Elementor’s AI Overstep: A Struggle for Agencies

In this blog post, we continue the contentious journey with Elementor. The ongoing overreach of the popular WordPress plugin, particularly with its AI features, has become a source of frustration for agencies. This post sheds light on the issues and frustrations.

Disclaimer

I’m not an Elementor hater. In fact, Elementor’s very own Head of WordPress Relations (Miriam S.) stated in a podcast where we both appeared, “I can see your frustrations come from a point of caring.”

Background and Issues

Elementor’s habit of overstepping boundaries is nothing new. Agencies have long battled with intrusive updates, upsells, and now, AI integration. These problems started noticeably in April with release 3.2.1 and have only worsened since.

The AI Dilemma

Elementor introduced AI without providing an opt-out option. This has resulted in significant compatibility issues, which affect not only AI users but everyone. The lack of an opt-out has turned AI from a feature into a problem.

• Release 3.22: The editor fails to load due to compatibility issues between Elementor AI and third-party plugins. This forced numerous agencies to roll back and restore websites, causing widespread frustration.
• Release 3.23: Introduced slow loading times in WordPress admin due to an AI health check, adding to the frustration.

These problems persist because Elementor doesn’t consider them bugs, even though they clearly break sites and slow down processes.

Invasive AI Features

Elementor’s AI also appears in the WordPress block editor, an unneeded intrusion. Most agencies do not want AI in their workflows, especially when it disrupts site functionality and performance. Yet, Elementor continues to push these features, raising questions about their priorities.

The GitHub Struggle

Reporting issues on Elementor’s GitHub has proven futile. Despite thorough reports, responses often dismiss the problems as non-issues or feature requests.

• Admin Notices Bug: Updating Elementor spams the WordPress dashboard with notices, pushing users towards Elementor’s ecosystem. This is dismissed as a non-issue.
• Global Widgets: The inability to bulk delete or rename global widgets is a clear oversight, yet it’s brushed off as a non-supported feature.

The pattern of dismissal and gaslighting from the Elementor’s GitHub “team” (one individual in particular) has become a major source of frustration for customers.

Conclusion

Elementor’s continuous push for AI and dismissive attitude towards user feedback are harming agencies. Elementor’s GitHub responses fail to address real issues, instead redirecting users to ineffectual support channels.

Agencies and developers must continue to voice their concerns. These iissues need more visibility until Elementor acknowledges and addresses these critical problems.

Call to Action

Join the movement and make your voice heard. Keep reporting issues and demanding fixes. Only through collective pressure can we hope to see change. Keep pushing until Elementor listens.

Video Walkthrough

To learn more about these issues and see behind the scenes, please have a look at the following video.