WordPress has evolved from being just a simple blogging tool to a tool that is now used to design all types of pages – marketing pages, product showcase pages, business pages, etc.
Whatever you can think of, somewhere around the world someone is most likely already building it using WordPress!
In this article you will discover the most straight-forward way to build stunning content and beautiful web page layouts in WordPress.
Drag & Drop Content Editors For WordPress
Does The Default WordPress Visual Editor Still Meet All Of Your Page Design Needs?
With so many improvements that the WordPress platform has gone through in recent years, many WordPress developers and users feel that the WordPress content editor is now lagging behind the improvements made to the software.
(The default WordPress WYSIWYG editor is great for adding, formatting and editing conventional content, but adding complex layouts can be quite challenging!)
For example, let’s say you want to create something like the layout shown below …
Adding the above to your content would require entering something like this in your default WordPress editor …
Generally, this is not really an issue … unless you have to edit something in your layout (for example, move some of the content from box 3 into box 2, or change the button inside a box from bright red to gray. Then, you’re stuck having to mess around with code inside the content editor.
The WordPress editor is supposed to provide non-technical 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, what you see in the visual editor may not be what you are going to get when your content is published …
(“What You See” isn’t always “What You Get” … unless you can visualize code!)
In some instances, you could be better off working directly with the source html itself instead of the visual editor when trying to add complex layouts …
Even though WordPress is extremely easy to use, this makes it difficult for WordPress users without coding skills to fully manage their own content.
The fundamental problem about having to use HTML and shortcodes to create content in the default WordPress visual editor can be summarized as follows:
1) Speed – How long will it take to create a web page using the editor?
2) Abstraction – How closely does the content in the ”back end” resemble the “front end” content when you are creating or editing a page?
As you can see from the above, what you see in the editor doesn’t look even remotely similar to what you see in the front end. This means that you have to abstract what the content will look like when working with complex layouts. Other solutions require taking a number of 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 can impact how fast you can create your content, as you wait for pages to load.
Many WordPress developers have tried to come up with a range of solutions to try to make the visual editor more intuitive. Some of these 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 page design features, that users end up with complicated-looking front end content editors …
Many of these alternative editors work fine, but they don’t really seem to address the fundamental issue of using shortcodes and HTML as described earlier. Creating, adding and editing sophisticated content elements on a web page becomes overly complicated, involves multiple steps and doesn’t match what users expect to see on the “front end.”
If you want your page content to look ”perfect” quickly, this can start to become quite frustrating.
Ask yourself this …
If there were no technical constraints, how would you like to build and edit your web content?
Now, imagine the following scenario …
- You look at your content and if you spot something that needs to be changed, simply click on the content and start changing it. Your content has been instantly fixed.
- You simply drag and drop elements on the page, and the page looks exactly as it will display on the front end without having to mentally visualize any code.
- You have an idea for a specific item of content that you would like to add, so you immediately begin typing, and you build your page on the fly, with no delays, with no switching of tab browsers, and without waiting for new content to refresh.
Would this not be the perfect way to build content for your WordPress website? Just click-to-edit and drag and drop elements around your page?
(Imagine being able to create complex pages in real-time for your web content with no 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 – WordPress Click-To-Edit Drag And Drop Content And Page Builder
Plugin Description
Thrive Content Builder is a truly intuitive WordPress click-to-edit drag and drop content editor.
Thrive Content Builder is a new and exciting way to speed up the process of adding great content to your WordPress website.
Once installed, Thrive Content Builder adds a visual content editor with a menu that lets you click, then drag and drop design elements to your web page …
(Thrive Content Builder adds a new visual content editing option to WordPress)
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 take an in-depth look at each of the above and how these powerful features work together to help you transform and improve your business online and create awesome sales pages and content.
Thrive Content Builder Plugin For WordPress
With the Thrive Content Builder plugin, you can easily add content to your web pages and build complex page layouts using drag and drop elements …
Every aspect of your page can be created with “drag and drop” and “click-to-edit” ease …
Once you have positioned elements on the page, you can continue to further edit or customize these without having to go through multiple steps or switching screens …
The built-in Landing Pages editor also lets you build highly attractive landing pages that can also be easily customized …
Thrive Content and Page Builder is simple, easy to use, and ideal for all WordPress users at all levels. In fact, designing pages and working on content with Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder installed is so effortlessly simple, that the developers warn that you will never look at creating content the same way once you start using it
Go here to learn more: Thrive Content Builder
Thrive Content Builder and Thrive Landing Pages were created by the same team that developed Thrive Leads, another fantastic plugin that we have previously written about on this site.
To read about this plugin, go here:
Benefits
Here we have listed just some of the benefits and advantages of using Thrive Content Builder to speed up content creation:
Fast And Simple To Install And Set Up. Ready To Use In Minutes.
Thrive Content Builder is quite easy to install. Just upload a zip file containing the plugin files to your Plugins folder via your admin section and activate.
Edit And Create Content In Real Time
Thrive Content Builder is is not only simple to use, it also lets you create, edit and add content right inside your web pages in real-time.
A Truly Visual Content Editor
With Thrive Content Builder installed, what you see as you work within the content editor – typefaces, elements, page layouts, etc. is exactly what your visitors will see in the front end of your site.
Some additional plugin benefits include the following:
- Attractive 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 content builder, but the plugin also includes an impressive collection of functional and attractive web design elements that you can add to your layouts without using short codes, like pricing tables, feature grids, buttons, credit card icons, etc.
