WordPress has evolved from being just a simple blogging application to a tool that is now used to create all types of websites.
Whatever you can imagine, somewhere around the world someone is probably already building it using WordPress!
In this article you will discover how to create stunning content faster and design beautiful layouts with drag & drop ease in WordPress sites.
Drag And Drop Content Editors For WordPress
Does The WordPress WYSIWYG Editor Still Meet All Of Your Content Creation Needs?
With so many improvements that the WordPress platform has gone through in recent years, many WordPress developers and users believe that using the default WordPress editor to build or edit more complex website pages can sometimes be quite challenging.
(The WordPress visual content editor is great for adding, formatting and editing “linear” text and media, but adding complex content elements can be quite challenging!)
For example, let’s say you want to create something like the layout shown below …
To add the above layout to your content would require inserting something like this into the default WordPress visual content editor …
Typically, this is not an issue … unless you decide to reconfigure the layout (for example, move part of the content from box 3 into box 2, or change the background color in a box from dark green to yellow. Then, you’re stuck having to mess around with code inside the content editor.
The WordPress visual content editor is supposed to give non-technical users an easy-to-use WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) content editor, but as you can see, if you are creating with more complex content elements, what you see in the WordPress content editor screen may not be what you get …
(“What You See” isn’t always “What You Get” … unless you can visualize code!)
In some cases, you would probably be better off working directly with the source html itself instead of the WordPress WYSIWYG editor when trying to build something other than simple page elements …
Even though WordPress is the most user-friendly CMS platform available, this makes it difficult for users with no knowledge of HTML or CSS to fully manage their own content.
The fundamental challenge of using HTML and shortcodes to create content in WordPress can be summarized by asking the following questions:
1) Speed – How long does it take to build a web 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 screenshot, what you see when working in the content editor looks nothing like what you see in the front end. This means that you need to translate mentally what your content will look like when working with sophisticated layouts. Other solutions require several steps before you can begin configuring your page layout, or endlessly going back and forth between browser tabs and performing updates to see how your content is coming along, which interrupts the creative process, as you wait for your new content to refresh.
A number of WordPress web developers have tried to come up with a range of solutions to make the visual editor more intuitive. Some of these solutions range from 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 content creation easier!)
Some solutions end up including so many page-building features, that users end up with complicated-looking front end editors …
Many of these solutions work, but they fail to address the fundamental challenge of using HTML and shortcodes as described earlier. Creating, adding and editing non-linear content 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 content to look ”perfect” quickly, this can become very frustrating after a while.
Ask yourself this …
If there were no technical constraints, how would you like to build and edit your web content?
Now that you’ve asked this question, imagine this …
- You spot something in your content that needs changing so you, simply click on the content and start editing it. Your content is then instantly edited.
- You simply drag and drop items on the page, and the page looks exactly as it will appear on the front end without having to mentally visualize HTML or shortcodes.
- You have an idea for an item of content that you’d like to create, so you simply start typing, and you build your web page as you go, with no delays, no switching of tab browsers, and without waiting for new pages to resave and reload.
Would that not be the perfect way to build content for your site? Just click-to-edit and drag and drop elements around your 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 Builder And Landing Pages
Plugin Description
Thrive Content Builder is a truly intuitive click-to-edit drag-and-drop content creation tool for WordPress.
The Thrive Content Builder plugin provides WordPress users with a new and exciting way to set up conversion-focused pages on any WordPress web site.
Once installed, Thrive Content Builder adds a visual content editor with an item menu that lets you drag and drop elements on your page …
(Thrive Content Builder adds a new visual content editing option to WordPress)
The Thrive Content Builder And Landing Pages 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 plugins and how these features work seamlessly together to help you easily transform and improve your business online and create amazing marketing pages and content.
Thrive Content Builder Plugin
With the Thrive Content Builder plugin, you can easily add content to your web pages using drag and drop elements …
Every element of your web page can be configured, changed and customized with “drag and drop” and “click-to-edit” ease …
Once elements have been added to a page, you can then further customize or edit them without going through multiple steps or switching tabs …
You can also create highly attractive landing pages that can also be easily edited …
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 and working on content with the plugin installed is so effortlessly easy, that the developers warn that once you start using it, it’ll ruin the experience of using all other content editors forever, and you will never look back!
Go here to learn more about the plugin: Thrive Content Builder
Thrive Content Builder and Thrive Landing Pages were created by the same team that developed Thrive Leads, another great plugin for WordPress that we have previously reviewed on this site.
Go here to read about this 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:
Ready To Use In No Time
Thrive Content Builder installs just like every other WordPress plugin. Just upload the plugin file 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 create and add content right inside your pages in real-time.
What You See Is Exactly What You Get
With Thrive Content Builder installed, what you see as you work within the content editor – typefaces, visual elements, layouts, etc. is exactly what your visitors will see in the front end of your site.
Additional benefits and advantages include:
- Add Beautiful Layouts With Drag And Drop Ease: Create any kind of layout you can imagine with drag and drop ease.
- Customizable Elements Included: With Thrive Content Builder you not only get a drag and drop WordPress content builder, but the plugin also includes a jaw-dropping collection of customizable design elements that you can customizable and add to your content layouts without using shortcodes, such as tabbed content, star ratings for review pages, testimonials, Google Map embeds, etc.
