WordPress has evolved from being just a simple blogging tool to a tool being used to design all types of web pages – direct sales pages, portfolio pages, local business pages, etc.
Whatever you can imagine, someone is most likely already building it using WordPress!
In this article you will learn how to create beautiful page layouts with drag & drop ease in WordPress sites.
Drag And Drop Content Editors For WordPress
The WordPress Content Editor – Is There An Easier Way For Creating And Editing Content In WordPress?
Using the default WordPress visual content editor to create or edit sophisticated web pages can be difficult.
(The WordPress WYSIWYG content editor is great for adding, formatting and editing “linear” content, but adding more complex content elements can be challenging!)
For example, let’s say you want to create something like the content shown below …
To create the above boxes with text and buttons, users would normally need to insert shortcodes into the content for each element they would like to add to their page …
Generally, this is not an issue … unless you need to change your layout (for example, move some of the content from box 1 into box 2, or change the button inside box 3 from bright red to yellow. Then, you’re stuck having to mess around with code.
The WordPress visual content editor is supposed to give non-technical users an easy-to-use WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor, but as you can see, if you are trying to create more complex content elements, what you see may not be what you are getting when the page goes live …
(“What You See” isn’t always “What You Get” … unless you can visualize code!)
In some instances, some people argue that you could even be better off working directly inside the text editor tab instead of the visual editor when trying to create something other than simple layouts …
Even though WordPress is very user-friendly, this makes it difficult for WordPress site owners without knowledge of HTML or CSS to fully manage their own content.
The fundamental problem of using shortcodes and HTML to create content in the default WordPress visual editor can be summarized by asking two questions:
1) Speed – How long will it take to build a web 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 in the back end looks nothing like what you see in the front end. This means that you have to translate mentally what your content will look like when working with complex layouts. Other solutions require taking multiple steps before you can start configuring your page layout, or endlessly going back and forth between browser tabs and performing tweaks and updates to see how your content is coming along, which then affects how fast you can create your content, as you wait for the content to refresh.
Many WordPress web developers have come up with different solutions aiming to address this issue. Some of these alternative solutions range from standalone 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 page-building features, that users end up with complicated-looking front end content editors …
Many of these editors work fine, but they fail to 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 your content to look ”perfect” 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 content?
Now, visualize the following scenario …
- You look at your content and if you spot something that needs to be corrected, simply click on the content and start writing. Your content has been instantly edited.
- You can just drag and drop items on the page, and see them exactly as they will appear on the front end without having to mentally visualize HTML or shortcodes.
- You have an idea for a specific piece of content that you’d like to create, so you immediately start typing, and you build your page as you go, without delays, no switching of tab browsers, and without having to wait for pages to republish and reload.
Would this not be the ideal way to build content for your WordPress website? Just click-to-edit and drag and drop elements around the page?
(Imagine being able to create complex web page layouts ”on the fly” 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 Plugin – The Simplest Visual Content Editor For WordPress
Plugin Description
Thrive Content Builder is a revolutionary WordPress plugin that allows you to quickly create and change content on your posts and pages using a powerful click-to-edit and drag and drop content editor.
The Thrive Content Builder plugin provides you with a new and exciting way to speed up the process of adding content to your WordPress website.
Once installed, Thrive Content Builder adds a visual content editor with an item menu that lets you select, then drag and drop elements on your web page …
(Thrive Content Builder adds a new visual content editing option to WordPress)
Thrive Content And Landing Page 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.
In this article we’ll take an in-depth look at all of the above plugins and how all of this exciting functionality works together to help you transform and improve your site and create amazing sales pages and content.
Thrive Content Builder Plugin
You can easily add complex design layouts to your web pages using drag and drop elements …
Every aspect of your page can be created and changed using ”click-to-edit” and “drag and drop” …
Once you have positioned elements on the page, you can continue to further customize or edit them without having to go through additional steps or switching tabs …
You can also work inside beautiful 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 you will never look back once you start using it
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 recommended on this site.
To read about the plugin, see this article:
Benefits Of Using Thrive Content Builder And Landing Pages
Here we have listed just some of the many benefits and advantages of using Thrive Content Builder to speed up the process of creating content for your WordPress website:
Quick And Easy To Install And Implement. Be Up And Running In Minutes.
Thrive Content Builder installs like any other WP plugin. Simply upload a zip folder containing the plugin to your Plugins folder via your dashboard and activate.
Real-Time Content Content Creation
Thrive Content Builder is is not only simple to use, it also lets you edit and build content in real-time.
A Truly Visual Editor
With Thrive Content Builder installed, what you see on the “back end” as you work within the editor – fonts, elements, page layouts, etc. is exactly what your visitors will see on the front end of your site.
Some additional benefits include:
- Add Eye-Catching Page Layouts With Drag & Drop Ease: Create any type of layout you can imagine with intuitive drag and drop functionality.
- Design Elements Included: With Thrive Content Builder you not only get a click-to-edit content editor, but the plugin also includes a very decent collection of design elements that you can insert into your pages without using shortcodes, for e.g.: tabbed content, table of contents builder, dividers, custom HTML and CSS, etc.
