Cornerstone Overview

New to Cornerstone? Check out our series Getting Started w/ Cornerstone and learn how to use CS from the ground up!

What Is Cornerstone?

As the name suggests, Cornerstone (CS for short) is the foundation to your site building experience and includes a Layout Builder, Header Builder, Page Builder, Footer Builder, Component Builder, and Grid Editor.

X users must install Cornerstone as a separate plugin and have access to the Page Builder only. Pro users have Cornerstone built into the theme and have access to everything.

Each builder gives you the ability to create different parts of a website in a visual, drag-and-drop manner, even if you have no coding experience. This is achieved through various Elements and customization options.

Builder Types

Cornerstone includes a family of builders plus a special Grid Editor. Let's briefly discuss each one.

• Page Builder: This builder is used to create the main content of pages throughout your site. It also works on posts.
• Component Builder This builder is used to create design patterns (aka Components) that will update in real-time throughout your site should you ever need to make updates to them in the future.
• Layout Builder: (Pro only) This builder is used to create the layouts of the website (overall templates assigned to various contexts like blog posts, single pages, archives, et cetera). It is also the home to a powerful Header and Footer Builders as well.
• Grid Editor (Pro only) While not technically a builder, Pro users also have access to a powerful Grid Element for creating truly inspired layouts.

Global Settings

To access the settings of the builders in both X and Pro go to WordPress → X / Pro → Settings. The settings available are as follows:

• Custom Path: Use this option to set the URL path parent when accessing the builder interface.
• Hide Access Path: If enabled, the logged out visitors will encounter the 404 not found page instead of being redirected to the login screen.
• Show Legacy Shortcode Generator: The legacy shortcode generator is the old way of adding the shortcodes using the standard WordPress editor by adding a new button to the editor. This method is deprecated and the new set of the elements are not using the shortcodes and this method will not work for them.
• Permissions: The Permissions section is a dedicated set of controls which allows you to hide or show Cornerstone for different user roles and post types. Learn more about Permissions.
• System - Clear Style Cache: For quicker page load time, Elements of the builders will remember the CSS generated when they were last saved. This is automatically cleared when Cornerstone is updated. It may be useful to clear manually if any Elements are missing styling.

Colors

You can use the Color Manager to set unlimited colors which you will be able to use throughout your website. To access the Color Manager:

1. Go to Globals in Cornerstone.
2. Click the Colors tab.

There you can add new colors or edit the existing colors and save them to use later. Learn more about the Color Manager.

Fonts

You can use the Font Manager in X and Pro to set unlimited fonts which you will be able to use throughout your website. To access the Font Manager:

1. Go to Globals in Cornerstone.
2. Click the Fonts tab.

There you can add new fonts and save them to use later. This includes System Fonts, Google Fonts, Adobe Fonts, and Custom Fonts. Learn more about the Font Manager.

Templates

You can use Templates to create and reuse content across your site. To access the Template Manager, simply go to Templates in Cornerstone. There you will have a list of all saved templates including our entire Design Cloud library that provide numerous ready-made templates you can use.

Learn more about the Template Manager including how to create a template.

Components

The two main functions of Components are to provide a centralized repository of all your design patterns that is easily maintainable and to abstract away complexity so that the page building process can be streamlined.

These powerful building blocks will give you complete control over the content you create. Whenever it comes the time to edit or change the Component, you can do the change from one place and the change will be broadcast to all the instances that you use on the website.

Learn more about Components including how to create your first one. Ready to take things to the next level? Learn how to create your own design systems in Cornerstone with Parameters.

Point of Clarity

A third party company created a free WordPress plugin by the same name "Cornerstone" and listed it on the wordpress.org repo. This is not our product. Some customers have been understandably confused, so we wanted to clarify. You can only get the Cornerstone Website Builder from Themeco.

Summary

Cornerstone is the heart and soul of your site building experience. We've discussed what it is, how it works, and some of the amazing features at your disposal. If you're new to Themeco or want a refresher, don't forget to check out our Getting Started w/ Cornerstone series. A great way to get up and running is to use one of the included Starter Templates or Design Cloud.