WordPress has evolved from being just a simple blogging application to a tool that is now being used to create all kinds of web sites.
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 simplest and easiest to use WYSIWYG content builder for WordPress websites.
Drag & Drop Content Editors For WordPress
The WordPress Editor – Is There An Easier Option To Create Beautiful-Looking Content Layouts In WordPress?
Using the default WordPress WYSIWYG editor to create or edit sophisticated website pages can sometimes be difficult, especially for non-technical web site owners.
(The WordPress visual content editor is great for adding, formatting and editing “linear” text and media, but adding more complex page 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 need to insert shortcodes into your content for each of the page elements you want to display to visitors …
Typically, this is not an issue … until you choose to change the layout (for example, move part of the content from box 3 into box 2, or change the button inside a box 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, if you are creating with complex page elements, often what you see on your editor screen may not be what you get …
(“What You See” isn’t always “What You Get” … unless you can visualize code!)
In some cases, some people argue that you would probably be better off working inside the WordPress text editor tab instead of the WordPress visual editor when trying to build fancy layouts …
Even though WordPress is very user-friendly, this makes it difficult for WordPress site owners with no knowledge of HTML or CSS to have full control of their own content.
The fundamental issue of having to use HTML and shortcodes to create content with WordPress can be summarized as follows:
1) Speed – How long does it take to create a page using this 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 when working in the content editor does not look anything like what you see in the front end. This means that users have to mentally translate what the content will look like when working with complex layouts. Other solutions require taking a number of steps before you can start configuring your page layout, or endlessly going back and forth between browser tabs and performing tweaks and updates to see how your content is coming along, which can interrupt the creative process, as you wait for pages to refresh.
Many WordPress developers have tried to come up with different solutions with the goal of addressing this issue. Some of these solutions range from WordPress plugins you can install on your site that add new functionality to the editor, to themes that come with built-in features like drag and drop editing …
(WordPress “drag and drop” editors aim to make creating complex layouts easier!)
Some solutions end up combining so many complex page-building features, that users end up with complicated-looking front end editors …
Many of these editors work, but they don’t address the fundamental issue of using HTML and shortcodes as described earlier. Adding and editing sophisticated content elements 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 to create or edit complex layouts quickly, this can become quite frustrating after a while.
Ask yourself this …
If there were no technical constraints, how would you like your web content builder to work?
Now, imagine the following …
- You look at your content and if you see something that needs fixing, simply click on the content and start typing. Your content is instantly edited.
- You just drag and drop items around the page, and see them exactly as they will appear on the front end without having to mentally translate shortcodes or HTML.
- You have an idea for some content that you’d like to create, so you immediately begin typing, and your page gets built as you go, with no delays, no switching tabs, and no waiting for new web pages to reload.
Would this not be the perfect way to build content for your WordPress web site? Just click-to-edit and drag and drop elements around the pages and posts?
(Imagine being able to create complex web page layouts ”on the fly” for your web content with no 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 Plugin – The Ultimate Drag And Drop Front End Content Builder For WordPress Web Sites
Plugin Description
Thrive Content Builder is a truly intuitive click-to-edit drag and drop content and page creation plugin for WordPress.
The Thrive Content Builder plugin is a new and exciting way to speed up the process of adding great content to your WordPress website.
Once installed, Thrive Content Builder adds a visual content editor and an item menu that lets you click, then drag and drop elements to your web page …
(Thrive Content Builder adds a new visual content editor to WordPress)
The Thrive Content And Landing Page 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 take an in-depth look at all of the above plugins and how these features work together to help you transform and improve your web presence and create amazing marketing pages and content.
Thrive Content Builder – WordPress Plugin
You can easily build complex web page design layouts using drag and drop elements …
Everything on your page can be created by dragging and dropping things around the page and then clicking to edit them …
Once you have positioned your elements on a page, you can then customize or edit these without going through additional steps or switching tabs …
You can also build stunning landing pages and easily edit these …
Thrive Content 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 plugin installed is so amazingly simple, that the developers guarantee that you’ll never look at the process of creating and adding content the same way once you start using it
For more details about the plugin go here: Thrive Content Builder
Thrive Content Builder and Thrive Landing Pages were created by the same team that developed Thrive Leads, another fantastic plugin for WordPress we’ve previously written about on this site.
Go here to read more about the plugin:
Plugin Benefits
Below are just some of the many benefits of using Thrive Content Builder to speed up content creation:
Ready To Go To Work In Minutes
Thrive Content Builder installs just like any regular WP plugin. Simply upload a zip file containing the plugin files to your Plugins folder via your WP dashboard and activate.
Real-Time Content Building & Editing
Thrive Content Builder is is not only really simple to use, it also lets you create, edit and add content right inside your web pages in real-time.
A Truly Visual Content Editor
With Thrive Content Builder installed, what you see as you work within the editor – typefaces, elements, layouts, etc. is exactly what you get in the front end of your site.
Some additional benefits include the following:
- Stunning Web Page Layouts With Drag And Drop Ease: Create any kind of layout you can imagine with drag-and-drop ease.
- Design Elements Included: With the Thrive Content Builder plugin you not only get a click-to-edit WordPress content editor, but the plugin also includes a jaw-dropping collection of web design elements that you can customizable and insert into your web pages without using shortcodes, such as flat design elements, text boxes, section dividers, responsive Google map embeds, etc.
- Distraction-Free Content Creation: Not having to deal with technical stuff for the updated content to load frees up your attention and allows you to build the web pages your business needs, quickly and without having to mess with code or click through multiple layers of menus to get what you need done.
