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WPBakery (fka. Visual Composer): Drag & Drop Site Building

WordPress is great, and being able to customize your WordPress run website is just the icing on the cake. However not all of us are coding gurus. Heck, some WordPress lovers don’t know anything about HTML or CSS. But this shouldn’t stop you from being able to customize your WordPress theme. This is where page builders come in.

Drag & drop page builders are widely available as plugins and are built into many popular themes. They make it possible for users of all levels to make changes to the general layout of a theme, and it can make adding extra flourishes (icons, skill-bars, pricing tables, etc.) super easy. Specifically we want to introduce you to our new favorite page building WordPress plugin – the WPBakery Visual Builder.

Get WPBakery (formerly Visual Composer) For Free! The WPBakery plugin is included for free with the purchase of our Total WordPress Theme and it includes some great extensions for the plugin for use with the theme.

Want to learn more? Read and follow along with our updated WPBakery how to guide! This more detailed walk through shows your the ins and outs of this popular page builder along with usage example.

What Is WPBakery? (Formerly named Visual Composer)

The WPBakery Visual Builder is a fantastic plugin developed by WP Bakery that adds a drag & drop page builder to your WordPress theme. We popped it into our Total Multipurpose WordPress Theme, but you can also see it in almost every new top seller on Themeforest. It gives you the tools you need to be able to create complex page layouts without needing to touch a single line of code.

How the WPBakery Visual Builder Works, And What It Can Do

It’s a plugin, so just install and activate to take advantage of all its wonderful features. Once activated, the WPBakery Visual Builder gives you control over the layout of your pages. Just add a new page and you will see new buttons so that you can toggle between classic mode and builder mode as well as a button to take you to the live front-end editor.

visual-composer-button

From here the possibilities are only limited by your (or your clients’) imagination. You can add rows, columns, buttons, text, images and so much more using all of the WPBakery Visual Builder’s options. Plus there’s an option to save your layouts as a templates to be reused over & over again.

Rows

Included in the builder are page building elements. You can use these elements as literal building blocks for your page. First Add A Row. Rows make it possible to add columns in one click. Just hover on the yellow paragraph tab at the top left corner of your row and select a layout. The row automatically breaks into columns according to the layout you choose.

total-add-row

Page Elements

total-add-elements

The next step is to begin adding your page features. Just click the Add Element button to open a pop-up menu. There are lots of options for adding text boxes, headings, social sharing, images and galleries, toggles or tabs, accordions, recent posts (which also works with the custom post types of your theme in addition to the blog posts), buttons and even sidebar widgets.

Also, depending on the WordPress theme and compatible plugins you are using with the WPBakery Visual Builder your will see more or less page elements. The above example is from our Total Drag & Drop WordPress theme, so there are an additional 30 page builder elements we created and styled exclusively for Total. This includes custom dividers, icon boxes, milestones, carousels and more.

Click on any element to open the options for that element. Below is an example of the “options” for our Icon Box module in the Total theme. As you can see each module can have many settings and even multiple tabs of settings.

icon-box-settings

The builder also supports four awesome third party plugins: Layer Slider, Revolution Slider, Gravity Forms and Contact Form 7. If you have any of these plugins installed, a page element will automatically appear for theme. When you choose to insert a page element for one of these plugins, WPBakery Visual Builder displays a drop-down of the respective sliders/forms you’ve created, or displays an entry box for you to add your slider ID. No more copying and pasting shortcodes!

Drag & Drop

visual-composer-editor

At any point in the design process you can drag & drop any row or page element to rearrange them. You can also duplicate any row or element, which makes adding repetitive content quick and easy (great for similar columns, FAQs, toggles, etc.).

Once you’ve created a design you love you can save it as a template. This comes in handy when creating a custom page layout or sidebar the you’d like to reuse. Just click on the Templates button, give your layout a name, and hit save. When you use your template it will automatically populate your page with the layout and elements you saved.

Row Options: Format, Clone & Delete Rows

There are three added features added to the far left corner of every row that can be used to clone or duplicate an entire row and all of its contents, add new modules, edit the columns, etc. Simply hover on any row you need to edit to access these settings:

total-visual-composer-row-settings

Again, depending on the theme you are using the formatting options available to you may be different. While some theme developers choose to leave the WPBakery Visual Builder as-is, many customize the plugin to fit the needs or style of their theme.

Frontend Editor

The powerful WPBakery Visual Builder now includes a frontend editor, which makes it easier than ever to get started building your own pages and layouts. The only caveat is that not all themes support the front-end editor just yet. Make sure to double check a theme’s feature list, or to contact the theme developer directly, to see if the Visual Composer frontend editor is compatible with your WordPress theme. Our Total WordPress theme is 100% compatible with the front-end editor so if your current theme isn’t you may want to consider “upgrading” to our theme.

Extensions

The last feature I’d like to touch on is the WPBakery Visual Builder’s extendability. If you happen to be an advanced coder or theme developer you can integrate your own shortcodes into the plugin. In fact, we added in our own Symple Shortcodes Premium to give Total users an additional page building elements. This gives users even more options when building pages!

