WordPress has evolved from being just a simple blogging application into a tool being used to create all types of sites.
Whatever you can think of, someone is probably already building it with WordPress!
In this article you will learn how to create stunning content and design beautiful web page layouts with drag & drop ease in WordPress web sites.
Drag & Drop Content Editors For WordPress
The WordPress Visual Content Editor – Is There An Easier Tool For Designing Pages In WordPress?
Using the default WordPress WYSIWYG editor to build or edit sophisticated website pages can sometimes be difficult, especially for non-technical web site owners.
(The WordPress WYSIWYG editor is great for adding, formatting and editing conventional text and media, but adding more complex page elements can be quite 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 add short codes to the content for each of the page elements they would like to add to their page …
Generally, this is not an issue … until you choose to edit some part of the layout (for example, move some of the content from box 3 into box 2, or change the button in a box from red to some other colour. Then, you’re stuck having to mess around with page code or html.
The WordPress visual 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, if you are working with more complex content elements, often what you see in the WordPress content editor screen may not be what you are going to get when your content gets published …
(“What You See” isn’t always “What You Get” … unless you can visualize code!)
In some cases, some people argue that users could 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 hard for WordPress site owners without knowledge of HTML or CSS to have full control of their own content.
The fundamental problem about using shortcodes and HTML to create content with WordPress can be summarized by asking 2 questions:
1) Speed – How long will it take to create a web page using this editor?
2) Abstraction – How closely does the content in the editor resemble the content in the “front end” when you are creating or editing a page?
As you can see from the above, what you see when working in the editor doesn’t look even remotely similar to what you see in the front end. This means that users have to abstract what the content will look like when working with sophisticated layouts. Other solutions require taking several steps before you can start configuring your page layout, or endlessly switching tabs and performing updates to see how your content is progressing, which can interrupt the creative process, as you wait for pages to reload.
A number of WordPress developers have come up with different solutions with the aim of addressing this issue. These 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 content easier!)
Some solutions end up combining so many page-building features, that users end up with complicated-looking front end content editors …
Many of these alternative solutions work, but they fail to address the fundamental challenge of using shortcodes and HTML as described earlier. Creating and adding non-linear content 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 to create or edit complex layouts quickly, this can start to become quite frustrating.
Ask yourself this …
If there were no technical constraints, how would you like your content builder to work?
Now that you’ve asked this question, imagine the following …
- You spot something in your content that needs correction so you, just click on the content and start changing it. Your content has been instantly edited.
- You can just drag and drop elements on the page, and see them exactly as they will display on the front end without having to mentally abstract from HTML or shortcodes.
- You have an idea for some content that you’d like to add, so you simply begin typing, and your web page gets built on the fly, without delays, with no switching of tab browsers, and without having to wait for new content to refresh and reload.
Would that not be the ideal way to create content for your WordPress site? A true WYSIWYG editor where all you have to do is click-to-edit and drag and drop elements around your page?
(Imagine being able to create complex page layouts quickly 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 – The Most Easy-To-Use Way To Create Stunning Content In WordPress
Plugin Description
Thrive Content Builder is a truly intuitive click-to-edit drag-and-drop content and landing page creation plugin for WordPress.
Thrive Content Builder is a new and exciting way to speed up the process of creating amazing content on.
Once installed, the plugin adds a visual content editor and a menu that lets you select, then drag and drop elements to your web page …
(Thrive Content Builder adds a new content editing option to WordPress)
The Thrive Landing Pages And Content Builder 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 all of the above and how all of this powerful functionality works together to help you transform and improve your web presence and create awesome marketing pages and content.
Thrive Content Builder Plugin
With this plugin installed easily build complex web page design layouts using drag and drop elements …
Every element on your page can be designed and changed using ”click-to-edit” and “drag and drop” …
Once you have positioned elements on a page, you can then continue to customize them without going through multiple steps or switching tabs …
You can also work inside 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, designing pages and working on content with the Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder plugin installed is so effortlessly easy, that the developers guarantee that you will never look back once you start using it
Go here to learn more about this plugin: Thrive Content Builder
The integrated Thrive Content Builder and Landing Pages plugin was created by the same team that developed Thrive Leads, another amazing plugin we’ve previously reviewed on this site.
See this post for more information about this plugin:
Benefits
Below 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:
Easy, Quick And Simple To Install
Thrive Content Builder installs just like any WordPress plugin. Just upload the plugin file to your Plugins folder via your WordPress dashboard and activate.
Add & Edit Content In Real Time
Thrive Content Builder is very simple and intuitive to use and lets you create and edit content in real-time.
What You See Is Really What You Get
With Thrive Content Builder installed, what you see on the “back end” as you work within the content editor – fonts, visual elements, page layouts, etc. is exactly what your visitors will see in the front end of your site.
Additional benefits and advantages include:
- Design Eye-Catching Page Layouts With Drag & Drop Ease: Create any layout you can imagine with drag and drop ease.
- Add Customizable Elements Without Short Codes: With Thrive Content Builder you not only get a visually exciting click-to-edit content editor, but the plugin also includes a collection of functional and eye-catching design elements that you can customizable and add to your content layouts without using shortcodes, such as tabbed content, feature grids, section dividers, Google Map embeds, etc.
