LT Author
Journalist and columnist theme for Elementor: this month's work as cuttings drawn to scale by word count, your column, beats, investigations in parts, a newsletter section and commission rates on the same ruler.
Key features
- Your month on paperThe home page hangs your latest published pieces as newsprint cuttings beside a word ruler, each strip as long as the piece, with the headline, paper, date and word count under it.
- Column and archiveA weekly column section, a writing archive by year and selected work rows, each with a small length strip so long reads stand out.
- Investigations in partsA series section with numbered parts, a page per investigation with how it was reported, and a three-level Writing menu.
- Rates editors can readCommission lengths from a 400-word news story to a 4,000-word long read drawn on the same ruler, with rates, turnaround and the five steps of a commission.
- Standards, bios and talksA standards page with a corrections log and how you protect sources, bios to copy at two lengths, and a talks page.
- Free Elementor and a ready formEvery page is built with free Elementor widgets on Hello Elementor, with a 'Commission, tip or letter' form made with the free WPForms Lite plugin. Fonts are bundled: no Google Fonts requests.
Let an AI assistant do the routine work
You can ask an AI assistant such as Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor to change texts, add pages or check your set-up, as our block themes already allow. Here is what this template gives you for that.
- AI kit Included with Pro Unlimited A file that explains the template to your AI assistant, ready prompts for common edits, and a checker that reports mistakes before you publish.
- AI help in ticket support Available now with Pro Open a ticket and you get an instant AI-drafted answer; a person from our team follows up. Ticket support
Compatibility and requirements
| Platform | WordPress 6.6 or newer (tested with 7.1) |
|---|---|
| Page builder | Elementor, free version (tested with 4.3); Elementor Pro not needed |
| Parent theme | Hello Elementor (free, from WordPress.org) |
| PHP | 7.4 or newer (tested with 8.3 and 8.4) |
| Contact form | WPForms Lite (free) |
| Fonts | Trirong, bundled (no Google Fonts requests) |
| Licence | Free: any site, credit stays. Pro Standard: one website. Pro Unlimited: unlimited websites. |
| Help | Documentation, ticket support, install service |
Questions
Do I need Elementor Pro?
No. LT Author uses only the free Elementor plugin and the free Hello Elementor theme. The header and footer are part of the theme, so you do not need Theme Builder.
How do I add a new piece to the cuttings?
Duplicate a cutting in Elementor, change the headline, paper, date and word count, and set the strip's class to the length in hundreds of words (lt-w-9 for about 900 words). The AI kit's safe edit tool can do it for you.
Can it send my newsletter?
The theme has no mailing system. The newsletter buttons lead to the contact form, where readers choose Join the Thursday letter; you can point them at your newsletter service instead.
Will my site look like the demo?
Yes, with Pro: Appearance > Demo import creates every page, the colours, fonts, menu, header and footer. The demo photos are replaced by placeholders you swap for your own.
What is the difference between Free and Pro?
Free has the design, header and footer, the About and Contact pages and the blog. Pro adds the home page with the cuttings, the Writing, Investigations and Work with me pages, sample posts, one-click demo import, credit removal, updates and support. Pro Unlimited adds the AI kit.
I have the old LT Author. Is this an update?
It is a new version 2.0 with a new design, built for free Elementor. Your current site keeps working; install 2.0 on a new site or a staging copy and import the demo there.
