WordPress has evolved from being just a simple blogging tool into a tool that can be used to design all types of web pages – marketing pages, product showcase pages, local business pages, etc.
Whatever you can imagine, somewhere around the world someone is most likely already building it using WordPress!
This article will help you learn how to create stunning content with drag & drop ease in WordPress web sites.
Drag & Drop Content Editors For WordPress
Is The WordPress Visual Content Editor Still Meeting All Of Your Content Creation Needs?
Using the WordPress WYSIWYG editor to create or edit sophisticated web pages can be difficult.
(The default WordPress editor is great for adding, formatting and editing “linear” content, but adding more complex page elements can be quite challenging!)
For example, if you look at the image below …
To add the above boxes with text and buttons to your content would require inserting something that looks like this into the default WordPress visual editor …
Normally, this is not an issue … unless you decide to change your layout (for example, move some of the content from box 3 into box 2, or change the background color in box 2 from dark green to purple. Then, you’re stuck having to mess around with code.
The WordPress visual 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 more complex content elements, often what you see on your editor screen may not be 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 situations, some people argue that you would probably be better off working directly with the html source itself instead of the WordPress visual editor when trying to create something other than simple 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 about having to use shortcodes and HTML to create content in the default WordPress WYSIWYG editor can be summarized as follows:
1) Speed – How long will it take to build a page using the 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, what you see in the back end looks nothing like what you see in the front end. This means that you have to mentally translate what your content will look like when working with sophisticated layouts. Other solutions require taking multiple steps before you can begin configuring your page layout, or endlessly switching browser tabs and performing tweaks and updates to see how your content is coming along, which interrupts the creative process, as you wait for the updated content to load.
Many WordPress web developers have come up with various solutions with the aim of addressing this issue. These range from standalone WP plugins you can install on your site that add new functionality to the editor, to WP themes that include built-in features like drag and drop editing …
(WordPress “drag and drop” editors aim to make creating complex layouts easier!)
Some solutions end up including so many complex page design features, that users end up with complicated-looking front end content editors …
Many of these alternative editors work fine, but they fail to address the fundamental problem with 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 your web pages to look “just right” 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, visualize this …
- You look at your content and if you spot something that needs to be corrected, just click on the content and start editing it. Your content has been instantly changed.
- You just drag and drop elements on the page, and the page looks exactly as it will appear on the front end without having to mentally translate any shortcodes or HTML.
- You have an idea for a specific item of content you would like to add, so you immediately begin typing, and your page gets built on the fly, without delays, without switching of tab browsers, and without having to wait for new content to refresh.
Would that not be the perfect way to create 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 quickly for your web content without 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 Way To Build Stunning Web Page Layouts In WordPress Websites
Plugin Description
Thrive Content Builder is a truly intuitive WordPress click-to-edit drag-and-drop content building plugin.
The Thrive Content Builder plugin provides you with a new and incredibly easy way to speed up the process of creating amazing content on your WordPress website.
Once installed, the plugin adds a visual content editor with a sidebar menu that lets you drag and drop design elements on your page …
(Thrive Content Builder adds a new editor to your WordPress site)
The 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 examine each of the above and how all of this powerful functionality works together to help you easily transform and improve your website and create awesome sales pages, streamlined landing pages and engaging content.
Thrive Content Builder – WordPress Click-To-Edit Drag And Drop Content Creator And Editor
Thrive Content Builder lets you easily add complex design layouts to your web pages using drag and drop elements …
Every element of your web page can be created with “drag and drop” and “click-to-edit” ease …
Once you have placed elements on your page, you can continue to further customize or edit them without going through additional steps or switching tabs …
The built-in functionality of the plugin 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 the Thrive Content and Page Builder plugin installed is so effortlessly simple, that the developers warn that once you start using it, it’ll ruin the experience of using any other content editor forever, and you’ll never look back!
To learn more about the plugin go here: Thrive Content Builder
The integrated Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder plugin was created by the same team that developed Thrive Leads, another fantastic plugin we’ve written about on this site.
For more information about this plugin, see this post:
Benefits Of Using Thrive Content And Landing Page Builder
Here are 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 WordPress website:
Quick And Easy To Install And Configure. Ready To Start Using In Minutes.
Thrive Content Builder installs just like every WP plugin. Simply upload the plugin file to your Plugin folder via your dashboard and activate.
Create And Edit Content In Real Time
Thrive Content Builder is simple to use and lets you build and add content right inside your pages in real-time.
A Truly Visual Content Editor
With Thrive Content Builder installed, what you see on the “back-end” as you work within the editor – typefaces, visual elements, page layouts, etc. is exactly what your visitors will see on the front end of your site.
Additional plugin benefits include the following:
- Add Attractive Layouts With Drag & Drop Ease: Create any type of layout you can imagine with drag and drop ease.
- Customizable Elements Included: With Thrive Content Builder you not only get a visually exciting click-to-edit content editor, but the plugin also includes a jaw-dropping collection of functional and eye-catching design elements that you can customizable and add to your layouts without using short codes, for e.g.: tabbed content, content reveal feature, buttons, responsive Google maps, etc.
