As a web designer, time is one of the most valuable resources you have. Whether you are working on client projects, personal endeavors, or refining your skills, every moment counts. Divi, the popular WordPress theme and page builder, is widely regarded for its versatility and ease of use, but without the right strategies, it can still be a time-consuming tool to work with. However, with the following ten time-saving tips, Divi web designers can streamline their workflow, optimize their design processes, and produce quality results faster.
1. Master Keyboard Shortcuts
One of the quickest ways to speed up your work in Divi is by mastering keyboard shortcuts. These shortcuts help you avoid repetitive mouse movements and can significantly reduce the time spent on tasks. Divi provides several keyboard shortcuts that speed up various design processes, such as navigating between modules, opening settings, and duplicating elements.
For example:
- Ctrl + D (or Cmd + D on Mac) to duplicate a module.
- Ctrl + S (or Cmd + S on Mac) to save your design.
- Ctrl + Shift + E (or Cmd + Shift + E on Mac) to open the Visual Builder settings.
- Esc to close the settings of a module or element.
Knowing these shortcuts will make your design process smoother and faster, allowing you to focus more on creativity than on clicking through menus.
2. Utilize Divi’s Pre-Made Layouts and Templates
Divi comes with an extensive library of pre-designed layouts and templates, which can save you a significant amount of time when starting a new project. Rather than designing everything from scratch, you can choose a layout from the Divi library that aligns with your project’s goals and use it as a foundation. This saves you time on wireframing and basic layout setup.
Divi layouts are fully customizable, so you can adjust colors, fonts, and content to match your client’s brand. Using these pre-made templates also ensures that the layout is optimized for responsiveness, meaning less time spent troubleshooting mobile and tablet views.
3. Leverage Global Styles and Settings
Divi allows you to create global styles, making it easy to apply consistent design elements across your entire site. When you use Divi’s Theme Customizer or Divi Builder Global Settings, any changes made to a global setting will automatically update across all pages and modules that use that setting.
For instance, you can define global fonts, colors, button styles, and spacing rules that will be applied across the site. This approach not only ensures consistency in your design but also eliminates the need to manually update settings on every page. This is especially useful when working on large projects or for clients with multiple pages.
4. Use the Divi Library to Save Custom Modules
The Divi Builder allows you to save any module, section, or row as a reusable item in the Divi Library. By saving frequently used modules or complete sections (such as headers, footers, or call-to-action sections), you can quickly drag them into new projects without having to recreate them from scratch each time.
This is especially helpful when designing websites for similar industries. For example, if you’re frequently creating e-commerce sites, you could save custom product grids, testimonials, and pricing tables as library items. This reduces the time spent creating common design elements and allows you to focus on customization and functionality.
5. Take Advantage of Divi’s Custom CSS
While Divi’s visual editor allows for impressive design without needing to write code, knowing how to efficiently use Custom CSS can save you a lot of time when it comes to fine-tuning elements. Divi offers a Custom CSS field within the module settings, row settings, and section settings, so you can quickly add custom styles to individual elements without needing to search for the right CSS classes or IDs.
Furthermore, if you find yourself repeatedly adding the same custom CSS code across multiple pages, consider placing it in your child theme’s style.css file. This way, you can apply global styles, such as font adjustments, hover effects, or animations, without having to modify each module individually.
6. Speed Up Your Workflow with Divi Builder’s Copy-Paste Features
Divi allows you to copy entire rows, columns, or sections from one page and paste them onto another page. This copy-paste feature helps you maintain consistency and easily transfer sections across multiple pages. If you’ve designed a section that works well, copying and pasting it into another part of your site saves you the time and effort of recreating it from scratch.
Additionally, Divi supports Copy Styles, which means you can copy the styles (such as padding, margins, colors, etc.) from one module and apply them to another. This is a huge time-saver, particularly when you’re working on design elements that need to be uniform across the site.
7. Use the Role Editor to Assign User Permissions
If you work as part of a team, Divi’s Role Editor allows you to assign different levels of access and permissions to team members. This feature can save you time by allowing you to delegate specific tasks, like content creation or editing, to other users without giving them full access to your design settings.
The Role Editor also allows you to control who can edit the visual builder, change global settings, and more. By using this tool, you can focus on the high-level design while ensuring that your team members can handle other tasks, streamlining the workflow and reducing bottlenecks.
8. Make Use of Divi’s Built-In Responsive Editing
Divi offers an intuitive way to adjust your design for mobile, tablet, and desktop views. Instead of switching back and forth between devices or using third-party tools to test responsiveness, you can make real-time adjustments to each view directly in the Divi Builder.
Divi’s responsive editing tools allow you to set different sizes, padding, margins, and font styles for mobile and tablet views. By making these changes in the visual builder, you save time because you don’t need to manually inspect each page or rely on additional tools for testing. With Divi, you can ensure your website looks great on all devices without needing to leave the platform.
9. Utilize the Divi Support Center
Divi includes a Support Center built into the WordPress dashboard, which provides quick access to Divi documentation, updates, and troubleshooting tools. If you run into issues or need quick guidance on how to achieve a certain design effect, the Support Center provides links to helpful articles and tutorials that can save you time searching through forums or external resources.
Additionally, Divi’s Contact Support feature gives you access to the theme’s support team, who can help resolve any issues you encounter. Whether you need technical help with custom code or need advice on optimizing performance, the Support Center is a one-stop solution to solve problems without wasting time.
10. Take Advantage of Divi’s Third-Party Add-ons and Plugins
There are numerous third-party add-ons and plugins available for Divi that can extend its functionality and save you time on certain tasks. For example:
- Divi Builder Add-ons like Divi Booster or Divi Toolbox offer enhanced features, such as custom animations, additional design options, and built-in SEO tools.
- Divi Plugin for WooCommerce can help you create advanced e-commerce sites with pre-designed product pages and checkout flows.
- Divi Layout Packs from third-party providers give you access to professionally designed templates that you can import into your project and customize quickly.
Using third-party add-ons reduces the time spent on complex tasks like creating animations or designing custom page elements. It also allows you to focus on your client’s unique needs rather than reinventing the wheel with every project.
Conclusion
Divi is a powerful and flexible tool, but working efficiently with it requires knowing the right tips and tricks to streamline your workflow. By mastering keyboard shortcuts, utilizing pre-made layouts, leveraging global styles, and taking advantage of Divi’s various built-in tools, you can drastically reduce the time spent on each project.
With the right approach, Divi can become your best ally in creating stunning, responsive websites while saving valuable time. Keep experimenting with new features and workflows to further optimize your process and improve the quality of your designs.