- Distraction-Free Content Creation: Not having to deal with technical stuff for for your updated content to refresh frees up your attention and allows you to build the web pages your business needs, quickly and without having to deal with code or click through multiple layers of menus to get what you need done.
(Easily add, edit and customize page elements like testimonial boxes, content toggle, star ratings for review pages, call to action buttons, responsive maps, etc.)
Plugin Features
Thrive Content Builder provides a number of unique features to WP users. Here are just a few of these:
- Built-In WordPress Content Functionality Is Preserved: You have all of the built-in content editing options that you are used to (e.g. underline, paragraph formatting, headings and font sizes, 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 eye-catching and customizable elements that will help increase your conversions, including buttons and call-to-action elements, testimonials, and guarantees. In addition to being customizable, multiple design options are also available for various elements.
- Responsive Web Page Design: Add mobile-friendly columns, boxes, content dividers, e.g. which will resize and display correctly on different device screens.
- Add Animation To Your Web Pages: The Event Manager feature lets you create animations, trigger lightboxes and more!
(Add Animated Elements To Your Pages)
Thrive Landing Pages – Landing Page Template Sets
Landing page sets are templates that work together logically and use the same conversion-optimized design language to take your visitors from signup to purchase, product download and more.
(Thrive Landing Pages plugin provides you with conversion-optimized web page templates)
Thrive Landing Pages Plugin – Benefits
- Hosted on your own WordPress site
- Save time building great-looking pages for your WordPress website
- 100% conversion-optimized web page templates
- No coding 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 beautifully designed, conversion optimized web page templates and fully customizable …
(Thrive Landing Pages provides sets of templates that work together logically and use the same conversion-optimized design language)
There are currently over thirty templates available, with more templates planned for release. In addition to the available templates, the developers plan to release new page templates for email lead generation, sales pages, course pages, personal branding pages, webinar pages and more.
Completely Customizable And Flexible Landing Page Template
Typically, to be able to have a fully customizable landing page template, you would need to either hire a web developer 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 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 creating conversion-optimized web pages.”
Thrive Landing Pages gives you attractive pre-designed 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 …
With the landing page template sets included with this plugin, you can:
- Change text in any headline, button, bullet point, etc.
- Remove text, images or any other element of the landing page
- Replace any background images or colors
- Change the color of text, buttons, links, etc.
- Select your own fonts
- Select your own images and graphics
- Change content area size
- Rearrange the order of elements on your pages
- Translate everything on the page into different languages
- Add custom content inside the pages
- Use pre-designed, customized pages, or create your own pages from scratch and save them as new web page templates.
(Change and customize any aspect of your page templates)
Thrive Lightbox Plugin – Transform Your Website Into A Powerful Marketing Machine
The Thrive plugin combo also includes Thrive Lightbox, which lets you add fully configurable 2-step opt-in forms and events to your website …
(Add opt-in forms and events to your pages with Thrive Lightbox)
Two-Step Opt-in Forms
A two-step opt-in process helps to improve your conversion rates. When visitors click on a button or image they are presented with your opt-in form …
(Capture more leads and subscribers with a two-step opt-in process)
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 images on your pages, using a range of animation effects (e.g. zoom in, slide in from bottom to top, roll out, etc.
(Set up and manage events on your pages with the Thrive Lightbox plugin)
A lightbox and event is created automatically for your landing pages, but you also have complete control over all events, triggers and design.
Testimonials
Below are just a few of the testimonials users have published about Thrive Content Builder:
“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”
Plugin Tips
Thrive Content Builder works with any WordPress theme, not just with the Thrive Landing Pages plugin. You cannot use Thrive Content Builder to edit content on 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 be displayed correctly on on your site.
Thrive Lightbox works with any content you build with Thrive Content Builder.
Support
Thrive Content and Landing Page Builder Plugin comes with free updates, new landing templates and upcoming features. The Thrive team is constantly working on adding new features and improving existing ones.
Thrive products are well-supported, and users get lifetime updates, plus 1 year unlimited support with their purchase, backed by a risk-free, 30 day, complete refund guarantee.
This is an exciting product that will just keep 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 Edition – This edition lets you install the plugin on 1 site only. Includes full feature set, unlimited updates and one year of unlimited support. Cost = $59.00.
- Unlimited Sites License Edition – This license allows you to activate the plugin on unlimited sites that you own. Cost includes full feature set, unlimited updates and one year of unlimited support. Cost = $87.00.
- Agency Edition – Use on your web sites and on all your client domains. Includes access to Thrive Content Builder, plus all Thrive Themes & Thrive Plugins. Price = $247.00 per year.
Note: Pricing for this product depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. The pricing shown above was current at the time this article was written. This may or may not be the actual price charged by the software author when you visit the product website and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after you’ve purchased.
Check the plugin’s website for the latest pricing:
Additional Information
The developers of the Thrive Content Builder plugin emphatically 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 template sets that help to speed up the page design and content creation process, and on the other hand, you have complete control over your design process and the freedom to change everything on your page, using the plugin’s click-to-edit and drag and drop features, which allows you to see how the content you are working on will look after publishing.
For demo videos showing how the plugin works, including installation instructions and tutorials, FAQs, customer help desk, contact details and more, visit the Thrive plugins website.
Install The Plugin …
If you want to edit something, you click on the element and start editing. If you want to change something, you can see the change happen instantly. If you want to move something, all you have to do is drag it and drop it into its new position. There are no complicated steps involved.
If you want to transform and improve your business online and create amazing sales pages and content, this plugin delivers an incredible conversion-boosting package with a single, inexpensive plugin.
For complete details, check out the plugin here:
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