Elementor Update: Guide to Updates and Troubleshooting

Picture this. You’ve noticed a notification for an Elementor update. They’ve released new features and you’re excited to hit the Update button. But you’re also worried. Will you lose the designs of your existing page? Can it crash your site? 

Elementor is a popular page builder because it deeply integrates with various aspects of your WordPress site. Designing a page has never been easier. But, this also means that updating Elementor is not simple. An Elementor update has a high chance of compatibility conflicts or bugs. This is especially true when updates introduce new features or change how existing ones function. 

Always backup your site before any updates. 

If you’ve already hit update and crashed your site, don’t worry. It’s fixable. If you haven’t hit the update button yet, we will walk you through the precautions you need to take. This article will help you recover your site and show you how to update Elementor safely. 

TL;DR: Updates to Elementor can cause site crashes or functionality issues due to its complexity. Ensure that your updates run without a hitch by testing them on a staging site first. BlogVault backs up your site in minutes, and creates a staging site in seconds.

Step 1: Before you take an update

Updating Elementor can be smooth and hassle-free if you follow these precautionary steps. Let’s walk through each step to ensure your site remains functional and secure.

1. Take a backup: Before making any changes, taking a complete backup of your website is crucial. Use a reliable backup plugin like BlogVault to save both your files and database. This way, you can easily restore your site if anything goes wrong during the update.

2. Create a staging site: Next, create a staging site—a clone of your live site where you can safely test updates. BlogVault also offers a straightforward way to set up a staging environment from the latest site backup. This way, you have an exact replica of your live site in seconds.  

2. Research release documentation: Always read the release notes and documentation provided by Elementor for the upcoming update. This will inform you about new features, bug fixes, and potential changes that might affect your site’s functionality.
3. Check addon compatibility: If you rely on Elementor addons for additional functionality, verify their compatibility with the new update. Visit the addon developer’s website or WordPress plugin repository page to see if they’ve confirmed compatibility with the latest version of Elementor. If not, hold off on updating the plugin till they do. 
4. Check Elementor communities for complaints about incompatibilities: Go through Elementor-specific forums and social media groups. Scan for recent posts or threads discussing the latest update. This will give you an early warning of any widespread issues or conflicts users are experiencing.

Step 2: Update Elementor 

You’ve prepared for your Elementor update as much as you can. Now, it’s time to actually test it out. In the next steps, we’ll update the plugin but on your staging site. This is an added precaution to make sure your site remains functional. 

Note: If you have both Elementor and Elementor Pro, update them sequentially. Start with the free version of Elementor and then proceed to Elementor Pro. This minimizes the risk of conflicts and ensures each version is properly handled.

1. Open up your staging site: Go to the Staging section of your BlogVault dashboard, and click WP-ADMIN

2. Update the plugin: Once you’re ready to update, navigate to the Plugins section, locate Elementor and click the Update button. 

2. Check everything: Thoroughly test your site after the updates. Check various pages, widgets, and custom elements to ensure everything works smoothly. Address any discrepancies you find before proceeding. We’ve included a troubleshooting section with commonly faced issues below. 

Step 3: Push changes to the live site

Once everything goes well, it’s time to go live with the update. Go to the Blogvault dashboard and navigate to the Staging section. Click Merge and give it a few minutes.

Your live site will now have an updated Elementor plugin. 

Once you’re done, test everything again on the live site. We’re talking pages, widgets, headers, menus, buttons, pop ups, forms, etc. Check anything that the customer interacts with. 

Congratulations! You’re done…unless you have Elementor Pro. In which case, you’ll have to repeat the last step separately for the Elementor Pro plugin. 

Troubleshooting Elementor updates

When updating Elementor, various errors can arise, but understanding why they happen and how to solve them can make the process smoother.

Elementor update crashed site

If an Elementor update breaks your site, it’s usually due to compatibility issues with your theme or other plugins. 

Regenerate CSS and Sync Libraries 

Regenerating CSS in Elementor means automatically refreshing and rewriting the CSS files that control the styling of your site. Elementor uses CSS to ensure that all design elements, such as colors, fonts, margins, and layouts, display correctly. 

When you regenerate CSS, you essentially tell Elementor to clear out the old styles and recompile the new ones based on your current settings and configurations. Along the same lines, Sync Libraries updates the Elementor template library, ensuring you have access to the latest templates and elements.

1. Go to your admin panel
2. Click Elementor in the sidebar
3. Click Tools
4. Click Regenerate CSS 
5. Click Sync Library 

Check for plugin incompatibility 

1. Find your FTP credentials on your hosting account.
2. Install an FTP client like Cyberduck. 
3. Open a connection using FTP credentials: username, password and IP address.
4. Navigate to the site’s root folder, and then, find the wp-contents folder, and within it, you will see a folder called Plugins
5. In the Plugins folder, you will see folders for every plugin you have installed.
6. Rename all the folders; we typically add the phrase “_deactivated” to the end.
7. Check your site now. If your site is back to normal, you know that it is a plugin incompatibility that crashed your site. 
8. Now, reactivate each plugin one by one and check your site each time. 
9. Repeat till you find the problematic plugin. 
10. Once you do, you can recover your site by rolling back the Elementor plugin or restoring a backup. Alternatively you can disable the conflicting plugin or find an alternative.

