WordPress has evolved from being just a simple blogging tool to a tool that is now being used to design all types of web pages – landing pages, portfolio pages, business pages, etc.
Whatever you can think of, someone is bound to be already building it using WordPress!
This article will help you discover how to create stunning content with drag & drop ease in WordPress sites.
Drag And Drop Content Editors For WordPress
Is The WordPress WYSIWYG Editor Meeting All Of Your Content Creation And Editing Needs?
With all the rapid advancements that WordPress has gone through in recent years, many WordPress users believe that using the built-in WordPress WYSIWYG editor to create or edit complex page layouts can sometimes be quite difficult.
(The built-in WordPress WYSIWYG 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 …
Adding the above to a page would require inserting something that looks like this inside the default WordPress content editor …
Normally, this is not really an issue … until you need to change your layout (for example, move part of the content from box 1 into box 2, or replace the background colour in box 1 from red to a different color. Then, you’re stuck having to mess around with code inside the content editor.
The WordPress 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, when creating with complex page elements, often what you see on your editor screen is not the same as what you are going to get when the content is published …
(“What You See” isn’t always “What You Get” … unless you can visualize code!)
In some instances, some people argue that you may even be better off working inside the text editor tab instead of the WordPress WYSIWYG editor when trying to build complex page elements …
Even though WordPress is extremely easy to use, this makes it hard for non-technical website owners to fully manage their own content.
The fundamental challenge with having to use shortcodes and HTML to create content with WordPress 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” 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 when working in the content editor does not look even remotely similar to what you see in the front end. This means that users need to abstract what the content will look like when working with complex layouts. Other solutions require taking a number of steps before you can begin configuring your page layout, or endlessly switching tabs and performing tweaks and updates to see how your content is coming along, which interrupts the creative process, as you wait for your new content to refresh.
Many WordPress web developers have tried to come up with different solutions with the aim of addressing this issue. These range from stand alone WP plugins you can add to your site that add new functionality to the editor, to themes that offer built-in features like drag and drop editing …
(WordPress “drag and drop” editors aim to make creating complex content easier!)
Some solutions end up combining so many complex page-building features, that users end up with complicated-looking front end content editors …
Many of these alternative solutions work, but they fail to address the fundamental problem with using shortcodes and HTML as described earlier. Creating, 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 page content 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, imagine this …
- You look at your content and if you see something that needs to be fixed, simply click on the content and start typing. Your content is instantly fixed.
- You can just drag and drop items on the page, and see them exactly as they will appear on the front end without having to mentally abstract from HTML or shortcodes.
- You have an idea for a specific piece of content you’d like to add, so you immediately start typing, and your web page gets built on the fly, with no delays, no switching of tab browsers, and without having to wait for web pages to resave and reload.
Would that not be the ideal way to build content for your WordPress web site? Just click-to-edit and drag and drop elements around your page?
(Imagine being able to create complex web 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 Simplest Visual Content Editor For WordPress Sites
Plugin Description
Thrive Content Builder is a truly intuitive WordPress click-to-edit drag and drop content builder.
The Thrive Content Builder plugin provides WordPress users with a new and exciting 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 web page …
(Thrive Content Builder adds a new editor 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.
Let’s examine each of the above and how these exciting features work seamlessly together to help you easily transform and improve your website and create awesome sales pages and content.
Thrive Content Builder – WordPress Plugin
Thrive Content Builder lets you easily build complex web page design layouts using drag and drop elements …
Everything on your web page can be configured, edited and moved around with “drag and drop” and “click-to-edit” ease …
Once you have positioned your elements on a page, you can continue to further customize or edit them without going through multiple steps or switching tabs …
The built-in Landing Pages editor also lets you work inside highly attractive landing pages that can also be easily edited …
Thrive Content Builder is simple, easy to use, and ideal for all WordPress users at all levels. In fact, designing web pages with the plugin installed is so amazingly simple, that the developers warn that you will never look at creating content the same way once you start using it
To learn more about this plugin go here: Thrive Content Builder
Thrive Content Builder and Thrive Landing Pages were created by the same team that developed Thrive Leads, another excellent plugin for WordPress that we have recommended on this site.
To read about the plugin, see this post:
Plugin Benefits
Here we have listed just some of the benefits of using Thrive Content Builder to speed up your page design and content creation process:
Be Up And Running In Very Little Time
Thrive Content Builder installs just like any other WP plugin. Just upload a zip folder containing the plugin to your Plugins folder via your admin account and activate.
Real-Time Content Content Creation
Thrive Content Builder is really simple to use and lets you 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 – typefaces, visual elements, layouts, etc. is exactly what you get on the front end of your site.
Additional plugin benefits include the following:
- Stunning Page Layouts With Drag-And-Drop Ease: Create any type of layout you can imagine with intuitive drag and drop functionality.