If you’re not a coder, checkout CodeCanyon and do a quick search for WPBakery or Visual Composer Add-on. There are lots of great premium plugins that add extra features to the WPBakery Visual Builder and even some good free ones such as our Symple Shortcodes plugin.

Visual Composer Settings Options

I keep referring to WPBakery as a page builder, but it works great with posts and custom post types as well. All you have to do is enable the option. Navigate to Settings > WPBakery. You should see a screen similar to this (note – the plugin used to be named Visual Composer, so depending on the version you’re using your sidebar may say Visual Composer or WPBakery):

Visual Composer Settings

The plugin will automatically display the various content types included in your WordPress theme. Just select which you’d like to use with the WPBakery page builder. The example above is from our Total theme, which is why there are added options for portfolio, staff and testimonials (all custom post types) as well as forums, topics, reply and products (related to the bbPress and WooCommerce plugins supported by Total).

You can also map any shortcode plugins to the WPBakery Visual Builder that you already have installed on your WordPress site. Under the settings page, click on the My Shortcodes tab at the top and click the button to Map Shortcode. This should add your 3rd party shortcodes to your composer elements. Easy!

See It In Action

Like I said, we love the WPBakery Visual Builder so much we built it into our top selling Total WordPress theme (included free with your purchase). Have a look at the various pages on any of our the live demos for the Total Theme. Most of the pages you will see in our live demos were created with the WPBakery Visual Builder! Adding backgrounds, headings, text, images, icons…etc. It’s all a “piece of cake”.

 

Total Theme Demos

Complete WPBakery Visual Builder Usage Guide

If you already own the plugin and are looking for a guide on how to use it have a look at our full WPBakery (formerly Visual Composer) usage guide which will walk you through step by step and show you how to use the plugin.

Where You Can Get It

WPBakery Visual Builder (formerly Visual Composer) is available on CodeCanyon if you’d like to get it yourself. It’s also been completely integrated with our premium WordPress Theme Total (along with two other premium plugins for a total value of $67 – which is more than what you pay for the theme!).

Get Total    GET WPBAKERY VISUAL BUILDER

Let us know what you think of the plugin below. We’re really impressed with WPBakery Visual Composer, and we’d love to hear your take on it!

Disclaimer: WPExplorer may be an affiliate for one or more products listed in the article. If you click a link and complete a purchase we could make a commission.
visual-composer-guide
Article by Kyla WPExplorer.com staff
136 Comments
  1. bucurblog · 11 years ago

    11,129 Purchases very impressive, as for Thunder Aj had much to do such a good wordpress theme. Not that the rest would be good but this is the best…

    • AJ Clarke | WPExplorer · 11 years ago

      Thanks for the kind words friend! I’ve got a few more, hopefully impressive themes coming soon!

      • lcklem · 11 years ago

        I manage a wordpress website that uses the Total Theme with the Visual Composer Extension and WPBakery. I love some of the functionality it gives, however, with the last update of the plugin (that came out last week), has altered the background on some of the pages that have updated since the update. It has removed the background color of the content (container) section of the page. What am I missing?

        • AJ Clarke · 11 years ago

          Please see support the correct way and I’ll be glad to help out.

        • Alliance Bundle · 8 years ago

          This is why you need a Child Theme

    • aftabalam8028 · 10 years ago

      Hi.. I want to add dynamic text boxes using visual composer plugins.
      How can I do it?? Can I??

      • AJ Clarke · 10 years ago

        Dynamic in what sense?

  2. Huzaima Khan · 11 years ago

    Which plugin do you use for Author bio?

  3. makeupsubscribe · 11 years ago

    Very interesting plugin. I must try ^^

  4. Sridhar Katakam (@srikat) · 11 years ago

    Have a question regarding purchasing themes like Thunder that comes with the VC plugin. How are the plugin updates handled? Do the buyers of theme qualify for updates? If so, are they automatic?

    • AJ Clarke | WPExplorer · 11 years ago

      The way updates work when you buy a theme bundled like that is you won’t have direct access to updates, the theme author should update their theme whenever there is a plugin update then the user can download the latest version of the theme, located the plugin and update it manually.

      If you want automatic updates, the plugin itself is very affordable, so you can just buy it. That will also grant you access to the plugin support.

      The main reason for buying a theme that supports visual Composer isn’t for the plugin itself (in my opinion) but rather because of the support itself. For example in Thunder, I add custom styling for the composer modules so they match the theme design as well as I’ve extended the composer to add TONS more modules via my symple shortcodes plugin.

  5. peterdep · 11 years ago

    I use visual composer in another theme [sorry] and cannot really change at this advanced design stage – it’s a big project. But I would be -very- interested in obtaining or buying the extra page elements you have added. Any idea how I could get hold of them, please? Many thanks.

    • AJ Clarke | WPExplorer · 11 years ago

      They are a part of my plugin, I don’t mind sending it to you (contact us via ThemeForest) but I can not offer support to you unless you have purchased one of my themes. Also, I can’t guarantee the CSS will match your theme or be fully compatible with it.

