This quickstart guide shows you how to restrict content in Elementor using the Restrict for Elementor plugin. In a few minutes you will know where the restriction options live inside the Elementor editor, which conditions you can use to show or hide sections, columns and widgets, and how to display alternative content to visitors who are not allowed to see the original. Whether you want to show a block only to logged in users, limit it to a specific user role, or reserve it for customers who purchased a certain product, this page gives you the full picture.
Before you start
Restrict for Elementor relies entirely on the Elementor page builder, so Elementor needs to be installed and activated on your website. All of the plugin’s features are accessed from within Elementor’s sections, columns and widgets. That is why, when you first install Restrict for Elementor and open its admin page, you will see just an overview of the features – there is nothing to configure there, and that is by design.
A free version of Restrict for Elementor is available on WordPress.org. Premium licenses come as 1 site, 5 sites or unlimited sites plans, billed yearly or as a one-time lifetime payment, starting at $39 per year for a single site. Every plan includes a 7-day free trial and a 7-day money-back guarantee – see the pricing page for details.
Where to find the restriction options
When you create a page using Elementor, every element you add gets its own restriction settings. Regardless of whether you are working with a section, column or widget, you will find the option to restrict access to that particular content in the Content area of the Elementor panel. To access it, click one of the highlighted areas shown below and then click the Content tab:
Because the same controls are available on all three levels, you can restrict anything from an entire section down to a single button. For a closer look at each element type, see restricting Elementor sections, columns and widgets.
There are lots of criteria for content restriction, so let’s go through the available options one by one.
Ways to restrict content in Elementor
Logged in users
As the name suggests, when this option is selected, the affected content is shown to logged in users only. Flick the Action switch and the logic reverses – the content is hidden from logged in users instead. This is particularly useful if, for example, you want to show a login form widget to everyone, but hide it as soon as the visitor logs in. In its place, another widget can display the useful content that should be available to logged in users only.
Read the full guide: show or hide content to logged in users.
Users with specific role
When you select this option, a field appears below where you can pick a single user role or multiple roles. This lets you show or hide the content to users with specific user roles – handy when some content should be available only to members who have a particular role, different from other registered users.
Read the full guide: show or hide content by user role.
Users with specific capability
Quite similar to user roles, but with more granular control over content restriction. For example, if you set the capability edit_posts, you will show or hide this content for all of WordPress’ default user roles except Subscriber. You can use any other capability as well – the WordPress roles and capabilities documentation lists them all.
Read the full guide: show or hide content by user capability.
Users with specific meta value
This condition is a bit on the advanced side. Every user registered on your website has certain meta values associated with their account – for example, the meta key nickname stores the user’s nickname. Many plugins that deal with user management save additional account information as user meta, and this condition lets you use any of those values as criteria for showing or hiding content.
Read the full guide: show or hide content by user meta value.
Post author
As you can guess from the name, this option lets you show or hide the content to the author of that particular post – useful for author-only notes, reminders or editing tools.
Read the full guide: show or hide content to the post author only.
WooCommerce users
This option is displayed only if WooCommerce is installed and activated on your website. It lets you use WooCommerce-specific criteria to show or hide the content: Purchased any WooCommerce product, Purchased specific product (then select the product) or Purchased specific product variation (then select the required variation).
Additionally, if you have the WooCommerce Subscriptions plugin installed as well, an extra criterion called Has an active subscription becomes available, so you can show or hide the content based on whether the visitor has an active subscription to a specific WooCommerce subscription product.
Read the full guide: show or hide content to WooCommerce users.
Easy Digital Downloads users
Restrict for Elementor integrates with the Easy Digital Downloads plugin. If you have it installed on your website, you can choose between two criteria: Purchased any product or Purchased a specific product, which then lets you select exactly which product to use as the condition.
Read the full guide: show or hide content to Easy Digital Downloads users.
Tickera users
There is also an integration with the Tickera event ticketing system – no surprise, since Restrict for Elementor is made by the Tickera team. Three Tickera-specific options are available: Purchased any ticket type, Purchased a specific ticket type (lets you select the ticket type) and Purchased a ticket for specific event (lets you select a specific event).
Read the full guide: show or hide content to Tickera users.
Geolocation
Restrict for Elementor integrates with the Geolocation IP Detection plugin, which allows you to display or hide the content based on the country or continent a visitor is viewing the page from.
A good tip for more precise results is to use the MaxMind City or Country database instead of the database included with the plugin. Register a free account here, confirm your email and set a password, then download the database and upload it to the server hosting your website. You will also need your Account ID and a license key: generate the key under Manage License Keys, then paste both into the Geolocation IP Detection plugin settings.
Read the full guide: show or hide content by country or continent.
Display alternative content instead of hiding
Whichever restriction criteria you select, below it you will find an option to display alternative content to users who do not fulfill the requirements. There are three choices: None simply hides the content, Elementor Template displays an Elementor template of your choice in place of the restricted content, and HTML / Formatted Text opens WordPress’ default classic-style editor so you can enter and style a custom message.
Read the full guide: displaying alternative content.
White label
Restrict for Elementor comes with a white label option built in. Add the following line to your wp-config.php file (and replace My Restriction Plugin with anything you want):
define('RSC_EL_PLUGIN_TITLE', 'My Restriction Plugin');This changes the plugin title in the menu and everywhere else Restrict for Elementor is mentioned. The Account section that holds your account credentials is removed as well, which is convenient when you install the plugin on a client’s website and want to hide your account information. In short, white labeling cuts all ties with our official website, so it looks as if you built the plugin for your customer.
Read the full guide: white labeling Restrict for Elementor.
Related documentation
- Content restriction of Elementor sections, columns and widgets
- Show or hide content to logged in users
- Show or hide content by user role
- Show or hide content by user capability
- Displaying alternative content
You can browse all guides in the documentation, and if you get stuck at any point, feel free to contact us.