Elementor360 Newsletter – Issue 5
In this issue I mention my recent review of the Piotnet Addons for Elementor plugin (PAFE). PAFE offers a number of features and a powerful form builder. I also published a short tutorial on how to include Custom Fields in an Elementor archive template. In Elementor news, the Elementor Custom Skin plugin added Toolset and Crocoblock JetEngine support and released a Pro version. Crocoblock released JetEngine version 2 with some good enhancements. Unlimited Elements published a nice tutorial that shows how to create a fixed menu on mobile view. In relation to themes, the Page Builder Framework theme released version 2.1, which extends its support for WooCommerce. Finally, the Elementor Team has just released their second template kit.
Themes
Page Builder Framework
As the name implies, the Page Builder Framework (PBF) theme is designed to work well with page builders. It has a minimalist feel, but provides a fair number of carefully crafted options in the Customizer. PBF has a feature called “Custom Sections” that you can create with Elementor and then use theme hooks and conditions to integrate them into the theme in the desired locations. The Custom Sections featured added Gutenberg support. It also add the condition of whether the user is logged in or not, so you can show different content for each group. Most of 2.1, however, was focused on WooCommerce, with a cart pop-up, infinite scroll, an off-canvas sidebar, and product images in a sort of light-box popup.
Plugins
Piotnet Addons for Elementor Review
Piotnet Addons for Elementor plugin (PAFE) is an Elementor addon package that adds a lot of display and positioning effects as well as a form builder. A powerful feature of PAFE forms is that you can use it for front-end form submissions of Posts and Custom Post Types. I reviewed PAFE and used it with Toolset. I found that it has a number of advanced features, but isn’t as easy to use as one might hope. You can find my review and video here.
Crocoblock JetEngine 2
Take a look at the previous editions of this newsletter. Almost every one contains news from the Crocoblock team. Crocoblock is a suite of addons for Elementor that is remarkable for the wide range of features and the number of plugins included. On of its main features is the JetEngine plugin which lets you create Custom Post Types and custom fields. Version 2 of JetEngine was recently released. The admin UI was updated in Version 2 with the ability to make admin columns sortable and select callbacks for the admin columns. JetEngine now also lets you edit / extend the WordPress built in post types. It also lets you group created fields into tabs and accordions, set the max length of fields, and create global option pages. The Crocoblock team is very productive and is listening to user feedback.
Tutorials
Elementor Custom Skin Tutorial
Elementor Pro doesn’t let you use Custom Fields in archive templates. The archive widgets just give you the choice of a “Classic” or “Card” layout skins. The Elementor Custom Skin plugin is a free plugin that lets you create custom skins and design layouts with all of the flexibility of the Elementor Pro template builder, as if you were using it for a single template, where you can use dynamic data. Elementor Custom Skin is easy to use once you grasp the concept and is very powerful. I created a quick tutorial that shows how to use it to include a custom field in an archive template.
The author of Elementor Custom Skin just released a Pro version. It allows you to create alternating archive layouts with different styling applied to every other record. It also lets you use custom variables, such as WordPress constants (site title for instance), custom variables defined in your functions.php file, and custom fields from the WP query loop. It is a version one release, but the author is offering a limited time lifetime license. The price has already jumped at least once. The free plugin has been very well received and I have a lot of hope for the Pro version, but the limited time lifetime offer on the new Pro version seems a bit rushed as it has not yet had a chance to prove itself. The sales page is here.
Fixed Mobile Menu Tutorial
The Unlimited Elements team shared a nice tutorial showing how to create a fixed mobile menu. This is a sticky footer menu with contact and share options.
Elementor Template Kit
The Elementor team just released their second template kit. This kit is a designed for a gym or trainer. It is a complete site kit with 7 pages and a very cool 404 page. It includes a header and footer template, single and archive templates, and a popup template. Even if you don’t need a gym website, it is worth taking a look to see how the Elementor team put it together.
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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 standard amount so there is no extra cost to you.