(Insert, edit and customize page elements like testimonial boxes, flat design elements, star ratings for review pages, buttons, responsive Google maps, etc.)
Features
Thrive Content Builder provides many features to WordPress users. Here are just some:
- Built-In WordPress Content Functionality Is Preserved: You have all of the regular WordPress content editing options that you are used to (e.g. underline, paragraph centering, font styles, etc.),
- Drag And Drop Elements Menu: The plugin adds a “drag and drop” list of elements to your post or page screen for creating or editing content.
- Conversion-Boosting Elements: The plugin provides you with various eye-catching and customizable elements that will help you increase the effectiveness of your sales pages, including buttons and call-to-action elements, testimonials, and guarantees. In addition to customization options, multiple design options are also available for various elements.
- Responsive Design: Add mobile-friendly elements like columns, text boxes, content dividers, e.g. which will display correctly on different-sized screens.
- Add Animation Events To Your Pages: The plugin’s Event Manager feature lets you insert animated page content, trigger lightboxes and more!
(Add Animated Elements To Your Pages)
Thrive Landing Pages Plugin – Landing Page Templates
Landing page sets are 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 conversion-optimized page templates)
Thrive Landing Pages Plugin – Benefits
- Everything is hosted on your own WordPress site
- Save time designing attractive-looking pages
- 100% conversion-optimized web pages
- No web coding skills required
- Works with any theme
Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder not only can be used to create beautiful-looking 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 30 templates available, with more templates being worked on. In addition to the available templates, the developers plan to release new web page templates for email lead generation, sales pages, lesson pages, personal branding pages, webinar pages and more.
Completely Customizable And Flexible Landing Page Template Sets
Typically, in order to fully customize a landing page template, you would need to either pay a web designer to do the work, or learn how to code web pages and figure out what to do 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 mess around with code or use 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 stunning pre-designed web pages that are fully optimized and ready to go, and complete design freedom that allows you to change or edit any aspect of your page template …
With the landing page template sets included with this plugin, you can:
- Change text in all bullet points, headlines, buttons, etc.
- Delete text, images or any other component of your landing page
- Replace the background image and background colours
- Change the color of text, links, buttons, etc.
- Use your own fonts
- Use your own images and graphics
- Modify the size of the content area
- Change the order of elements on your page
- Translate pages into different languages
- Add custom content anywhere in the pages
- Use pre-designed, customized pages, or create your own web pages from scratch and save them as new page templates.
(Change and edit any element of the page template)
Thrive Lightbox – Transform Your Site Into A Marketing Machine
The Thrive plugin package includes the Thrive Lightbox plugin, which lets you add fully editable 2-step opt-in forms and events to your site …
(Add lead capture forms and animated objects to your pages with Thrive Lightbox)
Two-Step Opt-in Forms
A two-step opt-in process helps improve your conversion rates. Visitors click on a button or image, and then they are presented with your opt-in form …
(Capture more leads and subscribers with a 2-step opt-in process)
Thrive Lightbox Event Manager
An “event” consists of a trigger and an action. You can make an opt-in form appear when your visitor clicks or hovers their mouse over a button or an image, or when someone scrolls down to a certain point on the page. You can also use the Event Manager to animate images on your page, using various animation effects (e.g. zoom in, slide in from left to right, rotate, etc.
(Set up and manage events on your web pages 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.
User Feedback
Below are some of the testimonials and comments that plugin customers 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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“I’m blown away by the plugin. Keep up the incredible, WordPress changing work, guys! Dean Phillips”
Thrive Content Builder – 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 on pages or posts that were not created with the plugin installed.
You can add shortcodes inside the Content Builder or Landing Pages plugin and they will display correctly when published.
Thrive Lightbox works with any content you build using Thrive Content Builder.
Plugin Support
Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder provides free updates, new landing pages and upcoming features. The plugin developers are constantly working on adding new features and improving existing ones.
Thrive products are really well-supported, and users get lifetime updates, and one year unlimited support with their purchase, backed by a risk-free, thirty day, full refund guarantee.
This is an exciting product that will just keep getting better.
Plugin 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 Edition – This enables you to configure the plugin on one web site only. Price includes full feature set, unlimited updates and one year of unlimited support. Price = $59.00.
- Unlimited Sites License – This lets you install the plugin on all of your personal websites. Pricing includes full feature set, unlimited updates and 1 year of unlimited support. Cost = $87.00.
- Agency License – This allows you to run the plugin on all of your own websites and any client websites. Price includes access to Thrive Content Builder, plus all Thrive Themes & Thrive Plugins. Cost = $247.00 per year.
Note: The cost to purchase the product depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. The above reflects the current price at the time this review was published. This may or may not be the actual pricing set by the plugin author when you visit the product website and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after your purchase.
Check the plugin’s website for current pricing details:
Additional Plugin 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 beautiful, conversion-optimized templates that help speed up the page design and content creation process, and on the other hand, you have complete control over the design process and the ability to edit and customize anything and everything on your page, using the plugin’s visual content editor, which lets you see exactly how the content you are working on will appear when published.
For a demo video of the plugin, including installation instructions and tutorials, FAQs, support helpdesk, contact details and more, visit the Thrive plugins website.
In Conclusion …
If you want to edit something, just click on the element and start editing. If you want to change something, you’ll see the change happen instantly. If you want to move something, all you need to do is simply drag it and drop it into its new location. There are no extra steps involved.
If you want to transform and improve your website and create awesome marketing pages, streamlined landing pages and engaging content, Thrive Content Builder delivers an incredible conversion-boosting package with a single, inexpensive plugin.
To learn more, check out the plugin here:
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