WordPress has evolved from being just a simple blogging tool to a tool that is now used to create all kinds of websites.
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 fastest visual content builder for WordPress.
Drag & Drop Content Editors For WordPress
Is The Default WordPress Editor Meeting All Of Your Page Design Needs?
Using the built-in WordPress content editor to create or edit complex page layouts can be difficult.
(The default WordPress WYSIWYG editor is great for adding, formatting and editing “linear” content, but adding more complex page elements can be challenging!)
For example, if you look at the image below …
To create the above boxes with text and buttons, users would need to add shortcodes to the content for every single page element they want to create …
Generally, this is not really an issue … unless you want to reconfigure your layout (for example, move part of the content from box 1 into box 2, or replace the button in box 3 from bright red to purple. Then, you’re stuck having to mess around with code inside the editor.
The WordPress visual content editor is supposed to provide non-technical users with an easy-to-use WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor, but as you can see, when creating with complex layouts, often what you see in the visual editor is not what you get …
(“What You See” isn’t always “What You Get” … unless you can visualize code!)
In some instances, some people argue that users could be better off working directly with the html source itself instead of the WordPress WYSIWYG editor when trying to create non-linear layouts …
Even though WordPress is the most user-friendly CMS platform available, this makes it difficult for users with no coding skills to fully manage their own content.
The fundamental problem about using shortcodes and HTML to create content in the default WordPress editor can be summarized by asking the following questions:
1) Speed – How long will it take to build a page using this 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 image, 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 the content will look like when working with complex layouts. Other solutions require 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 progressing, which then affects how quickly you can create your content, as you wait for your content to load.
A number of WordPress web developers have tried to come up with a range of solutions aiming to address this issue. Some of these range from WordPress plugins you can add to your site that add new functionality to the editor, to WP themes that come with built-in features like drag and drop editing …
(WordPress “drag and drop” editors aim to make content creation easier!)
Some solutions require so many page-building features, that users need to learn how to work with complicated-looking front end content editors …
Many of these editors work fine, but they don’t really address the fundamental problem with using shortcodes and HTML as described earlier. Creating and adding 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 layouts quickly, this can start to become really frustrating after a while.
Ask yourself this …
If there were no technical constraints, how would you like to build and edit your content?
Now, visualize the following scenario …
- You spot something in your content that needs correction so you, simply click on the content and start typing. Your content has been instantly changed.
- You can just drag and drop elements on the page, and see them exactly as they will appear on the front end without having to mentally translate shortcodes or HTML.
- You have an idea for some content that you’d like to create, so you just begin typing, and you build your web page on the fly, without delays, without switching tabs, and without waiting for edits to reload.
Would this not be the perfect way to create content for your WordPress site? Just click-to-edit and drag and drop elements around your page?
(Imagine being able to create complex web pages in real-time for your web content without 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 And Landing Pages – WordPress Click-To-Edit Drag And Drop Content And Landing Page Builder
Plugin Description
Thrive Content Builder is a truly intuitive WordPress click-to-edit drag-and-drop content editor.
Thrive Content Builder provides you with a new and incredibly easy way to speed up the process of adding content to your WordPress website.
Once installed, the plugin adds a visual content editor with a menu that lets you click, then drag and drop elements to your page …
(Thrive Content Builder adds a new visual content editor to WordPress)
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.
Let’s review each of the above plugins and how these powerful features work seamlessly together to help you easily transform and improve your site and create awesome sales pages and content.
Thrive Content Builder
With Thrive Content Builder easily add content to your web pages using drag and drop elements …
Every element of your page can be created by dragging and dropping things around the page and then clicking to edit them …
Once you have placed your elements on a page, you can continue to further edit or customize them without having to go through additional steps or opening more settings screens …
You can also create highly attractive landing pages that can just as easily be edited or customized …
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 plugin installed is so amazingly simple, that the developers guarantee 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 excellent plugin for WordPress we’ve written about on this site.
To read about this plugin, go here:
Benefits
Here we have listed just a few of the benefits and advantages of using Thrive Content Builder to speed up the process of creating content for your WordPress web site:
Easy To Install
Thrive Content Builder installs like every other WordPress plugin. Just upload it to your Plugins folder via your WP admin user area and activate.
Edit Content In Real Time
Thrive Content Builder is very simple and intuitive to use and lets you edit content 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 content editor – fonts, visual elements, layouts, etc. is exactly what your visitors will see in the front end of your site.
Some additional benefits of this plugin include the following:
- Beautiful Layouts With Drag And 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 drag and drop WordPress content builder, but the plugin also includes a very decent collection of design elements that you can customizable and use on your layouts without using short codes, such as pricing tables, borderless content, call to action buttons, Google Map embeds, etc.
- Ideal For Non-Technical Users: Not having to deal with technical stuff, or wait for your new content to reload 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 steps to get what you want done.
