How do you know when to use the Posts widget and when to use the Archive Posts widget?
Although similar in that both widgets produce a list or grid layout of posts, the Archive Posts Widget (Pro) and the Posts Widget (Pro) are not interchangeable.
When and Where To Use Each Widget
The Archive Posts widget should only be used on Archive templates, which are created in Templates > Theme Builder > Archive. If you attempt to use it on a normal page or post, it will only display the current post.The Posts Widget is meant to be used on any Single page or post where you would like to display a group of posts.
Which Posts Will Be Displayed?
The Archive Posts widget does not include a query control function, so you have no control over which posts are shown within the widget itself. All posts that satisfy the Display Conditions of the Archive Template will be shown in this widget.The Posts widget includes a robust method of controlling which posts to show in the grid display, using its query control function.
Why Doesn』t The Excerpt Length Work Consistently in Archive Posts widgets or Posts widgets?
When Elementor displays a post, if it has no excerpt, Elementor automatically generates an excerpt from the post』s content. Both the Archive Posts widget and the Posts widget includes an Excerpt Length option to allow you to control the length of this auto-generated excerpt. In both, however, the excerpt length only applies to posts in which no manual excerpt has been entered. The length specified in the Elementor widget is ignored if a manually-generated excerpt exists for a post.