offer…

Page Creation

This is the core function of this plugin.  It enables you to build, adjust, and tweak your pages as needed. Even better, the plugin allows you to see your updates in real-time. This way, you know exactly how your page is going to look before you can publish it.  If you have a limited budget but still want a great-looking website, this plugin will be of great help.

All designs that you create using Elementor are mobile responsive. This is to mean that they not only look good on PC but also adjust to look just as great on mobile devices. In a world where mobile device users come close to a billion, it is logical to create sites that are also mobile friendly.

Now this is where things get interesting; Let us say you have large images that you would rather not display on certain devices. The responsive design controls in the Elementor plugin allows you to hide the image. At the end of the day, you content and site in general will be more user friendly regardless of the device that your target audience use.

Friendly User Interface

Majority of the tools are found on the side panel. The rest of the page is left for the user. This is definitely a plus as space is important when you are designing. This being a visual builder, you can get a clear picture of how your pages will look like while actively making changes on your page content and layout.

If you still need more space, you can contract the tools panel even further. Just drag the panel to reduce the panel size.  The good thing is that contracting this panel does not affect usability in any way. It just gives you more space to create and refine your pages.

Expanding the panel is also possible. This is particularly helpful when editing a text block

You can also completely slot away the tools panel by clicking the arrow on the panel. This allows you to preview your page and see exactly what your audience will see when that particular page or content is published. The fact that you do not have to hit preview is perfect and simply makes this platform user friendly.

Elementor is an open source plugin. This means that the software used to make the original source code is readily available. If you are a developer, you can access this software and improve the features, fix bugs and even introduce new additions.

Aside from the open source resource making Elementor super versatile, it also open doors for third party plugins. This mean that users get more options and have an easy time building pages and themes on this platform.

Drop and Drag Functionality

Thanks to this functionality, you can drag any element of the content on your page and move it elsewhere. The full drag-and-drop feature works for all content types represented by Elementor content widgets. The widgets include images, videos, spacers, testimonials, social media icons, headlines and many others.

The drag and drop functionality takes the stress out of designing. All you need to do is to identify the widgets you need to add and simply drag it to the area you want to place it. Once you have done this, you can then go ahead and make changes on the individual widgets.

Template Library

The pro version of Elementor comes complete with a template library. This means that even though the platform allows you to create designs from scratch, it also gives you templates that you can incorporate in your WordPress. You can also simply use the templates for inspiration but with over 100 free and paid templates, you are sure to get a template or two that will suit your style.

The templates come in two formats.

• Pages – the page templates are full-page designs. You can import these pages or tweak them to suit your needs.
• Blocks – these are specific sections designs. These templates work where you just need to incorporate a certain section into an existing layout.

For example, you can use the blocks template to incorporate a contacts section rather that redesign the entire page.

After tweaking or creating your own designs, the platform allows you to save them for future use. You get access to the basic display settings where you can change the default fonts, colors, background and other features to suit your style.

Custom Page Template

This is simply a blank page template that allows you to build a page without headers, footers, and sidebars from your WordPress theme. Otherwise known as Elementor Canvas, this template makes creation of custom pages much easier.  The good thing is that you can drag and drop the blocks and sections available on Elementor and custom make these to your liking.

The custom page template is ideal for those times you want to create a page that is entirely different from your current theme. Instead of struggling to edit and remove all the details in your theme, simply open a blank page and customize it to your liking.

Easy Redo with Entire Revision History

If you make any mistake while you are designing you page, you rectify those mistakes in 2 ways. One you can revert to correct the mistake as every action you take is logged. Since every save comes with a new revision, you can revert whenever necessary.

It is important to note that only actions you make during a certain design session are logged. Once you exit the interface, the actions are cleared. On the bright side, saved revisions can be accessed with relative ease.

While the redo feature works fine, it is a little disappointing that this plugin does not come with an undo option. If you have done a lot of editing, going back to the version that you want can be quite a task given the fact that you will need to preview different versions to find the one that you want.

To ensure that you do not have numerous revisions that can also slow down your system, be sure to clean up your history every now and then. There is a cleaner plugin available. To be on the safe side though, ensure that you have saved all the important updates before you can run the cleaner plugin.

Pricing

This is where the Elementor Plugin beat other page builders hands down. The main plugin is available through the official WordPress repository and the good thing is that it comes at no cost at all. There are no hidden charges either and you do not need to register to use the plugin.

If Elementor plugin reviews are anything to go by, you do not need to pay for this page builder even though it comes with a premium version. Close to 90% of the best Elementor features are found on the free version. When compared to other page builders in the market, the free Elementor version performs just as good if not better.

For the Pro Version, the price starts at $49 per year for one site, $99 for 3 sites or $199 for unlimited sites.

For this price, you get to use slides, customize your WooCommerce content, and deploy elements from Elementor in widgets and sidebars. With the pro version, you can also edit and work on web forms in Elementor and also display portfolios and post listings in Elementor layouts. In addition, the Pro Version comes with more content blocks and page templates.

