In the past, a “page builder” allowed you to only design the area that your current theme didn’t control. Now, Elementor expands on the “page builder” concept to include the ability to design those areas that your theme normally controls, including the header, footer, etc. With Elementor Pro, the “page builder” concept has morphed into that of a “theme builder”.
“Builder” might be a confusing word in this case, but historically, it has become a standard part of the design vocabulary. Just as page builders are really page designers that work in conjunction with your theme, the Elementor Theme Builder is really a tool for building a new design framework that changes the look of those areas of your theme that has traditionally been off-limits to page builders.
Elementor’s Theme Builder feature does not create a new standalone theme.
What does Elementor’s Theme Builder feature do?
With Elementor Pro’s Theme Builder, you can now use Elementor’s editor to visually build and design:
- Any theme’s header and footer.
- Any theme’s archive page templates so that you determine your blog posts and other archive layouts.
- Any theme’s single post or single page templates.
- Any theme’s search page format and layout.
- Any theme’s 404 page format and layout.
- Your WooCommerce store layout.
- Your WooCommerce product pages.
- Dynamic templates, so you can build each template once, creating a content framework, and then apply it across your site with one click.
- Multiple templates, multiple headers, multiple footers, etc. with each designed, built, and applied to different use cases!
We’ve received questions from a few users, so just to clarify, we’ve answered them here.
1. Even if I purchase Elementor Pro, I still need a theme installed already, right?
Yes, you must have a theme installed and activated to use both the free Elementor plugin and Elementor Pro.
2. Which theme should I use?
The choice of theme is up to you. As long as theme developers respect WordPress coding standards, Elementor should work well with it. We do have a list of Elementor-compatible themes available online.
3. You mention this isn’t for creating a standalone theme. So I can’t use this to code a theme from scratch, right?
That’s right. You can certainly code a theme from scratch if you’d like. But Elementor Theme Builder is not the tool you need to write that code.
4. If I do code my own theme, and use Elementor Theme Builder to design the header, footer, and other theme areas, can I bundle Elementor Pro with my theme and then sell the theme bundle to others?
No. You are not allowed to include Elementor Pro in a theme you are selling. You can include the free Elementor plugin if you’d like. You can also include a set of saved Pro templates which you have designed. Those templates could be made available to import if the buyers of your theme choose to purchase Elementor Pro on their own.
Elementor’s Theme Builder feature is not about “creating a standalone theme” – it is about building upon any existing theme – transforming and reimagining every part of your current theme with your design, your layout choices, your dynamic templates – all using Elementor’s easy drag-and-drop visual editor.