WordPress has evolved from being just a simple blogging tool into a tool that can be used to design all types of web pages – direct sales pages, portfolio pages, business pages, etc.
Whatever you can imagine, somewhere around the world someone is bound to be already building it with WordPress!
This article will help you discover the simplest, most intuitive visual editor for WordPress.
Drag And Drop Content Editors For WordPress
Does The WordPress Visual Editor Still Meet All Of Your Page Design Needs?
Using the WordPress visual content editor to build or edit sophisticated web pages can sometimes be quite challenging.
(The default WordPress visual content editor is great for adding, formatting and editing conventional content, but adding complex page elements can be challenging!)
For example, let’s say you want to create something like the layout shown below …
To create the above boxes with text and buttons, users would normally need to insert short codes into the content for each of the elements they would like to add to their page …
Normally, this is not an issue … unless you need to reconfigure the layout (for example, move some of the content from box 1 into box 2, or change the background colour inside a box from dark green to orange. Then, you’re stuck having to mess around with code.
The WordPress content editor is supposed to give non-technical users an easy-to-use WYSIWYG content editor, but as you can see, if you are creating with complex layouts, often what you see on your screen may not be what you get …
(“What You See” isn’t always “What You Get” … unless you can visualize code!)
In some cases, users would probably be better off working inside the html 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 problem about having to use shortcodes and HTML to create content in the default WordPress editor can be summarized by asking the following questions:
1) Speed – How long does it take to build a page using the editor?
2) Abstraction – How closely does the content in the ”back end” match the “front end” content 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 looks nothing like what you see in the front end. This means that users have to mentally translate 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 coming along, which can interrupt the creative process, as you wait for the updates to reload.
A number of WordPress web developers have tried to come up with a range of solutions with the goal of addressing this issue. These solutions range from stand alone WP plugins you can add to your site that add new functionality to the editor, to themes that include built-in features like drag and drop editing …
(WordPress “drag and drop” editors aim to make content creation easier!)
Some solutions require so many complex page design features, that users need to learn how to work with complicated-looking front end editors …
Many of these editors work fine, but they fail to address the fundamental challenge of 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 layouts quickly, this can start to become very frustrating.
Ask yourself this …
If there were no technical constraints, how would you like your page builder to behave?
Now, visualize this …
- You see something in the content that needs correction so you, just click on the content and start writing. Your content is instantly changed.
- You simply drag and drop items around the page, and see them exactly as they will appear on the front end without having to mentally visualize any shortcodes or HTML.
- You have an idea for some content you would like to create, so you simply start typing, and your web page gets built as you go, with no delays, without switching of tab browsers, and without having to wait for new content to reload.
Would this not be the ideal way to create content for your site? Just click-to-edit and drag and drop elements around the page?
(Imagine being able to create complex web 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 Plugin – The Simplest, Most Intuitive WYSIWYG Editor For WordPress
Plugin Description
Thrive Content Builder is a ground-breaking WordPress plugin that gives you total control over every aspect of your web page using true click-to-edit and drag and drop simplicity.
The Thrive Content Builder plugin provides you with a new and exciting way to set up conversion-focused pages on your WordPress website.
Once installed, Thrive Content Builder adds a visual content editor and a menu that lets you click, then drag and drop design elements on your page …
(Thrive Content Builder adds a new visual editor to WordPress)
The Thrive Content And 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’ll take an in-depth look at each of the above plugins and how these powerful features work seamlessly together to help you transform and improve your website and create awesome sales pages and engaging content.
Thrive Content Builder For WordPress
Thrive Content Builder lets you easily build complex web page design layouts using drag and drop elements …
Every element on your web page can be built using “drag and drop” and “click-to-edit” …
Once you have placed your elements on your page, you can then further edit or customize them without going through multiple steps or opening extra option screens …
The built-in Thrive Landing Pages also lets you build highly attractive 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 amazingly simple, that the developers guarantee that once you start using it, it will ruin the experience of using any other content editor forever, and you’ll never look back!
Learn more here: Thrive Content Builder
The integrated Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder plugin was created by the same team that developed Thrive Leads, another terrific plugin for WordPress that we have previously written about on this site.
See this post to read about the plugin:
Benefits Of Using Thrive Landing Pages And Content Builder Plugin
Here are just some of the benefits of using Thrive Content Builder to speed up the process of creating content for your site:
Fast And Simple To Install And Implement. Be Up And Running In Minutes.
Thrive Content Builder installs just like any WordPress plugin. Simply upload a zip folder containing the plugin files to your Plugins folder via your WordPress dashboard and activate.
Real-Time Content Content Editing
Thrive Content Builder is very simple to use and lets you create content in real-time.
A Truly Visual Content Builder
With Thrive Content Builder installed, what you see as you work within the content editor – typefaces, elements, page layouts, etc. is exactly what you get in the front end of your site.
Additional benefits of the plugin include the following:
- Stunning Web Page Layouts With Drag And Drop Ease: Create any layout you can imagine with drag and drop ease.