  6. kevin · 11 years ago

    Just purchased the “total” theme and I’m really excited to get building with it. I was wondering if there are any page templates for Visual Composer available to give me a head start. It would be great if I could just edit the look of some pre-designed templates and pop in my own content.

    Also, anyway to make the logo have a mouse over effect?

    Thanks!

    • AJ Clarke | WPExplorer · 11 years ago

      Hi Kevin,

      Definitely do have them and can provide them. Also the theme includes sample data which you can upload to your site. Please seek support in the correct place though, leaving a comment on the blog won’t get you help as quickly as you would like.

  7. Faisal Khan · 11 years ago

    Very interesting plugin..i love it.

  8. Becky · 11 years ago

    Question for you — how did you negotiate the use of VC to put in your theme that you then sell? Envato who sells it told me that it’s not possible. Of course it is, if many of the theme forest themes use it!

    Any advice for me?

    • AJ Clarke | WPExplorer · 11 years ago

      You will have to contact the author to ask for permission and also purchase an extended license. You can’t technically dump the plugin into your theme but you can include it using the TGM Activation script. I also think it’s only possible to re-sell on ThemeForest and not another site.

  9. Phil Kowalski · 11 years ago

    Honestly I have to say, Visual composer is outdated and very limited in its functionality. Not supporting posts or similar, the content elements also are very limited and not really helpful and no, although otherwise stated, it is NOT possible to rebuild every layout you can think of. E. g. what would you use to insert blog posts with thumbnail images left.? There are other plugins and themes (e. g. ultimatum) that do this way better. Sorry, but VC is really not an option (at least not for the experienced developer who wants to create unusual designs)

    • AJ Clarke · 11 years ago

      Actual the Visual Composer is perfect for the experienced developer. It’s EXTREMELY easy to extend. For example for my Total theme, I created a plugin called “Visual Composer Extension” which ads an additional 30+ composer elements (portfolio grid, sliders, blog grids, staff grids, icon boxes, callouts…etc). All you need to do is create shortcodes and use the vc_map() function to register the new module. As a developer it’s also very easy to remove modules you may not like, tweak the CSS for the composer…etc. The author did a great job at making the plugin easily customizable by other developers via custom functions.

      • Smith · 10 years ago

        Hi AJ,
        i want to convert my HTML theme to wordpress. i cant understand how to extend VC. is there any tutorial to create aa plugin like yours “Visual Composer Extension”.

        Thanks

        • AJ Clarke · 10 years ago

          It’s all explained in the Visual Composer documentation and knowledgebase.

  10. torakikiii · 11 years ago

    Hi Aj,
    I bought VE separately and I love it. But I’d kill for more elements. I’ve been searching for your extension (Visual Composer Extension) but no lack and since I am no coder even if you say it’s easy to add elements, I lack the skills 🙂

    Is there a way to try that plugin you created? My website is rather simple and I’m willing to try it and I understand that mixing css’s might make it go banana 🙂

    Thanks,
    Ivan

    • AJ Clarke · 11 years ago

      Hi Ivan, my Visual Composer Extension plugin was created exclusively for my Total WordPress theme so you can only get it by purchasing that theme.

  11. Michelle · 11 years ago

    I have two questions:
    1. Is envato the only place where one can purchase Visual Composer?
    2. Also, if I purchase the regular license, but then later on decide or realize I will need the extended license, can I just pay for for the difference to get the extended lincense? or would I need to pay for the full amount ($150) to get the upgrade to the extended lincense?

    • AJ Clarke · 11 years ago

      Hi Michelle,

      1. Yes, this plugin is sold exclusively on CodeCanyon.
      2. You would have to pay for the full extended license later. It’s only $15 difference though! I would say $15 is worth it if you are just buying to test it out. Don’t forget developers need to eat and pay bills to 😉

      • Asenka Interactive · 9 years ago

        Hi AJ,

        So if I pay for the full extended license does that mean I can use the VC plugin on my client’s sites? We may do about 5-6 a year using this plugin.

        • Kyla · 9 years ago

          Hmmm, my understanding is that with an extended license you can create a single end product to be used by an unlimited number of people. So if you are creating separate custom sites for your clients then I would think they each need their own license (which is better for the customer anyway so they can update the plugin later on even you aren’t the one managing their site anymore). But I would recommend leaving a comment on the Visual Composer plugin page so that WPBakery can tell you for sure.

  12. Jessica Nunemaker · 11 years ago

    I was wondering if the pricing tables were created using the Visual Composer or something else? That’s the element that I’m interested in. Thank you!

    • AJ Clarke · 11 years ago

      The Pricing tables are not a part of the Visual Composer this is a custom module I added myself via my Symple Shortcodes Premium plugin. My newest/best theme Total WordPress Theme includes a plugin I made called Visual Composer Extension which also ads pricing tables and other cool modules. Symple Shortcodes Premium was coded exclusively for Thunder and the Visual Composer Extension exclusively for Total.

  13. Leemon Chandra · 11 years ago

    Is it support any custom widget that i made ?

    • AJ Clarke · 11 years ago

      Yes. And you can also easily create your own custom modules. All you have to do is create a shortcode and then use the vc_map() function to add it to the modules list. There is a developer documentation guide.

