Skip to content

Preset Manager

The Preset Manager is a centralized sidebar tool in the Divi 5 Visual Builder that lists every preset on your site — both element presets and option group presets — in one place, with search, filtering, reordering, and a live preview panel.

Quick Reference

What it does: Provides a single interface to view, create, edit, duplicate, delete, reorder, and preview all presets on your site. Where to find it: Left sidebar → Preset Manager icon. Key features:

  • Browse element presets and option group presets organized by type
  • Live Preview Panel for refining presets without affecting real page content
  • Import/export preset collections for sharing design systems between sites
  • Set defaults, reorder, and search across all preset types

ET Docs: Preset Manager

Overview

As a design system grows, managing presets scattered across individual element settings becomes unwieldy. The Preset Manager solves this by providing a single interface where you can view, create, edit, duplicate, delete, reorder, and preview all presets. It also supports importing and exporting preset collections, making it possible to share entire design systems between Divi 5 sites.

The companion Preview Panel shows a live sample of each preset as you edit it. This lets you refine typography, colors, spacing, and other settings without affecting any real page content — the preview is fully isolated from the page layout.

For additional reference, see the official Elegant Themes documentation.

Accessing the Preset Manager

Open the Visual Builder and locate the Preset Manager icon in the left sidebar. Clicking it opens the Preset Manager panel.

Preset Categories

The Preset Manager organizes presets into two main categories:

Category Description
Element Presets Full styling configurations for modules, sections, rows, and columns
Option Group Presets Style blocks for specific option groups (Typography, Button, Border, Spacing, etc.)

You can filter and search across both categories to quickly locate specific presets.

Management Operations

Operation Description
Create Add a new element or option group preset from scratch
Edit Modify a preset's settings; changes apply across your entire site
Duplicate Clone a preset as a starting point for a variation
Delete Remove unused presets
Set as default Mark any element preset as the default so all new elements of that type start with those styles
Reorder Drag presets to rearrange their order in the list
Search Filter the preset list by name or type

Preview Panel

The Preview Panel provides a live rendering of the preset you are editing. This is an isolated environment — you are not modifying any real page content while adjusting presets.

Feature Type Description
Live updates Behavior Changes in the settings panel reflect immediately in the preview
Background testing Setting Test the preset against different background colors, including your site's color variables
Isolation mode Behavior The preview is independent of any page layout; no real modules are affected

The Preset Manager supports a phased approach to building a design system:

Phase Activity Description
Design Create and refine Build your preset library using the Preview Panel to iterate without touching pages
Organize Sort and reorder Move base and frequently-used presets to the top of the list
Build Apply presets first When building pages, reach for presets before making one-off style changes
Iterate Edit presets, not pages When designs need updating, modify the preset rather than individual elements
Share Export and import Move your preset library to new Divi 5 sites via export/import

Import and Export

The Preset Manager supports transferring entire design systems between sites:

Action Description
Export Packages all presets (or a selection) into a portable file
Import Loads a preset package into the current site's Preset Manager

This makes presets a key part of Divi 5's design system portability, alongside global variables which are also embedded in layout exports.

AI Interaction Notes

Data Storage — Needs Testing

The Preset Manager reads from and writes to the same storage as individual preset creation (likely wp_options or a custom post type). The manager is a UI layer on top of the underlying preset data. Import/export functionality suggests a defined serialization format.

Programmatic access:

Operation Method Status Notes
Read Divi REST API or wp_options query Needs Testing The Preset Manager lists all presets; the underlying data store is shared with inline preset creation
Modify Divi REST API or update_option() Needs Testing Editing via the manager is equivalent to editing inline — same propagation behavior
Create Divi REST API or Preset Manager UI Needs Testing Import functionality may use a specific REST endpoint or file upload handler