WordPress has evolved from being just a simple blogging tool into a tool that can be used to design all types of web pages – marketing pages, product showcase pages, local business pages, etc.
Whatever you can think of, someone is most likely already building it with WordPress!
This article will help you discover how to create stunning content with drag & drop ease in WordPress sites.
Drag And Drop Content Editors For WordPress
Is The WordPress Editor Still Meeting All Of Your Content Creation And Editing Needs?
Using the WordPress visual content editor to build or edit sophisticated website pages can sometimes be challenging, especially for non-technical users.
(The built-in WordPress editor is great for adding, formatting and editing conventional text and media, but adding more complex content elements can be challenging!)
For example, let’s say you want to create something like the layout shown below …
To create the above boxes with text and buttons, users would need to insert shortcodes into the content for each element they want to add to their page …
Generally, this is not really an issue … until you need to change something in your layout (for example, move part of the content from box 3 into box 2, or change the background color in box 3 from dark green to blue. Then, you’re stuck having to mess around with page code.
The WordPress content editor is supposed to provide users with an easy-to-use WYSIWYG editor, but as you can see, if you are creating with complex content elements, often what you see in the WordPress visual content editor screen may not be what you are getting when your web page gets published …
(“What You See” isn’t always “What You Get” … unless you can visualize code!)
In some situations, some people argue that users could even be better off working directly inside the text editor tab instead of the WYSIWYG editor when trying to add non-linear layouts …
Even though WordPress is very user-friendly, this makes it difficult for non-technical users to have full control of their own content.
The fundamental issue of having to use HTML and shortcodes to create content in the default WordPress visual editor can be summarized by asking the following questions:
1) Speed – How long does 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, what you see when working in the editor looks nothing like what you see in the front end. This means that you need to abstract what the content will look like when working with sophisticated layouts. Other solutions require multiple steps before you can begin configuring your page layout, or endlessly switching tabs and performing tweaks and updates to see how your content is coming along, which interrupts the creative process, as you wait for your updated content to reload.
Many WordPress web developers have tried to come up with various solutions to try and make the visual editor easier. Some of these solutions range from standalone WP 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 page layouts easier!)
Some solutions end up including so many page design features, that users end up with complicated-looking front end 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 your page content to look “just right” quickly, this can become very frustrating.
Ask yourself this …
If there were no technical constraints, how would you like to build and edit your web content?
Now that you’ve asked this question, imagine the following scenario …
- You look at your content and if you see something that needs fixing, simply click on the content and start typing. Your content has been instantly changed.
- You can drag and drop items around the page, and see them exactly as they will appear on the front end without having to mentally abstract from code.
- You have an idea for an item of content you’d like to add, so you just start typing, and you build your page on the fly, with no delays, no tab switching, and without waiting for pages to republish and reload.
Would that not be the ideal way to create content for your website? Just click-to-edit and drag and drop elements around your pages and posts?
(Imagine being able to create complex web page layouts quickly 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 And Landing Page Builder
Plugin Description
Thrive Content Builder is a truly intuitive click-to-edit drag-and-drop content and page editing plugin for WordPress.
Thrive Content Builder provides WordPress users with a new and incredibly easy way to speed up the process of adding great content to WordPress websites.
Once installed, Thrive Content Builder adds a visual content editor and an item menu that lets you select, then drag and drop elements on your page …
(Thrive Content Builder adds a new visual editor to WordPress)
The Thrive Content Builder And Landing Pages plugin is actually a combination of the Thrive Content Builder and Thrive Landing Pages plugins rolled into one, plus an additional plugin feature called Thrive Lightbox.
In this article we’ll take a look at each of the above plugins and how these powerful features work together to help you transform and improve your website and create awesome marketing pages, streamlined landing pages and engaging content.
Thrive Content Builder Plugin
You can easily build complex web page design layouts using drag and drop elements …
Every aspect of your web page can be configured with ”click-to-edit” and “drag and drop” ease …
Once you have placed elements on the page, you can then edit them without going through additional steps or switching tabs …
You can also 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, designing pages with the plugin installed is so amazingly easy, that the developers warn that once you start using it, 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 amazing plugin for WordPress we’ve previously reviewed on this site.
See this article to read about this plugin:
Benefits Of Using Thrive Landing Pages And Content Builder
Below we have listed just a few of the benefits and advantages of using Thrive Content Builder to speed up the process of designing pages and creating content for your WordPress web site:
Ready To Go To Work In Minutes
Thrive Content Builder installs just like any regular plugin. Simply upload the plugin file to your Plugin folder via your admin account and activate.
Edit & Create Content In Real Time
Thrive Content Builder is very simple and intuitive to use and lets you create, edit and add content to your web pages in real-time.
A Truly Visual Content Editor
With Thrive Content Builder installed, what you see on the “backend” as you work within the content editor – fonts, elements, page layouts, etc. is exactly what you get on the front end of your site.
Additional benefits of using the plugin include the following:
- Add Stunning 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 amazing click-to-edit WordPress content editor, but the plugin also includes a collection of web design elements that you can add to your pages without using short codes, 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 wait for the new 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 steps to get what you want done.