  14. Milos · 11 years ago

    Can website admin create a page template (for example user profile) via visual composer, and then when user registers on the website he can change the content of the page?

    • AJ Clarke · 11 years ago

      There aren’t any conditionals built-in to the Visual Composer (such as a check to see if the user is logged in or not). I think that’s something you would do via re-directs. It’s a great idea though, let me ask the developer if he would be interest in developing such an add-on.

      • bec · 8 years ago

        AJ was the developer interested in adding the conditionals in order to check if a user was logged in or out? I am wanting to use the VC for the same thing…. to create a UI.

        • AJ Clarke · 8 years ago

          I actually didn’t really get a definite response but I found this free plugin that appears to have integration for the Visual Composer.

  15. Brian McDonald · 10 years ago

    Will VC work on posts as well as pages?

    • Kyla · 10 years ago

      Yes! All you have to do is enable it.

      In the WordPress dashboard navigate to Settings > Visual Composer and then select the content types you want to use with the Visual Composer. For example, with our Total theme the options are posts, pages, forums, topics, replies, portfolios, staff members, testimonials and products. The settings section is also where you can select which user roles have access to the Visual Composer 🙂

  16. Steve Barker · 10 years ago

    I am struggling to use the Benefits element in VC. I gather it should be used in conjunction with “Benefits” in the left-hand menu. Q. How do I add a Font Awsom icon to display with the “benefit”.. the Icon code box is empty!

    • AJ Clarke · 10 years ago

      There isn’t any “Benefits” module by default in the Visual Composer, I think maybe that’s something your theme has added, so try asking your theme developer. Or switch to our Total WordPress theme which has support for the Visual Composer and is awesome 😉

  17. Jean-Jacques Schaeffer · 10 years ago

    Hi A.J.,
    what differences between Visual Composer and Themify Builder ?

    • AJ Clarke · 10 years ago

      Well they both run off of shortcodes, so that’s the same, so I guess the main differences are going to be the included modules and design. I personally prefer the UI of the Visual Composer and I’ve used it a lot more so I am a bigger fan of it. I actually included it along with a huge extension in my Total WordPress theme, if you want to check it out I added a video to the theme page. Of course the Visual Composer in my Total theme has been modified quite a bit to make it better, but it’s going to be the same general idea if used on any other theme 😉

      • Jean-Jacques Schaeffer · 10 years ago

        now, I can confirm that Total theme with visual composer and A.J.s extensions, works very better. By changing my theme, I had to redo all my previous work, obviously I’d saved posts and pages, with themify. The posts saved files can only be read by themify builder itself ! They are not saved in HTML…

        • AJ Clarke · 10 years ago

          Hi jean,

          I see you have an email waiting for my response. Sorry about that. I was out of town for a while and I am still catching up on support I will try and get back to you ASAP!

  18. Ansif I · 10 years ago

    Hi AJ,

    Me and client is really big fan of your total theme! I like video background and css animation when scrolling a page.

    But, in my other project(custom made theme) my client want to integrate video background and css animation. Can you have any advice or tuts about it. It may be useful for other start-up developers too. 🙂

    Thanks,
    Ansif

    • AJ Clarke · 10 years ago

      Hi Ansif,

      That’s great, I’m glad you like it 😉 We’ll if you are using the Visual Composer plugin for the other site there is actually an extension on CodeCanyon that is very affordable which you could use. Otherwise, I honestly am not sure how to accomplish it on any theme, there isn’t any good plugin out there? If you want just the guide this is a good one – kesilconsulting.com/web-designer-magazine/html-video-background-tutorial/#axzz3570NRJUd

      • Ansif I · 10 years ago

        Thanks AJ!

  19. muhibbur · 10 years ago

    I am developing wordpress theme.
    I have find the page about “In stock license”.

    I am not sure about this. If i purchase the extended license and fillup the form.
    Then i will be able to use visual composer for my all themese?
    With one Extended License?

    • AJ Clarke · 10 years ago

      The extended license is only for 1 theme for sale on ThemeForest only.

  20. Jean-Jacques Schaeffer · 10 years ago

    Hi Kyla, hi A.J.
    very nice post that helped me very much, as I was a little confused, with visual composer in Total theme, for parallax.
    There are two way to add a new row, but they don’t give same result :
    the first is to add element/row
    the second, by clicking on “+” at bottom of an existing row…
    With second way, when we edit the row we can only only edit its classname.. because this row is already contained itself in a parent row…
    For parallax it doesn’t works same.

  21. Angela · 10 years ago

    Any intentions of releasing the added functions of your theme as a plugin? We discussed my extensive needs by email so had to choose a different theme but really need ask the functionality you have as I am wordpress illustrate

    • AJ Clarke · 10 years ago

      It used to be a plugin at the start and then it became built-in, so no I am not planning on stripping it back out.

  22. mgarfath · 10 years ago

    Hey AJ,

    I had earlier used your themes like adapt and bizz on my site about a couple of years ago. Do you have plans to create a framework like Ultimatum or Headway, something that is more useful to create websites using PSD’s. Like a Blank Slate. I’m PSD designer who knows html / css a bit. The designs I create in PSD i find it difficult to convert them.

