WordPress has evolved from being just a simple blogging tool into a tool that can be used to design all types of web pages – landing pages, product showcase pages, business pages, etc.
Whatever you can think of, somewhere around the world someone is bound to be already building it with WordPress!
In this article you will learn how to create stunning content with drag & drop ease in WordPress sites.
Drag And Drop Content Editors For WordPress
The WordPress Visual Editor – Is There An Easier Option To Design Beautiful-Looking Website Pages In WordPress?
Using the built-in WordPress WYSIWYG editor to create or edit complex page elements can be challenging.
(The WordPress editor is great for adding, formatting and editing conventional content, but adding more complex content elements can be challenging!)
For example, if you look at the screenshot below …
To create the above boxes with text and buttons, users would normally need to add shortcodes to the content for each page element they want to create …
Normally, this is not an issue … until you choose to change something in your layout (for example, move part of the content from box 3 into box 2, or replace the button inside box 1 from dark green to light blue. Then, you’re stuck having to mess around with page code.
The WordPress editor is supposed to be an easy-to-use WYSIWYG content editor, but as you can see, when creating with complex page elements, what you see in the WordPress visual editor screen may not be what you are getting when your content goes live …
(“What You See” isn’t always “What You Get” … unless you can visualize code!)
In some instances, users could even be better off working directly inside the html editor tab instead of the WordPress WYSIWYG editor when trying to add fancy layouts …
Even though WordPress is extremely easy to use, this makes it difficult for non-technical website owners to fully manage their own content.
The fundamental challenge with having to use shortcodes and HTML to create content in WordPress can be summarized by asking 2 questions:
1) Speed – How long will it take to build a 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 in the editor does not look even remotely similar to what you see in the front end. This means that you need to translate mentally what your content will look like when working with complex layouts. Other solutions require a number of 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 coming along, which can affect how fast you can create your content, as you wait for the content to reload.
Many WordPress web developers have tried to come up with a range of solutions to try to address this issue. Some of these alternative solutions range from stand alone plugins you can install on 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 creating complex layouts easier!)
Some solutions end up combining so many page-building features, that users need to learn how to work with complicated-looking front end editors …
Many of these editors work fine, but they still don’t address the fundamental challenge of using shortcodes and HTML as described earlier. 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 web pages to look “just right” quickly, this can become quite frustrating after a while.
Ask yourself this …
If there were no technical constraints, how would you like to build and edit your pages?
Now, visualize the following …
- You look at your content and if you see something that needs to be changed, just click on the content and start changing it. Your content has been instantly edited.
- You simply drag and drop items around the page, and the page looks exactly as it will display on the front end without having to mentally visualize any shortcodes or HTML.
- You have an idea for some content that you would like to add, so you simply begin typing, and your web page gets built on the fly, without delays, no switching of tab browsers, and without having to wait for new content to refresh.
Would this not be the ideal 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 quickly 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 And Landing Page Builder – WordPress Click-To-Edit Drag And Drop Content And Page Creation Plugin
Plugin Description
Thrive Content Builder is a revolutionary WordPress plugin that gives you total control over every aspect of your content layout with a click-to-edit and drag and drop content editor.
Thrive Content Builder provides you with a new and incredibly easy 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 on your web page …
(Thrive Content Builder adds a new visual content editing option to WordPress)
Thrive Landing Pages And Content Builder 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 examine each of the above and how all of this exciting functionality works seamlessly together to help you transform and improve your business online and create awesome marketing pages and engaging content.
Thrive Content Builder For WordPress
You can easily add content to your web pages and build complex page layouts using drag and drop elements …
Every element of your web page can be built by dragging and dropping things around the page and then clicking to edit them …
Once elements have been added to your page, you can then further customize these without having to go through multiple steps or switching tabs …
The built-in Landing Pages editor also lets you work inside highly attractive landing pages and easily customize these …
Thrive Content Builder and Landing Pages 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 easy, that the developers guarantee that you’ll never look at the process of creating content the same way once you start using it
For more details about this plugin go 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 that we have previously reviewed on this site.
For more information about this plugin, see this article:
Benefits
Here we have listed just a few of the benefits and advantages of using Thrive Content Builder to speed up your page design and content creation process:
Quick And Easy To Install And Configure. Be Up And Running In No Time.
Thrive Content Builder installs just like any regular WordPress plugin. Simply upload the plugin file to your Plugin folder via your WordPress admin account and activate.
Real-Time Content Content Editing
Thrive Content Builder is is not only really simple to use, it also lets you build 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 on the “backend” 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.
Additional benefits of using the plugin include:
- Eye-Catching Page Layouts With Drag And Drop Ease: Create any layout you can imagine with drag-and-drop ease.
- Design Elements Included: With Thrive Content Builder you not only get an exciting and an easy-to-use drag and drop content editor, but the plugin also includes an impressive collection of professional design elements that you can customizable and insert into your web pages without using short codes, for e.g.: tabbed content, styled lists, dividers, HTML code insert boxes, etc.
- Ideal For Non-Technical Users: Not having to deal with technical stuff, or wait for your page to refresh frees up your attention and allows you to be more focused while you build or edit your content or click through multiple steps to get what you want done.
