WordPress has evolved from being just a simple blogging tool into a tool that is now being used to design all types of web pages – direct sales pages, portfolio pages, local business pages, etc.
Whatever you can think of, somewhere around the world someone is bound to be already building it using WordPress!
This article will help you discover the fastest way to build stunning web page layouts in WordPress.
Drag & Drop Content Editors For WordPress
The WordPress Visual Content Editor – Is There An Easier Tool To Design Pages In WordPress?
Using the default WordPress WYSIWYG editor to create or edit complex web pages can sometimes be challenging.
(The WordPress editor is great for adding, formatting and editing “linear” content, but adding complex content elements can be quite challenging!)
For example, let’s say you want to create something like the layout shown below …
To create the above boxes with text and buttons, you would have to insert short codes into the content for each element you want to display to visitors …
Normally, this is not really an issue … unless you have to change the layout (for example, move part of the content from box 1 into box 2, or change the background colour in box 3 from dark green to orange. Then, you’re stuck having to mess around with code.
The WordPress visual content editor is supposed to be an easy-to-use WYSIWYG editor, but as you can see, when working with more complex content elements, often what you see in the visual editor is not exactly what you get …
(“What You See” isn’t always “What You Get” … unless you can visualize code!)
In some cases, you would probably be better off working with the html source itself instead of the visual editor when trying to create non-linear layouts …
Even though WordPress is extremely easy to use, this makes it difficult for WordPress site owners without knowledge of HTML or CSS to fully manage their own content.
The fundamental challenge of using HTML and shortcodes to create content in the default WordPress visual editor can be summarized by asking two questions:
1) Speed – How long will it take to build a web page using the editor?
2) Abstraction – How closely does the content in the editor resemble the “front end” content when you are creating or editing a page?
As you can see from the above, what you see in the back end doesn’t look even remotely similar to what you see in the front end. This means that users have to abstract what the content will look like when working with sophisticated layouts. Other solutions require taking several steps before you can start configuring your page layout, or endlessly switching browser tabs and performing updates to see how your content is coming along, which interrupts the creative process, as you wait for your page to load.
Many WordPress web developers have come up with a range of solutions aiming to address this issue. Some of these alternative solutions range from plugins you can add to your site that add new functionality to the editor, to themes that include built-in features like drag and drop editing …
(WordPress “drag and drop” editors aim to make content creation easier!)
Some solutions end up requiring so many page design features, that users need to learn how to work with complicated-looking front end content editors …
Many of these solutions work, but they still fail to address the fundamental issue of using HTML and shortcodes as described earlier. Creating and adding non-linear content on a page becomes overly complicated, involves multiple steps and doesn’t match what users expect to see on the “front end.”
If you want your web content to look “just right” quickly, this can start to become very frustrating.
Ask yourself this …
If there were no technical constraints, how would you like to build and edit your pages?
Now, visualize the following scenario …
- You look at your content and if you see something that needs to be changed, just click on the content and start writing. Your content has been instantly edited.
- You can drag and drop items around the page, and the page looks exactly as it will display on the front end without having to mentally translate shortcodes or HTML.
- You have an idea for some content that you would like to create, so you immediately start typing, and you build your web page as you go, with no delays, no switching of tab browsers, and without having to wait for edits to refresh and reload.
Would this not be the ideal way to build content for your WordPress web site? A true WYSIWYG editor where all you have to do is click-to-edit and drag and drop elements around the posts and pages?
(Imagine being able to create complex pages quickly for your web content with no technical skills required!)
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 Plugin – The Ultimate Click-To-Edit Front End Visual Content Builder For WordPress Websites
Plugin Description
Thrive Content Builder is a truly intuitive WordPress click-to-edit drag and drop content creation tool.
The Thrive Content Builder plugin is a new and incredibly easy way to speed up the process of creating content on.
Once installed, the plugin adds a visual content editor and a sidebar menu that lets you select, then drag and drop elements on your page …
(Thrive Content Builder adds a new visual content editor to your WordPress site)
The Thrive Content Builder And Landing Pages 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.
In this article we’ll take a look at each of the above plugins and how all of this exciting functionality works together to help you transform and improve your website and create amazing marketing pages and engaging content.