Debug theme incompatibility 

If it’s not an incompatible plugin, it’s possible that your theme is the problem. 

1. Revert to a default theme like Twenty Twenty-Four and see if that recovers your site. 
2. If it does, then you know that the theme you were using was incompatible. 
3. In that case, recover your site by restoring a backup or downgrading your Elementor version. 
4. Then, reach out to Elementor and the theme developers to let them know that the theme is incompatible. 
5. Hold off on updating Elementor till the theme incompatibility has been fixed.

Elementor update server error 500

A server error 500 is a generic error indicating something went wrong on the server side, often due to exceeded memory limits or plugin conflicts. 

Increase your memory limit 

1. Find your FTP credentials on your hosting platform
2. Install an FTP client like Cyberduck
3. Click Open Connection
4. Add the FTP credentials and click Connect
5. Navigate to the root directory and locate the wp-config.php file
6. Add the line: 

define('WP_MEMORY_LIMIT', '256M');

The line needs to be added before the line that says 

/* That's all, stop editing! Happy blogging. */`

7. Save the changes to the file
8. Upload the modified file back to your server
9. Refresh your WordPress site to ensure it’s running with the new memory limit

Server error (403 error) Elementor

A 403 error, also known as a Forbidden error, typically indicates that the server is refusing to fulfill the request. In the context of using Elementor in WordPress, a 403 error can mean that WordPress doesn’t have the right permissions for making a change. 

• Ensure your WordPress file permissions are set correctly (folders should be 755 and files should be 644). 
• If you use a security plugin with a firewall, make sure your IP is whitelisted. 

Changes not being updated

It’s frustrating to not see your changes appear, but the solution is simple. Clear your WordPress cache, browser cache, and CDN cache (if applicable) to ensure that visitors see the most updated version of your site. This step is crucial for reflecting all recent changes accurately. Also, click Regenerate CSS Sheets and Sync Library in Elemenetor’s Tools tab. 

Why should you update your Elementor plugin?

You’ve put all this effort into the update. It can seem daunting to repeat this process with all future updates. So, is it really necessary? In this section, we’ll discuss different reasons why you can’t skip out on an update. 

• Regular updates address security vulnerabilities. BlogVault’s security features have protected sites from Elementor vulnerabilities that could have been devastating. For example, we recently protected over 25,000 customers from the Elementor RCE vulnerability. Hackers could have added malicious code to your website using this vulnerability and then remotely controlled your site. We can’t reiterate enough how integral updates are to your site’s security.  
• Updates resolve known issues with the plugin. For example, it can fix bugs in the code that are making your site look or act weird. Your site runs more smoothly with fewer errors, if you keep it updated. 
• Developers are also constantly working to improve the product. With an update, you get access to the latest tools and design capabilities. New features are also implemented with every update. 
• A new update also ensures better integration with WordPress, themes, and other plugins. Earlier in the article, we troubleshooted a crashed site because of an Elementor update. If you reach out to a plugin developer and let them know that it is incompatible with another, they will release an update which eliminates the incompatibilities.
• Everything has to be as fast as possible—your site and their plugin. An update will introduce optimized code that can enhance site speed and efficiency. It can also make the plugin less resource-intensive for better site performance.
• To cap it all, all of the above improvements can in turn improve customer experience. Your website is easier to navigate and offers better functionality to your customers or readers.

Final thoughts

Are plugin updates important? Yes. Are they risky? Most definitely. So, how do you create a balance? What’s the safest way to update Elementor without jeopardizing your entire site?

The key is meticulous preparation and caution. Always take a full backup and use a staging site. The good thing is that you can handle both effortlessly with BlogVault. They can help you test updates in a safe environment and have a reliable fallback if anything goes wrong. There is no way to avoid updates. So, this is the way to go. 

FAQs

How do I update my Elementor?

1. Take a backup
2. Create a staging site
3. Log in to the WordPress dashboard of your staging site
4. Navigate to Plugins and then click Installed Plugins
5. Find Elementor (and Elementor Pro if you have it)
6. Click on the Update Now button
7. Test everything 
8. Merge the changes to your live site

Does Elementor automatically update?

No, Elementor does not automatically update by default. You will need to manually update it by following the steps in your WordPress Dashboard. While you can enable auto-update for the plugin, we do not recommend it. Instead, you should take a backup first and create a staging site. Then, test the update on a staging site and finally merge the changes to your live site. You can use BlogVault to create a staging site and backup your files and databases. 

Can I upgrade my Elementor?

Yes, you can upgrade from the free version of Elementor to Elementor Pro. Simply go to the Elementor website, purchase a Pro license, and follow their instructions to upload and activate Elementor Pro alongside the free version.

Should I update Elementor?

Absolutely! Updating Elementor is important for several reasons:

• It protects your site from vulnerabilities.
• It resolves existing issues for a smoother experience.
• It provides you with the latest design tools and functionalities
• It ensures seamless integration with WordPress, themes, and other plugins.
• It improves site speed and efficiency.
• It helps with usability for both administrators and visitors.