Support

This is another area where the Elementor plugin really stands out. It comes complete with a community of users who are always willing to help. Despite the fact that Elementor does not have a live chat option, the Elementor community has been proven to be quite resourceful in answering questions and guiding new users.

Have any question about Elementor? Visit the Trello Board on the Plugin. Here, you will find a well-organized layout of all the questions you may have about Elementor. If your questions have not already been answered, all you need to do is post your questions to the community. The over 4000 members are quite active. Your question will be answered in no time at all.

In addition to the community, Elementor has provided more than enough information about how the platform works. You can also just use the contacts provided to get more details and all your questions answered really fast.

How Elementor Interface Works

Elementor is a WordPress plugin. However, it is more advanced that the other plugins you find on this platform.

If you want to use Elementor, you have to install it and then activate it. After activation, you can choose to either go to the settings panel or open your WordPress pages. Once you open your pages, you will immediately see the ‘Edit with Elementor’ option.

When you launch Elementor on WordPress, this is what you see.

On one side is the content area where you can see your regular theme. You can build the design that you want on the area where you see the grey dotted lines by simply dragging elements from the left over.

On the side, there is the widgets area. Here, you get all the blocks you can use to design and build your page. Then there is the settings part where you can preview your work on different devices and undo changes to your designs whenever necessary.

Building a page with Elementor

With Elementor, you are free to choose the number of sections to incorporate in your page. For every section, you can either have one or more columns. A column can also contain more than one content element. To top it all, you can individually style each content element to suit your style.

To build a page, Elementor give you two structural elements. These are position elements and style elements. The position elements are the sections and columns.

You can start with a blank section and add columns and content by dragging and dropping the content blocks available on the side bar. The sections can also be rearranged as needed.

Here you can see we added two columns to a section and placed an image in one and a video in the other.

You can also choose to use one of the many templates available. If you find a template that you like, just use it and tweak it to match your needs.

Once you have added the content block you want, simply click on it to adjust the details. By clicking inside the content block, you will see the Advanced, Content, and Style tab. You can choose either of these tabs and work on every content block until you are satisfied.

Generally, Elementor is a user-friendly platform. If you have not used the platform before, you may need to familiarize yourself with it and all its sections. That said, everything is quite straightforward and you can learn all there is to learn about this plugin in no time at all.

A Brief on Elementor Pro

Initially, Elementor only worked for page layouts. The launch of the New Elementor Pro changed all that. This new Elementor version works to ensure that aside from just designing the content layout, you also get to choose how your overall theme looks like and edit it in the same drag and drop manner.

Thanks to the Elementor Pro 2.0 version, you can now build your theme. Just like with the page content, all you have to do to build your theme is drag and drop the themes that are available on the Elementor interface. Theme in this case includes post templates, headers and footers.

When you want to build your theme, you have to first select the part you want to build. For example if you want to build your blog post template, select this and you will get to choose whether you want to post content, post the title and so on.

Elementor Pro comes with more templates and features and this can only translate to increased flexibility when designing. The extra widgets available can also allow you to replace other plugins. Some of the most useful widgets on the pro version are social share buttons, pricing tables, and login forms.

Below is the full list of Elementor Pro Widgets.

Of all the widgets you get with the Elementor Pro version, the Global elements are the most outstanding ones.

Global widgets are perfect for those times you want to use the same element on different pages.

For example, you may want to put your contact information on different pages. Thanks to the Global widgets, you can save the contact widget and reuse on different pages as required. Even better, editing any saved up widget is just as easy. The global widget automatically updates when you make any changes so you do not have to edit all your pages to capture the updated information. This will make your work easier even when you have to build an entire theme from scratch.

There are many third party Elementor templates and themes available. If you are a developer, these additions make it possible for you to extend the plugin functionality. Extensions that are beyond the add-ons you find in the pro version are in plenty and this can only means that developers have limitless options. If you are a developer and you find that Elementor is lacking in any area, you can simply use the third party add on to update it to your standard.

Do you need the Pro Version?

Well, this will depend on a number of factors. What exactly do you want? If all you want are well styled pages then the basic function is ideal. The basic Elementor version still stands as the best free page builder. It helps that it comes with most if not all the features you find in other page builders. The fact that it is free also means it is perfect if you are just starting out, or simply do not have a budget for page building.

The Elementor Pro is ideal if you are looking to build your entire website and theme. Aside from allowing you to build your pages, the Pro version also comes with theme building features. This version also comes with more features that give you some extra control over how your overall website looks like at the end of the day.

It is up to you to decide which version will work best for your website.  You can always start by experimenting with the free version. After you have familiarized yourself with the plugin, you can then upgrade to the Pro version if you find that you need the additional features. The Pro version comes at a price but the amount is reasonable. The fact that the plugin is user-friendly is a plus. If Elementor Plugin reviews are anything to go by, this page builder is way ahead of its competitors as far as overall performance is concerned.

