WordPress has evolved from being just a simple blogging tool into a tool that is now being used to create all kinds of web sites.
Whatever you can imagine, someone is probably already building it using WordPress!
In this article you will discover the simplest and easiest to use visual content editor for WordPress sites.
Drag & Drop Content Editors For WordPress
Does The Default WordPress Visual Content Editor Still Meet All Of Your Web Design Needs?
Using the WordPress WYSIWYG content editor to create or edit sophisticated layouts can be quite challenging for non-technical web site owners.
(The built-in WordPress content editor is great for adding, formatting and editing conventional content, but adding complex layouts can be challenging!)
For example, if you look at the illustration below …
To create the above layout, users would need to insert shortcodes into the content for every single page element they want to display on the web page …
Normally, this is not really an issue … until you have to change the layout (for example, move part of the content from box 3 into box 2, or replace the background color inside a box from red to orange. Then, you’re stuck having to mess around with page code or html.
The WordPress visual content editor is supposed to give users an easy-to-use WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) content editor, but as you can see, if you are trying to edit complex layouts, what you see on your editor screen may not be the same as what you get …
(“What You See” isn’t always “What You Get” … unless you can visualize code!)
In some situations, users would probably be better off working directly inside the WordPress html (text) editor tab instead of the WYSIWYG editor when trying to build non-linear page elements …
Even though WordPress is the most user-friendly CMS platform available, this makes it difficult for users without coding skills to fully manage their own content.
The fundamental challenge with using shortcodes and HTML to create content in the default WordPress WYSIWYG editor can be summarized as follows:
1) Speed – How long does it take to build a web page using the editor?
2) Abstraction – How closely does the content in the ”back end” match the “front end” content when you are creating or editing a page?
As you can see from the above image, what you see when working in the back end does not look anything like what you see in the front end. This means that you have to translate mentally what the content will look like when working with sophisticated layouts. Other solutions require taking multiple steps before you can start configuring your page layout, or endlessly switching browser tabs and performing tweaks and updates to see how your content is progressing, which interrupts the creative process, as you wait for your new content to refresh.
Many WordPress developers have come up with a range of solutions with the aim of addressing this issue. Some of these range from stand alone plugins you can install on your site that add new functionality to the editor, to themes that provide built-in features like drag and drop editing …
(WordPress “drag and drop” editors aim to make creating complex page layouts easier!)
Some solutions require so many complex page design features, that users need to learn how to work with complicated-looking front end content editors …
Many of these editors work, but they fail to address the fundamental issue of using shortcodes and HTML as described earlier. Adding and editing non-linear content on a web page becomes overly complicated, involves multiple steps and doesn’t match what users expect to see on the “front end.”
If you want to create or edit complex page layouts quickly, this can become quite frustrating after a while.
Ask yourself this …
If there were no technical constraints, how would you like to build and edit your web content?
Now that you’ve asked this question, visualize the following scenario …
- You look at your content and if you spot something that needs to be changed, just click on the content and start writing. Your content is then instantly changed.
- You can just drag and drop items on the page, and the page looks exactly as it will display on the front end without having to mentally abstract from shortcodes or HTML.
- You have an idea for a specific piece of content you’d like to create, so you immediately start typing, and you build your web page on the fly, without delays, with no switching of tab browsers, and without having to wait for edits to refresh.
Would this not be the perfect way to create content for your WordPress site? Just click-to-edit and drag and drop elements around the page?
(Imagine being able to create complex page layouts ”on the fly” for your web content without technical constraints!)
If you are ready to change the way you create content in WordPress site, then here is a plugin that you may want to consider using …
Thrive Content Builder And Landing Pages – Click-To-Edit Drag & Drop Content Builder For WordPress
Plugin Description
Thrive Content Builder is a ground-breaking plugin for WordPress that allows website owners to easily add beautiful content to their posts and pages with true click-to-edit and drag and drop simplicity.
Thrive Content Builder provides WordPress users with a new and incredibly easy way to set up conversion-focused pages on any WordPress site.
Once installed, Thrive Content Builder adds a visual content editor and an item menu that lets you click, then drag and drop elements on your page …
(Thrive Content Builder adds a new content editor to your WordPress site)
The Thrive Landing Pages And Content Builder plugin is actually a combination of the Thrive Content Builder and Thrive Landing Pages plugins combined into one, plus an additional plugin feature called Thrive Lightbox.
We’ll address each of the above plugins and how all of this exciting functionality works together to help you easily transform and improve your website and create amazing marketing pages and content.