    Thnx

    • AJ Clarke · 10 years ago

      Hi there,

      Unfortunately I do need to earn money to live so I won’t be making any framework like that for free because it’s very time consuming and I’m already too busy as it is. I have a premium theme called Total which is very versatile and you may want to have a look at it. It has been designed/developed for people like you that know your way around code and child themes.

    • Sridhar Katakam · 10 years ago

      @mgarfath, I am in the opposite side of the coin. I can convert PSDs to WordPress but can’t design. Can you contact me via sridharkatakam.com/contact/?

      @AJ: Hope you don’t mind this.

  23. Ramon Sosa · 10 years ago

    I still think you need to work on the GUI. It’s not really that easy to see the changes, and the GUI is really dull looking and to bright.
    I want to see the webpage happen in front of my eyes and you still don’t really get that with Visual Composer.
    It should be more like a separate app similar to how Photoshop looks, and you have all the elements on each side, then drag n drop, and in the middle you actually see the website happen, links, add ons etc.
    Why isn’t there a product like this yet?
    You need to think more about how the end users think and what they need, rather then what you as coders think is right for users.
    For a beginner or a non webdesigner, this app, or plugin, is actually still not that easy and intuitive to use.
    It’s almost like some unwritten law among you, to not make it to easy for non web people, and make sure all artsy web designers still can overcharge people for a website.
    I really want a better product, I thought by now this would available, but there isn’t anything close.

    • AJ Clarke · 10 years ago

      It can’t get much easier then the Visual Composer, have you tried out the front-end editor? It works exactly like you say where you can insert elements and see it live on the site instantly. I have a video (it’s a bit outdated though) showing how you can do it with my Total theme and you can watch it here. I’m not sure how it can get any easier then that. I do agree the UI isn’t very pretty and the plugin developer could work on that, but in terms of ease, it’s very easy to use and to see live changes.

  24. Angela · 10 years ago

    Um for those of us normal people in the world who run business’s or blogs that doesn’t involve graphic design or the web industry how about making it dummy proof and designing it so a kindergartner could easily use it (like weebly but wp functionality)??? We (meaning the general public) and especially small business owners have enough jobs to fill without adding wordpress student to the list? Number one rule in my profession is Keep It Simple Stupid. Why send us on research expeditions? For example front end and back end why not public display, office functions. We don’t need to know the ins and outs just click on something make it the way we want it to look add the function and be done instead of bank and forth. Omg this is driving me nuts.

    • AJ Clarke · 10 years ago

      That’s exactly what this plugin does! It’s so simple anyone can use it. Like you say, it’s literally just clicking. As long as you can read english you can use the plugin and easily create complex layouts. That said the plugin itself is fairly limited though, you really need a good theme to pair with it so you can truly create awesome stuff. For example my my popular theme (Total) ads tons of custom modules to be used in the Visual Composer making it easiest then ever, you can see from the video. Can’t get any easier then that!

    • Antonio · 10 years ago

      @Angela:

      You want professional results and do not want to invest time and/or money on it? You are doomed.

      Why not then pay to some web developer and you focus on what you know how to do: your business?
      This save you time, and gets better results for you like higher conversions AKA more earnings.

      • AJ Clarke · 10 years ago

        Well said Antonio!

  25. Angela · 10 years ago

    Mine looks nothing like this???? But it was packaged with a theme and keeps saying old version. Maybe it’s configured wrong or my theme?

    • AJ Clarke · 10 years ago

      Oh lame 🙁 Maybe the theme author customized the plugin or hasn’t provided you with an updated version. Sorry!

  26. Angela · 10 years ago

    I’m using WP residence. I have to have a front end submission listing feature for a “by owner” section with membership platform and complex booking platform based on member type. Suggestions?

    • AJ Clarke · 10 years ago

      Hi Angela, this sounds like custom work, you could try using an advanced form plugin such as Gravity forms, but sounds like you need something much more advanced you may need a freelancer to create a custom plugin that works exactly how you need it to.

  27. merlijnsmeele · 10 years ago

    Hallo, does the Visual Composer plugin well with the Genesis Pro Agent Theme?
    I liked the demo very much. But I read somewhere that “the VC plugin can’t be disabled, that it is full of bugs and that the support is very slow and unhelpful. If you use this to create pages or posts and then decide to switch back to the normal editor, make an edit, it then breaks the layout.” Is this true in any case or some cases?

    • AJ Clarke · 10 years ago

      Hi there.

      – I don’t know if it works with that particular theme because I’ve never used that theme myself
      – Like any product there may be bugs here and there, but is it full of bugs? NO! I have run into a couple issues only but the author has fixed them up!
      – Support is done via their own ticket site with fast turn arounds (from my experience). People complaining about support are likely not seeking it in the appropriate manner.
      – You can easily switch between the builder and the normal editor without a problem, but you may have to delete the extra shortcodes if you decide to stick with just the standard editor.

