WordPress has evolved from being just a simple blogging tool into a tool that can be used to create all kinds of websites.
Whatever you can think of, somewhere around the world someone is probably already building it with WordPress!
In this article you will learn how to create beautiful web page layouts with drag & drop ease in WordPress sites.
Drag And Drop Content Editors For WordPress
Does The WordPress WYSIWYG Editor Meet All Of Your Content Creation Needs?
With all the many improvements that WordPress has gone through in recent years, many WordPress users believe that the WordPress editor is lagging behind the improvements made to the software.
(The default WordPress content editor is great for adding, formatting and editing conventional text and images, but adding more complex layouts can be challenging!)
For example, if you look at the screenshot below …
To create the above boxes with text and buttons, users would normally have to insert short codes into the content for every page element they would like to create …
Normally, this is not really an issue … until you choose to reconfigure the layout (for example, move part of the content from box 1 into box 2, or replace the button in a box from dark green to gray. Then, you’re stuck having to mess around with page code or html.
The WordPress editor is supposed to provide non-technical users with an easy-to-use WYSIWYG editor, but as you can see, if you are trying to edit more complex content elements, what you see in the visual editor is not the same as what you are getting when your web page goes live …
(“What You See” isn’t always “What You Get” … unless you can visualize code!)
In some instances, users could be better off working inside the text editor tab instead of the WYSIWYG editor when trying to build fancy page elements …
Even though WordPress is extremely easy to use, this makes it difficult for non-technical website owners to have full control of their own content.
The fundamental problem with having to use HTML and shortcodes to create content in the default WordPress WYSIWYG editor can be summarized as follows:
1) Speed – How long will it take to build a web page using this editor?
2) Abstraction – How closely does the content in the ”back end” match the content in the “front end” when you are creating or editing a page?
As you can see from the above screenshot, what you see when working in the back end doesn’t look anything like 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 several 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 then impacts how quickly you can create your content, as you wait for the updated content to reload.
Many WordPress developers have come up with a range of solutions with the objective of making content editing easier. Some of these alternative solutions range from plugins you can install on your site that add new functionality to the editor, to WordPress themes that offer built-in features like drag and drop editing …
(WordPress “drag and drop” editors aim to make content creation easier!)
Some solutions require so many page-building features, that users end up with complicated-looking front end content editors …
Many of these solutions work fine, but they don’t really seem 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 your page content to look “just right” quickly, this can start to become really frustrating after a while.
Ask yourself this …
If there were no technical constraints, how would you like to build and edit your web pages?
Now that you’ve asked this question, imagine this …
- You spot something in your content that needs correction so you, simply click on the content and start writing. Your content is then instantly changed.
- You can drag and drop elements around the page, and see them exactly as they will appear on the front end without having to mentally translate HTML or shortcodes.
- You have an idea for some content that you would like to add, so you simply start typing, and you build your web page on the fly, without delays, with no switching tabs, and no waiting for new pages to refresh and reload.
Would that not be the perfect way to build content for your web site? Just click-to-edit and drag and drop elements around the pages and posts?
(Imagine being able to create complex page layouts 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 Landing Pages And Content Builder – WordPress Click-To-Edit Drag And Drop Content And Landing Page Creation Plugin
Plugin Description
Thrive Content Builder is a unique plugin for WordPress that allows you to easily build and change content on your posts and pages using a true WYSIWYG click-to-edit and drag and drop content editor.
Thrive Content Builder provides you 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 drag and drop elements on your page …
(Thrive Content Builder adds a new visual editor to WordPress)
The Thrive Content Builder And Landing Pages plugin is actually a combination of the Thrive Content Builder and Thrive Landing Pages plugins rolled into one, plus an additional plugin feature called Thrive Lightbox.
Let’s examine each of the above plugins and how all of this exciting functionality works seamlessly together to help you easily transform and improve your site and create awesome sales pages and engaging content.
Thrive Content Builder Plugin For WordPress
This plugin lets you easily add complex design layouts to your web pages using drag and drop elements …
Every aspect of your page can be configured by dragging and dropping things around the page and then clicking to edit them …
Once you have positioned your elements on the page, you can then easily edit them without having to go through multiple steps or switching screens …
The built-in Thrive Landing Pages also lets you work inside beautiful landing pages and easily edit these …
Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder is simple, easy to use, and ideal for all WordPress users at all levels. In fact, working on content with Thrive Content and Landing Page Builder installed is so amazingly easy, that the developers guarantee that once you start using it, it’ll ruin the experience of using any other content editor forever, and you’ll never look back!
Go here to learn more: Thrive Content Builder
Thrive Content Builder and Thrive Landing Pages were created by the same team that developed Thrive Leads, another amazing plugin for WordPress that we have recommended on this site.
Go here for more information about using the plugin:
Benefits Of Using Thrive Landing Pages And Content Builder
Here we have listed just a few of the benefits of using Thrive Content Builder to speed up your page design and content creation process:
Easy To Install
Thrive Content Builder is really easy to install. Just upload it to your Plugins folder via your WordPress administrator area and activate.
Edit Content In Real Time
Thrive Content Builder is is not only really simple to use, it also lets you edit and build content in real-time.
What You See Is Really What You Get
With Thrive Content Builder installed, what you see as you work within the editor – fonts, visual elements, layouts, etc. is exactly what your visitors will see on the front end of your site.
Additional benefits and advantages include:
- Add Eye-Catching Web Page Layouts With Drag & Drop Ease: Create any layout you can imagine with drag-and-drop ease.
