WordPress has evolved from being just a simple blogging tool to a tool that is now used to create all types of web sites.
Whatever you can imagine, somewhere around the world someone is probably already building it using WordPress!
This article will help you discover the fastest visual editor for WordPress.
Drag & Drop Content Editors For WordPress
The WordPress Visual Content Editor – Is There A Better Way To Create Web Pages In WordPress?
Using the built-in WordPress WYSIWYG editor to build or edit sophisticated layouts can sometimes be difficult.
(The WordPress visual content editor is great for adding, formatting and editing “linear” text and images, 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 layout, users would need to add shortcodes to the content for each of the page elements they want to display …
Normally, this is not an issue … until you need to change your layout (for example, move part of the content from box 3 into box 2, or change the button in box 1 from dark green to light green. Then, you’re stuck having to mess around with code.
The WordPress content editor is supposed to provide users with an easy-to-use WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) content editor, but as you can see, if you are trying to edit more complex content elements, often what you see in the visual editor may not be what you are getting when the page is published …
(“What You See” isn’t always “What You Get” … unless you can visualize code!)
In some instances, you would probably be better off working directly with the source html itself instead of the WordPress visual editor when trying to build fancy page elements …
Even though WordPress is extremely easy to use, this makes it difficult for users with no knowledge of HTML or CSS to fully manage their own content.
The fundamental challenge about having to use HTML and shortcodes to create content with WordPress can be summarized by asking 2 questions:
1) Speed – How long does it take to build a page using this editor?
2) Abstraction – How closely does the content in the editor match the “front end” content when you are creating or editing a page?
As you can see from the above image, 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 complex layouts. Other solutions require several steps before you can begin configuring your page layout, or endlessly going back and forth between tabs and performing updates to see how your content is progressing, which then affects how quickly you can create your content, as you wait for the content to reload.
A number of WordPress developers have come up with various solutions to try to address this issue. These range from WP plugins you can add to 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 creating complex page layouts 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 solutions work fine, but they don’t really address the fundamental problem with using HTML and shortcodes 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 your web pages to look ”perfect” quickly, this can start to become very frustrating.
Ask yourself this …
If there were no technical constraints, how would you like your content builder to behave?
Now that you’ve asked this question, imagine this …
- You look at your content and if you spot something that needs fixing, just click on the content and start writing. Your content is then instantly fixed.
- You simply drag and drop elements on the page, and the page looks exactly as it will appear on the front end without having to mentally abstract from code.
- You have an idea for an item of content that you’d like to create, so you immediately start typing, and your page gets built on the fly, with no delays, with no switching tabs, and no waiting for edits to reload.
Would this not be the perfect way to build content for your website? A true visual content builder where all you have to do is click-to-edit and drag and drop elements around your pages?
(Imagine being able to create complex pages in real-time 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 And Landing Pages
Plugin Description
Thrive Content Builder is a unique plugin for WordPress that lets site owners quickly build stunning content pages with a truly visual click-to-edit and drag and drop content editor.
Thrive Content Builder provides you with a new and incredibly easy way to set up conversion-focused pages on any WordPress website.
Once installed, the plugin adds a visual content editor with a sidebar menu that lets you drag and drop elements on your page …
(Thrive Content Builder adds a new content editing option 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 will take a look at all of the above and how all of this powerful functionality works seamlessly together to help you easily transform and improve your site and create amazing sales pages and engaging content.
Thrive Content Builder – WordPress Plugin
Thrive Content Builder lets you 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 created by ”clicking-to-edit” and “dragging and dropping” things around the page …
Once you have positioned elements on a page, you can then easily customize or edit these without having to go through additional steps or opening more settings screens …
The built-in functionality of the plugin also lets you work inside stunning landing pages that can also be easily customized …
Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder is simple, easy to use, and ideal for all WordPress users at all levels. In fact, designing web pages with Thrive Content Builder and Landing Pages installed is so effortlessly simple, that the developers warn that once you start using it, it will ruin the experience of using all other content editors forever, and you’ll never look back!
For more details, visit the plugin site here: Thrive Content Builder
Thrive Content Builder and Thrive Landing Pages were created by the same team that developed Thrive Leads, another excellent plugin that we have previously recommended on this site.
See this article to read more about this plugin:
Plugin Benefits
Here we have listed just some of the many benefits of using Thrive Content Builder to speed up the process of designing pages and creating content for your WordPress site:
Be Up And Running In Minutes
Thrive Content Builder installs just like any regular plugin. Simply upload it to your Plugin folder via your WordPress administrator login and activate.
Create & Edit Content In Real Time
Thrive Content Builder is is not only really simple and intuitive to use, it also lets you build and add content to your pages in real-time.
What You See Is Really What You Get
With Thrive Content Builder installed, what you see on the “back-end” as you work within the editor – typefaces, elements, layouts, etc. is exactly what your visitors will see in the front end of your site.
Some additional benefits of the plugin include the following:
- Add Attractive Page Layouts With Drag-And-Drop Ease: Create any kind of layout you can imagine with intuitive drag and drop functionality.
- Design Elements Included: With Thrive Content Builder you not only get a drag and drop WordPress content builder, but the plugin also includes a collection of customizable web design elements that you can customizable and add to your content layouts without using short codes, such as flat design elements, borderless content, call to action buttons, responsive videos, etc.
- More Enjoyable Content Creation: Not having to deal with technical stuff for your updated content to load frees up your attention and allows you to build the pages your business needs, quickly and without having to edit code or click through multiple layers of menus to get what you need done.
