Containers, Columns & the Building Structure

By the end of this module you will be able to name the three layers every Avada page is built from, identify each one on screen, and know which layers are yours to edit and which belong to your designer.

• Name the three layers: Container → Column → Element
• Identify each layer by its outline in Avada Live
• Understand why structure is GM&F’s job and content is yours

Watch for: the toolbars that belong to containers vs columns vs elements — each layer has its own. (Video: How to Use the Avada Builder Options, official Avada channel.)

1. The moving-box picture: a Container is a full-width band across the page. Columns split that band side-by-side. Elements are the contents — text, images, buttons. Every page you own is just these three, stacked.
2. Open any page in Edit Live and hover slowly from the edge of a page band inwards: you will see the Container outline first (widest), then a Column outline, then an Element outline.
3. Read the toolbars: when you select something, its mini toolbar tells you which layer you are on — container toolbars sit at the top edge of the band, element toolbars attach to the piece itself.
4. Why this matters: when you edit text, you are inside an Element. The containers and columns around it never need touching for content changes.
5. The rule to work by: Elements — edit freely (with Module 8’s habits). Columns and Containers — look, don’t touch. Resizing, moving, or deleting structure is design work: that is a request to GM&F, not a DIY job.

• On one page of your site, count the containers (full-width bands).
• Pick one container and count its columns.
• Pick one column and name its elements out loud (“heading, text, button”).

Common mistakes to avoid

• Dragging a column edge “to see what happens.” Column widths are design decisions; a small drag can reflow a whole page.
• Deleting a container thinking it is one item. A container takes everything inside it — columns, text, images — in one click.
• Duplicating containers and leaving the copies published. Visitors see doubled sections. If you duplicate by accident, exit without saving.