- Ideal For Non-Technical Users: Not having to deal with technical stuff, or having to wait for your content to reload frees up your attention and allows you to build the content your business needs, quickly and without having to mess with code or click through multiple layers of menus to get what you want done.
(Insert, edit and customize page elements like testimonials, tabbed content, table of contents builder, section dividers, custom HTML and CSS, etc.)
Plugin Features
Thrive Content Builder provides site owners a number of great features. Below we have listed just some:
- Regular Content Editor Functionality Is Preserved: You have all of the regular WordPress content editing options that you are used to (e.g. underline, centering text, font styles, etc.),
- Drag And Drop Elements: 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 attention-grabbing and customizable elements that will help increase the effectiveness of your sales pages, 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 mobile-friendly elements like column layouts, guarantee boxes, content section dividers, e.g. which will display correctly on different-sized screens.
- Add Animation To Web Pages: The plugin’s Event Manager feature lets you create animated content elements, trigger lightboxes and more!
(Add Animated Elements To Your Pages)
Thrive Landing Pages – 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 initial signup to purchase, product download and more.
(Thrive Landing Pages lets you add conversion-optimized web pages to your website)
Thrive Landing Pages – Benefits
- Hosted on your own WordPress site
- Save time creating landing pages for your website
- 100% conversion-optimized landing pages
- No tech skills needed
- Works with all themes
Thrive Content and Page Builder not only lets you create beautiful-looking content in your WordPress posts and pages, but you can also choose from dozens of professionally designed, web 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 30 templates available, with more templates being worked on. In addition to the templates shown above, 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 have fully customizable 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 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 building conversion-optimized web pages.”
Thrive Landing Pages gives you attractive pre-built web pages that are fully optimized and ready to go, and complete design freedom that lets you change and customize any element of the page template …
With the landing page templates included with this plugin, you can:
- Change text in any headline, button, bullet point, etc.
- Delete text, images or any other element of your landing page
- Replace the background image and edit colours
- Edit the color of buttons, links, text, etc.
- Select your own fonts
- Select your own images and graphics
- Modify content area size
- Rearrange the order of web page elements
- Translate everything on the page into a different language
- Add any kind of custom content in your pages
- Use pre-designed, customized pages, or create your own landing pages from scratch and save them as new page templates.
(Change or customize any element of your page)
Transform Your WordPress Site Into A Marketing Machine With Thrive Lightbox
The Thrive plugin package also includes Thrive Lightbox, which lets you add fully editable 2-step opt-in forms and animated objects to your website …
(Add opt-in forms and animated elements to your web pages with Thrive Lightbox)
Thrive Lighbox Two-Step Opt-in Forms
A 2-step opt-in process can increase your conversion rates. Visitors click on an image or button, and then they are presented with your opt-in form …
(When visitors click on the button, they are presented with an opt-in form)
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 an image, 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. fade in, slide in from bottom to top, rotate, etc.
(Set up and manage events on your web 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.
User Testimonials
Below are a few of the testimonials and comments plugin 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”
***
“I’m blown away by the plugin. Keep up the incredible, WordPress changing work, guys! Dean Phillips”
Thrive Content Builder Plugin – Useful Tips
Thrive Content Builder works with any theme in WordPress, not just with Thrive Landing Pages. 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 WordPress shortcodes inside Thrive Content Builder or Thrive Landing Pages and they will display correctly when published.
Thrive Lightbox works with any content you build with Thrive Content Builder.
Support
Thrive Content Builder Plugin comes with free updates, new landing pages and upcoming features. The plugin developers are constantly working on adding new features and improving existing ones.
Thrive software is very well-supported, and users get unlimited updates, plus 1 year unlimited support with their purchase, backed by a risk-free, 30 day, 100% money-back guarantee.
This is an exciting product that will just keep getting better.
Plugin 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 Licensing – This enables you to use the plugin on 1 website only. Pricing includes full feature set, unlimited updates and 1 year of unlimited support. Cost = $59.00.
- Unlimited Sites License Edition – This allows you to activate the plugin on all of your personal websites. Price includes full feature set, unlimited updates and one year of unlimited support. Cost = $87.00.
- Agency License – This edition lets you activate the plugin on all of your own websites and any client sites. Pricing includes access to Thrive Content Builder, plus all Thrive Themes & Thrive Plugins. Price = $247.00 per year.
Note: Pricing for the Thrive Content Builder plugin depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. Presently, the product retails for the pricing shown above. This may or may not be the actual pricing charged by the product seller when you visit the website and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after you’ve purchased.
Check the plugin’s website for the latest pricing information here:
Additional Info
The developers of the Thrive Content Builder and Landing Pages 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 time-saving features like ready-made web page elements and templates that help to make designing your pages faster, and on the other hand, you have 100% control over the design process and the ability to edit everything on your web page, using the plugin’s visual content editor, that lets you get things done without having to keep switching tabs or going through multiple steps.
For a demo video of the plugin in action, including help documentation and tutorials, FAQs, customer helpdesk, contact details and more, visit the Thrive website.
Install This 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 overly complicated steps involved.
If you want to transform and improve your web site and create awesome marketing pages and engaging content, Thrive Content and Landing Page Builder delivers an incredible conversion-boosting package with a single, inexpensive plugin.
To learn more, visit the plugin website:
***