(Add, edit and customize web page elements like testimonial boxes, columns, table of contents builder, buttons, code insert boxes, etc.)
Thrive Content Builder Features
Thrive Content Builder offers a number of powerful features to WP users. Below we have listed just a few:
- All WordPress Editor Functionality Is Still Available: You have access to all of the regular text editing options that you are used to (e.g. bold, paragraph centering, headings and font sizes, etc.),
- Drag And Drop Multi-Style Elements Menu: The plugin adds a “drag and drop” list of elements to your post or page screen when creating or editing content.
- Conversion-Boosting Elements: The plugin comes with various attention-grabbing and customizable elements that will help increase your sales conversions, 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, text boxes, content section dividers, e.g. which will resize and display great on different device screens.
- Add Animation Events To Your Web Pages: Thrive Content Builder’s Event Manager feature lets you insert animated content elements, trigger lightboxes and more!
(Add Animated Elements To Your Web Pages)
Thrive Landing Pages Plugin – 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 lets you easily add conversion-optimized pages to your site)
Thrive Landing Pages – Benefits
- Everything is hosted on your own WordPress site
- Save time and money building pages
- 100% conversion-optimized landing pages
- No technical skills needed
- Works with any WordPress theme
Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder not only lets you create beautiful-looking content in your WordPress posts and pages, but you can also choose from dozens of beautifully designed, landing page templates that are conversion-optimized 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 templates shown above, 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 Sets
Typically, to be able to fully customize landing page templates, you would need to either pay a web designer to do the work, or learn web coding languages like HTML and CSS 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 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 great-looking pre-designed pages that are fully optimized and ready to go, and complete design freedom that lets you change or edit anything on the page templates …
With the landing page template sets included with this plugin, you can:
- Edit text in all headlines, bullet points, buttons, etc.
- Delete text, images or any other element of the landing page
- Change the background image or color
- Change the color of text, buttons, links, etc.
- Choose your own fonts
- Select your own images
- Modify the size of the content area
- Change the order of elements on the page
- Translate pages into a different language
- Add custom content anywhere inside the pages
- Start with a blank web page and create your own templates, or even build your own custom landing page templates library.
(Change or edit anything on the page templates)
Thrive Lightbox – Transform Your Site Into A Marketing Machine
The Thrive plugin combo includes the Thrive Lightbox plugin, which lets you add fully customizable 2-step opt-in forms and animated elements to your site …
(Add opt-in forms and animation to your pages with Thrive Lightbox)
Thrive Lighbox 2-Step Opt-in Forms
A two-step opt-in process can help improve your conversion rates. When visitors click on a button or image 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 your visitor clicks or hovers their mouse 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 page, using a range of effects (e.g. zoom in, slide in from bottom to top, roll in, etc.
(Set up and manage events on your web 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 some testimonials and comments customers have published 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 theme in WordPress, not just with the Thrive Landing Pages plugin. Note, however, that you cannot use Thrive Content Builder to edit content on pages or posts that were not created with the plugin installed.
You can add short codes inside Thrive Content Builder or Thrive Landing Pages and they will be displayed correctly on your website.
Thrive Lightbox works with any content built with Thrive Content Builder.
Plugin Support
Thrive Content Builder and Landing Pages provides free updates, new landing templates and upcoming features. The plugin developers are constantly working on adding new features and improving existing ones.
Thrive products are very well-supported, and users get lifetime software updates, and 1 year unlimited support with their purchase, backed by a no-risk, thirty day, 100% refund guarantee.
This is an exciting product that just keeps getting better.
Product 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 license allows you to activate the plugin on one web site only. Pricing includes full feature set, unlimited updates and one year of unlimited support. Price = $59.00.
- Unlimited Sites Edition – This option lets you use 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 all your client sites. It includes access to Thrive Content Builder, plus all Thrive Themes & Thrive Plugins. Price = $247.00 per year.
Please Note: Current pricing for the Thrive Content Builder plugin depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. The pricing above was current at the time this content was published. This may not be the actual price set by the product author when you visit the plugin site and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after your purchase.
Check the plugin’s website for the latest price here:
Additional Info
The Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder plugin developers emphatically 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 templates that help to speed up your content creation, and on the other hand, you also have complete control over the design process and the ability to change and customize anything and everything on your page, using the plugin’s visual content editor, that allows you to see how the content you are working on will appear to visitors when published.
For ”how-to” videos of the plugin, including help documentation and tutorials, FAQs, support help desk, contact details and more, visit the Thrive 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’ll see the change happen immediately. If you want to move something, all you need to do is simply drag it and drop it into its new location. There are no additional steps involved.
If you want to transform and improve your business online and create amazing marketing pages, streamlined landing pages and engaging content, this plugin delivers an incredible conversion-boosting package with a single, inexpensive plugin.
For full details, check out the plugin here:
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