- Add Design Elements With No Shortcodes Required: With Thrive Content Builder you not only get a visually exciting click-to-edit content builder, but the plugin also includes a collection of design elements that you can customizable and insert into your pages without using shortcodes, like tabbed content, borderless content, call to action buttons, responsive maps, etc.
- Ideal For Non-Technical Users: Not having to deal with technical stuff, or having to wait for the updates 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.
(Thrive Content Builder lets you easily create, edit and customize web page elements like testimonial boxes, flat design elements, content boxes, section dividers, Google Map embeds, etc.)
Plugin Features
Thrive Content Builder provides a number of great features to website owners. Here are just a few of these:
- Built-In WordPress Content Functionality Is Still Available: You have all of the regular content editing options that you are used to (e.g. underline, centering text, heading styles, etc.),
- Drag And Drop Elements Menu: 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 comes with various eye-catching and customizable elements that will help increase the effectiveness of your sales pages, including buttons and call-to-action elements, testimonials, and guarantees. In addition to customization options, various elements also offer multiple design options.
- Responsive Design: Add responsive elements like column layouts, guarantee boxes, section dividers, e.g. which will resize and display great on different device screens.
- Add Animation Events To Pages: Thrive Content Builder’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 from initial signup to purchase, product download and more.
(Thrive Landing Pages plugin gives you conversion-optimized web page templates)
Thrive Landing Pages Plugin – Benefits
- Hosted on your own WordPress site
- Save time and money building landing pages
- 100% conversion-optimized landing page templates
- No coding skills needed
- Works with all WordPress themes
Thrive Content and Page 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, conversion optimized web page templates and fully customizable …
(Landing page template sets that work together logically and use the same conversion-optimized design language)
There are currently over 30 templates available, with more templates scheduled for release. In addition to the existing templates, the developers plan to release new web page templates for email lead generation, sales pages, course pages, personal branding pages, webinar pages and more.
Customize Your 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 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 stunning pre-built web pages that are fully optimized and ready to go, and complete design freedom that lets you change or edit any aspect of your page …
With the landing page template sets included with this plugin, you are able to:
- Modify text in any button, headline, bullet point, etc.
- Delete text, images or any other component of your landing page
- Replace all background images and background colours
- Change the color of buttons, links, text, etc.
- Select your own fonts
- Use your own images
- Edit the size of the content area
- Rearrange the order of web page elements
- Translate everything on the page into a different language
- Add any kind of custom content anywhere inside your pages
- Start with a blank web page and create your own page templates, or even build a library of custom landing pages.
(Change and customize any element of the page template)
Thrive Lightbox Plugin – Transform Your Web Site Into A Marketing Machine
The Thrive plugin combo also includes Thrive Lightbox, which lets you add fully editable two-step opt-in forms and events to your pages …
(Add opt-in forms and animated objects to your pages with the Thrive Lightbox plugin)
Thrive Lighbox Two-Step Opt-in Forms
A 2-step opt-in process helps to increase your conversion rates. When visitors click on an image or button 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 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 web pages, using various animation effects (e.g. fade out, slide in from left to right, roll out, 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 your events, triggers and design.
Feedback From Users
Below are a few of the testimonials and feedback that users have provided for 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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”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”
Thrive Content Builder – Useful Tips
Thrive Content Builder works with any theme in WordPress, not just with Thrive Landing Pages. 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 shortcodes inside the Content Builder or Landing Pages plugin and they will be displayed correctly when published.
Thrive Lightbox works with any content built with Thrive Content Builder.
Support
Thrive Content Builder and Landing Pages provides 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 well-supported, and users get unlimited software upgrades, plus one year unlimited support with their purchase, backed by a no-risk, 30 day, 100% refund guarantee.
This is an exciting product for WordPress users that will just keep getting better.
Software Pricing
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 license lets you activate the plugin on 1 site only. Includes full feature set, unlimited updates and one year of unlimited support. Cost = $59.00.
- Unlimited Sites License – This license lets you activate the plugin on all domains that you own. Includes full feature set, unlimited updates and 1 year of unlimited support. Cost = $87.00.
- Agency Edition – This option enables you to configure the plugin on all of your own websites and your client websites. Cost includes access to Thrive Content Builder, plus all Thrive Themes & Thrive Plugins. Price = $247.00 per year.
Note: The price of Thrive Content Builder depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. The above reflects the current pricing when this content was written. This may not be the actual pricing set by the plugin author when you visit the plugin website and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after you’ve purchased.
Check the plugin’s website for the current price here:
Additional Info
The developers of the Thrive Content Builder and Landing Pages plugin emphatically 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 page elements and template sets that help to make designing your pages faster, and on the other hand, you also have complete control over your design process and the freedom to change anything and everything on your web page, using the plugin’s visual content editor, which lets you see exactly how the content you are working on will display to visitors when published.
For a demo video of the plugin, 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, do it, and you can 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 position. There are no extra steps involved.
If you want to transform and improve your website 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 full details, visit the plugin website here:
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