      I wouldn’t ever recommend using ANY page builder for standard posts, only use it sparingly – homepage, services, about, staff, portfolio items (if not too many)..etc. You don’t want to have thousands and thousands of pages using any page builder, that’s not a good idea. But if you have lets say 20 or even 50 pages then you can always edit or re-do the pages in 1-2 days if ever needed.

  28. Vinay kashyap · 10 years ago

    Hey thanks for the video tutorials, I have a quick question… I know VC come with some default layout styles but is it possible to create a one page site with full screen parallax effects? if so please point me to a good documentation/tutorial online?

    • AJ Clarke · 10 years ago

      The Visual Composer itself does not include this. Your theme must include a full-screen style page layout. Or you will have to use a 3rd party plugin for full-screen backgrounds for the Visual Composer.

    • Kyla · 10 years ago

      Yes, but it’s not a default option built into the Visual Composer. You’ll need a WordPress theme or third party plugin to add parallax backgrounds. Here’s an example of a full-width page with parallax backgrounds on our Total WordPress Theme demo. For this page we added rows with content, then used Total’s background options for each row to add images with advanced parallax styling. If you’d rather use a plugin, there are a few good looking ones on CodeCanyon like this one.

  29. publisherthespeaker · 10 years ago

    I have VC on my WP because it is a part of Ultimatum themes. Unfortunately, Ultimatum themes blocks some scripts that I would like to employ.

    I don’t understand how to begin using VC, though. I have it on my WP, and I can compose in VC backend, but I can’t ever see the things I’m composing. What do I need to do? Thanks.

    • AJ Clarke · 10 years ago

      Sorry you’ll need to contact the theme developer, it’s very possible they have provided you with a modified version of the Visual Composer or the theme itself is modifying it so it doesn’t work correctly.

  30. Janis · 10 years ago

    Hi. I have nearly finished one big project and can’t switch to your theme at this stage, but I am in need of “row id” for Visual composer. I see in screenshots that you have modified visual composer and added id field for row. Any advice on how to implement this id field?
    Thanks.

    • AJ Clarke · 10 years ago

      You could do it via a child theme modification (very easy) check out the development documentation. You’ll need to use vc_add_param to add a new parameter for the vc_row and then create a vc_templates folder in your child theme and copy/paste the vc_row.php file from the plugin into it so you can modify it accordingly.

      • Shekhar · 10 years ago

        can we use tabs inside a tab…… means nested tabs using page builder???

        • AJ Clarke · 10 years ago

          You shouldn’t do that with any builder or theme. jQuery tabs aren’t intended to be nested and it could lead to all sorts of unexpected results. Not to mention from a UI point of view that seems very “non-user-friendly”.

  31. freya · 10 years ago

    I am using visual composer to build one of my website. Trying to use accordion tabs to list of services. When I click on any accordion tab, the page automatically moves to top. I need the page to remain where the accordion tab is opened. How do i resolve this problem?

    • AJ Clarke · 10 years ago

      This is how the accordions work with the Visual Composer. If you purchased the plugin you can ask the developer if there is any method to prevent the scrollTo action. I don’t think there is any, but I may be wrong.

  32. Nishit · 10 years ago

    Hi will this plugin work with my own custom theme ?

    • Kyla · 10 years ago

      It should – and if you have any compatibility issues, you should contact the developer (WPBakery).

  33. Nishit · 10 years ago

    Hi I also want to know if in my custom theme I have my own page template then can I use the visual composer editor. will it override my template to visual composer designed layout ? or I can not use element of visual composer element to my custom page templeate?

    • Kyla · 10 years ago

      That would depend on your page template. The Visual Composer modifies the_content only.

  34. Andre · 10 years ago

    Is it possible to chose specific posts to show in a specific way and they output a specific category (even if the post have multiple ones)?

    • AJ Clarke · 10 years ago

      Definitely. For example on my custom “Post Types Grid” module I created for the Total WordPress theme you can query posts – The Visual Composer has a built-in module as well called “Posts Grid” which also has an advanced query function.

  35. Markus · 10 years ago

    Hello! I got problem with my Visual Composer and bridge theme. If I Activate the composer the hole site will be gone and it tells me : Fatal error: Allowed memory size of 41943040 bytes exhausted (tried to allocate 311296 bytes) in /wp-content/themes/bridge/framework/admin/options/70.elements/map.php on line 197

    so what is my problem!

    • Kyla · 10 years ago

      Unfortunately I’m not familiar with the Bridge theme (you’ll have to contact the developers of that theme for support), but I can tell you that we coded our Total WordPress theme to work great with Visual Composer 😉

  36. Personal Web Mate · 10 years ago

    Is it possible to use visual composer as a WordPress theme builder?

    • AJ Clarke · 10 years ago

      The Visual Composer is for building pages, you will still need a standard theme to use with it.

  37. Vignesh · 10 years ago

    My Button2 Select URL Not working it always shows Undefined. please guide it

    • AJ Clarke · 10 years ago

      If you are using my Total theme please seek support the correct way, otherwise contact the Visual Composer developers for support regarding this manner.

  38. galexy · 10 years ago

    Can you tell me what is the base for this visual composer build? I mean is it based of “wordpress setting API” or something different ?

