Gridder Defaults

Set defaults for column count, gutters, frames, spaces and offsets so every new page in the Gridder starts with the layout values you actually want — instead of WordPress's generic defaults.

Where to find it

Open the WP admin sidebar and click Lay Options → Gridder Defaults:

Gridder Defaults lives under Lay Options in the admin sidebar

The page is split into four tabs across the top, plus an "Apply to existing grids" section at the bottom:

Four tabs: Desktop Layout, Custom Phone Layout, Spaces and Offsets, Horizontal Grid

Desktop Layout Gridder Defaults

The values every new page's desktop Gridder will start with.

Column count, gutters and frames for the desktop Gridder

• Column Count — how many columns the grid is divided into (default 24). Pick whatever you draw layouts against.
• Column Gutter — horizontal space between columns (px or %).
• Row Gutter — vertical space between rows (px or %).
• Frame Top / Right / Bottom / Left — the outer margin between the page edge and the grid. Set in px or %.

Custom Phone Layout Gridder Defaults

When Lay Options → Custom Phone Layouts is activated, the Custom Phone Layout Gridder Defaults tab shows up here. It has the same fields as the desktop tab but applies to the phone Gridder.

Same fields as desktop, but only shown when Custom Phone Layouts is on

If you don't use Custom Phone Layouts, change the settings for your phone grid in Customize → Mobile (Smartphone) → Mobile Spaces instead:

Mobile Spaces — Space between Elements, Left/Right, Top, Bottom, Top Footer, Bottom Footer

See Custom Phone Layouts for the difference between the two phone-grid modes.

Spaces and Offsets

In the Gridder, right-clicking an element opens a "Space and Offsets" panel where you can change its offset and space above/below. This tab sets the unit (px or %) those inputs start in.

Two dropdowns — Spaces and Offsets each have their own default unit

• Spaces in — default unit for the "Space Above" / "Space Below" inputs.
• Offsets in — default unit for the horizontal/vertical offset inputs.

You can still override the unit per element from inside the popup — this is just the default.

Horizontal Grid Defaults

When you turn on Horizontal Grid in the Gridder toolbar, the Gridder shows horizontal guide lines across the canvas. The single setting here is the default Space between those guide lines.

A single Space default (px or %) for the Horizontal Grid guides

For everything else about that mode see the Horizontal Grid documentation.

Apply Defaults to existing grids

By default, changing values in the tabs above only affects pages you create after saving — every existing Project, Page and Category keeps its old grid.

To push the new defaults onto every page at once — for example to re-frame an entire site without opening each page in the Gridder — use the Apply Defaults to existing Grids? radio set at the bottom of the page:

Pick an option per layout (desktop + phone), then click Save Changes — the values flow into all existing Projects, Pages and Categories

• Apply all values — push every default (column gutter, row gutter and all four frame values) onto existing grids.
• Apply all except row gutter values — same as above but leave each page's individual row gutter alone. Useful when pages vary in vertical rhythm but should share the same horizontal structure.
• Apply none — leave existing pages alone (the default — pick this when you only want the new defaults to apply to new pages).

The two rows of radios apply independently to the desktop and phone defaults — pick one in each row, click Save Changes, and the values flow into every existing grid in one go.

Column Count is never overwritten, even with "Apply all values" — existing pages keep their column count so already-placed elements don't shift.