Thrive Content Builder Plugin For WordPress
You can easily add complex design layouts to your web pages using drag and drop elements …
Every aspect of your page can be built, edited and repositioned by ”clicking-to-edit” and “dragging and dropping” things around the page …
Once you have placed your elements on your page, you can then further customize or edit these without having to go through multiple steps or complicated settings windows …
You can also build beautiful landing pages that can just as easily be edited or customized …
Thrive Content Builder and Landing Pages is simple, easy to use, and ideal for all WordPress users at all levels. In fact, designing web pages and working on content with the Thrive Content Builder and Landing Pages plugin installed is so amazingly easy, that the developers guarantee that you’ll 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 Content Builder and Landing Pages plugin was created by the same team that developed Thrive Leads, another amazing plugin for WordPress we’ve recommended on this site.
See this post to read more about this plugin:
Benefits Of Using Thrive Content And Page Builder
Here are just some of the many benefits and advantages of using Thrive Content Builder to speed up your page design and content creation process:
Quick Installation
Thrive Content Builder is really easy to install. Just upload the plugin file to your Plugins folder via your WP admin user account and activate.
Edit Content In Real Time
Thrive Content Builder is very simple to use and lets you create content in real-time.
A Truly Visual Editor
With Thrive Content Builder installed, what you see on the “backend” as you work within the content editor – fonts, visual elements, layouts, etc. is exactly what your visitors will see in the front end of your site.
Additional benefits of using this plugin include:
- Eye-Catching Web Page Layouts With Drag-And-Drop Ease: Create any type of layout you can imagine with intuitive drag and drop functionality.
- Add Customizable Elements With No Short Codes Required: With Thrive Content Builder you not only get a click-to-edit WordPress content editor, but the plugin also includes a jaw-dropping collection of professional web design elements that you can use on your layouts without using short codes, such as tabbed content, guarantee boxes, buttons, responsive video embeds, etc.
- Ideal For Non-Technical Users: Not having to wait for the updates to load frees up your attention and allows you to build the web pages your business needs, quickly and without having to edit code or click through multiple steps to get what you need done.
(Create, edit and customize page elements like testimonials, tabbed content, content reveal feature, call to action buttons, responsive video embeds, etc.)
Thrive Content Builder Features
Thrive Content Builder provides WP users many powerful features. Here are just some:
- All WordPress Content Functionality Is Preserved: You have access to all of the regular content editing options that you are used to (e.g. underlines, centering text, heading styles, etc.),
- Drag And Drop Elements: The plugin adds a “drag and drop” list of multi-style elements to your post or page screen for creating or editing content.
- Conversion-Boosting Elements: The plugin provides you with 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, testimonials, and guarantee forms. In addition to being customizable, various elements also offer multiple design options.
- Responsive Element Design: Add responsive columns, boxes, content dividers, e.g. which will adjust to display correctly on different device screens.
- Add Animation To Your Web Pages: Thrive Content Builder’s Event Manager feature lets you insert animation in buttons, trigger lightboxes and more!
(Add Animated Elements To Your Web Pages)
Thrive Landing Pages Plugin – Landing Page Sets
Thrive Landing Pages provides sets of templates that work together logically and use the same conversion-optimized design language to take your visitors from initial signup to purchase, product download and more.
(Thrive Landing Pages plugin gives you access to conversion-optimized web page templates)
Thrive Landing Pages – Benefits
- Hosted on your own WordPress site
- Save time creating landing pages
- 100% conversion-optimized page templates
- No technical skills required
- Works with any theme
Thrive Content Builder and Landing Pages not only lets you create beautiful-looking content in your WordPress posts and pages, but you can also choose from dozens of professionally designed, conversion optimized landing page templates and fully customizable …
(Landing page template sets that work together logically and use the same conversion-optimized design language)
There are 30+ templates available, with more templates scheduled for release. In addition to the templates that are currently available, the developers plan to release new web page templates for email lead generation, sales pages, course pages, personal branding pages, webinar pages and more.