(Create, edit and customize web page elements like testimonial boxes, columns, borderless content, page section dividers, credit card icons, etc.)
Features
Thrive Content Builder offers many powerful features to WP users. Below we have listed just some:
- All WordPress Content Functionality Is Still Available: You have all of the regular text editing options that you are used to (e.g. bold, justified paragraphs, headings and font sizes, etc.),
- Drag And Drop Elements Menu: The plugin makes a “drag and drop” table of multi-style elements available on your post or page screen for editing content.
- Conversion-Boosting Elements: The plugin comes with various attention-grabbing and customizable elements that will help you increase the effectiveness of your sales pages, including buttons and call-to-action elements, testimonial boxes, and guarantees. In addition to customization options, multiple design options are also available for various elements.
- Responsive Page Design: Add responsive columns, text boxes, dividers, e.g. which will display great on different screens.
- Add Animation Events To Pages: Thrive Content Builder’s Event Manager feature lets you create animations, trigger lightboxes and more!
(Add Animated Elements To Your Web 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 signup to purchase, product download and more.
(Thrive Landing Pages plugin lets you easily add conversion-optimized pages to your website)
Thrive Landing Pages – Benefits
- Everything is hosted on your own WordPress site
- Save time creating pages for your web site
- 100% conversion-optimized page templates
- No coding skills required
- Works with all themes
Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder not only can be used to create beautiful content in your WordPress posts and pages, but you can also choose from dozens of beautifully designed, conversion optimized landing page templates and fully customizable …
(Landing page sets that work together logically and use the same conversion-optimized design language)
There are over 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, course pages, personal branding pages, webinar pages and more.
Fully Customizable Landing Page Template
Typically, in order to fully customize a landing page template, you would need to either pay a web site developer to do the work, or learn how to code web pages 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 complex 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 beautiful pre-designed page templates that are fully optimized and ready to go, and complete design freedom that lets you change or edit any element of your page template …
The landing page templates included with this plugin let you do the following:
- Modify text in any bullet point, headline, button, etc.
- Remove text, images or any other part of your landing page
- Replace the background image and background colors
- Change the color of links, text, buttons, etc.
- Use your own fonts
- Select your own images and graphics
- Change content area size
- Change the order of elements on your pages
- Translate everything on the page into a different language
- Add custom content inside any of the pages
- Start with a blank web page and create your own page templates, or even build a custom landing pages library.
(Change and customize any element of the page template)
Thrive Lightbox Plugin – Transform Your Web Site Into A Marketing Machine
The Thrive plugin combo includes the Thrive Lightbox plugin, which lets you add fully editable 2-step opt-in forms and animated elements to your site …
(Add opt-in forms and events to your WordPress pages with Thrive Lightbox)
2-Step Opt-in Forms
A two-step opt-in process helps increase your conversion rates. Visitors click on a button or image, and then they are presented with your opt-in form …
(Capture more leads and subscribers with a 2-step opt-in process)
Thrive Lightbox Event Manager
An “event” consists of a trigger and an action. You can make opt-in forms appear when your visitor clicks or hovers 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 web pages, using various animation effects (e.g. zoom in from the page center, slide in from bottom to top, rotate, etc.
(Set up and manage events on your pages with the Thrive Lightbox plugin)
Lightboxes and events are created automatically for your landing pages, but you also have complete control over all events, triggers and design.
User Feedback
Below are a couple of the testimonials and feedback plugin users have written about the Thrive Content Builder plugin:
”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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”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”
Plugin Tips
Thrive Content Builder works with any theme in WordPress, not just with the Thrive Landing Pages plugin. You cannot use Thrive Content Builder to edit content that was not created with the plugin installed.
You can add shortcodes 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 comes with free updates, new landing templates and upcoming features. The plugin developers are constantly working on adding new features and improving existing ones.
Thrive plugins are really well-supported, and users get unlimited updates, plus 1 year unlimited support with their purchase, backed by a no-risk, thirty day, full money-back guarantee.
This is an exciting product for WordPress users that just keeps getting better.
Product License 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 option enables you to activate the plugin on a single web site. Includes full feature set, unlimited updates and 1 year of unlimited support. Price = $59.00.
- Unlimited Sites Licensing – This edition allows you to install the plugin on all of your personal websites. Includes full feature set, unlimited updates and one year of unlimited support. Price = $87.00.
- Agency License – Use on your web sites and on client domains. It includes access to Thrive Content Builder, plus all Thrive Themes & Thrive Plugins. Price = $247.00 per year.
Note: Pricing details of the Thrive Content Builder product can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. The price above was current at the time this content was published. 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 your purchase.
Check the plugin’s website for current pricing details:
Additional Info
The developers of the Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder plugin 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 time-saving features like ready-made web page elements and template sets that help to speed up content creation, and on the other hand, you have 100% control over the design process and the freedom to edit everything on your page, using the plugin’s visual content editor, which lets you get things done without having to go through multiple steps.
For ”how-to” videos showing plugin usage, including installation instructions and tutorials, FAQs, customer helpdesk, contact details and more, visit the Thrive plugins website.
In Conclusion …
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 will see the change happen immediately. If you want to move something, just drag it and drop it into its new location. There are no complicated steps involved.
If you want to transform and improve your web site and create awesome marketing pages and content, Thrive 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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