Elementor Data Format

import { Aside } from ‘@astrojs/starlight/components’;

Elementor stores pages as a JSON array of sections. Understanding the structure is essential for building or editing pages programmatically.

Layout modes

# Check your site's layout mode
wp_site_info → elementor_layout_mode

Mode	Structure
`section` (Classic)	`section → column(s) → widget(s)`
`container` (Flexbox)	`container → container(isInner:true) → widget(s)`

Section mode (Classic)

[
  {
    "id": "sec1a2b3c",
    "elType": "section",
    "settings": {
      "background_background": "classic",
      "background_color": "#FFFFFF"
    },
    "elements": [
      {
        "id": "col1a2b3c",
        "elType": "column",
        "settings": { "_column_size": 100 },
        "elements": [
          {
            "id": "wid1a2bc",
            "elType": "widget",
            "widgetType": "heading",
            "settings": {
              "title": "Hello World",
              "header_size": "h1",
              "align": "center"
            }
          }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
]

Multi-column sections

{
  "id": "sec2col",
  "elType": "section",
  "settings": { "structure": "20" },
  "elements": [
    {
      "id": "col1",
      "elType": "column",
      "settings": { "_column_size": 50 },
      "elements": []
    },
    {
      "id": "col2",
      "elType": "column",
      "settings": { "_column_size": 50 },
      "elements": []
    }
  ]
}

structure values: "20" = 2-col, "30" = 3-col, "40" = 4-col. Columns must sum to 100.

Container mode (Flexbox)

[
  {
    "id": "cont1a2b",
    "elType": "container",
    "settings": { "content_width": "full" },
    "elements": [
      {
        "id": "inner1a",
        "elType": "container",
        "settings": { "isInner": true },
        "elements": [
          {
            "id": "wid1a2b",
            "elType": "widget",
            "widgetType": "heading",
            "settings": { "title": "Hello" }
          }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
]

Rules

Every element must have a unique id (8 alphanumeric characters). Missing IDs are auto-generated by the plugin.
Use correct widget setting keys — wrong keys silently break rendering. Call wp_get_widget_schema to verify.
Columns must sum to 100 in section mode.
structure field is required on multi-column sections.

Save response

{
  "success": true,
  "warnings": [
    "section[0].column[0].widget[0]: unknown widget 'headng' (did you mean 'heading'?)",
    "section[0]: auto-generated missing ID"
  ],
  "debug": {
    "validation_fixes": [],
    "validation_warnings": [],
    "meta_verified": true
  }
}

→ See Widget Reference for all available widget types and their settings keys.