Element Concepts

This document describes the basic concepts of the Element platform.

Blocks

Blocks are the basic units of Element that are arranged together to create a Page. Blocks are small, powerful, reusable Javascript applications built with React.

Basic facts about Element blocks:

Developing a block is a matter of:

Pages

Pages are an arranged collection of blocks that are created and customized using Site Designer.

You can add as many blocks as you want on each page using Volusion's default blocks or your own custom blocks. Each block can be configured differently on each page, or you can use the same configuration across all pages.

Themes

Themes are a collection of Pages. By default, each store has a live theme that is visible to all site users. You can make different changes to your theme, such as adding a header and footer to all of your pages in a single operation or setting global styles that are visible on all your pages.

When you edit your live theme, a draft copy is created that can be used without changing your live site. You can have as many theme drafts as you want to test ideas. Each theme draft has a preview URL so that you can see what your changes look like before you publish the theme. Once you're ready, you can publish your draft so that it becomes the live theme.

Volusion is an ecommerce platform, and we provide a basic starter theme for that purpose. However, Element can still be used to build any kind of site. You can create pages to show a blog list and entries, a Q&A page, reviews, a map, a contact form—basically anything you want.