Thrive Content Builder
With this plugin installed easily add content to your web pages using drag and drop elements …
Every element on your page can be configured by dragging and dropping things around the page and then clicking to edit them …
Once you have placed your elements on a page, you can then continue to customize them without having to go through multiple steps or switching tabs …
The built-in Landing Pages editor also lets you work inside beautiful landing pages that can just as easily be edited or customized …
Thrive Content and Landing Page Builder is simple, easy to use, and ideal for all WordPress users at all levels. In fact, designing pages and working on content with the Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder plugin installed is so effortlessly easy, that the developers guarantee that you will never look at creating and adding content the same way once you start using it
Learn more about this plugin here: Thrive Content Builder
The integrated Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder plugin was created by the same team that developed Thrive Leads, another excellent plugin for WordPress we’ve previously recommended on this site.
For more information about this plugin, see this post:
Benefits
Below are just a few of the benefits and advantages of using Thrive Content Builder to speed up the process of designing pages and creating content for your site:
Ready To Go To Work In Minutes
Thrive Content Builder installs just like any WP plugin. Just upload a zip folder containing the plugin to your Plugin folder via your admin login and activate.
Build And Edit Content In Real Time
Thrive Content Builder is is not only really simple and intuitive to use, it also lets you create content in real-time.
What You See Is Exactly What You Get
With Thrive Content Builder installed, what you see as you work within the content editor – typefaces, elements, layouts, etc. is exactly what you get on the front end of your site.
Additional benefits include:
- Attractive Page Layouts With Drag-And-Drop Ease: Create any type of layout you can imagine with drag and drop ease.
- Add Design Elements With No Shortcodes Involved: With Thrive Content Builder you not only get a drag and drop content editor, but the plugin also includes a jaw-dropping collection of professional design elements that you can customizable and add to your content layouts without using shortcodes, like tabbed content, styled lists, section dividers, countdown timers, etc.
- Ideal For Non-Technical Users: Not having to wait for the content to reload frees up your attention and allows you to be more focused while you build content or click through multiple steps to get what you need done.
(Add, edit and customize page elements like testimonials, pricing tables, star ratings for review pages, page section dividers, responsive maps, etc.)
Features
Thrive Content Builder provides web site owners a number of powerful features. Below we have listed just some:
- Regular Content Editor Functionality Is Still Available: You have access to all of the regular WordPress editing options that you are used to (e.g. bold, paragraph centering, headings, etc.),
- Drag And Drop Multi-Style Elements: The plugin makes a “drag and drop” table of multi-style elements available on your post or page screen for creating or editing content.
- Conversion-Boosting Elements: The plugin includes a range of attention-grabbing and customizable elements that will help increase the effectiveness of your sales pages, including buttons and call-to-action elements, testimonial boxes, and guarantee forms. In addition to customization options, multiple design options are also available for various elements.
- Responsive Element Design: Add responsive columns, guarantee boxes, content dividers, e.g. which will adjust to display correctly on different device screens.
- Add Animation Events To Web Pages: The plugin’s Event Manager feature lets you add animated page content, trigger lightboxes and more!
(Add Animated Elements To Your Web Pages)
Thrive Landing Pages – Landing Page Sets
Landing page template sets are templates that work together logically and use the same conversion-optimized design language to take your visitors all the way from signup to purchase, product download and more.
(Thrive Landing Pages gives you access to conversion-optimized page templates)
Thrive Landing Pages Plugin – Benefits
- Everything is hosted on your own WordPress site
- Save time designing pages
- 100% conversion-optimized landing page templates
- No web coding skills required
- Works with any WordPress theme
Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder not only lets you create beautiful content in your WordPress posts and pages, but you can also choose from dozens of professionally designed, web page templates that are conversion-optimized and fully customizable …
(Landing page sets that work together logically and use the same conversion-optimized design language)
There are over thirty templates available, with more templates being worked on. In addition to the existing templates, expect to see new templates in the future for email lead generation, sales pages, course pages, personal branding pages, webinar pages and more.
Customizable Landing Page Template
Typically, in order to fully customize landing page templates, you would need to either pay a web site designer to do the work, or learn web coding languages like HTML and CSS and figure out how to edit the page code yourself.
As Shane Melaugh, co-founder of Thrive Themes says …
“There are many ways to get a pre-designed page published quickly, but the problem comes with customization. Total design freedom requires either hiring web developers to do the work for you, or learn how to do it yourself, which involves learning how to code or use overly complicated editors. Customizable usually means complicated, expensive or time-consuming. So, you can either have something that is fast and easy to set up, or something that is customizable and flexible. But you couldn’t have both … until now! With Thrive Landing Pages you get the best of both worlds for building conversion-optimized web pages.”