    • AJ Clarke · 10 years ago

      The Visual Composer simply uses shortcodes. It’s the easiest and best way In my opinion to handle a page builder. It also makes it very modular and easy to extend.

  39. Sid · 10 years ago

    Hi,

    Our Website was setup buy a person using visual composer.
    The website isn’t loading properly.
    The last page comes first.
    Google maps error.

    What do i do to solve it.
    Advice will be appreciated.

    Best Regards,
    Sid.

    • Kyla · 10 years ago

      I’m sorry if your site isn’t working properly – that’s never fun. Our suggestion would be to contact the person you hired to create your site, and hopefully they can fix it for you. Otherwise you could consider hiring a new person (the Envato Studio has a ton of great people at reasonable prices).

  40. Paola · 10 years ago

    Hello,

    Thanks for information.

    I’m triying to add several images, when I put the preview I don’t see them, Do you know why?

    • Kyla · 10 years ago

      It sounds like you’re using the back-end editor, which means that you’ll have to save the changes to you draft or published page before you can view them. But if you toggle over to the front-end editor (just click the big blue button below your page title on the back-end) you can add images or other elements and see them before saving – which is great for playing around with layouts and such. Just don’t forget that you’ll still need to save your page when you’re done 🙂

  41. rafayqur3shi · 9 years ago

    How to add content description in Page Children Grid in VC? any ideas

    • AJ Clarke · 9 years ago

      Sorry I don’t understand the question. Have you tried asking the Visual Composer developers? If you purchased the plugin legally you should be able to ask them for assistance.

  42. Mike · 9 years ago

    I understand that VC is not theme specific, but for a beginner, some of those themes on themeforest are pretty overwhelming, even though you don’t need to know code. Suppose I want to create a site/blog that is a growing list of profiles/information pages of different people, what would be a good easy theme to use with VC?

    • Kyla · 9 years ago

      Don’t let the VC overwhelm you – just spend a few minutes playing around with it, and you’ll feel like a pro! It’s a very intuitive way to build posts/page layouts even though there are lots of options. Our Total theme works great with VC and has a staff custom post type that you can use to add personal profiles/info pages. It even includes per-staff member social media links, custom image cropping, and you can even enable the VC to create custom staff pages for each staff member. Plus with our built-in post-type editor you can re-name the post type from staff to what you’ll be using it for (team, peeps, bros, whatever!). Oh, and Total has custom carousel & grid modules so you can insert your staff on any page, built-in filters & pagination options, and so much more. 🙂

  43. Durmonski · 9 years ago

    This is a great plugin indeed. Do you have examples of sites that are using Visual Composer to build their pages?

  44. Daniel Garcia · 9 years ago

    Hi, I was trying Visual Composer and it seems that all my content on a row is not side by side but it is show on top of another. What am i doing wrong?

    • AJ Clarke · 9 years ago

      This could be a theme related issue. I would recommend asking the Visual Composer developer for support. If you received the plugin bundled with a theme, contact the theme developer. Or you can switch to our Total theme that works flawlessly with the Visual Composer 😉

  45. Sim · 9 years ago

    Hi A J,

    Can i use Total theme on several website without having to buy another theme OR it is one theme for one website?

    • Kyla · 9 years ago

      Hi Sim! All premium themes from Themeforest include a standard license, so you are required to purchase a new copy of the theme for every website you use it on 🙂

  46. StanleyTips · 9 years ago

    I also made a list of top Add-Ons for Visual Composer plugin (stanleytips.com/top-visual-composer-premium-add-ons/). My list covers most interesting premium addons found on codecanyon. You should really check it.

  47. K99 · 9 years ago

    Last yr, I bought a theme from Themeforest that has packaged VC in it. There is no updates from VC.

    From day 1, the frontend editor was not working. Now the backend editor stops working too.

    I wonder whether it is due to the lack of updates from VC.

    Can I buy VC direct from CodeCanyon into my current theme. Will it conflict with the existing packaged VC?

    • Kyla · 9 years ago

      I’m sorry that your theme author hasn’t included VC updates 🙁 First I would suggest emailing the author to see if they will update their theme to include the current version of the plugin. This way you know the author will have tested the current VC for compatibility with their theme and hopefully this will mean less bugs for you to deal with later on down the road 🙂

      And you can definitely buy your own Visual Composer license to receive automatic updates and support from the plugin author.

      But another option is to try a new theme. Thousands of people love our Total theme 🙂 Plus we always provide plugin updates as soon as we’ve been able to fully test them for compatibility and we have awesome online documentation to guide you through updating the theme and included plugins

  48. Gloria · 9 years ago

    We use the Composer often. An overview of the premium plugins would be great.

  49. Jolene · 8 years ago

    We’ve used Visual Composer for 2 years now and the latest update royally screwed up our site (endochallenge.com)
    What happened to the ability to make columns?? Also, the FAQ toggle boxes….don’t….toggle. I can’t even right now. Please tell me why we spent money for this to happen? Thanks.

    • Kyla · 8 years ago

      I’m not sure what you mean… The columns elements and FAQs all still work perfectly for me with the current version of Visual Composer. Perhaps it’s your theme causing the issue?

