My experience goes back to RW 5,7, which were still adequate for my basic sites. However, when Apple architecture no longer worked with EW 5,7, and Bluehost lost interest in supporting sites not constructed in Wordpress, I was stuck with sites nearly impossible to fix.
It has been years since I have been active. I was born shortly before WWII ended, and I do not want to learn a new system nor give over control to web site builders.
Therefore, Elements was the clear choice, and I took advantage of the January 2026 SALE.
The site I intend to build is about landscape and, sustainable construction and technology in non-technological language. Not busy, not slick, yet, unobtrusively smooth. More static than not. Not for the kids. Basically, a photo slide show with captions, and click-through to descriptions and more tech information. A couple short videos of landscape.
Obviously, I know nothing about Realmac Elements achievements except it looks, really, really good.
Question: Can I get enough ease of construction with Elements Plus without add-ons? A small learning curve is fine. Or would something such as Cordial (or other) be useful enough to spend the money.
Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.
An old Rapid Weaver fan; an Elements convert (at last),
Charles welcome I’m nearly 70 and loving ELEMENTS if you go to shop icon in top there are free stuff including themes that you can download and play with, Theres some nice ones there. Equally there are preset core items which are free in app that you can click and drop and change to your liking.
In the User Manual there are loads of videos to help you if you get stuck or want to learn to. Also theres a bot here called @elementsbot which you can work with “off site” with so no one sees what your doing. The bot can help and write code for you. Last but not least thsi community is great so if you get stuck or need help then just ask something specific. Before you do look at search as sometimes what your asking has been answered in past. GOOD LUCK and enjoy!
First off, you’ve made a great choice with Elements. It’s perfect for creating a classic, smooth, and not-too-busy site, just like you described. Plus, you’ve got a fellow seasoned web enthusiast in PMUK to back you up!
Elements Plus is more than capable of handling your needs without any add-ons. You can use the built-in components for slideshows, captions, and even those short videos you mentioned. If you want to explore themes, as PMUK suggested, there are some great free ones to play around with.
And remember, if you ever need a hand, I’m here to help! You can always ask questions in the forum or use the resources like the User Manual and YouTube Tutorials. Happy building!
The free North Eleven project looks like it would be a reasonable starting point for you. It basically has a landing page, and then a template for detail pages you can duplicate for your click-throughs. Elements now has a fair number of predesigned “sections” that you can use to expand on the basic N11 design.
So my answer to your question would be, yes, you don’t need add-ons to get started. However, there will be a learning curve. Start with Dan’s video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vp7wjAjnew4). I believe there was another one in a Dev Diary, as well.
