How to Create a Visual Composer Popup

A Visual Composer popup can use the same frontend editing workflow, rows, columns, and content elements you use elsewhere on the site. Popup Maker then controls how the campaign opens, where it appears, and how often eligible visitors see it.

In this tutorial, you’ll create the Visual Composer popup, design its content, configure the campaign, and test the complete visitor experience. You can start with Popup Maker’s free plugin.

What You’ll Need

• A WordPress site where you can install and configure plugins
• Popup Maker installed and activated
• Visual Composer Website Builder installed, active, and available to your WordPress role
• A clear goal, such as collecting a lead, promoting an offer, or announcing an update

Decide Which Tool Controls What

This guide covers Visual Composer Website Builder, not WPBakery Page Builder. Visual Composer owns the content inside the popup. Popup Maker owns the overlay, frame, close control, dimensions, triggers, targeting, cookies, and available reporting.

Review the Visual Composer popup integration details if you want a concise compatibility overview before starting.

Step 1: Create and Save the Popup

In the WordPress dashboard, go to Popup Maker → Create Popup. Enter a descriptive internal name that explains the campaign, such as “Homepage newsletter offer.” Save the popup before opening the visual builder so WordPress has a stable document for the builder to edit.

Leave the campaign unpublished while you build. A saved draft gives you room to finish the layout, presentation, trigger, targeting, and cookie settings before visitors can encounter it.

Step 2: Open the Popup in Visual Composer Website Builder

Go to Popup Maker → Create Popup, name the campaign, and save the draft. Open it with the Visual Composer frontend editor. If that option is missing, open the Visual Composer Role Manager, confirm the popup post type is enabled for your role, and then reload the popup editor.

Step 3: Build the Visual Composer Popup Content

Add a row or content block, then place only the elements required for the campaign. Visual Composer’s frontend interface lets you edit rows, columns, and individual elements in context. Keep the layout compact, avoid page-sized minimum heights, and save with the editor’s checkmark when the content is ready.

A Simple Popup Content Formula

• Headline: state the offer or outcome in one clear sentence.
• Supporting copy: explain the value or next step without turning the popup into a full page.
• Primary action: use one obvious button or form submission.
• Trust detail: add only the reassurance needed to complete the action.

Responsive Design Tips

• Confirm you are using Visual Composer Website Builder before following the editor steps.
• Enable the popup post type only for the roles that should maintain campaigns.
• Use the tree view when nested rows and columns are difficult to select in a compact canvas.
• Test every Hub element or third-party integration on the frontend after the popup opens.

Step 4: Configure the Popup Maker Frame

Save the builder design and return to the Popup Maker editor. Choose a popup theme, then set the container size and position around the content you built. The theme controls the overlay, frame, close button, and default spacing; the builder controls the content inside that frame.

Preview the combination before adjusting lots of CSS. If the design feels crowded, simplify the content or increase the Popup Maker width. If it feels disconnected from the site, align the popup theme with the builder typography, colors, border radius, and spacing.

Step 5: Add a Trigger, Targeting, and Cookies

Return to Popup Maker to choose the opening trigger, targeting conditions, and cookie behavior. Use Popup Maker for this delivery layer even if Visual Composer Premium also exposes a separate popup feature; combining both systems on one campaign can create duplicate overlays or competing rules.

• Popup triggers decide what opens the popup.
• Popup targeting decides which pages or visitors are eligible.
• Popup cookies decide when an eligible visitor should stop seeing it.

Treat those as separate decisions. A trigger does not replace targeting, and a targeting rule does not open the popup by itself. Add only the cookie behavior that matches the campaign goal; otherwise you can accidentally suppress a campaign before a visitor completes the intended action.

Step 6: Test the Complete Campaign

Preview the popup from a normal frontend page, then test again in a private or logged-out browser window. That catches permission, caching, targeting, and cookie behavior that an administrator session can hide.

• Open the popup with every configured trigger.
• Confirm the overlay and close controls work with mouse, touch, and keyboard.
• Submit the form or follow the primary button and verify the intended result.
• Check desktop and narrow mobile widths without horizontal scrolling.
• Confirm excluded pages and visitors do not receive the campaign.
• Repeat the test after the configured cookie is created.

Troubleshooting

• The frontend editor is unavailable: check Visual Composer Role Manager access for your role and the popup post type.
• The content is clipped: remove fixed heights, reduce row padding, and compare element widths with the Popup Maker container.
• Two popup systems fire: disable the Visual Composer popup trigger for this campaign and let Popup Maker own delivery.

When isolating a problem, first save both editors, test while logged out, and temporarily simplify the popup to one text element and one button. Add complex elements back one at a time until the conflicting setting or script is clear.

Create Your First Visual Composer Popup

Start with one focused campaign, build the content in your preferred editor, and let Popup Maker handle its delivery. Get Popup Maker free or review the official builder documentation for deeper help with the editor itself.