Elementor360 Newsletter – Issue 18

The Elementor 3 rocky launch, GeneratePress version 3, and Crocoblock JetEngine 2.5 are some of the updates covered in this issue.

Elementor 3 Rocky Launch

The Elementor 3 launch got off to a rocky start with bugs and broken sites. I personally only had a small issue that was easy for me to work around, but there were lots of reports of issues and slow support responses. No one was more surprised by the number of issues than the Elementor team. I appreciated that they worked non-stop to roll out fixes, 11 versions for Elementor core and 5 for Pro. Yoni Luksenberg, Elementor’s CEO, published an apology and outlined some of the steps being taken to do better in the future. A look at the project’s Github account shows that the team is already busy working on version 3.1.

Themes – GeneratePress Version 3

GeneratePress recently released version 3 of the theme.  It is a huge rewrite, with backwards compatibility.  It comes with a fresh theme design, modernized flexbox grids, new theme functionality, modularized stylesheets, smaller footprint, and overall it’s lighter, faster, and more flexible than ever before.

Too often the developers of successful WordPress products consider them to be “mature” and basically put them in maintenance mode. I was very pleased to see the GeneratePress team modernize the theme to ensure that it remains relevant and is poised to take advantage of upcoming WordPress changes. Many professional Elementor designers prefer GeneratePress.

Plugins

PowerPack Elements Adds WooCommerce Builder

The PowerPack Elements team created a WooCommerce builder extension.  It adds 13 WooCommerce related widgets.  It works with Elementor core and allows you to create single product and product archive pages.

Crocoblock Continues Suite Updates

The Crocoblock team continues rolling out updates across the suite, but with a lot of attention on JetEngine, which popped past version 2.5.  JetEngine is their plugin for creating Custom Post Types and custom fields.  The team added a “Custom Content Types” module which is a Custom Post Type with its own database table, display rules, etc. 

They also added a lazy load option for the Listing Grid widget, infinite scroll options for the Listing Grid widget, post restriction rules per Custom Post Type, enhancements to the JetEngine form builder, and enhancements to dynamic visibility options.  Hold onto your hat, you can now use JetEngine to create Gutenberg listing grid blocks and use JetSmartFilters with them.  Wow!  I asked the team about their Gutenberg plans and was told they have internal plans, but no public roadmap or timeline.

Dynamic Content for Elementor Just Released Dynamic Posts v2

A new version of Dynamic Content for Elementor was just released with the Dynamic Posts v2 widget.  Don’t think of this as just a “widget”.  It provides very flexible and power ways to display posts, pages, and Custom Post Types.  To start with, there are five source options:  post type, dynamic depending on context, based on relationships such as ACF relationships, based on the post or page parent, and manually selected posts.  You can then use any of a number of “skins” to create your layout.  Skins include grid, grid to full screen 3D, carousel, 3D, Crossroads slideshow, timeline, and dual carousel.  After you pick your layout skin then you can select and order the elements to include, such as all of the standards for post lists as well as ACF custom fields.  All of the sections can be then be styled.

HappyAddons Has Three New Post Widgets

HappyAddons added three new widgets to their Pro offering for displaying post content.  Smart Post List allows you to display posts in a list format with a featured post on the left side.  Post Tiles lets you display posts in a grid.  Post Carousel lets you add posts using a carousel widget.  HappyAddons did not have many post display options and these round out their offering.

Social Login Options with Essential Addons

Essential Addons now allows you to configure Google and / or Facebook options for their login register widget.  This is a nice addition for membership sites.

Templates

Unlimited Elements Adds New Template Kits

The Unlimited Elements team released two new template kits.  A lawyer template kit includes 5 pre-designed pages and has a slate-blue corporate color scheme.  A yoga template kit also has five predesigned pages and a pink color scheme.

Elementor Releases Template Kit 14

The Elementor team released their 14th template kit, this one designed for psychologists and metal health professionals.  The kit included six predesigned pages and a popup.  The gray and white full width design is meant to be calming and professional.  While it is an attractive kit, I noticed that they have some sections with gray text on a gray background, which might be hard to read.  That is an unusual mistake for the team.  Elementor template kits are available for use from within Elementor Pro’s template library.

Well, that’s it for this issue. Happy Elementoring.

Affiliate Disclosure: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. You will still pay the same amount so there is no extra cost to you.