The Elementor team is constantly working on improving our release process, increasing the stability of our platform, and making sure new versions work glitch-free across a wide range of site configurations.

As part of this continuous effort, we are excited to launch the new Elementor Beta plugin, AKA Developer Edition. This plugin will allow advanced users and developers to test new features before they are officially rolled out, and share their feedback with the Elementor development team. With Developer Edition, you will have access to a stream of features, experimental capabilities, and improvements at various degrees of development. We will use this plugin to validate features in development, test them on as many live sites and use cases as possible, and gain feedback before they are stable enough to be released.

It enables us to test and release new features more frequently, rapidly resolve issues as they arise, and eventually release versions after they have been tried and tested by our community of developers and advanced users first.

Developer Edition is a separate plugin available from the WordPress Repository, and requires an active installation of the core Elementor plugin (Elementor Pro is not a prerequisite). Currently, Developer Edition will not contain Elementor Pro versions, we are working on adding this ability soon.

Developer Edition VS Standard Beta

The standard Beta version is built into Elementor, and includes a designated version that is ready for release. It does not include in-progress and future features and it usually includes the same features as the official release version.

The Beta Developer Edition is a separate plugin to Elementor, and includes versions that are more experimental and have extra features for testing purposes. Not all features presented in the Elementor Developer Edition will be incorporated into the later official Release version. We might even remove features from this version from time to time, based on the experiment status.

Who is This For?

Developer Edition lets you access experimental features and abilities at various stages of completion, meant specifically to be tried and tested. This plugin is most suitable for experienced Elementor users, developers, and anyone who knows their way around WordPress.

Of course, it also provides an ideal testing ground for Elementor addon developers to make sure their plugins are compatible with the latest developments, and prepare for future releases.

Important note! We highly recommend using the Developer plugin on staging environments only, and backing up your entire website before updating. You can always take advantage of Elementor’s rollback option and revert to an earlier more stable version, or alternatively click “Re-install Now” on the Developer Edition page.

Bottom line: If you’ve only just started using Elementor, we recommend saving this for later.

Web Designer vs Web Developer: What’s the Difference?

How It Works

Basic Setup

First, search and add the new “Elementor Beta (Developer Edition)” plugin. Once you’ve installed and activated it, you will see a new “DEV” tag next to the Elementor dashboard menu, and a “Developer Edition” menu item:

dev-dashboard

Once you setup this plugin, you will receive a notice to activate a Developer Edition feature, fix, tweak, or version, as soon as one of them is available. If your WordPress installation has auto-updates turned-on, the activation of new Developer Edition updates will happen automatically.

After you activate the plugin, the latest Developer Edition version will automatically be activated. To get back to the latest stable version (and step out of “developer mode”), click on the “Re-install Now” button. You’ll be able to switch back and forth between the stable and Developer Edition versions from this screen.

Sending Us Your Feedback

Our hope is that developers will explore the different experiments we release through the Developer Edition, and offer constructive feedback regarding issues related to the experiments.

To give feedback on a feature or bug of the Developer Edition, go to the top bar, and click on ‘Report an Issue’.

Clicking on this link will open a special issue on Github, one that is tagged and seen by our product team. It’s important to only submit an issue as a way to offer feedback on the product itself, and not as a way to contact support or get technical assistance.

For beta testers: If you want to switch from the Developer Edition back to the Beta version, simply turn off the Developer Edition plugin. For those who are interested in becoming an Elementor Beta Tester — learn how to join here.

We invite you to participate and test features on our Developer Edition. Be part of a larger global effort that helps extend Elementor’s ability to perfect our product and produce experimental and groundbreaking features. Read the full release note here.