- More Enjoyable Content Creation: Not having to deal with technical stuff, or wait for your page to reload frees up your attention and allows you to build the content your business needs, quickly and without having to deal with code or click through multiple layers of menus to get what you need done.
(Create, edit and customize page elements like testimonials, pricing tables, text boxes, section dividers, responsive Google map embeds, etc.)
Thrive Content Builder Features
Thrive Content Builder provides many features to WP users. Here are just a few:
- Built-In WordPress Content Functionality Is Still Available: You have all of the built-in WordPress text editing options that you are used to (e.g. bold, centering text, font styles, etc.),
- Drag And Drop Multi-Style Elements: The plugin makes a “drag and drop” list of multi-style elements available on your post or page screen for editing content.
- Conversion-Boosting Elements: The plugin comes with a range of attention-grabbing 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 mobile-friendly elements like column layouts, text boxes, content section dividers, e.g. which will adjust to display correctly on different device screens.
- Add Animation Events To Pages: The plugin’s Event Manager feature lets you add animated page content, trigger lightboxes and more!
(Add Animated Elements To Your Web Pages)
Thrive Landing Pages – Landing Page 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 gives you access to conversion-optimized page templates)
Thrive Landing Pages – Benefits
- Everything is hosted on your own WordPress site
- Save time building and customizing pages
- 100% conversion-optimized web 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 professionally designed, conversion optimized web page templates and fully customizable …
(Landing page sets that work together logically and use the same conversion-optimized design language)
There are 30+ templates available, with more templates scheduled for release. In addition to the existing templates, expect to see new templates in the future for email lead generation, sales pages, lesson pages, personal branding pages, webinar pages and more.
Fully Customizable And Flexible Landing Page Template
Normally, in order to have fully customizable landing page templates, you would need to either hire a web developer to do the work, or learn how to code web pages 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-built page templates that are fully optimized and ready to go, and complete design freedom that allows you to change or edit anything on your page …
With the landing page templates included with this plugin, you are able to:
- Change text in any bullet point, button, headline, etc.
- Remove text, images or any other component of your landing page
- Replace all background images or colors
- Edit the color of text, links, buttons, etc.
- Choose your own fonts
- Select your own images and graphics
- Modify content area size
- Change the order of page elements
- Translate everything on the page into a different language
- Add custom content in your pages
- Use pre-designed, customized pages, or create your own from scratch and save them as new page templates.
(Change and edit any element of the page)
Thrive Lightbox Plugin – Transform Your WordPress Site Into A Marketing Machine
The Thrive plugin combo includes Thrive Lightbox, which lets you add fully configurable two-step opt-in forms and events to your web site …
(Add opt-in forms and events to your pages with Thrive Lightbox)
Thrive Lighbox Two-Step Opt-in Forms
A two-step opt-in process helps improve 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 when visitors click or hover 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 pages, using various effects (e.g. fade out, slide in from top to bottom, roll in, etc.
(Set up and manage events on your pages with Thrive Lightbox)
Lightboxes and events are created automatically for your landing pages, but you also have complete control over all events, triggers and design.
User Feedback
Here are a couple of the testimonials that customers 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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“I’m blown away by the plugin. Keep up the incredible, WordPress changing work, guys! Dean Phillips”
Plugin 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 that was not created with the plugin.
You can add short codes inside the Content Builder or Landing Pages plugin and they will be displayed correctly when published.
Thrive Lightbox works with any content built using Thrive Content Builder.
Plugin Support
Thrive Content Builder and Landing Pages Plugin comes with free updates, new landing pages and upcoming features. The Thrive team is constantly working on adding new features and improving existing ones.
Thrive plugins are well-supported, and users get lifetime software upgrades, plus one year unlimited support with their purchase, backed by a risk-free, thirty day, full 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 enables you to set up the plugin on a single domain. It includes full feature set, unlimited updates and one year of unlimited support. Cost = $59.00.
- Unlimited Sites License Edition – This lets you configure the plugin on all of your personal sites. Includes full feature set, unlimited updates and 1 year of unlimited support. Cost = $87.00.
- Agency Edition – Use on all your websites and on client sites. It includes access to Thrive Content Builder, plus all Thrive Themes & Thrive Plugins. Price = $247.00 per year.
Please Note: The cost of purchasing the product depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. Presently, the software sells for the amounts shown above. This may not be the actual price set by the product developer when you visit the plugin website and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after purchasing.
Check the plugin’s website for the current pricing here:
Additional Info
The developers of the Thrive Content Builder and Landing Pages plugin repeatedly 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 web page elements and beautiful, pre-designed template sets that help to speed up content design, and on the other hand, you also have complete control over the design process and the ability to change everything on your web page, using the plugin’s click-to-edit and drag and drop features, which allows you to work unhindered by overly complicated steps.
For a demo video of the plugin in action, including help documentation and tutorials, FAQs, customer help desk, contact details and more, visit the Thrive plugins website.
The Bottom Line …
If you want to edit something, simply click on the element and start editing. If you want to change something, do it, and you will see the change happen immediately. If you want to move something, all you have to do is drag it and drop it into its new position. There are no unnecessary steps involved.
If you want to transform and improve your site and create awesome marketing 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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