(Create, edit and customize web page elements like testimonial boxes, content toggle, styled lists, section dividers, credit card icons, etc.)
Plugin Features
Thrive Content Builder offers website owners many features. Here are just a few:
- Regular WordPress Editor Functionality Is Preserved: You have access to all of the regular content editing options that you are used to (e.g. underlines, paragraph formatting, font sizes, etc.),
- Drag And Drop Elements Menu: The plugin makes a “drag and drop” table of elements available on your post or page screen when creating and editing content.
- Conversion-Boosting Elements: The plugin provides you with a range of eye-catching and customizable elements that will help you increase your sales conversions, 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 mobile-friendly columns, text boxes, dividers, e.g. which will display great on different-sized screens.
- Add Animation Events To Pages: The plugin’s Event Manager feature lets you add animations, trigger lightboxes and more!
(Add Animated Elements To Your Web Pages)
Thrive Landing Pages – 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 from initial signup to purchase, product download and more.
(Thrive Landing Pages provides you with conversion-optimized web page templates)
Thrive Landing Pages – Benefits
- Hosted on your own WordPress site
- Save time designing and customizing web pages for your WordPress web site
- 100% conversion-optimized web page templates
- No web coding skills required
- Works with all WordPress themes
Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder not only can be used to create beautiful content in your WordPress posts and pages, but you can also choose from dozens of beautifully designed, web page templates that are conversion-optimized and fully customizable …
(Thrive Landing Pages provides sets of templates that work together logically and use the same conversion-optimized design language)
There are 30+ templates available, with more templates being worked on. 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.
Customizable Landing Page Template Sets
Typically, to be able to fully customize a landing page template, you would need to either pay a web site developer 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-built page templates that are fully optimized and ready to go, and complete design freedom that allows you to change and edit any element of your page …
With the landing page templates included with this plugin, you are able to:
- Edit text in any headline, button, bullet point, etc.
- Remove text, images or any other part of the landing page
- Change any background images and edit color
- Edit the color of text, links, buttons, etc.
- Select your own fonts
- Use your own images
- Change the size of the content area
- Change the order of elements on your page
- Translate pages into a different language
- Add any kind of custom content anywhere in your pages
- Start with a blank web page and create your own page templates, or even build a custom landing pages library.
(Change and edit any aspect of the page)
Transform Your Web Site Into A Marketing Machine With Thrive Lightbox
The Thrive plugin combo includes the Thrive Lightbox plugin, which lets you add fully customizable two-step opt-in forms and events to your website …
(Add opt-in forms and animation to your WordPress website with Thrive Lightbox)
2-Step Opt-in Forms
A 2-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 …
(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 an opt-in form appear when your visitor clicks or hovers their mouse over a button or graphic elements, or when someone reaches a certain point on the page. You can also use the Event Manager to animate attention-getting elements on your page, using a range of effects (e.g. fade out, slide in from right to left, roll out, etc.
(Set up and manage events on your pages with the Thrive Lightbox plugin)
Lightboxes and events are created automatically for your landing pages, but you also have complete control over events, triggers and design.
Feedback From Users
Here are some of the testimonials and feedback plugin customers have submitted regarding the Thrive Content Builder plugin:
“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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“I’m blown away by the plugin. Keep up the incredible, WordPress changing work, guys! Dean Phillips”
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.
You can add WordPress shortcodes inside the Content Builder or Landing Pages plugin and they will be displayed correctly on your website.
Thrive Lightbox works with any content built with Thrive Content Builder.
Thrive Content Builder Support
Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder Plugin provides free updates, new landing templates and upcoming features. The Thrive team is constantly working on adding new features and improving existing ones.
Thrive plugins are very well-supported, and users get lifetime updates, plus one year unlimited support with their purchase, backed by a risk-free, 30 day, full refund guarantee.
This is an exciting product for WordPress users that just keeps getting better.
Plugin 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 Licensing – This lets you activate the plugin on a single site. Includes full feature set, unlimited updates and one year of unlimited support. Price = $59.00.
- Unlimited Sites License Edition – This allows you to install the plugin on all sites that you personally own. It includes full feature set, unlimited updates and one year of unlimited support. Cost = $87.00.
- Agency Licensing – This lets you activate the plugin on all of your own web sites and any client websites. Includes access to Thrive Content Builder, plus all Thrive Themes & Thrive Plugins. Price = $247.00 per year.
Note: The cost to purchase this product depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. Presently, the software sells for the pricing shown above. This may not be the actual price set by the product developer when you visit the website and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after you’ve purchased.
Check the plugin’s website for current pricing details:
Additional Plugin Information
The Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder plugin developers 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 the time-saving benefits of ready-made web page elements and template sets that help to speed up the content creation process, and on the other hand, you have 100% control over your design process and the ability to edit anything and everything on your web page, using the plugin’s click-to-edit and drag and drop features, which lets you see how the content you are working on will display when published.
For demo videos of the plugin, including help documentation and tutorials, FAQs, customer helpdesk, contact details and more, visit the plugin website.
In Conclusion …
If you want to edit something, you click on the element and start editing. If you want to change something, you will see the change happen instantly. If you want to move something, just drag it and drop it into its new location. There are no overly complicated steps involved.
If you want to transform and improve your web presence and create awesome sales pages and content, this plugin delivers an incredible conversion-boosting package with a single, inexpensive plugin.
For more information, check out the plugin here:
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