- Add Design Elements With No Shortcodes Required: With the Thrive Content Builder plugin you not only get a visually exciting drag and drop content builder, but the plugin also includes an impressive collection of customizable design elements that you can customizable and add to your layouts without using short codes, such as tabbed content, content boxes, dividers, code insert boxes, etc.
- More Enjoyable Content Creation: Not having to wait for the content to refresh frees up your attention and allows you to be more focused while you work or click through multiple steps to get what you want done.
(Insert, edit and customize web page elements like testimonials, content toggle, text boxes, dividers, responsive video embeds, etc.)
Plugin Features
Thrive Content Builder provides a number of great features to WordPress users. Here are just some:
- Regular WordPress Editor Functionality Is Still Available: You have all of the regular WordPress content editing options that you are used to (e.g. bold formatting, paragraph formatting, heading styles, etc.),
- Drag And Drop Multi-Style Elements: The plugin adds a “drag and drop” list of elements to your post or page screen when editing content.
- Conversion-Boosting Elements: The plugin comes with a range of attention-grabbing and customizable elements that will help you increase your sales conversions, including buttons and call-to-action elements, testimonials, and guarantee forms. In addition to customization options, multiple design options are also available for various elements.
- Responsive Web Element Design: Add mobile-friendly elements like column layouts, guarantee boxes, content section dividers, e.g. which will resize and display great on different device screens.
- Add Animation Events To Pages: The plugin’s Event Manager feature lets you create animations, trigger lightboxes and more!
(Add Animated Elements To Your Pages)
Thrive Landing Pages Plugin – 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 plugin provides you with conversion-optimized web page templates)
Thrive Landing Pages – Benefits
- Everything is hosted on your own WordPress site
- Save time and money building gorgeous pages
- 100% conversion-optimized pages
- No web coding skills required
- 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 beautifully designed, web 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 30+ templates available, with more templates being worked on. In addition to the available templates, expect to see new templates in the future for email lead generation, sales pages, training pages, personal branding pages, webinar pages and more.
Customizable Landing Page Template
Typically, to be able to have a fully customizable 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 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 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 stunning pre-designed pages that are fully optimized and ready to go, and complete design freedom that allows you to change or edit anything on your page …
The landing page template sets included with this plugin let you do the following:
- Modify text in any headline, button, bullet point, etc.
- Delete text, images or any other element of the landing page
- Replace the background image or background color
- Edit the color of links, buttons, text, etc.
- Use your own fonts
- Use your own images
- Modify the size of the content area
- Change the order of elements on the pages
- Translate everything on the page into different languages
- Add any type of custom content anywhere inside 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 edit anything on your page)
Transform Your Website Into A Marketing Machine With Thrive Lightbox Plugin
The Thrive plugin combo includes the Thrive Lightbox plugin, which lets you add fully configurable 2-step opt-in forms and events to your site …
(Add opt-in forms and animated elements to your web pages with the Thrive Lightbox plugin)
Two-Step Opt-in Forms
A 2-step opt-in process can improve your conversion rates. When visitors click on an image or button they are presented with your opt-in form …
(When visitors click on the button, they are presented with an opt-in form)
Event Manager
An “event” consists of a trigger and an action. You can make an opt-in form appear when when visitors click or hover 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 pages, using a range of animation effects (e.g. fade in, slide in from right to left, roll out, etc.
(Set up and manage events on your WordPress web site with the Thrive Lightbox plugin)
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
Below are a couple of the testimonials customers have written about 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”
Thrive Content Builder Plugin – Tips
Thrive Content Builder works with any WordPress theme, not just with the Thrive Landing Pages plugin. 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 Thrive Content Builder or Thrive Landing Pages and they will display correctly when published.
Thrive Lightbox works with any content built using 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 plugins are very well-supported, and users get lifetime updates, and 1 year unlimited support with their purchase, backed by a risk-free, 30 day, complete money-back guarantee.
This is an exciting product that just keeps getting better.
Software 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 Licensing – This allows you to set up the plugin on one site only. Includes full feature set, unlimited updates and one year of unlimited support. Price = $59.00.
- Unlimited Sites Edition – This enables you to configure the plugin on all domains that you personally own. Includes full feature set, unlimited updates and one year of unlimited support. Cost = $87.00.
- Agency Edition – This edition lets you run the plugin on all of your own sites and your client domains. Pricing includes access to Thrive Content Builder, plus all Thrive Themes & Thrive Plugins. Price = $247.00 per year.
Note: Price details for the Thrive Content Builder software can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. The price above was current when this article was written. This may or may not be the actual price charged by the plugin developer when you visit the product site 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 Landing Pages and Content Builder plugin 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, pre-designed template sets that help speed up page design and content creation, 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 get things done without having to open multiple dialog boxes.
For a demo video of the plugin, including installation instructions and tutorials, FAQs, customer helpdesk, contact details and more, visit the Thrive plugins website.
We Recommend …
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’ll see the change happen immediately. If you want to move something, just drag it and drop it into its new location. There are no extra steps involved.
If you want to transform and improve your website and create awesome sales pages and engaging content, Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder delivers an incredible conversion-boosting package with a single, inexpensive plugin.
To learn more, check out the plugin here:
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