Our goal is to make Envato Market the destination to share and discover new, innovative products that don’t just look great and are easy to customize, but offer top performance, user experience and long-term use that help our customers deliver their business goals.
In addition to our general presentation guidelines for Web & Code items, Template Kit demos must adhere to the following guidelines to provide a consistent experience for users. The demo must:
We require your demo to be up and operational for the lifespan of your product listing. Additionally, your kit assets are imported from your demo to the user directly, so it is critical your host is capable of handling the traffic and requests from a variety of servers and locations without aggressive caching or 3rd party optimizations such as minification or CDNs.
We also have some requirements around which plugins you can use to ensure kits are easy to maintain and offer a good user experience. See the WordPress.com banned plugin list at left for an idea of which plugins to avoid both in your kit and on your demo to ensure the best user experience across most WordPress hosts.
Template Kits may only use and require addons designed for Elementor, or which have Elementor Support through builder elements such as some form plugins. The only exception to this rule is WooCommerce.
Plugins must not display ads for premium upgrades or paid services to the user or require upgrades to work like your demo. The only exception to this rule is Elementor Pro. Plugins that link discreetly to a “pro” version in the plugins list or builder are OK.
Plugins must be actively maintained with a compatibility update no older than 60 days and have a decent rating ( please do not include plugins with obvious problems or that do not offer any support)
Plugins must be secure. Check your choices on https://patchstack.com/database/ for major issues.
Plugins must not hijack activation. When testing the import of your kit – the plugin must install and activate without triggering an error or requiring manual installation.
Plugins may not require backend setup or configuration to match your demo – use them on default settings only or avoid plugins that need additional configuration.
All visual customization of plugin elements must be possible in the builder or Customizer (not an Admin area options panel)
Privacy – Plugins may not require user email or account, or opt users in to data collection by default.
Avoid plugins that include a premium/paid template library or other Template service that directly competes with Envato Elements or Elementor such as Essential Addons or Astra / Ultimate Addons. Free templates are fine.
Plugins should not conflict with or modify any aspect of the core Elementor or Elementor Pro functionality. If you notice things like padding options that don’t work, visual CSS changes to your templates after activating a certain plugin, or core elements that do not load or work, chances arer you shouldn’t use the addon.
Elementor and other addons should be on default settings with the following exceptions:
Ensure all Template types are checked
Check Disable default fonts and Disable default colors
If you see a Fontawesome5 Upgrade tab, click it to upgrade to Fontawesome 5
All experiments should be left on Default. Please ensure the Optimized DOM output option has a green icon (Default should be ON)
As of Oct. 1, 2023 All new and updated submitted kits should be using the latest version of Elementor which enables Flexbox Container. Learn more about using the Container here
Custom elements are not supported in kit export at this time. Do not include them.
Photos containing people or trademarks must be sourced from Envato Elements to ensure proper commercial licensing and model release on file.
Envato Elements illustrations/graphics may not be used in your item as gallery/portfolio/NFT representation. They must be incorporated into the overall design such as editorial use (paired with text), as part of a hero composition or background.
All Elements assets used in your kit must be added to a Project on download and organized into a Collection on Elements. The Collection link will be used to validate your assets and provide non-Elements subscribers with an easy way to locate and license the kit contents.
All other images or graphics must be sourced from public domain, Creative Commons 0 or licensed sources that allow commercial distribution of the items and which own the items they license.
Be prepared to link to the item page where the license is visible for each of those assets (for example, the image download page on Rawpixel, Adobe Stock or Freepik that shows the license type) Read the full requirement here
If your kit includes any graphics or photos from Envato Elements, they must be organized into a Collection on your Elements account and the Collection URL listed in the item description in place of the long list of image links. This is required to support changes to our API and how licensing is shared back to the image authors. If you do not have an active Elements subscription, you can only use items you previously registered in a Project.
Most photos downloaded from Elements or other stock sites are not pre-optimized for web use. You’ll need to optimize your photos using a tool like tinyjpg.com or similar to ensure smallest file size (aim for 250kb or less).
All font settings must be setup under Site Settings > Global Fonts so the user can customize typography in one place withour repeated steps.
Pro kits must take full advantage of Pro functionality – use Pro forms and Pro elements wherever possible or where they can add value. Avoid including competing plugins such as header builders or form plugins with Pro kits.
Kits using Elementor Pro must include full theme builder (global) templates. If your site has a post element on any template, it must include Post Archive and Single Post template.
Loop items are for creating custom post list layouts and are a necessity for building dynamic lists of any kind where you want the post item layout to be different than an available post widget allows.
How to determine if a list should be dynamic or not? If the site has user submitted content (job listings, reviews etc) or the content needs to generate RSS (posts or products) it needs a loop or special widget for displaying posts and should not be designed as static elements. The admin will not want to manually update complex listings that frequently change – reserve static list designs for sites with long-term content (services, destinations, packages, rentals, etc)
While stored in the Theme Builder, Loop items are not treated as global parts. Currently Loop items are not recognized by the Elementor exporter and must be imported to the Template Kit Export area under a new Section (type: other). Users will need to import these blocks to new loop items and then select them in the loop grid, similar to any other block template.
WooCommerce kits must include the following:
These use the corresponding Pro element to display and should be styled for your kit. Add a product to the cart on the front-end to view full detail.
Additionally, Site Settings > WoooCommerce should be configured and linked to the WooCommerce pages in WordPress, and the Info Notice styled for the kit. To test the info notice, add a product to the cart on the front-end.
