WordPress has evolved from being just a simple blogging tool into a tool being used to design all types of web pages – landing pages, product showcase pages, business pages, etc.
Whatever you can imagine, somewhere around the world someone is probably already building it using WordPress!
In this article you will discover the simplest WYSIWYG content builder for your WordPress web site.
Drag & Drop Content Editors For WordPress
Is The Default WordPress Visual Editor Meeting All Of Your Web Design Needs?
Using the built-in WordPress editor to create or edit sophisticated page elements can be quite challenging.
(The default WordPress WYSIWYG content editor is great for adding, formatting and editing “linear” text and images, but adding complex content elements can be quite challenging!)
For example, if you look at the illustration below …
To create the above content in your content would require entering something like this into the default WordPress content editor …
Normally, this is not an issue … unless you choose to reconfigure the layout (for example, move some of the content from box 3 into box 2, or change the button in a box from dark green to blue. Then, you’re stuck having to mess around with page code.
The WordPress content editor is supposed to be an easy-to-use WYSIWYG editor, but as you can see, if you are trying to add complex content elements, often what you see in the WordPress visual content editor may not be what you are going to get when the content gets published …
(“What You See” isn’t always “What You Get” … unless you can visualize code!)
In some situations, some people argue that you could even be better off working directly with the html source itself instead of the WordPress visual editor when trying to create fancy layouts …
Even though WordPress is the most user-friendly CMS platform available, this makes it difficult for non-technical users to fully manage their own content.
The fundamental challenge with having to use HTML and shortcodes to create content in the default WordPress visual editor can be summarized by asking two questions:
1) Speed – How long will it take to build a web page using this editor?
2) Abstraction – How closely does the content in the editor 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 editor doesn’t look even remotely similar to what you see in the front end. This means that users have to translate mentally what the content will look like when working with sophisticated layouts. Other solutions require taking multiple steps before you can start configuring your page layout, or endlessly going back and forth between tabs and performing tweaks and updates to see how your content is progressing, which can interrupt the creative process, as you wait for the updated content to refresh.
Many WordPress web developers have come up with different solutions with the goal of addressing this issue. Some of these alternative solutions range from standalone plugins you can install on your site that add new functionality to the editor, to WP 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 design features, that users need to learn how to work with complicated-looking front end editors …
Many of these alternative editors work fine, but they still don’t address the fundamental challenge of 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 to create or edit complex page content quickly, this can become quite frustrating.
Ask yourself this …
If there were no technical constraints, how would you like your page builder to function?
Now that you’ve asked this question, visualize this …
- You look at your content and if you spot something that needs fixing, simply click on the content and start editing it. Your content is then instantly fixed.
- You can drag and drop items 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 add, so you immediately begin typing, and your page gets built as you go, with no delays, without switching tabs, and without having to wait for edits to refresh.
Would that not be the perfect way to build content for your WordPress site? A true WYSIWYG content editor where all you have to do is click-to-edit and drag and drop elements around the posts and pages?
(Imagine being able to create complex web pages ”on the fly” 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 And Page Builder – WordPress Click-To-Edit Drag And Drop Content Editor
Plugin Description
Thrive Content Builder is a ground-breaking WordPress plugin that lets website owners easily create amazing content layout with true click-to-edit and drag and drop simplicity.
The Thrive Content Builder plugin provides you with a new and incredibly easy way to speed up the process of adding great content to your WordPress website.
Once installed, the plugin adds a visual content editor with a sidebar menu that lets you drag and drop design elements to your page …
(Thrive Content Builder adds a new content editor to your WordPress site)
The plugin 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’ll address all of the above plugins and how all of this powerful functionality works together to help you transform and improve your website and create amazing marketing pages and content.
Thrive Content Builder
You can easily add content to your web pages using drag and drop elements …
Every element of your page can be designed, changed and rearranged using simple ”click-to-edit” and “drag and drop” …
Once you have placed elements on the page, you can then customize or edit these without going through additional steps or switching screens …
You can also create stunning landing pages that can also be easily customized …
Thrive Content Builder is simple, easy to use, and ideal for all WordPress users at all levels. In fact, designing web pages with Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder installed is so effortlessly easy, 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!
More info: 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 written about on this site.
To read more about this plugin, go here:
Benefits Of Using Thrive Content Builder
Below are just a few of the benefits and advantages of using Thrive Content Builder to speed up your page design and content creation process:
Be Up And Running In No Time
Thrive Content Builder is really easy to install. Simply upload it to your Plugin folder via your WP dashboard and activate.
Real-Time Content Content Editing
Thrive Content Builder is very simple and intuitive to use and lets you add content to your web 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 content editor – typefaces, visual elements, layouts, etc. is exactly what your visitors will see on the front end of your site.
Some additional benefits and advantages include the following:
- Beautiful Layouts With Drag-And-Drop Ease: Create any kind of layout you can imagine with drag-and-drop ease.
- Add Design Elements Without Using Short Codes: With Thrive Content Builder you not only get a click-to-edit WordPress content editor, but the plugin also includes an impressive collection of web design elements that you can insert into your content layouts without using shortcodes, like pricing tables, star ratings for review pages, call to action buttons, responsive video embeds, etc.
