Widget DOM Optimization | Elementor Developers

Elementor Core Intermediate

Elementor widgets define their own markup in the render() method. However, Elementor wraps each widget in two <div> elements; the outer <div class="elementor-widget"> element, and the inner <div class="elementor-widget-container"> element. In the past, these additional wrappers allow Elementor to add additional styles and features.

However, two wrappers for each widget increases the overall DOM size, reducing page performance. To overcome this, developers can use the has_widget_inner_wrapper() method to control the number of wrapper elements the widget has.

By switching to a single wrapper, a widget can reduce the DOM size and optimize its footprint on the page. But, existing widgets that rely on the inner .elementor-widget-container wrapping element to style widgets, can maintain backwards compatibility.

The old, unoptimized widget markup, includes two wrapping elements:

<div class="elementor-widget elementor-widget-{widget-name}">
	<div class="elementor-widget-container">
		...
	</div>
</div>

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The new, optimized markup, has only one wrapping element:

<div class="elementor-widget elementor-widget-{widget-name}">
	...
</div>

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Elementor had previously utilized unoptimized markup. Nowadays, all Elementor and Elementor Pro widgets use optimized markup. Elementor provided a transition period for external developers to adopt the optimized widget markup.

# Wrapping Elements

The number of wrapping elements required for each widget is determined by the widget developer. Elementor provided a transition period for external developers to adopt the optimized widget markup.

Legacy widgets that require both <div> wrappers, including the inner .elementor-widget-container wrapper, use the following method in the widget:

public function has_widget_inner_wrapper(): bool {
	return true;
}

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New widgets that can work with only the outer <div> wrapper, without the inner .elementor-widget-container wrapper, use the following method in the widget:

public function has_widget_inner_wrapper(): bool {
	return false;
}

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Finnaly, widgets that do not employ the has_widget_inner_wrapper() function will behave like unoptimized widgets with two wrapping <div> elements. This behaviour may change in the future to optimize the remaining widgets.

# Future

Developers should plan ahead for when unoptimized widgets will stop being rendered. To avoid compatibility and styling problems, every widget should include the has_widget_inner_wrapper() method set to return false.

# Examples

To reduce the DOM size, developers can use the has_widget_inner_wrapper() method in the widget class, as shown below:

<?php
class Elementor_Test_Widget extends \Elementor\Widget_Base {

	public function has_widget_inner_wrapper(): bool {
		return false;
	}

}

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This implementation instructs Elementor to render the widget with a single <div> wrapper.

Legacy widgets that rely on the .elementor-widget-container class can continue using the unoptimized DOM by setting the method to return true:

<?php
class Elementor_Test_Widget extends \Elementor\Widget_Base {

	public function has_widget_inner_wrapper(): bool {
		return true;
	}

	protected function register_controls(): void {

		$this->add_control(
			'color',
			[
				'label' => esc_html__( 'Color', 'textdomain' ),
				'type' => \Elementor\Controls_Manager::COLOR,
				'selectors' => [
					'{{WRAPPER}} > .elementor-widget-container h3' => 'color: {{VALUE}};',
				],
			]
		);
	}

	protected function render(): void {
		?>
		<h3>
			...
		</h3>
		<?php
	}
}

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This widget can't use the optimized DOM capability as it uses the inner .elementor-widget-container CSS class to style the widget. Therefore, setting has_widget_inner_wrapper() to true will make sure that Elementor doesn't remove the inner wrapper for this widget.

# Notes

Please note that retaining unoptimized DOM is a temporary solution that allows addon developers to maintain compatibility while updating their code. The ultimate goal is to transition all widgets to use the optimized single-wrapper structure.

Optimized DOM for widget wrappers is not only setting has_widget_inner_wrapper() to false, it requires removal of .elementor-widget-container from all files, including PHP, CSS and JS.

In the example code above, simply remove the .elementor-widget-container class from the selector:

-	'{{WRAPPER}} > .elementor-widget-container h3' => 'color: {{VALUE}};',
+	'{{WRAPPER}} h3' => 'color: {{VALUE}};',

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← Widget Optimization Widget Output Caching →

# Widget DOM Optimization

# Widget Markup

# Wrapping Elements

# Future

# Examples

# Optimized Widget DOM

# Retaining Unoptimized Widget DOM (for BC)

# Notes