Fully Customizable And Flexible Landing Page Template Sets
Typically, in order to fully customize landing page templates, you would need to either hire a web developer to do the work, or learn how to code web pages 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 complex 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-built pages that are fully optimized and ready to go, and complete design freedom that lets you change or edit anything on your page templates …
With the landing page template sets included with this plugin, you can do the following:
- Modify text in any headline, bullet point, button, etc.
- Remove text, images or any other part of your landing page
- Change any background images or colors
- Edit the color of buttons, links, text, etc.
- Select your own fonts
- Use your own images
- Edit content area size
- Rearrange the order of elements on your page
- Translate pages into a different language
- Add custom content anywhere inside your pages
- Start with a blank page and create your own templates, or even build a library of custom landing pages.
(Change and customize anything on your page)
Thrive Lightbox – Transform Your WordPress Site Into A Powerful Marketing Machine
The Thrive plugin package includes Thrive Lightbox, which lets you add fully customizable two-step opt-in forms and animated elements to your pages …
(Add opt-in forms and animation to your WordPress website with Thrive Lightbox)
Thrive Lighbox 2-Step Opt-in Forms
A two-step opt-in process helps to increase your conversion rates. Visitors click on an image or button, and then they are presented with your opt-in form …
(Opt-in forms can increase your conversion rates.)
Event Manager
An “event” consists of a trigger and an action. You can make an opt-in form appear when when visitors click or hover over a button or an image, or when someone reaches a certain point on the page. You can also use the Event Manager to animate images on your page, using various effects (e.g. zoom out, slide in from right to left, roll in, etc.
(Set up and manage events on your WordPress web site with Thrive Lightbox)
Lightboxes and events are created automatically for your landing pages, but you also have complete control over your events, triggers and design.
Feedback From Users
Below are just a few of the testimonials and feedback that users have written about Thrive Content Builder:
”Wow! This is just getting better & better. This plugin is making my websites look so professional. Keep up the great work and thank you for the new features. Ladonna Ragalin”
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”Your stuff is beautifully designed, fast and has great options for marketers that you just don’t see with other themes. Great, great job! Absolutely love Thrive! David Coleman”
Useful Tips
Thrive Content Builder works with any theme in WordPress, not just with the Thrive Landing Pages plugin. You cannot use Thrive Content Builder to edit content that was not created with the plugin.
You can add WordPress shortcodes inside the Content Builder or Landing Pages plugin and they will display correctly when published.
Thrive Lightbox works with any content you build with Thrive Content Builder.
Support
Thrive Content Builder and Landing Pages Plugin comes with free updates, new landing templates 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 unlimited software upgrades, plus 1 year unlimited support with their purchase, backed by a no-risk, 30 day, full money-back guarantee.
This is an exciting product for WordPress users that will just keep getting better.
Software 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 License – This lets you activate the plugin on 1 web site only. Includes full feature set, unlimited updates and one year of unlimited support. Cost = $59.00.
- Unlimited Sites License – This license allows you to configure the plugin on unlimited domains that you own. Cost includes full feature set, unlimited updates and 1 year of unlimited support. Price = $87.00.
- Agency Edition – This option allows you to run the plugin on all of your own web sites and your client websites. Includes access to Thrive Content Builder, plus all Thrive Themes & Thrive Plugins. Cost = $247.00 per year.
Note: Current pricing for the Thrive Content Builder plugin depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. The above reflects the price when this article was published. This may not be the actual pricing charged by the plugin developer when you visit the plugin website and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after purchasing.
Check the plugin’s website for the current pricing details:
Additional Information
The developers of the Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder plugin repeatedly maintain 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 time-saving features like ready-made web page elements and template sets that help to speed up content design, and on the other hand, you have 100% control over the design process and the ability to change everything on your page, using the plugin’s visual content editor, that allows you to work unhindered by overly complicated steps.
For a demo video showing how the software works, including help documentation and tutorials, FAQs, support helpdesk, contact details and more, visit the plugin website.
Install The Plugin …
If you want to edit something, you just click on the element and start editing. If you want to change something, you will see the change happen immediately. If you want to move something, all you have to do is simply drag it and drop it into its new location. There are no additional steps involved.
If you want to transform and improve your business online and create awesome sales pages and content, Thrive Content Builder delivers an incredible conversion-boosting package with a single, inexpensive plugin.
For more information, visit the plugin website here:
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