- Distraction-Free Content Creation: Not having to deal with technical stuff for your page to reload frees up your attention and allows you to be more focused while you work or click through multiple steps to get what you need done.
(Thrive Content Builder lets you easily insert, edit and customize page elements like testimonials, pricing tables, styled lists, buttons, countdown timers, etc.)
Thrive Content Builder Features
Thrive Content Builder provides website owners many unique features. Here are just a few of these:
- All Editor Functionality Is Preserved: You have access to all of the built-in content editing options that you are used to (e.g. underline, justified paragraphs, heading styles, 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 when creating or editing content.
- Conversion-Boosting Elements: The plugin includes various attention-grabbing and customizable elements that will help you increase your sales conversions, including buttons and call-to-action elements, testimonial boxes, and guarantee forms. In addition to being customizable, various elements also offer multiple design options.
- Responsive Web Page Design: Add responsive elements like column layouts, boxes, content section dividers, e.g. which will resize and display correctly on different device screens.
- Add Animation Events To Web Pages: The Event Manager feature lets you insert animations, trigger lightboxes and more!
(Add Animated Elements To Your Web Pages)
Thrive Landing Pages – Landing Page Templates
Landing page sets are 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 lets you add conversion-optimized web pages to your website)
Thrive Landing Pages – Benefits
- Hosted on your own WordPress site
- Save time and money building pages for your web site
- 100% conversion-optimized pages
- No coding skills needed
- Works with any WordPress theme
Thrive Content and Page Builder not only lets you create beautiful 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 sets that work together logically and use the same conversion-optimized design language)
There are currently over 30 templates available, with more templates planned for release. In addition to the existing templates, the developers plan to release new page templates for email lead generation, sales pages, training pages, personal branding pages, webinar pages and more.
Completely Customizable And Flexible Landing Page Template
Normally, to be able to have a fully customizable landing page template, you would need to either pay a web site designer to do the work, or learn web coding languages like HTML and CSS and figure out how to edit the page code 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 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 pages that are fully optimized and ready to go, and complete design freedom that allows you to change and edit any aspect of the page template …
The landing page templates included with this plugin let you do the following:
- Change text in all headlines, bullet points, buttons, etc.
- Delete text, images or any other component of your landing page
- Change all background images and edit colours
- Edit the color of text, links, buttons, etc.
- Choose your own fonts
- Use your own images
- Modify the size of the content area
- Rearrange the order of elements on your page
- Translate everything on the page into different languages
- Add custom content anywhere in the pages
- Start with a blank page and create your own page templates, or even build a custom landing page templates library.
(Change or edit any aspect of your page template)
Thrive Lightbox Plugin – Transform Your Website Into A Marketing Machine
The Thrive plugin package includes Thrive Lightbox, which lets you add fully configurable 2-step opt-in forms and animated elements to your website …
(Add lead capture forms and animated elements to your pages with Thrive Lightbox)
2-Step Opt-in Forms
A 2-step opt-in process can help improve your conversion rates. Visitors click on a button or image, and then they are presented with your opt-in form …
(Visitors click on a button and are presented with an opt-in form)
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 images on your pages, using a range of effects (e.g. zoom out, slide in from left to right, roll in, etc.
(Set up and manage events on your 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.
Feedback From Users
Here are just a few of the testimonials and feedback that users have written about Thrive Content Builder:
”You guys are simply awesome I am loving everything you are doing at the moment. Keep up the great work you really are making such a big difference in this field. Jule Fuller”
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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 WordPress theme, 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 using the plugin.
You can add short codes inside the Content Builder or Landing Pages plugin and they will be displayed correctly on on your web site.
Thrive Lightbox works with any content you build using Thrive Content Builder.
Thrive Content Builder Support
Thrive Content and Landing Page Builder 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, thirty day, complete refund guarantee.
This is an exciting product for WordPress users that just keeps getting better.
Plugin 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 License – This edition allows you to use the plugin on a single domain. Includes full feature set, unlimited updates and one year of unlimited support. Price = $59.00.
- Unlimited Sites Licensing – This edition lets you install the plugin on unlimited domains that you own. It includes full feature set, unlimited updates and one year of unlimited support. Price = $87.00.
- Agency Licensing – This allows you to run 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: Price details for Thrive Content Builder depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. Currently, the software sells for the pricing shown above. This may not be the actual price set by the plugin seller when you visit the product site and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after your purchase.
Check the plugin’s website for current pricing details:
Additional Plugin Information
The Thrive 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 time-saving features like ready-made page elements and beautiful, conversion-optimized template sets that help to speed up content design, and on the other hand, you have complete control over the design process and the ability to edit everything on your page, using the plugin’s click-to-edit and drag and drop features, that lets you see how the content you are working on will appear after publishing.
For a demo video showing plugin usage, including installation instructions and tutorials, FAQs, support help desk, contact details and more, visit the plugin website.
Get This Plugin …
If you want to edit something, simply click on the element and start editing. If you want to change something, 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 extra steps involved.
If you want to transform and improve your business online and create amazing marketing pages, streamlined landing pages and engaging content, Thrive Content Builder and Landing Pages delivers an incredible conversion-boosting package with a single, inexpensive plugin.
For more details, check out the plugin here:
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