Pros

• Wide range of impressive features
• It is free. Also comes with no hidden charges
• Give you a chance to build custom designs and page layouts that are not in your current theme.
• Allows you to separately adjust desktop, mobile, and tablet views. Even better, with Elementor 1.5, you can tweak column layouts depending on the screen size or type of device
• Generally user friendly. Even if you do not have any HTML, PHP, and CSS skills, you can use this builder to create impressive designs with relative ease. Everything from the features to the interface is designed with the end-user in mind.
• Comes with a real-time preview. This allows you to preview your work and see how your pages will look like from different devices.
• The blank canvas page allows you to disregard you current theme and make use of Elementor sections and blocks. This feature comes in handy whenever you want to avoid those pesky headers and footers you find in most themes.
• Elementor comes with a rollback option. This feature allows you to revert to the earlier version.  This works great in case something goes wrong when you are designing.

Cons

• Elementor does not properly inherit link styles from the current theme. It also does not allow you to style your link.
• Applying text and font styles can sometimes be frustrating, as it does not work all the time.
• Does not come with a white label options. This is particularly a concern for developers.

Elementor vs Div & Beaver Builder

The top Elementor competitors are Divi and Beaver Builder. These two page builders also have a great reputation and come with great page building abilities. Both novice and seasoned WordPress users can use the above platforms to create quality looking pages and all this can be done with no design skills at all. That said it is important to note that Elementor plugin also comes with great page building abilities.

With the free Elementor version, you can create beautiful pages using the templates provided. The variety is quite wide and it is almost impossible not to find a template or two that will match your style. The pro version also allows you to create your website’s theme and offer the same features you find in the page builders mentioned above. Sure, there are areas where the plugin can be improved but generally, it is a great platform. It helps that the Elementor interface is extremely well designed, making it easy to learn and use.

The one thing that sets the Elementor plugin apart is the price. Both Divi and Beaver come at a price and for hobbyists or startups that can be restrictive. With Elementor you can try it out for free and see if it’s the right plugin for you.

If you are on a tight budget, the Elementor plugin is a perfect choice. You do not even need to get the Pro version. The free version is very goodand will allow you to start creating custom page layouts with ease.

The platform is also perfect if you are just getting started with WordPress as some people will find the default WordPress editor restrictive as it stands or not want to get to grips learning about blocks.

Learn Elementor in 3 Simple Steps

Want to learn how you can use this page builder to upgrade your WordPress site? Why not start by checking out a few YouTube video tutorials.

There are enough tutorials available online and these contain a wealth of information that you may find helpful. The Elementor YouTube channel is particularly helpful and covers all the basics as far as using this plugin is concerned.

There are also enough guides on how to make use of Elementor. Just be sure to do adequate research and where possible, read the guides as you try the plugin.

The third and last option is using the available templates. Simply import one of the templates and deconstruct it. By doing this, you will see the steps the designer used when making the template in question.

Learning Elementor just like learning anything else in life and needs some time. Even though the platform is quite easy, there sure is going to be a learning curve. However, at the end of the day, you can be sure that you will be creating beautiful pages if you take the time to learn and understand it.

Conclusion

All things considered, Elementor emerges at the top of the list of best page builders in the market. It comes with numerous friendly features that make it particularly suitable for beginners. Even seasoned users will find the page builder will save them time building layouts. Unlike other page builders that come with free trials but with numerous limitations, Elementor is nothing like that. It is safe to say it is a budget blogger’s dream as it comes at no cost and with no limitations.

Elementor has introduced a Pro Version that gives additional features to the user who wants more than WordPress page layouts. This version allows users to build entire site themes from scratch. Just like the free version, the Pro version is user friendly and one does not need to be an expert in design to start creating nice layouts.

It is important to note that just like any other page builder, the Elementor plugin comes with a few shortfalls. For example, it lacks some basic features that people use when designing their pages.  Some users have also encountered difficulties when trying to change column widths and adjusting the pages to their requirements. That said the good by far outweigh the bad.

Elementor overall performance is on par with the best page builders. Yes, there are a few areas that need to be fixed, but the plugin is backed by a strong team and is constantly being updated.

Elementor is continually improving this page builder and going by this trend, the possibilities here are a promising for the future. Given the fact that the Elementor page builder is open source, you can upgrade and tweak the plugin to your liking with the use of numerous add-ons which are now available.

This plugin comes with a lot of moving parts and this can be confusing if you have never used a page builder before. Fortunately, Elementor provides adequate guidelines and resources that you may find helpful. Everything from detailed videos to detailed tutorials are available and all you need to bring to the table is some attention and a willingness to learn.

Have we covered everything you need to know about Elementor? Let us know Your thoughts?

Visit Elementor