(Easily create, edit and customize page elements like testimonials, content toggle, content reveal feature, section dividers, responsive videos, etc.)
Thrive Content Builder Features
Thrive Content Builder provides WordPress users many great features. Here are just some:
- All WordPress Content Functionality Is Still Available: You have all of the regular WordPress editing options that you are used to (e.g. underline, centering text, heading styles, etc.),
- Drag And Drop Elements: The plugin makes a “drag and drop” table of elements available on your post or page screen for creating or editing content.
- Conversion-Boosting Elements: The plugin includes various attention-grabbing and customizable elements that will help increase your conversions, including buttons and call-to-action elements, testimonial boxes, and guarantee forms. In addition to customization options, multiple design options are also available for various elements.
- Mobile-Friendly Design: Add responsive columns, boxes, content section dividers, e.g. which will display correctly on devices with differently sized screens.
- Add Animation Events To Web Pages: The Event Manager feature lets you insert animated page content, 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 all the way from signup to purchase, product download and more.
(Thrive Landing Pages plugin gives you access to conversion-optimized web page templates)
Thrive Landing Pages Plugin – Benefits
- Hosted on your own WordPress site
- Save time designing landing pages
- 100% conversion-optimized pages
- No technical skills needed
- 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 professionally designed, web 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 currently over thirty templates available, with more templates being worked on. In addition to the templates that are currently available, expect to see new templates in the future for email lead generation, sales pages, training pages, personal branding pages, webinar pages and more.
Completely Customizable And Flexible Landing Page Template
Normally, 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 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 overly 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-built pages that are fully optimized and ready to go, and complete design freedom that lets you change and customize anything on your page templates …
With the landing page templates included with this plugin, you are able to:
- Change text in any button, bullet point, headline, etc.
- Remove text, images or any other element of your landing page
- Change any background images and edit color
- Change the color of links, text, buttons, etc.
- Use your own fonts
- Select your own images
- Change the size of the content area
- Change the order of web page elements
- Translate everything on the page into different languages
- Add custom content inside the pages
- Start with a blank page and create your own templates, or even build a custom landing pages library.
(Change and edit anything on your page template)
Thrive Lightbox – Transform Your WordPress Website Into A Marketing Machine
The Thrive plugin package also includes the Thrive Lightbox plugin, which lets you add fully customizable two-step opt-in forms and events to your web pages …
(Add opt-in forms and animated elements to your WordPress site with Thrive Lightbox)
Two-Step Opt-in Forms
A 2-step opt-in process can increase your conversion rates. When visitors click on an image or button 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 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 attention-getting elements on your web pages, using various effects (e.g. zoom out, slide in from bottom to top, roll out, etc.
(Set up and manage events on your web pages with the Thrive Lightbox plugin)
A lightbox and event is created automatically for your landing pages, but you also have complete control over the events, triggers and design.
User Feedback
Here are just a few of the testimonials that plugin users have published 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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”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”
Useful Tips
Thrive Content Builder works with any WordPress theme, not just with Thrive Landing Pages. You cannot use Thrive Content Builder to edit content on existing pages or posts that were not created with the plugin.
You can add short codes inside the Content Builder or Landing Pages plugin and they will display correctly when published.
Thrive Lightbox works with any content you build using Thrive Content Builder.
Support
Thrive Content Builder 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 unlimited upgrades, and 1 year unlimited support with their purchase, backed by a no-risk, thirty day, full money-back guarantee.
This is an exciting product that will just keep getting better.
Plugin 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 Licensing – This edition lets you activate the plugin on a single website. Cost includes full feature set, unlimited updates and one year of unlimited support. Cost = $59.00.
- Unlimited Sites License – This license option allows you to activate the plugin on all of your personal sites. Cost includes full feature set, unlimited updates and 1 year of unlimited support. Price = $87.00.
- Agency Licensing – Use on your websites & on client web sites. Price includes access to Thrive Content Builder, plus all Thrive Themes & Thrive Plugins. Cost = $247.00 per year.
Please Note: The price of the product can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. Currently, the plugin is selling for the prices shown above. This may or may not be the actual pricing set by the software author when you visit the plugin site and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after your purchase.
Check the plugin’s website for the current price:
Additional Info
The Thrive Content and Landing Page 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 time-saving features like ready-made page elements and template sets that help make designing your content faster, and on the other hand, you also have 100% control over the design process and the ability to edit and customize everything on your web 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 display after publishing.
For demo videos of the plugin, including installation instructions and tutorials, FAQs, support help desk, contact details and more, visit the Thrive website.
Download The Plugin …
If you want to edit something, just click on the element and start editing. If you want to change something, you will see the change happen immediately. If you want to move something, you drag it and drop it into its new position. There are no extra steps involved.
If you want to transform and improve your web presence and create amazing sales pages and content, this plugin delivers an incredible conversion-boosting package with a single, inexpensive plugin.
For more details, check out the plugin here:
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