Since the release of Elementor 3.3 was announced, there has been a lot of interest in the new features that this release offers. Among the most talked about is the addition of Full Site Kits.
These kits allow you to package an entire website under one kit, and then re-use it as many times as you like. This means that you can pack up anything from your existing sites – templates, header, footer, pop-ups, 404 page, global fonts and colors, theme style, landing pages, and even single posts – and re-use them in a new website.
This article examines why these Full Site Kits were developed, how they work, and how you can use them in your WordPress development work.
The Issue
Full Site Kits were developed to solve a problem – a problem that is easily stated, but much more difficult to solve. Whenever anyone starts a new website project, they are essentially starting from scratch.
Though themes, plugins, templates, and portable fonts provide a shortcut, all of these elements must at least be installed and set up in each new website project, no matter what type of web designer you are using. This leads to a lot of wasted time and frustration, because you may have already built most of your new project in previous designs.
Up until now, web designers have had two ways around this problem. One has been to save each page individually as a “flat” JSON file. However, this method only copies the content of a page, and doesn’t include all site settings and functionalities, which still have to be redefined from scratch every time. In practice, this meant that very few designers use flat JSON files, outside of specialized contexts or during site migrations.
A second option, exclusive to Elementor users, has been to use the Import / Export option. This option has been around for a while now, and Elementor has been working hard to continually make it better. It’s now one of the best ways, for instance, to migrate your WP site with Elementor. The idea is to allow users to pack up everything from an existing site, and move it to a new one. That’s what Full Site Kits let you do.
The Solution
Full Site Kits hold the basic building blocks of a site, and provide you with the elements you need to start building a site straight away. This isn’t copy and pasting a website, but using existing elements like your color pallet, header or footer, specific content pages or graphical elements to take a shortcut to a ready-to-go website.
When you export a website, you’ll be asked which elements you want to keep. This can include content, settings, and templates – in other words, if you want to you can export your entire website as an integrated, interactive whole. You can select each element, and then start exporting them. The system will then create a zip file, which later you can import to a new site.
During the importing process, if your new site is not a blank canvas, you’ll be asked to decide if to keep the older design or bring in the new one. This will prevent sites from changing their appearance once importation is complete, and means that you can generate predictable results each time you export and import Full Site Kites.
Accelerating WP Site-Building
The 3.3 release also contains more than 80 full website kits. These kits come complete with content pages, theme builder parts, and popups, and all in the same style and cohesive design.
The Kits Library allows users to use designed website kits created by Elementor. Using the library, you filter, search, as well as sort between different eCommerce, blog, portfolio, restaurant, NGO kits to find the ideal kit for the website you need.
Full Site Kits can be used by anyone – marketers and designers who have already created websites but want to create new ones fast, or freelancers and businesses that need to create additional websites to support growth.
The new Template Kits Library can be used by new users who do not have a WordPress background, or are beginner web creators, and need to be guided through the process of creating a website. The library can also be used as a source of inspiration for even experienced designers.
Full Site Kits and the Kit Library are not the only features in Elementor 3.3. This release also brings with it significant performance improvements and a focus on web development in serverless environments. It focuses on helping users Improve faster page load by creating inline as well as conditional CSS Load.
