Where Are the Divi Customizer Settings?
This is a question I sometimes get about our child themes. Customers sometimes wonder why they can’t edit the header and footer. The fact is, we are trying to keep up to date and modern and provide the best and greatest options to you.
So what’s behind this? Why is Elegant Themes changing this in Divi? Divi is slowing depreciating the WordPress theme Customizer, and for good reason! I’ll explain this all in the video with examples, but will also give some highlights in the written post below.
▶️ Please watch the video above to get all the exciting details! 👆
Where Are The Missing Divi Header And Footer Customizer Settings?
What Is The Theme Builder
When Divi 4.0 released, it introduced a new feature called the Theme Builder. The Divi Theme Builder is a revolutionary tool that allows you to builder every area of your website using the Divi Builder. In the past we could only edit the page areas, but now we can edit things like the header and footer and many more areas.
Theme Builder vs. Customizer
This is where it can be confusing. The Divi Theme comes with a default header and footer. They have some basic settings to style and customize those areas in the WordPress theme Customizer. Some of you who have used Divi before may be familiar with that. However, you may be confused when you buy one of our premium child themes and realize you can’t edit the header. What? But you can! We build our templates with modern practices, so naturally we use the Theme Builder. So here’s the main point:
When a theme builder header or footer template is active, it replaces the default header and footer and hides the Customizer settings.
This makes perfect sense, because why would there be Customizer settings when those are no longer needed? You can edit every part of the header or footer using Divi, which is far more superior than the old clunky Customizer.
Learn To Embrace The Theme Builder
I think the Divi Theme Builder is 10x better than trying to style and customize the old header and footer. Once you understand and get used to it, you will agree with me! If learning something new intimidates you, then I suggest taking my helpful and very popular Divi Theme Builder course.
Where Are The Missing Divi Module Customizer Settings?
What Is (Was) The Module Customizer
You may rememer Divi used to have a featured called the Module Customizer. Essentially you could use this to establish some defaults for each module. You may also have noticed that it is no longer available in the Customizer. So why not?
When Divi released a new featured called Default Styles, the Module Customizer was no longer needed. The reason is because you could now set default styles for the modules within the builder, meaning you no longer had to leave the editor just to change a style. The Default Styles have now evolved into Presets.
Where Are The H1-H6 Heading Customizer Settings?
We could point out lots of examples, but one that I have seen over the years is the confusion on why ther are such limited Typography settings in the Customizer. Again, the reason is because Elegnat Themes planned for along time to keep all the design settings within the builder experience. You can easily set presets for all of the heading text sizes on all devices. The Typography settings in the Customizer are worthless at this point. If you are relying on them, I recommend learning to use things like Extend Styles and Presets.
The Main Point – Divi Builder Efficiency
We could go on and on with examples, but the main point here is something I have seen Nick Roach talk about. He explained that the goal is to have an uninterrupted Divi Builder experience where you can control everything within the page and module you are working on. This eliminates the need to go to the Customizer or Theme Options for things that can be set in the Divi Builder. I love this approach!
Expect to see more things disappear from the Customizer in the future!
I’m really excited about this movement. The Divi builder has an intuitive interface compared to the old clunky Customizer, so anything that can be moved to the Divi Builder is a positive thing for me.
Hi Nelson,
I wish there was an overview / a list of what is still needed in the Customizer and what these settings are used for. I’ve been looking for such a documentation but could not find any. Let me give you some examples of what I mean:
1. General Settings –> Layout -> Website Content Width: Is this the only way to limit the content width of a Divi Website?
2. General Settings –> Layout -> Primary Color: As there is a default value already filled in I probably have to change it to something that fits my general design ideas. I have no ides though what this Customizer setting actually does. The same applies for the Secondary Color.
3. Why should I set Header and Body Fonts in the Customizer when I can use Divi Presets? Especially after uploading fonts via your Divi Assistant it is confusing to then go to the Customizer and make the font settings there.
4. The same for the Link color etc. etc.
The whole process is not clear to me and not intuitive either. For making changes later I need to write down a rather detailed documentation of what I have done and where I have made the settings.
Cheers,
Frank
Hi Frank,
In my opinion, you don’t need to use the Customizer for anything, and that is certainly the clear direction WordPress and Divi are going. I can’t think of anything that requires the customer that you can’t do in Divi.
You can use the customizer, but the options available in Divi
1. Website content width: you can create a global template body in theme builder.
2. Primary und secondary Colors: You can set the global colors.
3. Background: If you’re referring to the whole page background, then it can be done using the theme builder template or in specific page (In page settings > Content > content background. Just set the section background to transparent).
I forgot to follow this for some days, thanks for your answer, Nelson.
In a current project I started from scratch and took the opportunity to checked all (maybe only most?) options in the Customizer. For the following I could not find anything to replace the Customizer entries:
1. Website Content Width
I can see the impact of the Customizer setting immediately. Is there an equivalent in Divi Assistant? I could not find it.
2. Primary und secondary Colors
I have no idea what the impact of the settings is. What is the purpose?
3. Background
Another “easy” setting that I didn’t see in any Divi settings. My fault?
Thanks for you help, Nelson!