We expect templates to be built using Elementor best practices alongside your own creative or innovative use of the builder elements. Consider the resulting HTML output when building your layouts and make sure they are as straightforward and easy to customize as possible.
Expand each tip below for important details.
Use Section min-height with the VH unit for the most responsive results and add only as much padding as needed for the content to space from edges.
Spacers can be used when:
Do not use them in place of margins or padding!
% is best in place of an empty column or in some cases of using negative margins. % is relative to the width of the parent element.
You will need to reset these margins in mobile mode, but it is necessary to reduce unecessary HTML output empty columns create.
vh is best for height, including section and spacer height. VH/VW are relative to the browser window size.
ems/rems are best everywhere else in place of px.
Em or Rem units are are relative to the current font size. They are designed to work such that if I make my font very large (because my eyes are poor) or very small (because I am young and have the eyes of an eagle) I want the white-space around the text to scale with the text. Generally, one doesn’t want 20 pt text with a 5 pixel margin between paragraphs, nor 10 pt text with a 50 pixel margin.
For example one wants text with approximately N lines of white-space between paragraphs. Using N em vertical margins achieves a spacing which adapts to the font size actually rendered.
The Z-Index property specifies the stack order of elements. An element with greater stack order will always be in front of an element with a lower stack order (i.e. an element with a Z-index of 10 will be on top of (in front of) an element with a Z-index of 5.
Using multiple columns is an older technique that generates more HTML than is necessary. Using the Container flexbox controls + inline positioning on groups of content is both leaner and better for adaptive sizing in the viewport.
Absolute positioned elements don’t adapt well across screen sizes. When overlapping elements inside the same column, it is usually easier to use negative margins to achieve the layout.
If you must use absolute elements, make sure:
The page preview should not have horizontal scrolling caused by elements falling out of the viewport.
This is usually caused by negative margins or absolute elements overlapping the left or right edges. If you notice this, enable “Overflow: Hidden” on the container.
Use of addon elements designed for horizontal scrolling are ok (but should not display a default browser scrollbar)
Do not manualy link elements to other pages on your demo, 3rd party websites, your main website.
Affiliate links are not allowed.
Post formatting example in Hello Elementor
See https://colourcontrast.cc/ to check your background and foreground colors and fonts for readability issues
Elements should be animated gracefully with coordinated timing that accentuates the content.
Only use animation when it enhances the design. Avoid using animations where they do not add value such as animating every object to slide in or out just for flash. This is not good UX
Do not use default settings without testing reaults
When in doubt, vertical animations have an overall better performance than left-right or diagonal animations if you do not want to do the extra work to clip them properly.
Unlike themes, every page of your template kit should have real-world UX value with a clear path to action.
Your kit must be tailored for mobile and tablet views using the built-in mobile views in the Elementor builder.
Before you begin, visit Templates > Saved Templates in Elementor and export/delete all development templates or templates that should not be included in your kit.
The plugin will run a quick check of the setup and json data included in your kit and report any errors to you which may include missing screenshots, titles, unoptimized images, invalid filetypes or 3rd party links. Be sure to address these issues to avoid delays with review.
A valid source URL must be entered for all photos, graphics and illustrations used in your kit that you did not fully create yourself. These links must be to the image URL which displays the license link or terms clearly, or to an Elements collection containing the image.
If you notice duplicate images or “placeholders” here, please return to the media library to delete them, then double-check your templates to ensure valid images are selected.
Some plugins like ElementsKit generate several placeholders. It is safe to delete those without it affecting your templates
Once you have successfully packaged your kit, you will be met with a success screen with two code snippets containing the image declarations. You must copy and paste these into the “Text” and “HTML” description areas of your item listing respectively.
When downloading the file, you must ensure it remains zipped. If using Safari browser, ensure “Open Safe Files After Downloading” is unchecked in preferences.
Documentation is provided by Envato and Elementor. If your kit requires additional instruction, you may provide documentation link to your website in the HTML description, or as part of your kit’s Design Guideline template if included (recommended!)
Your item description should follow the guidelines for all items submitted to Envato Market.
Below are specifics for Template Kits:
Your item title for Envato Kit submissions should follow this format:
ItemName – [descriptive keyword] Elementor Template Kit
Your title should not use any of the following:
Follow our metadata guideline for keywords here: Item Descriptions & Metadata
Do not include the following:
DO include keywords that describe the item or the item’s niche, such as modern, typographic, classic, neumorphism, flat, dark, gradients, illustrations, animations, restaurant, portfolio, menus, etc
Follow our general guidelines for descriptions here: Item Descriptions & Metadata
**Elementor Pro upgrade is required for some templates and features (not included)**
**How to Use Template Kits:**
Install and Activate the "Envato Elements" plugin from Plugins > Add New in WordPress
Download your kit file and Do not unzip it
Follow the detailed guide: https://help.market.envato.com/hc/en-us/articles/900000842846-How-to-use-the-Envato-Elements-WordPress-Plugin-v2-0
For help using Elementor, go to Elementor > Get Help in WordPress menu.
If your item includes Elements assets, you must add the Collection URL along with the photo license disclaimer. This is required to ensure proper licensing of images to users of Elementor or the Elements plugin.
This Template Kit uses demo images from Envato Elements. You will need to license these images from Envato Elements to use them on your website, or you can substitute them with your own.
Make sure the demo URL is functional and lands on the Homepage like a real website (do not link to a landing page/thumbnails, please)
Refer to the following for help formatting your descriptions: