Need a (Precise) Definition of “Elements”

  • Please define precisely what the word “elements” means in WP usage. People use this word very liberally and in so many ways that I am not certain I fully grasp what it refers to, since there is no formal definition anywhere that I can find.

    This is my first question ever for the forum. I am a brand new WP user attempting to teach myself WP so I can build a new site. As of this writing I am studying and reviewing tutorials and trying to make sure I understand the basic terminology and how the essential parts of WP fit together. I am working on understanding the relationship of widgets to plugins to themes and need to understand how “elements” fits in. Is it, for example, a general synonym for all these things, or what?

    Therefore I apologize if my question has been answered somewhere already. I am asking because I Googled this, then looked in the Codex under “terms”, “glossary” etc. When I search on the Forum search bar I get lots of links to plugins but no clear definition. The tutorial book I purchased does not define the term either.

Viewing 5 replies - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)
  • Andrew Nevins

    (@anevins)

    WCLDN 2018 Contributor | Volunteer support

    Can you link to us a typical example of the term? Without knowing that, it’s difficult to give you one definition.

    Thread Starter paulruckerart

    (@paulruckerart)

    When I googled “elements in wordpress” after seeing the word used in print and in some online tutorials in different, but seemingly overlapping ways, these were some of the results I got when trying to find a basic definition

    https://vc.wpbakery.com/features/content-elements/
    (“elements” is presented in a way that seems so similar to “widget” that I don’t see what the difference might be)

    https://www.wpexplorer.com/elements-wordpress-back-end/
    (in this one, “elements” is used to describe the basic apparatus of WP for the user, from the dashboard on down.)

    The other, more common usage, is when people are using “elements” in a very general way to literally denote the general elements of making something (and it just happens to be a WP site).

    So, is “elements” a synonym for “type of content” (widget or plugin) or does it mean “piece of WordPress’ machinery” (dashboard, etc.) or is it just a word that people are using as it suits them? I see the word used all over the place as if people should just “know”….

    Andrew Nevins

    (@anevins)

    WCLDN 2018 Contributor | Volunteer support

    I don’t think it means anything specific. It means many things and can’t be defined without the context of the person who said it.

    In the ‘vc.wpbakery’ article, they’ve used “elements” as a term for their plugin – so in that context it means something specific.

    In the ‘wpexplorer’ article, they’ve used “elements” to describe “things”.

    Andrew Nevins

    (@anevins)

    WCLDN 2018 Contributor | Volunteer support

    People that use HTML will be familiar with the term because in HTML the term “element” means a type of code.

    Thread Starter paulruckerart

    (@paulruckerart)

    Thanks, Andrew– I think your last comment is illuminating about how the multiple kinds of usage of this word (in the site-building context of WordPress) overlap somewhat and thus lead to a certain confusion for me about what is really meant. Code is what everything is built out of (on the HTML level).

    It’s almost like talking about how something is built on the molecular level, versus the engineering (design) level, versus the construction (manufacturing) level. “Elements” can be used in all of these contexts, it looks like.

    So my last question for clarity– in the example of the “vc.wpbakery” link they talk about offering “content elements”– in that instance, is this a synonym for “plugin”? And can that also mean “widget” or “content areas” contained w/in plugins, at the same time? Thanks for your help.

Viewing 5 replies - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)
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