  50. Len · 8 years ago

    Just inherited a site with WordPress that has the VC add-in. Don’t need it, don’t like it. can I just deactivate it without affecting the existing pages?

    • Kyla · 8 years ago

      So long as the elements from the add-on aren’t in use you should be fine to deactivate it. I would recommend double checking first to be sure you’re not using any of the page builder elements since the Visual Composer and all of the various related add-ons use shortcodes, so once deactivated any page elements left behind will be visible as their text shortcodes on the front-end.

  51. Eric · 8 years ago

    Was almost about to buy VC, but then saw you only deal through Envato – have had previous dealings with them and won’t touch anything they deal with ever again. Shame you don’t sell it yourself but crooked dealers/developers and pathetic management stop my purchase.

    • Kyla · 8 years ago

      I’m sorry to hear that you’ve had a bad experience with Envato 🙁 But do keep in mind that every developer is a stand-alone shop within the Envato Marketplace. They simply provide the shelf space (and handle the payment processing) for developers selling goods, and while there are a lot of junk devs in it to make a quick buck there are some good guys too. WPExplorer and WP Bakery are both excellent examples of devoted developers who not only create high quality products but also provide quality support. I really hope you’ll give Envato another chance in the future 🙂

  52. Spottero · 8 years ago

    It is the best web page builder for WordPress. No doubt.

  53. Bob · 8 years ago

    Is Visual Composer mobile first?

    • Kyla · 8 years ago

      Hmmm I don’t think so (but I didn’t build the plugin – so maybe ask WPBakery?). However the elements of the core Visual Composer plugin are all mobile ready, same goes for the added expansion elements in out Total theme (I can’t speak for all the premium VC add-ons though since I haven’t tested them), so you could certainly design your own website using VC and mobile first principles.

  54. Elena · 8 years ago

    Hi, it says you get a free copy of visual composer with total when you purchase it, which I did,

    How can I get a free copy ? Thank you

    • AJ Clarke · 8 years ago

      Please have a look at the online documentation for installing the included plugin. If you want to locate the zip it is at Total/framework/plugins/

  55. Bhavin · 8 years ago

    hey Aj clarke ..
    i have one problem in VC so can you help me?

    • Kyla · 8 years ago

      Hello! While we’d love to help all of our readers we can’t provide support for the plugins we review on the blog. However, if you are one of our premium theme customers and we included VC (which is currently only in our Total and Earth themes) we’d be happy to help – simply open a ticket and we’ll get back to you soon!

  56. Rob · 8 years ago

    HI, whenever we add a new page or post to our site. I noticed it says:
    ” Want create site? With Free visual composer you can do it easy.”

    This text shows up before all text on a page or post on my mobile device.

    How do we remove this from showing up on mobile devices?

    • Kyla · 8 years ago

      Hmmm – I’ve never seen this message. Did you purchase the Visual Composer directly from Codecanyon, or receive it with a premium theme from Themeforest?

  57. arsalan · 7 years ago

    Thanks for the nice article. How can use Visual Composer in editing WooCommerce?

    • Kyla · 7 years ago

      After you install the plugin click on the “Role Manager” option under the “WPBakery Page Builder” section in your WordPress dashboard. Then just check the box to enable the builder for all of your post types – for WooCommerce, make sure the “product” type is checked. Then save your settings. Now when you o to add a new product you should see the frontend/backend builder links just above the content section for your product.

  58. natasha ottey · 6 years ago

    I love visual composer easy to use and make dynamic outstanding website <3

  59. Celina · 6 years ago

    Great and very useful article. As per my experience WPbakery is one of the best plugins created for those who aren’t really familiar with coding. It has almost everything you need for page building. On top of this its easy to add without any external support. I have used this plugin for a long time for my website and am quite happy.

  60. Joana · 5 years ago

    My drag and drop is not working. Need help urgently !!!!

    • Kyla · 5 years ago

      This could be a theme or plugin issue. If you’re using the same page builder, but recently installed a new theme, try switching back to your old theme or to one of the WordPress core theme (Twenty Nineteen, Twenty Eighteen, etc). The same applies if you’ve installed any new plugins – I would suggest uninstalling your new plugins, one at a time, to see which might be causing your builder to no longer drag & drop. Best of luck!

  61. Shah · 5 years ago

    Admin Panel, “Edit with WPBakery Page Builder” at top of the page is visible for some page only.
    Modified setting in – WPBakery Page Builder Settings > Role manager > Post Types > Custom but does not work on top bar.

    • Kyla · 4 years ago

      This should be visible on pages and any post types that you have enabled WPBakery for. Double check your settings!

  62. Lisa · 4 years ago

    Hi There,

    I have bought and installed a theme and want to edit with wp bakery composer however, the frontend editor displays correctly but the backend editor does not show the added elements. Only the code. Why does this happen ad how can i fix it?

    Thanks

    • Kyla · 4 years ago

      My guess is either that (1) in the backend you might be in “Classic Mode” – to view the content blocks click on the button for the “Backend Editor” or (2) your theme may not support the backend editor (which would be odd, but possible) in which case my suggestion would be to reachout to the theme developer for help.

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