WordPress has evolved from being just a simple blogging application to a tool that is now used to create all types of websites.
Whatever you can think of, somewhere around the world someone is probably already building it using WordPress!
This article will help you learn how to create stunning content faster and design beautiful web page layouts with drag & drop ease in WordPress.
Drag And Drop Content Editors For WordPress
The WordPress Visual Content Editor – Is There An Easier Tool For Creating And Editing Content In WordPress?
With all the rapid advancements that the WordPress platform has gone through in recent years, many WordPress developers and users believe that using the WordPress editor to create or edit complex web pages can be difficult.
(The built-in WordPress WYSIWYG editor is great for adding, formatting and editing conventional text and images, but adding more complex content elements can be challenging!)
For example, let’s say you want to create something like the layout shown below …
To create the above in your content would require entering something that looks like this into your default WordPress editor …
Normally, this is not an issue … unless you decide to edit a fundamental aspect of the layout (for example, move some of the content from box 1 into box 2, or replace the background color inside a box from dark green to blue. Then, you’re stuck having to mess around with code.
The WordPress visual editor is supposed to be an easy-to-use WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor, but as you can see, if you are trying to create complex page elements, what you see is not the same as what you are going to get when your web page goes live …
(“What You See” isn’t always “What You Get” … unless you can visualize code!)
In some situations, some people argue that users could even be better off working with the html source itself instead of the WordPress visual editor when trying to add complex layouts …
Even though WordPress is the most user-friendly CMS platform available, this makes it difficult for WordPress site owners without knowledge of HTML or CSS to fully manage their own content.
The fundamental issue of using shortcodes and HTML to create content with WordPress can be summarized as follows:
1) Speed – How long does it take to create a web page using this editor?
2) Abstraction – How closely does the content in the ”back end” resemble the content in the “front end” when you are creating or editing a page?
As you can see from the above image, what you see in the content editor looks nothing like what you see in the front end. This means that users need to mentally translate what the content will look like when working with sophisticated layouts. Other solutions require multiple steps before you can begin 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 impact how quickly you can create your content, as you wait for the updates to load.
A number of WordPress developers have tried to come up with different solutions with the aim of addressing this issue. These solutions range from standalone WP 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 content creation easier!)
Some solutions end up including so many complex page-building features, that users end up with complicated-looking front end editors …
Many of these alternative solutions work, but they don’t address the fundamental challenge of using shortcodes and HTML as described earlier. Creating and adding sophisticated content elements 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 start to become quite frustrating.
Ask yourself this …
If there were no technical constraints, how would you like your web page builder to function?
Now that you’ve asked this question, imagine the following scenario …
- You spot something in the content that needs to be changed so you, simply click on the content and start editing it. Your content has been instantly edited.
- You just drag and drop elements around the page, and the page looks exactly as it will display on the front end without having to mentally translate any shortcodes or HTML.
- You have an idea for some content that you’d like to add, so you immediately begin typing, and you build your page as you go, without delays, without switching of tab browsers, and without having to wait for new pages to reload.
Would that not be the ideal way to build content for your WordPress website? Just click-to-edit and drag and drop elements around your posts and pages?
(Imagine being able to create complex pages quickly 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 – Create Stunning Content With Drag & Drop Ease In WordPress Sites
Plugin Description
Thrive Content Builder is a revolutionary WordPress plugin that lets you quickly create amazing content pages with a click-to-edit and drag and drop content editor.
Thrive Content Builder provides WordPress users with a new and exciting way to set up conversion-focused pages on any WordPress website.
Once installed, the plugin adds a visual content editor and an item menu that lets you click, then drag and drop design elements on your web page …
(Thrive Content Builder adds a new content editing option to your WordPress site)
Thrive Landing Pages And Content Builder is actually a combination of the Thrive Content Builder and Thrive Landing Pages plugins merged into one, plus an additional plugin feature called Thrive Lightbox.
We will take an in-depth look at each of the above and how all of this functionality works together to help you easily transform and improve your site and create amazing marketing pages and content.
Thrive Content Builder – Click-To-Edit Drag And Drop Content Editor For WordPress
With this plugin installed easily add content to your web pages and build complex page layouts using drag and drop elements …
Every element on your web page can be built and changed with ”click-to-edit” and “drag and drop” ease …
Once you have positioned elements on a page, you can continue to further customize or edit these without having to go through additional steps or complicated configuration windows …
The built-in Landing Pages editor also lets you build highly attractive landing pages and easily edit these …
Thrive Content and Page Builder 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 Landing Pages and Content Builder plugin installed is so effortlessly easy, that the developers warn that once you start using it, you’ll never look back!
More info: Thrive Content Builder
The integrated Thrive Content Builder and Landing Pages plugin was created by the same team that developed Thrive Leads, another terrific plugin we’ve reviewed on this site.
To read more about this plugin, go here:
Plugin Benefits
Below we have listed 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 web site:
Very Easy To Install
Thrive Content Builder is very easy to install. Simply upload a zip file containing the plugin to your Plugins folder via your administrator section and activate.
Real-Time Content Content Editing
Thrive Content Builder is is not only very simple to use, it also lets you create and edit content in real-time.
A Truly Visual Editor
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.
Some additional benefits and advantages include the following:
- Attractive Page Layouts With Drag-And-Drop Ease: Create any kind of layout you can imagine with intuitive drag-and-drop functionality.
- Add Customizable Elements Without Using Short Codes: With Thrive Content Builder you not only get an exciting and an easy-to-use drag and drop WordPress content editor, but the plugin also includes a collection of functional and attractive web design elements that you can customizable and use on your layouts without using shortcodes, for e.g.: content toggle, guarantee boxes, dividers, responsive Google map embeds, etc.
