Elementor Forum Plugin: Build Custom Forum Pages With Forumax

If your site already runs on Elementor, the last thing you want is a forum that looks like it was bolted on from another website. An Elementor forum plugin lets you place forums, topic lists, and search boxes inside the same drag-and-drop layouts you use for every other page. Forumax is a standalone WordPress forum plugin by Spider Themes that ships with dedicated Elementor widgets, so your community pages can match your brand without custom code.

This guide walks through what the Forumax widgets do, how the Pro templates speed things up, and how to build a clean forum landing page step by step.

Why use an Elementor forum plugin instead of default forum templates?

Classic forum pages are usually rendered by theme templates. That works, but you often get spacing, fonts, and colors that do not match the rest of your Elementor design. You also have little control over what appears above the fold: the newest topics, a search bar, or a short list of featured forums.

With an Elementor forum plugin, each forum element becomes a widget. You can drop a forum grid into a hero section, place a topic feed next to a call-to-action, or show a single product forum on a documentation page. Forumax also includes a Live Customizer and a frontend brand color option in the free version, so the forum itself can follow your palette.

The Forumax Elementor widgets at a glance

According to the Forumax widget documentation, the plugin adds six Elementor widgets:

• Forums lists your forums with controls for how many show, how many stay hidden behind a “More Communities” link, ordering, and typography. Version 2.4.0 added a new Layout 3 for this widget.
• Forum Topics shows topics from all forums or selected forums, with ordering, topic limits, excerpts, and AJAX loading options.
• Ajax Forums displays forum content that loads dynamically, without a full page refresh.
• Single Forum embeds one specific forum, with preset skins, thumbnail options, and filters.
• Forum Tabs puts forums and topics into a tabbed layout with separate titles, counts, order, and “View More” buttons.
• Search adds a forum search form anywhere on the page.

Because Forumax is a true Elementor forum plugin, each widget keeps the usual Elementor Content, Style, and Advanced tabs, so you can adjust margins, typography, and custom CSS classes the same way you style any other element.

Pre-made Elementor templates in Forumax Pro

Building a forum homepage from scratch takes time. Forumax Pro includes pre-made Elementor templates that you can insert with one click. The template guide describes the flow: open a page with Elementor, click Add Template, preview a design, and insert it. The template lands at the bottom of the page, ready to edit.

You can see what these layouts look like on the live demos, such as Creative Helpdesk, Classic Community, Modern Helpdesk, and Community Helpdesk. Elementor explains its own template library in the official Elementor templates help article.

How to build a forum page with the Forumax Elementor forum plugin

Here is a simple workflow that works on most sites. Test it on staging first if your site is live.

1. Install Forumax from WordPress.org, activate it, and make sure Elementor is active.
2. Create a few forums and sample topics from the Forumax dashboard, or use the demo data import option added in version 2.1.0.
3. Create a new page, for example “Community”, and click Edit with Elementor.
4. Add a hero section with a heading, a short intro, and the Forumax Search widget so visitors can find answers fast.
5. Below the hero, add the Forum Tabs widget or the Forums widget to list your main categories.
6. Add the Forum Topics widget in a second column or row to surface recent discussions.
7. Style everything from the Style tab, then publish and check the page on mobile.

If you prefer a faster start, insert one of the Pro templates in step 3 and replace the sample text with your own.

Smart ways to place forum widgets on your site

Widgets from an Elementor forum plugin are most useful when they appear where people already have questions. A few placements that fit common site types:

• Product pages: embed a Single Forum for that product so buyers can read real questions before they purchase.
• Documentation pages: add a Forum Topics widget filtered to the related forum, so readers can jump into a discussion when the docs are not enough.
• Homepage: use Forum Tabs to show both popular forums and fresh topics in one compact block.
• Support hub: combine Search, Forums, and a short “How to ask a good question” text block.

If you are still planning your structure, our guide on how to create a forum in WordPress covers forum hierarchy and settings before you start designing.

Not using Elementor? Gutenberg blocks are included too

Forumax is not locked to one builder, which matters if you are comparing Elementor forum plugin options for a mixed team. The plugin also registers seven Gutenberg blocks, including Forumax Topics, Forum and Topics Tabs, Forum Overview, Single Forum, Search, Forums with Ajax Filters, and a Forums Grid with a “load more” option. You can preview them on the Gutenberg block demo. WordPress.org has a helpful block editor overview if your team is new to blocks.

Free vs Pro: what you need for Elementor

Everything this Elementor forum plugin needs for basic layouts comes with the free version: all six widgets, along with core features like voting, solved topics, private replies, and file attachments. Pro adds the pre-made Elementor templates, plus extras such as mini profiles, anonymous posting, and advanced voting. Pro Max adds items like live chat, social login, and analytics. Check the Free vs Premium comparison and the pricing page for current plan details.

Want a wider view of community features before you design? Read our WordPress community forum plugin guide, then come back and build your layout with the widgets above.

Frequently asked questions