Elementor terms, explained simply

A plain-English A–Z glossary of Elementor vocabulary — every term you might encounter when editing your site.

New to Elementor? This glossary explains every term you are likely to encounter — no technical background required. Use Ctrl+F (Windows) or Cmd+F (Mac) to search this page for a specific word.

Quick summary

This is a reference glossary of Elementor terms A–Z. Bookmark this page and come back whenever you encounter an unfamiliar word in the editor.

A

ACF (Advanced Custom Fields) A WordPress plugin that lets developers add extra data fields to pages and posts. Elementor can display ACF data using dynamic tags. You will not usually need to set this up yourself.

Actions After Submit Settings in the Form widget that control what happens when a visitor submits a form — for example, sending an email, redirecting to a thank-you page, or logging to a spreadsheet.

Advanced tab The third tab in Elementor's left panel (after Content and Style). Contains spacing (margin/padding), motion effects, custom CSS, and visibility settings.

Asset loading How Elementor loads its CSS and JavaScript files. Elementor Pro's "Improved Asset Loading" feature loads only the files needed for each page, rather than everything at once — making pages faster.

B

Background The color, image, or gradient behind a section, column, or widget. Set in the Style tab of any element.

Breakpoint The screen width at which a layout changes to adapt for a different device. Elementor's default breakpoints are desktop, tablet, and mobile.

Builder Short for "page builder" — the Elementor editor itself. Also used to refer to the Theme Builder specifically.

C

Canvas The central editing area in the Elementor editor where you see your page and interact with elements. Everything you click and drag happens on the canvas.

Caching The process of saving a copy of a page so it loads faster for the next visitor. Not an Elementor feature itself, but caching plugins work alongside Elementor. See Elementor & page speed.

Callout In the Elementor editor context, this refers to visual notes and tips (like info boxes). In this help center, callout specifically refers to our styled notice blocks.

Column A vertical division inside a section. Sections can have one or more columns side by side. Columns hold widgets. See Working with columns.

Conditions (display conditions) Rules that control which pages a Theme Builder template appears on — for example, "show this header on the entire site" or "show this template only on blog posts."

Container In modern Elementor, a flexible box that replaces sections and columns. Containers can hold widgets and other nested containers. See Containers explained.

Content tab The first tab in Elementor's left panel. Contains the actual data inside the widget — the text, image, link, etc.

CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) The code that controls the visual appearance of a web page — colors, fonts, spacing, layout. Elementor writes CSS automatically when you use its style controls. You can also add custom CSS in the Advanced tab.

D

Default fonts The fallback fonts your browser uses when a specific font family is not available. Elementor lets you set global fonts to override these.

Display conditions See Conditions above.

Divider An Elementor widget that draws a horizontal line, used to visually separate content areas.

Drag and drop The core interaction model of Elementor. You drag a widget from the left panel and drop it onto the canvas to add it to the page.

Dynamic content Content that is pulled automatically from another source (like a post title, a product price, or a custom field), rather than typed manually in Elementor. See Dynamic content, explained.

Dynamic tag A placeholder in an Elementor field that is replaced with live data when the page loads. For example, a dynamic tag for Post Title shows the actual title of the current post.

E

Editor The Elementor visual editing environment. Also called the Elementor editor or page editor.

Element A generic term for any item on a page — a section, column, container, or widget.

Elementor Free The free version of Elementor, available as a WordPress plugin. Includes the core editor and many widgets.

Elementor Pro The paid upgrade to Elementor. Adds advanced widgets (Forms, Theme Builder, popups, slider, etc.), more templates, and dynamic content.

Exit intent A popup trigger that fires when the visitor moves their mouse toward closing the browser tab. Used to offer a last-minute promotion or capture an email.

F

Flexbox A CSS layout system that Elementor's Container structure is built on. It allows flexible positioning of elements in a row or column. You do not need to understand CSS Flexbox to use Containers — Elementor's interface handles it.

Font Awesome A large icon library included with Elementor. You can use Font Awesome icons in the Icon widget, Icon Box widget, and buttons.

Frontmatter In this context, refers to the page-level settings in WordPress rather than Elementor specifically — things like the page title, slug, and status.

G

Global colors A palette of named colors (Primary, Secondary, Accent, etc.) that you set once and reference throughout the site. Changing a global color updates every element using it. See Global colors & fonts.

Global fonts Font settings (family, weight, size, etc.) assigned to font roles (Primary, Secondary, etc.) that apply site-wide. See Global colors & fonts.

Global widget A widget that is synced across multiple pages — updating the widget in one place updates it everywhere. Available in Elementor Pro. Note: Global Widgets is a legacy feature being phased out in favor of the newer Global Widgets approach.