- Distraction-Free Content Creation: Not having to wait for the page to reload frees up your attention and allows you to be more focused while you build content or click through multiple layers of menus to get what you want done.
(Add, edit and customize page elements like testimonials, tabbed content, feature grids, section dividers, responsive Google maps, etc.)
Features
Thrive Content Builder offers web site owners a number of unique features. Below we have listed just some:
- Regular Editor Functionality Is Preserved: You have all of the regular WordPress editing options that you are used to (e.g. underline, left-aligned paragraphs, headings, etc.),
- Drag And Drop Elements: The plugin makes a “drag and drop” list of elements available on your post or page screen for editing content.
- Conversion-Boosting Elements: The plugin provides you with various attention-grabbing and customizable elements that will help increase your conversions, including buttons and call-to-action elements, testimonials, and guarantees. In addition to being customizable, various elements also offer multiple design options.
- Responsive Design: Add mobile-friendly elements like columns, text boxes, dividers, e.g. which will display correctly on all different kinds of devices.
- Add Animation Events To Web Pages: The Event Manager feature lets you add animations, trigger lightboxes and more!
(Add Animated Elements To Your Pages)
Thrive Landing Pages Plugin – Landing Page Templates
Thrive Landing Pages provides sets of 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 plugin gives you access to conversion-optimized web page templates)
Thrive Landing Pages Plugin – Benefits
- Hosted on your own WordPress site
- Save time designing attractive-looking web pages for your WordPress site
- 100% conversion-optimized page templates
- No tech skills required
- Works with all WordPress themes
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 currently over thirty templates available, with more templates being worked on. In addition to the templates that are currently available, expect to see new templates in the future for email lead generation, sales pages, lesson pages, personal branding pages, webinar pages and more.
Completely Customizable And Flexible Landing Page Template Sets
Normally, in order to fully customize landing page templates, you would need to either pay a web developer to do the work, or learn web coding languages like HTML and CSS 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-built web page templates that are fully optimized and ready to go, and complete design freedom that lets you change and edit any aspect of your page template …
With the landing page template sets included with this plugin, you are able to:
- Change text in any button, headline, bullet point, etc.
- Remove text, images or any other component of your landing page
- Replace all background images and edit colours
- Edit the color of text, links, buttons, etc.
- Choose your own fonts
- Select your own images and graphics
- Edit content area size
- Change the order of page elements
- Translate pages into a different language
- Add custom content inside your pages
- Use pre-designed, customized pages, or create your own web pages from scratch and save them as new page templates.
(Change and customize any element of your page template)
Thrive Lightbox Plugin – Transform Your Web Site Into A Marketing Machine
The Thrive package includes Thrive Lightbox, which lets you add fully editable two-step opt-in forms and animated objects to your content pages …
(Add lead capture forms and animated objects to your web pages with the Thrive Lightbox plugin)
Thrive Lighbox Two-Step Opt-in Forms
A two-step opt-in process helps improve your conversion rates. When visitors click on a button or image they are presented with your opt-in form …
(2-step opt-in forms help improve your conversion rates.)
Thrive Lightbox 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 graphic elements, or when someone scrolls down to a certain point on the page. You can also use the Event Manager to animate attention-getting elements on your pages, using various animation effects (e.g. zoom out, slide in from top to bottom, roll in, etc.
(Set up and manage events on your WordPress site with the Thrive Lightbox plugin)
A lightbox and event is created automatically for your landing pages, but you also have complete control over events, triggers and design.
Feedback From Users
Here are a few of the testimonials and comments that plugin users have submitted regarding the Thrive Content Builder plugin:
”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”
Thrive Content Builder Plugin – Tips
Thrive Content Builder works with any theme in WordPress, not just with Thrive Landing Pages. Note, however, that you cannot use Thrive Content Builder to edit content on existing pages or posts that were not created with the plugin installed.
You can add WordPress short codes inside Thrive Content Builder or Thrive Landing Pages and they will be displayed correctly when published.
Thrive Lightbox works with any content built using Thrive Content Builder.
Product Support
Thrive Landing Pages and Content 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 products are really well-supported, and users get lifetime updates, and one year unlimited support with their purchase, backed by a risk-free, 30 day, full money-back guarantee.
This is an exciting product that just keeps getting better.
Software Cost
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 enables you to configure the plugin on 1 website only. Cost 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 web sites that you personally own. It includes full feature set, unlimited updates and one year of unlimited support. Price = $87.00.
- Agency License Edition – Use on your web sites & on all your client domains. Price includes access to Thrive Content Builder, plus all Thrive Themes & Thrive Plugins. Cost = $247.00 per year.
Please Note: Price details for this product can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. The pricing shown above was current when this review was published. This may or may not be the actual price charged by the software seller when you visit the product site and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after you’ve purchased.
Check the plugin’s website for current pricing details:
Additional Information
The Thrive Content and Landing Page Builder plugin developers emphatically 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 the time-saving benefits of ready-made web page elements and beautiful, conversion-optimized template sets that help speed up the content creation process, and on the other hand, you also have complete control over your design process and the freedom to edit and customize everything on your web page, using the plugin’s visual content editor, that allows you to get things done without having to open multiple dialog boxes.
For demo videos showing plugin usage, including installation instructions and tutorials, FAQs, support helpdesk, contact details and more, visit the Thrive Content Builder website.
Download The Plugin …
If you want to edit something, simply click on the element and start editing. If you want to change something, do it, and you’ll see the change happen instantly. If you want to move something, just drag it and drop it into its new position. There are no complicated steps involved.
If you want to transform and improve your web site and create awesome marketing pages, streamlined landing pages and engaging content, Thrive Landing Pages and 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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