Thrive Landing Pages gives you attractive pre-designed web page templates that are fully optimized and ready to go, and complete design freedom that allows you to change and edit any element of your page template …
With the landing page templates included with this plugin, you are able to:
- Change text in any bullet point, button, headline, etc.
- Remove text, images or any other part of the landing page
- Replace all background images and edit colour
- Change the color of text, links, buttons, etc.
- Use your own fonts
- Select your own images and graphics
- Modify content area size
- Rearrange the order of page elements
- Translate everything on the page into a different language
- Add custom content anywhere inside the pages
- Start with a blank page and create your own templates, or even build your own library of custom landing page templates.
(Change or edit anything on your page)
Thrive Lightbox Plugin – Transform Your Website Into A Marketing Machine
The Thrive plugin package also includes the Thrive Lightbox plugin, which lets you add fully editable two-step opt-in forms and animated objects to your web site …
(Add lead capture forms and animated objects to your WordPress site with the Thrive Lightbox plugin)
2-Step Opt-in Forms
A 2-step opt-in process can help improve your conversion rates. When visitors click on an image or button they are presented with your opt-in form …
(Opt-in forms can improve your conversion rates.)
Thrive Lightbox Event Manager
An “event” consists of a trigger and an action. You can make opt-in forms appear when your visitor clicks or hovers their mouse over a button or graphic elements, or when someone scrolls down to a certain point on the page. You can also use the Event Manager to animate images on your web pages, using various effects (e.g. fade out, slide in from left to right, rotate, etc.
(Set up and manage events on your web pages with Thrive Lightbox)
A lightbox and event is created automatically for your landing pages, but you also have complete control over your events, triggers and design.
Testimonials
Here are a few of the testimonials users have provided for the Thrive Content Builder plugin:
“I have had nothing but the best experience imaginable with this tool since I purchased it. This is by far one of, if not the best plug-in I have purchase to date and it has definitely made working with WordPress a whole new experience. Jim Bond”
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“I’m blown away by the plugin. Keep up the incredible, WordPress changing work, guys! Dean Phillips”
Useful Tips
Thrive Content Builder works with any WordPress theme, not just with the Thrive Landing Pages plugin. Note, however, that you cannot use Thrive Content Builder to edit content that was not created using the plugin.
You can add WordPress shortcodes inside Thrive Content Builder or Thrive Landing Pages and they will be displayed correctly on your website.
Thrive Lightbox works with any content built with Thrive Content Builder.
Support
Thrive Content and Landing Page Builder Plugin comes with free updates, new landing pages and upcoming features. The Thrive team is constantly working on adding new features and improving existing ones.
Thrive software is really well-supported, and users get lifetime software upgrades, and one year unlimited support with their purchase, backed by a no-risk, thirty day, full money-back guarantee.
This is an exciting product that will just keep getting better.
Product Price
At the time of writing, the pricing information shown below includes all three components described above (Thrive Content Builder, Thrive Landing Pages & Thrive Lightbox):
- Single Site Licensing – This option lets you use the plugin on one website only. It includes full feature set, unlimited updates and one year of unlimited support. Cost = $59.00.
- Unlimited Sites Licensing – This enables you to use the plugin on all of your personal sites. Includes full feature set, unlimited updates and 1 year of unlimited support. Price = $87.00.
- Agency Licensing – Use on all your sites and on all your client sites. Pricing includes access to Thrive Content Builder, plus all Thrive Themes & Thrive Plugins. Price = $247.00 per year.
Note: The cost to purchase this product can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. The above reflects the pricing at the time this review was written. This may not be the actual price set by the plugin seller when you visit the plugin site and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after purchasing.
Check the plugin’s website for current pricing details:
Additional Info
The developers of the Thrive Content Builder and Landing Pages plugin repeatedly assert that the plugin’s architecture gives you the “best of both worlds,” and help bring back the “joy of creating content.”
On the one hand, you have the time-saving benefits of ready-made web page elements and beautiful, conversion-optimized templates that help to speed up page design and content creation, and on the other hand, you also have 100% control over your design process and the ability to change and customize everything on your web page, using the plugin’s click-to-edit and drag and drop features, which lets you see exactly how the content you are working on will look after publishing.
For a demo video of the plugin, including help documentation and tutorials, FAQs, support helpdesk, contact details and more, visit the Thrive website.
Install This Plugin …
If you want to edit something, simply click on the element and start editing. If you want to change something, you can see the change happen immediately. If you want to move something, you drag it and drop it into its new location. There are no additional steps involved.
If you want to transform and improve your website and create amazing marketing pages, streamlined landing pages and engaging content, Thrive Content and Landing Page Builder delivers an incredible conversion-boosting package with a single, inexpensive plugin.
To learn more, visit the plugin website here:
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