Grid A layout system dividing the page into rows and columns. Elementor's section/column structure and Container structure both create grid-like layouts.

H

Handle The grey bar that appears when you hover over a section, column, or container. Contains icons for editing, moving, duplicating, and deleting the element.

Header The area at the top of every page — typically contains your logo and navigation menu. Edited through the Elementor Theme Builder. See Editing headers & footers.

Heading widget An Elementor widget that displays a title with a semantic HTML level (H1 through H6). See How to edit text in Elementor.

Hover state The appearance of an element when a visitor's mouse is over it. Elementor lets you set different colors and styles for the hover state in the Style tab.

I

Image widget An Elementor widget that displays a single image. See How to edit & swap images.

Image box An Elementor widget combining an image with a title and text description — commonly used for service cards or feature highlights.

Inner section A section nested inside a column, creating a grid-within-a-grid layout. Used in the legacy Section/Column structure.

Inline editing Editing content directly on the canvas by clicking and typing, rather than in the left panel. Most text widgets support inline editing.

J

JavaScript Code that adds interactivity and dynamic behavior to web pages. Elementor loads JavaScript to power the editor and widgets like sliders and popups. Excessive JavaScript can slow page loading.

K

Kit A collection of global settings (colors, fonts, default button styles) imported as a package. Some Elementor templates come with a kit that sets up your global styles at once.

L

Layer Used informally to describe the hierarchy of elements (section > column > widget). The Navigator panel shows these layers as a tree.

Left panel The sidebar on the left side of the Elementor editor. Shows the widget library when nothing is selected, and element settings when something is selected.

Library See Template Library.

M

Margin The space outside an element — the gap between it and adjacent elements. Set in the Advanced tab. See Spacing, margin & padding.

Media Library The WordPress media management area where all uploaded images and files are stored. Accessible from within Elementor when choosing an image.

Mobile view The editor view that simulates how the page looks on a small phone screen. Access it via the device icons in the editor. See Previewing tablet & mobile views.

Motion effects Animated scroll effects and entrance animations applied to elements. Set in the Advanced tab of any element (Elementor Pro).

N

Navigator A panel in Elementor that shows all page elements in a tree structure. Use it to select, rename, reorder, or hide elements. See Using the Navigator to find elements.

P

Padding The space inside an element, between its content and its border. Set in the Advanced tab. See Spacing, margin & padding.

Page template A saved full-page Elementor design that can be imported onto new pages.

Panel The left sidebar of the Elementor editor.

Popup A window that appears over the page content. Elementor Pro includes a popup builder. See Elementor popups (overview).

Publish button The button that makes your page edits visible to the public. See Publishing & updating your page.

R

Responsive Describes a design that adapts to different screen sizes. Elementor supports setting different values for desktop, tablet, and mobile.

Revision A saved version of a page's Elementor layout. Elementor keeps a history of revisions so you can revert to an earlier state. See Undoing changes with revision history.

Right-click menu The context menu that appears when you right-click an element in the Elementor editor. Offers quick actions like Duplicate, Delete, Save as Template, Copy Style.

S

Section The full-width horizontal row that contains columns and widgets. Each page is built from a stack of sections. See Sections, columns & widgets explained.

Site kit See Kit above.

Spacer An Elementor widget that adds blank vertical space between elements.

Style tab The second tab in Elementor's left panel (after Content). Controls the visual appearance — colors, fonts, borders, shadows, etc.

T

Template A saved design (page or section) that can be inserted into a page. See Elementor templates explained.

Template library Elementor's built-in collection of pre-designed pages and blocks. See Using the template library.

Text Editor widget An Elementor widget for body text, supporting formatting like bold, italic, and bullet lists. See How to edit text in Elementor.

Theme Builder The Elementor Pro feature for designing site-wide templates (headers, footers, post templates). See The Theme Builder, explained.

Trigger A condition that causes a popup to appear — such as page load, scroll depth, or exit intent.

Typography Settings controlling how text looks: font family, size, weight, line height, letter spacing, and transform. Found in the Style tab of text widgets.

U

Update button The button that saves and publishes changes to an already-published page. See Publishing & updating your page.

W

Widget The individual content elements you place on a page — headings, images, buttons, forms, etc. See The most useful Elementor widgets.

Widget library The panel of available widgets on the left side of the Elementor editor, shown when nothing is selected on the canvas.

WooCommerce The WordPress e-commerce plugin. Elementor Pro integrates with WooCommerce for building product page templates and shop layouts.

Z

Z-index Controls which element appears in front of another when elements overlap. A higher z-index brings an element in front. Set in the Advanced tab. This is rarely needed for routine editing.

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