Description
MerKit gives you a full Theme Builder and a growing Template Library for Elementor — completely free, forever. Import a complete landing page in one click, or pick individual sections, headers and footers.
Key Features
Theme Builder (no Pro required)
- Build custom Headers and Footers with Elementor’s drag-and-drop editor
- Flexible display conditions: show templates site-wide, on specific pages, post types, archives, or the 404 page
- Works with any theme that supports standard WordPress hooks
- Hello Elementor theme location support built-in
Free Template Library
- 48 instant-import premade templates across 15 categories — headers, footers, heroes, logo strips, feature grids, how-it-works, stats, stories, work galleries, menus, testimonials, pricing, FAQs, contact/hours and CTA banners
- Three complete demo landing pages (Nimbus SaaS, Atelier Norr studio, Harvest & Oak restaurant) plus the MerKit Demos hub — every section importable on its own, filterable by brand
- Templates carry the Global Colors and Global Fonts they use — missing ones are created in Site Settings on import, so sections look right on any site
- Import a complete demo landing page in one click — every section in order, plus its header and footer assigned to that page, created as a draft for you to review
- Template images are copied into your Media Library on import, so nothing is hotlinked and every image is editable on your site
- All templates use the modern Elementor Container (flexbox) system and are fully responsive
- Fully editable after import — nothing is locked
- New templates added with each release
Bundled Widgets
- Nav Menu — dropdown-ready navigation widget, no Pro required
- Site Logo — displays your custom logo or site name as a fallback
Requirements
- WordPress 6.0+
- Elementor (free) 3.10+
- PHP 7.4+
External services
When you import a bundled template or demo page, the plugin downloads that template’s demo images from https://demos.merkiting.com (a site operated by the plugin author) into your Media Library. This happens only during an import you start in wp-admin; nothing is requested on the front end of your site, and no information about your site or visitors is sent. If a download fails, the template keeps the original image URL instead.
Compatibility
- Works with Elementor free — Elementor Pro is NOT required
- Uses the modern Flexbox Container layout system (Elementor 3.6+)
- Tested with Hello Elementor, Astra, GeneratePress, OceanWP, and Blocksy
Installation
- Upload the plugin folder to
/wp-content/plugins/, or install via Plugins -> Add New. - Activate the plugin.
- Install and activate Elementor (free) if not already active.
- Go to MerKit Addons -> Template Library to import a full demo page or individual sections.
- Go to MerKit Addons -> Theme Builder to create or assign header/footer templates.
FAQ
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Does this require Elementor Pro?
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No. This plugin works entirely with the free version of Elementor.
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Does this work with the new Elementor Container (Flexbox) system?
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Yes. All bundled templates use the modern Container layout. Legacy Section/Column layouts are not used.
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Which themes does the Theme Builder support?
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All classic themes. The plugin implements Elementor’s theme-location system — the same mechanism Elementor Pro uses — so themes with native Elementor support (Hello Elementor, Astra, GeneratePress, OceanWP, Neve, and many more) automatically replace their own header/footer with yours. Themes without location support are handled through a header/footer template override. No manual theme settings needed.
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Are the templates really free?
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Yes. All templates included in the plugin are free, with no upsells or locked items.
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Can I add my own templates?
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Yes. Go to MerKit Addons -> Theme Builder and use Import Template from JSON to upload a template exported from this plugin or from Elementor (.json). You can also Export any of your templates back to a JSON file from the same page — handy for backups or moving a template between sites. After importing, every template is fully editable in Elementor.
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How do I embed a template in a post or page?
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Use the shortcode: [merkit_template id=”123″] — replace 123 with the template post ID shown in the Theme Builder admin page.
Reviews
There are no reviews for this plugin.
Contributors & Developers
“MerKit Theme Builder and Template Library for Elementor” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.
Contributors
Translate “MerKit Theme Builder and Template Library for Elementor” into your language.
Interested in development?
Browse the code, check out the SVN repository, or subscribe to the development log by RSS.
Changelog
1.1.0
- New: 39 section templates split from the demo landing pages at demos.merkiting.com — Nimbus (SaaS analytics), Atelier Norr (dark editorial studio), Harvest & Oak (restaurant) and the MerKit Demos hub; each demo also ships its header and footer
- New: 10 more library categories — Logos & Proof, Features, How It Works & Services, Stats, Story & About, Work & Gallery, Menus & Lists, Testimonials, FAQ, Contact & Hours
- New: Brand filter in the Template Library page and in the in-editor picker (section type x brand)
- New: Global Colors / Fonts importer — template JSON may carry a
globalsblock; any referenced global missing from the active kit is created via Elementor’s kit API (existing globals are never overwritten). Runs for library imports, in-editor inserts and custom JSON uploads - New: Template export now bundles the custom Global Colors / Fonts a template references, so exported files are portable between sites
- New: In-editor insert declares the new –e-global-* variables in the preview and refreshes the global pickers, so inserted sections render correctly without reloading the editor
- New: Import full demo landing pages (Nimbus, Atelier Norr, Harvest & Oak, Demos hub) — creates a draft page with every section in order and imports the matching header and footer, assigned to that page
- New: Template images are downloaded into the Media Library on import instead of being hotlinked from the demo site (each image is fetched once and reused on later imports)
- Templates are portable: bundled templates carry no attachment or menu IDs from the demo site, links inside them point to sections on the same page, and each one ships only the Global Colors / Fonts it references
- Nav Menu widget falls back to the site’s first menu when none is selected or the selected menu no longer exists
- Fix: template export now captures Global Fonts referenced from CSS inside HTML widgets, and strips site-specific attachment and menu IDs
- Fix: three original templates had element IDs Elementor could not parse
- Harvest & Oak gallery is built from Image widgets so it renders on any site
- Security: the [merkit_template] shortcode only renders published MerKit templates; imported typography values are sanitized before reaching the kit stylesheet
- New: Sticky Header for header templates (Elementor free) — stick to top on scroll, with optional background color, blur, shadow and smaller padding once the page is scrolled (header template -> Settings -> Sticky Header)
- New: Nav Menu widget — mobile panel border, shadow, item typography and item padding, plus an “Underline Current Page” switch
- Templates contain no HTML/CSS widgets: every style is a normal Elementor or MerKit setting you can edit in the panel
1.0.1
- Confirmed compatibility with WordPress 7.1 (no jQuery UI, block-editor, admin-toolbar, or cross-frame editor code paths affected)
1.0.0
- Initial release
- Theme Builder with display conditions (header, footer, block)
- Template Library with 9 bundled templates (headers, footers, heroes, pricing table, CTA banners)
- Template import/export (.json) — bring your own templates or back yours up
- In-editor template library button — insert templates without leaving Elementor
- Nav Menu widget (sticky header, hover animations, dropdowns, mobile panel styling controls)
- Site Logo widget