- Distraction-Free Content Creation: Not having to deal with technical stuff, or wait for the updates to refresh frees up your attention and allows you to be more focused while you build content or click through multiple layers of menus to get what you want done.
(Easily add, edit and customize web page elements like testimonial boxes, columns, table of contents builder, dividers, HTML code insert boxes, etc.)
Features
Thrive Content Builder offers many unique features to web site owners. Here are 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. underlines, centering text, headings, etc.),
- Drag And Drop Multi-Style Elements Menu: The plugin makes a “drag and drop” list of elements available on your post or page screen when editing content.
- Conversion-Boosting Elements: The plugin provides you with various eye-catching and customizable elements that will help you increase your conversions, including buttons and call-to-action elements, testimonial boxes, and guarantees. In addition to customization options, various elements also offer multiple design options.
- Responsive Design: Add responsive columns, boxes, content dividers, e.g. which will adjust to display correctly on different device screens.
- Add Animation Events To Your Web Pages: The Event Manager feature lets you insert animated content elements, trigger lightboxes and more!
(Add Animated Elements To Your Pages)
Thrive Landing Pages – Landing Page Template Sets
Landing page template sets are web page 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 web page templates)
Thrive Landing Pages – Benefits
- Everything is hosted on your own WordPress site
- Save time building stunning pages
- 100% conversion-optimized landing pages
- No web coding skills needed
- Works with all WordPress themes
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, 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 over 30 templates available, with more templates planned for future release. In addition to the templates shown above, the developers plan to release new web page templates for email lead generation, sales pages, course pages, personal branding pages, webinar pages and more.
Completely Customizable And Flexible Landing Page Template Sets
Normally, in order to have a completely customizable landing page template, you would need to either pay a web site 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 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 stunning pre-built web pages that are fully optimized and ready to go, and complete design freedom that lets you change or customize anything on the page …
With the landing page template sets included with this plugin, you are able to:
- Edit text in all buttons, headlines, bullet points, etc.
- Remove text, images or any other element of the landing page
- Change all background images and background color
- Change the color of text, buttons, links, etc.
- Use your own fonts
- Select your own images and graphics
- Edit content area size
- Change the order of page elements
- Translate pages into a different language
- Add custom content anywhere in the pages
- Start with a blank web page and create your own page templates, or even build your own custom landing pages library.
(Change and edit anything on the page)
Transform Your Web Site Into A Powerful Marketing Machine With Thrive Lightbox
The Thrive package also includes Thrive Lightbox, which lets you add fully editable 2-step opt-in forms and animated elements to your content pages …
(Add opt-in forms and animated objects to your WordPress web site with Thrive Lightbox)
Two-Step Opt-in Forms
A two-step opt-in process helps to 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 two-step opt-in process)
Event Manager
An “event” consists of a trigger and an action. You can make opt-in forms 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 various effects (e.g. zoom out, slide in from top to bottom, roll out, 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 events, triggers and design.
Testimonials
Here are just some testimonials and feedback that plugin users have written 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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”Your stuff is beautifully designed, fast and has great options for marketers that you just don’t see with other themes. Great, great job! Absolutely love Thrive! David Coleman”
Thrive Content Builder – 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 with the plugin installed.
You can add short codes inside the Content Builder or Landing Pages plugin and they will display correctly on your website.
Thrive Lightbox works with any content you build using Thrive Content Builder.
Plugin Support
Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder Plugin provides free updates, new landing templates and upcoming features. The Thrive team is constantly working on adding new features and improving existing ones.
Thrive software is well-supported, and users get lifetime upgrades, and 1 year unlimited support with their purchase, backed by a risk-free, thirty day, full money-back guarantee.
This is an exciting product for WordPress users that will just keep getting better.
Product 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 Edition – This edition allows you to configure the plugin on one site only. Includes full feature set, unlimited updates and one year of unlimited support. Cost = $59.00.
- Unlimited Sites Licensing – This license enables you to set up the plugin on all of your personal web sites. Cost includes full feature set, unlimited updates and one year of unlimited support. Price = $87.00.
- Agency License Edition – Use on all your sites & on client sites. Pricing includes access to Thrive Content Builder, plus all Thrive Themes & Thrive Plugins. Price = $247.00 per year.
Please Note: Pricing for Thrive Content Builder depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. The price shown above was current when this content was written. This may or may not be the actual pricing set by the plugin developer when you visit the product website and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after purchasing.
Check the plugin’s website for current pricing details:
Additional Info
The Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder plugin developers 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 time-saving features like ready-made web page elements and templates that help to make designing your content faster, and on the other hand, you also have 100% control over the design process and the freedom to edit anything and everything on your page, using the plugin’s visual content editor, which allows you to get things done without having to open multiple dialog boxes.
For a demo video of the plugin, including help documentation and tutorials, FAQs, customer help desk, contact details and more, visit the Thrive Content Builder website.
Download The Plugin …
If you want to edit something, you click on the element and start editing. If you want to change something, do it, and you can see the change happen instantly. If you want to move something, just drag it and drop it into its new location. There are no overly complicated steps involved.
If you want to transform and improve your business online and create awesome 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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