- Design Elements Included: With the Thrive Content Builder plugin you not only get a drag and drop content builder, but the plugin also includes a jaw-dropping collection of functional and eye-catching design elements that you can insert into your pages without using short codes, like flat design elements, borderless content, buttons, responsive videos, etc.
- More Enjoyable Content Creation: Not having to deal with technical stuff, or 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 steps to get what you want done.
(Easily insert, edit and customize web page elements like testimonial boxes, flat design elements, star ratings for review pages, buttons, code insert boxes, etc.)
Features
Thrive Content Builder offers many unique features to WP users. Here are just some of these features:
- Regular Content Editor Functionality Is Preserved: You have all of the regular text editing options that you are used to (e.g. underlines, centering text, 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 editing content.
- Conversion-Boosting Elements: The plugin includes various eye-catching and customizable elements that will help increase your sales conversions, including buttons and call-to-action elements, testimonial boxes, and guarantees. In addition to being customizable, multiple design options are also available for various elements.
- Responsive Design: Add mobile-friendly elements like column layouts, boxes, dividers, e.g. which will display correctly on different screens.
- Add Animation Events To Your Pages: The plugin’s Event Manager feature lets you create animations, trigger lightboxes and more!
(Add Animated Elements To Your Web Pages)
Thrive Landing Pages – Landing Page Template Sets
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 provides you with conversion-optimized page templates)
Thrive Landing Pages Plugin – Benefits
- Hosted on your own WordPress site
- Save time designing and customizing pages for your website
- 100% conversion-optimized web page templates
- No technical skills needed
- Works with any WordPress 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, page templates that are conversion-optimized and fully customizable …
(Landing page template sets that work together logically and use the same conversion-optimized design language)
There are over thirty templates available, with more templates planned for release. In addition to the templates shown above, 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
Typically, to be able to fully customize a landing page template, you would need to either hire a web designer 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 attractive pre-built page templates that are fully optimized and ready to go, and complete design freedom that allows you to change or customize any aspect of your page template …
The landing page templates included with this plugin let you do the following:
- Modify text in all bullet points, buttons, headlines, etc.
- Delete text, images or any other part of your landing page
- Change all background images and background color
- Edit the color of links, buttons, text, etc.
- Use your own fonts
- Select your own images and graphics
- Change content area size
- Rearrange the order of page elements
- Translate everything on the page into different languages
- Add custom content anywhere in any of the pages
- Use pre-designed, customized pages, or create your own web pages from scratch and save them as new web page templates.
(Change or customize any aspect of your page template)
Thrive Lightbox Plugin – Transform Your WordPress Site Into A Powerful Marketing Machine
The Thrive plugin combo includes the Thrive Lightbox plugin, which lets you add fully customizable 2-step opt-in forms and animated elements to your WordPress site …
(Add opt-in forms and events to your WordPress website with Thrive Lightbox)
Thrive Lighbox 2-Step Opt-in Forms
A 2-step opt-in process can help increase 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 two-step opt-in process)
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 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 pages, using various animation effects (e.g. zoom in, slide in from right to left, 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 the events, triggers and design.
User Testimonials
Here are a couple of the testimonials customers have provided for Thrive Content Builder:
“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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”Great stuff! I am really impressed by all the new additions. You guys have shown a true commitment to making these themes and the Content Builder awesome. Michael Johnson”
Useful Tips
Thrive Content Builder works with any WordPress theme, not just with the Thrive Landing Pages plugin. You cannot use Thrive Content Builder to edit content on existing pages or posts that were not created with the plugin.
You can add WordPress short codes inside the Content Builder or Landing Pages plugin and they will be displayed correctly on the front end.
Thrive Lightbox works with any content you build using Thrive Content Builder.
Support
Thrive Content and Page Builder Plugin provides free updates, new landing templates and upcoming features. The plugin developers are constantly working on adding new features and improving existing ones.
Thrive products are well-supported, and users get unlimited updates, plus 1 year unlimited support with their purchase, backed by a no-risk, thirty day, complete money-back guarantee.
This is an exciting product that will just keep getting better.
Product Licensing 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 option allows you to install the plugin on a single site. Includes full feature set, unlimited updates and 1 year of unlimited support. Cost = $59.00.
- Unlimited Sites Edition – This lets you activate the plugin on all sites that you personally own. Includes full feature set, unlimited updates and 1 year of unlimited support. Cost = $87.00.
- Agency License – This edition lets you configure the plugin on all of your own websites and any client sites. Cost includes access to Thrive Content Builder, plus all Thrive Themes & Thrive Plugins. Price = $247.00 per year.
Note: The price of the Thrive Content Builder software depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. The above reflects the current price at the time this article was written. This may not be the actual price set by the product developer when you visit the plugin site and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after purchasing.
Check the plugin’s website for the latest pricing details here:
Additional Information
The developers of the Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder plugin 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 time-saving features like ready-made page elements and beautiful, pre-designed templates that help speed up page design and content creation, and on the other hand, you also have complete control over the design process and the freedom to change everything on your page, using the plugin’s click-to-edit and drag and drop features, which allows you to see exactly how the content you are working on will appear to visitors after being published.
For a demo video of the plugin, including help documentation and tutorials, FAQs, support help desk, contact details and more, visit the Thrive website.
Download The Plugin …
If you want to edit something, you 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, all you have to do is simply drag it and drop it into its new position. There are no complicated steps involved.
If you want to transform and improve your business online and create awesome sales pages, streamlined landing pages and engaging content, this plugin delivers an incredible conversion-boosting package with a single, inexpensive plugin.
For complete details, visit the plugin website here:
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