- Ideal For Non-Technical Users: Not having to wait for the updated content to load frees up your attention and allows you to be more focused while you work or click through multiple layers of menus to get what you want done.
(Insert, edit and customize page elements like testimonial boxes, tabbed content, borderless content, buttons, responsive maps, etc.)
Plugin Features
Thrive Content Builder provides WP users a number of unique features. Below we have listed just a few:
- Built-In Editor Functionality Is Still Available: You have access to all of the regular WordPress editing options that you are used to (e.g. bold formatting, paragraph centering, font styles, etc.),
- Drag And Drop Elements Menu: 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 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 guarantee forms. In addition to being customizable, multiple design options are also available for various elements.
- Mobile-Friendly Design: Add responsive elements like column layouts, boxes, content dividers, e.g. which will display great on different screens.
- Add Animation Events To Pages: The Event Manager feature lets you create 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 all the way from initial signup to purchase, product download and more.
(Thrive Landing Pages lets you add conversion-optimized web pages to your site)
Thrive Landing Pages Plugin – Benefits
- Hosted on your own WordPress site
- Save time and money designing stunning landing pages
- 100% conversion-optimized web page templates
- No tech skills required
- Works with any theme
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 template sets that work together logically and use the same conversion-optimized design language)
There are over thirty templates available, with more templates scheduled for release. In addition to the available templates, the developers plan to release new page templates for email lead generation, sales pages, lesson pages, personal branding pages, webinar pages and more.
Fully Customizable Landing Page Template Sets
Typically, in order to have a fully customizable landing page template, you would need to either hire 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 overly 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 beautiful pre-built web page templates that are fully optimized and ready to go, and complete design freedom that lets you change and edit anything on the page templates …
With the landing page template sets included with this plugin, you can:
- Edit text in all buttons, headlines, bullet points, etc.
- Delete text, images or any other component of the landing page
- Replace the background image or background colors
- Edit the color of links, buttons, text, etc.
- Select your own fonts
- Select your own images and graphics
- Modify the size of the content area
- Change the order of elements on your pages
- Translate pages into different languages
- Add custom content inside your pages
- Use pre-designed, customized pages, or create your own landing pages from scratch and save them as new page templates.
(Change and customize anything on the page templates)
Transform Your Website Into A Powerful Marketing Machine With Thrive Lightbox
The Thrive plugin package also includes Thrive Lightbox, which lets you add fully customizable two-step opt-in forms and events to your site …
(Add opt-in forms and animated objects to your marketing pages with Thrive Lightbox)
Thrive Lighbox 2-Step Opt-in Forms
A 2-step opt-in process helps to improve your conversion rates. When visitors click on an image or button they are presented with your opt-in form …
(Opt-in forms can help increase your conversion rates.)
Event Manager
An “event” consists of a trigger and an action. You can make opt-in forms appear when your visitor clicks or hovers their mouse 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 attention-getting elements on your page, using various effects (e.g. zoom in, slide in from right to left, roll in, etc.
(Set up and manage events on your web pages with the Thrive Lightbox plugin)
Lightboxes and events are created automatically for your landing pages, but you also have complete control over your events, triggers and design.
Testimonials
Below are a couple of the testimonials customers have submitted regarding 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”
Useful Tips
Thrive Content Builder works with any theme in WordPress, not just with the Thrive Landing Pages plugin. Note, however, that you cannot use Thrive Content Builder to edit content that was not created with the plugin.
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 with Thrive Content Builder.
Support
Thrive Content Builder and Landing Pages comes with free updates, new landing pages and upcoming features. The plugin developers are constantly working on adding new features and improving existing ones.
Thrive software is really well-supported, and users get lifetime software upgrades, plus one year unlimited support with their purchase, backed by a no-risk, thirty day, complete money-back 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 allows you to use the plugin on one website only. Includes full feature set, unlimited updates and 1 year of unlimited support. Price = $59.00.
- Unlimited Sites License – This lets you configure the plugin on all web sites that you own. Includes full feature set, unlimited updates and one year of unlimited support. Price = $87.00.
- Agency License – Use on your domains & on client sites. Includes access to Thrive Content Builder, plus all Thrive Themes & Thrive Plugins. Price = $247.00 per year.
Note: The cost of purchasing Thrive Content Builder depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. When we last checked, the software retails for the pricing shown above. This may not be the actual price charged by the plugin seller when you visit the site and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after your purchase.
Check the plugin’s website for the latest price:
Additional Information
The Thrive Content and Landing Page 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 page elements and beautiful, pre-designed templates that help make designing your pages faster, 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 web page, using the plugin’s click-to-edit and drag and drop features, which lets you see exactly how the content you are working on will look after publishing.
For ”how-to” videos of the plugin, including installation instructions and tutorials, FAQs, customer help desk, contact details and more, visit the Thrive Content Builder website.
Install The Plugin …
If you want to edit something, 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, you drag it and drop it into its new position. There are no additional steps involved.
If you want to transform and improve your web presence and create amazing sales pages and content, Thrive Content and Landing Page Builder delivers an incredible conversion-boosting package with a single, inexpensive plugin.
For complete details, visit the plugin website here:
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