[Support request] Trying to better understand the core basics of GP "Elements" technology

[Dean]

Hello … Clearly GP “Elements” (besides the WP Customizer) is the primary technology that GeneratePress uses for customization … while I do have a ton of experience hand-coding HTML & hacking JS – I’m a relative Noob when it comes to WordPress … I was wondering if I can be pointed too the “best” info for understanding/wrapping my head around the “core/basics” of the GP “Elements” technology.

I did look at the info on the “Elements Overview” page here; https://docs.generatepress.com/article/elements-overview/ … but didn’t really find anything that explained the core/basic fundamentals of “Elements” itself… the article does go off into “Header” “Hooks” and “Layout” Elements – but doesn’t really get into basic learning of “Elements” itself.

I’ve also looked at a number of other pages on the GeneratePress.com web site and the documentation pages, and didn’t really find much that explains the core concepts/basics of “Elements” itself … yes, there is lots of documentation for various Elements-related items at https://docs.generatepress.com/ … but unless I’m missing something; I can’t find a detailed introductory article that explains the core/basics of GP “Elements” techonolgy to a Noob.

Without a strong fundamental understanding of the core/basics of the GP “Elements” technology itself; it’s really hard to understand how to take advantage of all the GP Premium Elements Modules/Hooks, etc. for a WP Noob like myself

I’ve also watched the GP “Elements” video on the GP Vimeo account here https://vimeo.com/284768512 … but again; I didn’t find much that explains the core concepts/basics of “Elements” – in fact, the video is void of any verbal instruction whatsoever.

I’m just wondering if there’s a really good video or article (preferably a video) that explains the basics/core concepts of GP “Elements” that I may have missed somewhere … thanks

BTW; I did happen too find what appears to be a decent video on Youtube explaining the basics of GP “Elements” … however, the video is done in what sounds like “Hungarian” – and I don’t understand that language… you can see the video here;

[Tom]

Hi there,

There are a few different aspects of Elements. Elements themselves insert data into specific pages/posts/archives using the “Display Rules”.

That data can be:

Hooks

Hooks are chunks of content which you can insert into your page. This content can be scripts (Google Analytics, Ads etc..), HTML or even PHP.

Header

The Header Element mainly allows you to create Page Heros for your pages. However, it also allows you to merge your site header with the Page Hero (or page builder content).

Other options include the ability to replace the site logo and set the navigation colors. This is particularly useful when merging the site header with the Page Hero, as the background color might change.

Layout

The Layout Element is all data-driven. It allows you to set various options within the theme like the sidebar layout, number of footer widgets etc.. and apply them to various conditions using the Display Rules.

Let me know if that helps at all 🙂

[Dean]

Hi Tom … thanks for the info … so would my following description of GP Elements be fairly accurate;

“Elements are modules/blocks of code that can be injected into various locations of various templates (on the fly) to modify/enhance the appearance and/or functionality of a Page/Post/Archive/Header/Footer.”

[Tom]

Exactly 🙂

[Dean]

Hi Tom … thanks for the confirmation … just to confirm; Do “all” “Elements” sit outside of the primary Header/Footer/Page/Post templates – and only get injected “on the fly” as the primary Header/Footer/Page/Post templates get requested?.

[Tom]

The Hooks and Headers get injected via hooks that sit inside the template files.

The Layout Element uses post meta to set various options.

It’s all on-the-fly, nothing is injected into your templates.

[Dean]

Hi Tom … thanks again for the info.

After doing some more studying today – it appears that GP “Elements” is really kind of another/fancy name for “WordPress Hooks” (I’m sure that’s a over-simplification on my part) … so I’m guessing that if I dial-down on studying/mastering “WordPress Hooks”, I’d essentially be learning the core basics of “GP Elements”?.

[Tom]

Somewhat, it goes a little beyond hooks with the Layout Element, and the ability to create Page Heros.

The best way to get to know Elements is just to play with it. Hook stuff into your site, create Page Heros etc.. That will show you what can and can’t be done pretty quickly 🙂

[Author]

Posts