Manual editing in Aida AI Website Builder
Aida AI Website Builder offers two ways to edit your site: conversational AI editing, where you describe changes via chat and let Aida do the work or manual editing, where you directly adjust elements like text, images, and buttons.
Understanding your site's structure makes editing easier - elements are either standalone (independent, edited freely with no AI usage) or complex (part of a larger block, like an FAQ list or gallery, where editing one part affects the whole). Because complex elements need their code "cleaned up" to stay intact, editing them consumes a small amount of AI usage - even in manual mode. Knowing this distinction helps you manage your AI usage and edit your site more efficiently.
Below, we'll walk through the difference in more detail and show you how to start editing manually.
Note: Want an introduction to Aida AI Website Builder first? Take a look at our Aida AI Website Builder FAQ.
- Ways to edit in Aida AI Website Builder
- What are standalone and complex elements?
- Why is it important to know this distinction?
- How to manually edit an element
Ways to edit in Aida AI Website Builder
There are two ways to edit your site In Aida AI Website Builder:
- Manual editing (direct) - You interact directly with an element on your site: double-click text to change it, use the toolbar to change its properties, upload or replace an image directly.
- AI editing (conversational) - You ask Aida to make a change via the chat, and Aida edits your site. This goes towards your AI usage.
In order to understand how manual edits work on your site, it's important to know that it's divided into standalone and complex elements.
What are standalone and complex elements?
A standalone element is a single, independent element - like one text element, image, or button - placed on its own. You can edit it directly since it is not tied to any larger block on the site and changes won't affect anything around it.
Complex elements are part of a larger generated block, where several items are tied together in your site's code. The most common example is what we call a looped block - like a gallery, FAQ list, or grid of cards - where the same layout repeats itself many times. Editing one item directly could break the whole loop, so it's important that they're edited as a whole.
Here's an overview of the differences:
| Element | Standalone | Complex |
| Text | A single heading or paragraph on its own | Questions and answer text inside an FAQ section |
| Image | A header or section image on its own | An image inside a gallery |
| Button | A single button that is not part of anything else | A button that's part of larger grid |
Note: Product and services cards in an Online Shop or on a booking page are not complex elements. They can be edited as simple, standalone elements.
Why is it important to know this distinction?
You can edit both standalone and complex elements (or parts of complex elements) manually. However, editing complex elements uses a small amount of your available AI usage.
Complex elements are made up of several interconnected parts. When you edit one part manually, Aida updates the underlying code of the entire element to ensure everything continues to work together and your website's design stays intact. Because of this, editing a complex element requires a small amount of AI usage.
If you reach your monthly AI usage limit, you won't be able to manually edit complex elements until your AI usage resets. Standalone elements don't require any AI usage, so you can continue editing those at any time.
How to manually edit an element
- Enter manual editing mode by clicking Manual edit at the bottom of the chat window or clicking the pencil icon in the toolbar on the right.
- Click on the element you want to edit. A toolbar will appear above it with different options for editing the element, depending on what it is.
You can find more detailed descriptions on how to edit different elements - such as text and images - in our guide on how to use Aida AI Website Builder.
Related articles: