WordPress has evolved from being just a simple blogging tool to a tool that is now used to create all types of web sites.
Whatever you can think of, somewhere around the world someone is most likely already building it with WordPress!
This article will help you discover the simplest, most intuitive visual editor for WordPress sites.
Drag & Drop Content Editors For WordPress
Is The Default WordPress Content Editor Still Meeting All Of Your Content Creation Needs?
With all the rapid improvements that WordPress has undergone in recent years, many WordPress developers believe that using the default WordPress content editor to create or edit more complex layouts can sometimes be quite difficult.
(The default WordPress WYSIWYG content editor is great for adding, formatting and editing “linear” text and images, but adding 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 page elements in a page would require inserting something that looks like this inside your WordPress visual editor …
Normally, this is not really an issue … until you need to reconfigure your layout (for example, move part of the content from box 3 into box 2, or replace the button inside a box from green to yellow. Then, you’re stuck having to mess around with page code.
The WordPress visual editor is supposed to provide users with an easy-to-use WYSIWYG editor, but as you can see, when working with more complex layouts, what you see is not what you are getting when the page is published …
(“What You See” isn’t always “What You Get” … unless you can visualize code!)
In some cases, users would probably be better off working inside the html editor tab instead of the WordPress WYSIWYG editor when trying to add something other than simple page elements …
Even though WordPress is extremely easy to use, this makes it difficult for users without coding skills to have full control of their own content.
The fundamental problem with having to use HTML and shortcodes to create content in the default WordPress WYSIWYG editor can be summarized as follows:
1) Speed – How long will it take to create a page using the editor?
2) Abstraction – How closely does the content in the editor match 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 does not look even remotely similar to what you see in the front end. This means that you have to abstract 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 updates to see how your content is progressing, which can affect how quickly you can create your content, as you wait for the updated content to reload.
Many WordPress web developers have tried to come up with various solutions with the objective of addressing this issue. These solutions range from WP plugins you can install on your site that add new functionality to the editor, to WordPress themes that provide built-in features like drag and drop editing …
(WordPress “drag and drop” editors aim to make creating complex page layouts easier!)
Some solutions combine so many complex page-building features, that users need to learn how to work with complicated-looking front end content editors …
Many of these solutions work fine, but they still don’t address the fundamental issue of using shortcodes and HTML as described earlier. Creating and adding 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 to create or edit complex page layouts quickly, this can start to become quite frustrating after a while.
Ask yourself this …
If there were no technical constraints, how would you like your content builder to behave?
Now, visualize this …
- You spot something in your content that needs to be corrected so you, just click on the content and start changing it. Your content has been instantly edited.
- You can just drag and drop elements around the page, and see them exactly as they will appear on the front end without having to mentally visualize any shortcodes or HTML.
- You have an idea for a specific piece of content that you would like to create, so you just begin typing, and you build your page as you go, with no delays, with no tab switching, and without waiting for new pages to refresh.
Would that not be the ideal way to create content for your WordPress web site? Just click-to-edit and drag and drop elements around your pages and posts?
(Imagine being able to create complex page layouts in real-time 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 Builder Plugin – Create Beautiful Page Layouts With Drag & Drop Ease In WordPress Web Sites
Plugin Description
Thrive Content Builder is a truly intuitive click-to-edit drag-and-drop content and page builder plugin for WordPress.
Thrive Content Builder is a new and incredibly easy 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 click, then drag and drop design elements to your web page …
(Thrive Content Builder adds a new visual content builder to your WordPress site)
The Thrive Content And Page Builder 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.
We’ll discuss all of the above plugins and how these features work seamlessly together to help you easily transform and improve your web site and create amazing sales pages, streamlined landing pages and engaging content.
Thrive Content Builder For WordPress
This plugin lets you easily build complex web page design layouts using drag and drop elements …
Every aspect of your page can be designed by ”clicking-to-edit” and “dragging and dropping” things around the page …
Once elements have been positioned on your page, you can then easily customize these without going through multiple steps or switching screens …
You can also work inside beautiful landing pages that can also be easily 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 Thrive Content Builder plugin installed is so effortlessly easy, that the developers guarantee that you will never look back once you start using it
For more details, visit the plugin site here: 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 previously reviewed on this site.
To read about the plugin, go here:
Benefits Of Using Thrive Landing Pages And Content Builder Plugin
Below we have listed just a few of the benefits of using Thrive Content Builder to speed up content creation:
Ready To Start Using In Minutes
Thrive Content Builder installs just like any regular WordPress plugin. Just upload the plugin file to your Plugin folder via your WP dashboard and activate.
Edit & Create Content In Real Time
Thrive Content Builder is simple to use and lets you create and add content to your web pages in real-time.
A Truly Visual Editor
With Thrive Content Builder installed, what you see on the “backend” as you work within the editor – typefaces, visual elements, layouts, etc. is exactly what you get on the front end of your site.
Some additional benefits include:
- Stunning Web Page Layouts With Drag & Drop Ease: Create any layout you can imagine with drag and drop ease.
- Add Design Elements With No Short Codes Involved: With Thrive Content Builder you not only get an exciting and easy-to-use click-to-edit WordPress content builder, but the plugin also includes a collection of functional and attractive web design elements that you can customizable and add to your layouts without using shortcodes, such as tabbed content, star ratings for review pages, buttons, custom HTML and CSS, etc.
- More Enjoyable Content Creation: Not having to deal with technical stuff, or wait for the content to load frees up your attention and allows you to build the pages your business needs, quickly and without having to mess with code or click through multiple layers of menus to get what you need done.
(Add, edit and customize page elements like testimonial boxes, content toggle, gradient boxes, page section dividers, HTML code insert boxes, etc.)
Thrive Content Builder Features
Thrive Content Builder provides a number of features to site owners. Here are just some:
- Regular WordPress Editor Functionality Is Still Available: You have all of the built-in text editing options that you are used to (e.g. bold formatting, paragraph formatting, 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 creating and editing content.
- Conversion-Boosting Elements: The plugin comes with a range of eye-catching and customizable elements that will help you increase your sales conversions, including buttons and call-to-action elements, testimonials, and guarantees. In addition to customization options, various elements also offer multiple design options.
- Responsive Element Design: Add mobile-friendly elements like column layouts, text boxes, content section dividers, e.g. which will adjust to display correctly on different device screens.
- Add Animation Events To Pages: The plugin’s Event Manager feature lets you add animated page elements, trigger lightboxes and more!
(Add Animated Elements To Your Web Pages)
Thrive Landing Pages – Landing Page Template Sets
Landing page template sets are web 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 plugin lets you add conversion-optimized web pages to your web site)
Thrive Landing Pages – Benefits
- Hosted on your own WordPress site
- Save time creating pages for your site
- 100% conversion-optimized pages
- No web coding skills needed
- Works with all WordPress themes
Thrive Content Builder and Landing Pages not only lets you create beautiful content in your WordPress posts and pages, but you can also choose from dozens of beautifully 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 thirty templates available, with more templates scheduled for release. In addition to the existing templates, expect to see new templates in the future for email lead generation, sales pages, course pages, personal branding pages, webinar pages and more.
Customizable Landing Page Template Sets
Typically, in order to have a fully customizable landing page template, you would need to either hire a web site designer 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 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 great-looking pre-built pages that are fully optimized and ready to go, and complete design freedom that allows you to change or customize any element of the page template …
The landing page template sets included with this plugin let you do the following:
- Edit text in all headlines, buttons, bullet points, etc.
- Remove text, images or any other component of the landing page
- Change the background image and background colors
- Edit the color of text, buttons, links, etc.
- Select your own fonts
- Select your own images and graphics
- Change the size of the content area
- Change the order of elements on the pages
- Translate pages into different languages
- Add custom content in any of the pages
- Use pre-designed, customized pages, or create your own web pages from scratch and save them as new web page templates.
(Change or edit any aspect of your page templates)
Transform Your Web Site Into A Marketing Machine With Thrive Lightbox Plugin
The Thrive plugin combo includes Thrive Lightbox, which lets you add fully editable two-step opt-in forms and events to your pages …
(Add lead capture forms and events to your pages with the Thrive Lightbox plugin)
Two-Step Opt-in Forms
A 2-step opt-in process helps improve your conversion rates. When visitors click on an image or button they are presented with your opt-in form …
(Visitors click on a button and are presented with an opt-in form)
Event Manager
An “event” consists of a trigger and an action. You can make opt-in forms appear when when visitors click or hover their mouse over a button or an image, or when someone scrolls down to a certain point on the page. You can also use the Event Manager to animate images on your page, using a range of animation effects (e.g. fade in, slide in from top to bottom, roll out, etc.
(Set up and manage events on your WordPress site with Thrive Lightbox)
Lightboxes and events are created automatically for your landing pages, but you also have complete control over your events, triggers and design.
User Feedback
Here are some of the testimonials and comments that customers have provided for 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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”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 theme in WordPress, not just with Thrive Landing Pages. You cannot use Thrive Content Builder to edit content on existing pages or posts that were not created using the plugin.
You can add shortcodes inside Thrive Content Builder or Thrive Landing Pages and they will display correctly when published.
Thrive Lightbox works with any content built with Thrive Content Builder.
Support
Thrive Content Builder and Landing Pages Plugin provides 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 well-supported, and users get unlimited upgrades, and 1 year unlimited support with their purchase, backed by a no-risk, thirty day, 100% money-back guarantee.
This is an exciting product 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 License – This lets you install the plugin on a single website. Pricing includes full feature set, unlimited updates and 1 year of unlimited support. Price = $59.00.
- Unlimited Sites Licensing – This lets you set up the plugin on unlimited domains that you own. It includes full feature set, unlimited updates and 1 year of unlimited support. Price = $87.00.
- Agency License – This allows you to run the plugin on all of your own web sites and all client domains. Includes access to Thrive Content Builder, plus all Thrive Themes & Thrive Plugins. Cost = $247.00 per year.
Note: The price of the Thrive Content Builder plugin can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. The price shown above was correct at the time this article was published. This may not be the actual price set by the product developer when you visit the plugin site and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after you’ve purchased.
Check the plugin’s website for the latest price:
Additional Info
The Thrive Content and Page 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 beautiful, pre-designed templates that help speed up the page design and content creation process, and on the other hand, you also have 100% control over your design process and the ability to change everything on your web page, using the plugin’s visual content editor, that lets you work unhindered by overly complicated steps.
For a demo video showing how the plugin works, including help documentation and tutorials, FAQs, customer helpdesk, contact details and more, visit the Thrive Content Builder website.
Get The Plugin …
If you want to edit something, simply 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, just drag it and drop it into its new position. There are no unnecessary steps involved.
If you want to transform and improve your site and create awesome sales pages and engaging content, Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder delivers an incredible conversion-boosting package with a single, inexpensive plugin.
For more details, check out the plugin here:
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