Classic Elementor widget · Free
Help readers find their way. This Elementor category showcase, an Elementor category widget, turns your post categories into a clean category grid, each with its own photo, icon, post count, description and slogan. Use it as a featured categories section on the home page or as a category list in the sidebar of your Elementor blog categories page. Free, on Elementor Free.
The short answer
Category Showcase is a free Elementor widget from Animation Addons that displays your WordPress post categories as a styled category section. Each category can show an image, an icon, its name, the number of posts, a description and a short slogan, and every item links to the category archive.
Think of it as an Elementor post categories widget with a design built in. The image, icon and slogan come from three fields the plugin adds to each category in Posts → Categories, so you set them once and every showcase on the site uses them. Style One builds image cards in a grid; Style Two prints a simple row of category links. It is a classic widget for the Elementor 3 editor that keeps working in Elementor 4. To show categories in an Elementor category carousel, use the Category Slider.
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Live demos
All five designs from the original page, each on a small site of its own. Every one is the same widget with different settings. Hover the names and counts.
Pick a topic
A fashion magazine lists four topics as tall oval photos on a dark page. Each card has a white icon in the middle, the topic name and its post count. The name turns orange on hover.
Hover a topic nameSet Style to One and Number of Columns to 4. Under Image, set Image Display Type to Inline Image and Show Icon to Show.
Ideas for every room
Each room opens its own page of projects, newest first.
An interior studio shows three rooms as an Elementor category grid. The photo fills each tile with a light dark overlay, and the room name sits in a white box in the middle.
Hover a tileSet Image Display Type to Background Image and Number of Columns to 3. In the Style tab, set the Item Padding and the Title Padding to frame the name.
Six days of location scouting for the Sahara series
How we found the stairways, rooms and light for the new film.
A film journal keeps its subjects in the sidebar as one column of dark photo strips. The post count sits in a black badge with a notched white edge in the top right corner.
Hover a category nameSet Number of Columns to 1 for a sidebar list. Set Position in the Sub Title section and use Top and Right to place the count in the corner.
Read by subject
A design studio journal shows each subject as one of three Elementor category cards: a photo with a dark box pulled up over its lower edge. The box holds a small red title between two lines, a short description and the count.
Hover a red titleIn Content, order the Category Content list as Title, Description, Total. In the Style tab, pull the box over the photo with a negative Margin in the Content section.
Stories from teams that ship
Pick a topic to see every post in it, newest first.
A software blog lists its topics as darkened photo rows. The name sits on the left, a dashed line runs across, and the Elementor category post count shows in a white circle on the right.
Hover a rowSet Number of Columns to 1 and Gap to 5 px. Turn Show Border on in Content so the count prints as a number, then round it with Border Radius in the Sub Title section.
Features
What you can set in the panel, from the categories you show to the look of each part of the card.
Pick Style One for an Elementor category grid with Number of Columns per device, or Two for a simple Elementor category list of links.
Add an image, an icon and a slogan to each category in Posts → Categories. Elementor category images show as an Inline Image or a Background Image, and each Elementor category with icon gets it with Show Icon.
Reorder the Category Content list (Title, Total, Description, Slogan) and switch each part on or off.
Set the Number of Categories, Order By date, title or random, the Order, and whether to show child categories.
Show the Elementor category post count. With Show Border off it reads "8 Articles"; with it on, only the number, ready for a badge.
Draw lines before and after the title, a border line between parts, and place the count anywhere with Position, Top and Right.
Thumbnail size, radius and opacity, content box, title, count, description, slogan and icon each have their own Style section, per device.
Step by step
Five steps, no code. The bold names are the labels in WordPress and the Elementor panel.
Install and activate Animation Addons for Elementor, then turn on Category Showcase in Animation Addons → Elements.
In Posts → Categories, edit each category and add an Upload Image, an Upload Icon and the Additional Text used as its slogan.
Open your page in Elementor, search the panel for Category Showcase and drag it into a section.
Choose the Style, set the Number of Categories and Number of Columns, and order the Category Content.
Style the thumbnail, content, title and count in the Style tab, check the layout on mobile and publish.
Honest comparison
Animation Addons has two free category widgets. The Showcase lays categories out in a grid or list; the Slider is the Elementor category carousel that moves them.
| Feature | Category Showcase | Category Slider |
|---|---|---|
| Layout | Grid (Number of Columns) or a list of links | Carousel with Slides to Show per device |
| Category image and icon | Yes | Yes |
| Image as background or inline | Both, with Image Display Type | Background (Layout One) or photo (Layout Two) |
| Description and slogan | Yes | Yes |
| Your own word after the count | No, "Articles" or the number only | Yes, Article Text |
| Show empty categories | No, only categories with posts | Yes, Show Empty Category |
| Autoplay, loop, arrows and pagination | No | Yes |
Compared from the Animation Addons for Elementor widget settings, October 2026.
FAQ
Install the free Animation Addons plugin, turn on Category Showcase and drag it onto your page. It lists your post categories as cards or links, each linked to its archive, with no code.
Yes. Category Showcase is part of the free Animation Addons for Elementor plugin on WordPress.org and works with Elementor Free. It is a free Elementor category widget, with no Elementor Pro needed.
From your categories. The plugin adds Upload Image, Upload Icon and Additional Text fields to each category in Posts → Categories, and the widget reads them.
Yes. Set Number of Categories, sort them by date, title or at random, choose the order, and decide whether child categories appear.
Yes. Turn on Show Sub Title to print each category's post count. With Show Border off it reads "8 Articles"; with it on, only the number.
Yes. Use Style One with 3 or 4 columns for a featured categories section of image cards. Set Number of Columns to 1 to use it as a category list in a sidebar. Columns can differ on tablet and mobile.
Not with this widget. Use the Category Slider for an autoplay carousel of categories. Category Showcase keeps them in a grid or list.
No. Category Showcase lists WordPress post categories, the ones in Posts → Categories. Only categories that have posts appear.
Yes. It is a classic widget, so Elementor 4 lists it with the legacy widgets and it works on the same page as atomic elements.
Pairs well with
Widgets that work well around a category section. See all 102 widgets.
Animation Addons Pro · Elementor 4
A free category showcase with images, icons and post counts for Elementor.
Halloween deal40% off every Pro planEnds 5 Nov
