When a visitor does not meet your restriction criteria, Restrict for WordPress shows them a message — and by default that message is mostly plain text. If you want something more persuasive, you can build an Elementor restricted content message: a fully styled template designed with Elementor’s drag-and-drop builder and displayed to anyone who cannot access the protected content. This guide walks you through the whole setup, step by step.
How it works
As explained in our General settings documentation, within the General area of Restrict you can set up custom messages that are displayed to users who do not fulfill the required criteria for viewing certain content. By default, these messages are mainly text oriented — you can use WordPress’ standard formatting, HTML, images and other media, but not much beyond that.
That might not be everybody’s cup of tea, and we certainly understand you might want to go further using a page builder. So, from version 2.0.9 of Restrict, we have added support for plugins such as Shortcodes for Elementor, AnyWhere Elementor and similar plugins that use shortcodes to display Elementor pages and templates. In other words: design the message in Elementor, then drop its shortcode into Restrict.
Prerequisites
- Restrict for WordPress version 2.0.9 or newer, installed and activated.
- The Elementor page builder installed on your website.
- One of the two helper plugins — Shortcodes for Elementor or AnyWhere Elementor, whichever you like best. All of these plugins are free, or at least have a free version with sufficient functionality for this setup.
Step 1: Create a template
With the plugins in place, go on and create a template within the Shortcodes for Elementor or AnyWhere Elementor area.
Whichever of the two plugins you chose, the process is basically the same, with more or less the same options — the only real difference is the shortcode itself. When creating a template, click the Edit with Elementor button to actually design it using the Elementor builder. This is where you can go wild: headings, buttons, icons, columns, background images — anything Elementor offers.
Step 2: Copy the template shortcode
The key part here is the shortcode in the upper right corner, where you will find the shortcode for your template. Once you copy it, you can display this template on any of your pages or posts — and, of course, within the content of the messages in Restrict’s General area.
Step 3: Paste the shortcode into your Restrict message
Now paste the shortcode into the content area of the message within the Restrict → General area where you want this template to appear:
With this done, your Elementor template will be displayed as the message shown to users who are not allowed to access certain restricted content. You can also add other content around the shortcode if you want or need to — the point is that you now have a nicely styled message built with Elementor’s simple drag-and-drop builder.
The result
Instead of a plain text notice, your locked-out visitors see an Elementor-designed template such as the one in the example below:
Please note that the looks will vastly vary depending on the design and layout you opted for when creating the template in Elementor. This is just an example using a few basic Elementor elements.
Ideas for your Elementor restricted content message
- A mini sales page — list the benefits of membership, add a strong call-to-action button and link it to your signup or checkout page.
- A login prompt — point returning members to a page with Restrict’s login form so they can unlock the content in seconds.
- A search-friendly landing page — if you let search engines index your restricted content, visitors from Google will land on this message, so make it count.
And if you want to go beyond messages and control the visibility of individual Elementor sections, columns and widgets themselves, take a look at Restrict for Elementor and its alternative content feature.