Support

The answers you got are idiotic which is par for the course for the sewer that's the WordPress Plugin Directory.

We explicitly asked that Akeeba Backup be removed from the directory for the following reasons:

1. The only way to publish a plugin to the directory is using the old, slow, and problematic Subversion (SVN) versioning software. The entire world has moved to Git some 14 years ago... except WordPress. Subversion always performs operations directly on the centralised server, it is prone to merge conflicts and messes up files without a warning. Since they are idiotically using the subpar Subversion to magically create releases it was impossible for us to do any kind of pre-release quality control, leading to one every three releases being broken because of Subversion messing up our files. We consider it unacceptable that an enforced use of subpar tooling reflect badly on our software development proficiency.
2. The directory DEMANDS that all software published in it offer free support through it. We had been very upfront that we do not do free support due to the very technical nature of the product and the need to have access to privileged information which cannot of course be published on a public forum. The directory officials considered it fair that we'd get downrated for their inability to provide a helpdesk suitable for providing the support they were forcing us to provide.
3. The directory considers obviously fake bad reviews to be "the subjective user's experience" and not be removed (unless, of course, the software is written by Automattic, see Gutenberg and the directory officials unashamedly removing any negative review and banning the user!). The straw that broke the proverbial camel's back was a blatantly fake review which claimed that the person had contacted us and we demanded that he pay 50 British Pounds to give him access to the software to restore his site. First of all, Akeeba Backup already informed the users that restoring a backup is free and easy by using the free of charge Kickstart Core, with a link to its download! Second, at that time (2015) not only we were only charging in Euros as we've been doing since this company existed, but the price for Akeeba Backup Professional for WordPress which would give you access to Kickstart Professional (that the reviewer did not need) was 40 Euros which translated to 28 British Pounds. We reported that to the Directory and we got the asinine reply that it's the user's subjective experience and the review stands. Last I checked, if I go to a grocery store I cannot tell the cashier "my subjective client experience is that you are giving food away for free so I am choosing not to pay", I'll be arrested for theft. Likewise, if I publish an article where I claim that a free offer costs money I will be sued for libel. Not in the idiotic Directory; it's a land of no laws. That's why I asked for our software to be unlisted.

So now the same people who demand developers to provide free work using subpar tools and endure blatantly fake reviews which accuse them of things they have never done have the gall to talk about red flags?! Maybe they should take a hard, cold look at their crappy software, Soviet-style Directory and dysfunctional community first.

Now, let's get to the technical support part of your issue.

We have plenty of users using Elementor and I have used it myself in some of the sites I used for testing without observing any problems. I will work with your backup and let you know what I find. I am scrubbing the URL to the backup since this is a public ticket.

Now I can tell you that the problem is not with Akeeba Backup, it is with Elementor, as I suspected. Namely, the way it handles images in its "effects layer".

First of all, Elementor requires a per-domain license to use. When you are restoring to a different site the license is invalid. That could be the reason why you think that Elementor itself is broken upon restoration. I did not see anything like that BUT I also only know what the free of charge Elementor looks like as I've never bought their paid version.

Anyway, this is not the real problem here. The real problem is that for each article Elementor creates CSS files with hardcoded full URLs under the folder wp-content/uploads/elementor/css. Full URLs seem to only be used if you put an image in its effects layer. Inline article images have their URLs stored in the database where they are of course replaced by Akeeba Backup — something that many backup plugins fail to do correctly.

No backup software replaces hardcoded URLs in arbitrary files. Not Akeeba Backup, not Updraft Plus, not XCloner, not any other backup or data replacement plugin which currently exists for WordPress. The people who told you that it's Akeeba Backup's problem and other backup products would work have absolutely no idea whatsoever what they are talking about. They just need to be hit with a libel lawsuit to maybe learn to think twice before making false assertions about a paid product in a public forum.

As I said, the URLs in database data ARE replaced by Akeeba Backup... but they are not used by Elementor for images in the effects layer. I actually had to replace the hardcoded URLs in the files under wp-content/uploads/elementor/css. When I did that then in fact Elementor DOES indeed see the correct background image in its editor area on my locally restored site — a site otherwise restored using the default options. You can see that in my attached image. No need to re upload any images, they all work fine.

The only solution I can imagine is adding explicit support for Elementor's CSS files, replacing any hardcoded URLs in there. This is something which we will add in an upcoming version of Akeeba Backup. Why not? It's a popular enough plugin to warrant a special exception. An exception that other backup plugins won't even consider.

The WordPress community is… weird. You know how you go to a Joomla event and people you have never met welcome you like an old friend? It’s the exact opposite with WordPress. I’ve sponsored events and I was still treated like I didn’t belong there. Um, okay, I guess that’s one way to make friends… not? :D

Anyway, check the CSS files I told you. I see that before the site you backed up from you were using another site and its URL is still in those CSS files. In case you were wondering why you’re missing an image :)