WordPress has evolved from being just a simple blogging tool to a tool being used to design all types of pages – marketing pages, product showcase pages, business pages, etc.
Whatever you can imagine, someone is most likely already building it using WordPress!
This article will help you discover the simplest visual content builder for WordPress.
Drag & Drop Content Editors For WordPress
Is The WordPress WYSIWYG Editor Meeting All Of Your Content Creation And Editing Needs?
With so many improvements that the WordPress platform has gone through in recent years, many WordPress developers feel that the WordPress content editor is now lagging behind all other improvements made to the software.
(The WordPress WYSIWYG content editor is great for adding, formatting and editing “linear” content, but adding complex page elements can be quite challenging!)
For example, let’s say you want to create something like the layout shown below …
To add the above layout to your content would require typing something that looks like this in your WordPress content editor …
Typically, this is not an issue … unless you have to change a fundamental aspect of your layout (for example, move some of the content from box 1 into box 2, or change the button in a box from red to light green. Then, you’re stuck having to mess around with code inside the editor.
The WordPress editor is supposed to provide non-technical users with an easy-to-use WYSIWYG editor, but as you can see, if you are trying to add complex layouts, what you see in the WordPress visual content editor may not be what you get …
(“What You See” isn’t always “What You Get” … unless you can visualize code!)
In some instances, some people argue that you may even be better off working with the source html itself instead of the WYSIWYG editor when trying to add something other than simple page elements …
Even though WordPress is extremely easy to use, this makes it hard for WordPress site owners without knowledge of HTML or CSS to fully manage their own content.
The fundamental challenge about having to use shortcodes and HTML to create content in WordPress can be summarized as follows:
1) Speed – How long does it take to build a web page using this 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 screenshot, what you see in the editor doesn’t look even remotely similar to what you see in the front end. This means that users have to mentally translate what the content will look like when working with complex layouts. Other solutions require 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 progressing, which then affects how quickly you can create your content, as you wait for the updates to reload.
A number of WordPress web developers have come up with a range of solutions to try to address this issue. Some of these range from WordPress plugins you can install on your site that add new functionality to the editor, to WordPress themes that include built-in features like drag and drop editing …
(WordPress “drag and drop” editors aim to make content creation easier!)
Some solutions end up requiring so many complex page-building features, that users end up with complicated-looking front end editors …
Many of these alternative solutions work, but they don’t really seem to address the fundamental problem with 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 web content to look “just right” quickly, this can start to become very frustrating after a while.
Ask yourself this …
If there were no technical constraints, how would you like to build and edit your content?
Now, imagine this …
- You spot something in the content that needs to be changed so you, just click on the content and start typing. Your content is then instantly edited.
- You just drag and drop elements around the page, and the page looks exactly as it will appear on the front end without having to mentally abstract from shortcodes or HTML.
- You have an idea for a specific piece of content you’d like to create, so you just start typing, and you build your web page as you go, without delays, without switching tabs, and without having to wait for new web content to resave and reload.
Would that not be the ideal way to create content for your web site? A true WYSIWYG content editor where all you have to do is click-to-edit and drag and drop elements around your posts and pages?
(Imagine being able to create complex web page layouts ”on the fly” 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 Landing Pages And Content Builder
Plugin Description
Thrive Content Builder is a truly intuitive WordPress click-to-edit drag-and-drop content creation tool.
The Thrive Content Builder plugin provides you with a new and incredibly easy way to set up conversion-focused pages on your WordPress website.
Once installed, the plugin adds a visual content editor with a menu that lets you drag and drop elements on your web page …
(Thrive Content Builder adds a new editor to WordPress)
The 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.
Let’s examine each of the above and how these features work seamlessly together to help you easily transform and improve your web presence and create amazing marketing pages and engaging content.
Thrive Content Builder Plugin
This plugin lets you easily add content to your web pages 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 positioned elements on the page, you can then customize them without going through additional steps or complicated settings screens …
The built-in Landing Pages editor also lets you create highly attractive landing pages that can also be easily edited …
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 Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder installed is so effortlessly simple, that the developers guarantee that once you start using it, it will ruin the experience of using all other content editors forever, and you’ll never look back!
Learn more here: Thrive Content Builder
Thrive Content Builder and Thrive Landing Pages were created by the same team that developed Thrive Leads, another fantastic plugin for WordPress we’ve written about on this site.
See this post to read about this plugin:
Plugin Benefits
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 Start Using In No Time
Thrive Content Builder is really easy to install. Simply upload a zip file containing the plugin files to your Plugins folder via your WordPress dashboard and activate.
Add And Edit Content In Real Time
Thrive Content Builder is really simple to use and lets you edit and add content to your web pages in real-time.
What You See Is Exactly What You Get
With Thrive Content Builder installed, what you see as you work within the content editor – fonts, visual elements, layouts, etc. is exactly what you get on the front end of your site.
Some additional benefits include:
- Beautiful Layouts With Drag-And-Drop Ease: Create any type of layout you can imagine with drag and drop ease.
- Add Design Elements Without Short Codes: With Thrive Content Builder you not only get a drag and drop content builder, but the plugin also includes a very decent collection of functional and eye-catching web design elements that you can insert into your layouts without using shortcodes, like pricing tables, feature grids, buttons, countdown timers, etc.
- Distraction-Free Content Creation: Not having to deal with technical stuff for the updated content to reload frees up your attention and allows you to build the pages your business needs, quickly and without having to edit code or click through multiple steps to get what you want done.
(Add, edit and customize page elements like testimonial boxes, flat design elements, gradient boxes, dividers, responsive videos, etc.)
Thrive Content Builder Features
Thrive Content Builder offers many powerful features to WordPress users. Here are just a few:
- Regular Editor Functionality Is Preserved: You have all of the built-in text editing options that you are used to (e.g. underline, paragraph centering, font styles, etc.),
- Drag And Drop Multi-Style 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 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, testimonials, and guarantees. In addition to customization options, multiple design options are also available for various elements.
- Responsive Design: Add responsive columns, guarantee boxes, dividers, e.g. which will display great on devices with differently sized screens.
- Add Animation Events To Your Web Pages: The Event Manager feature lets you insert animation in images, trigger lightboxes and more!
(Add Animated Elements To Your 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 initial signup to purchase, product download and more.
(Thrive Landing Pages plugin gives you conversion-optimized page templates)
Thrive Landing Pages Plugin – Benefits
- Everything is hosted on your own WordPress site
- Save time designing pages for your site
- 100% conversion-optimized page templates
- No web coding skills needed
- Works with all themes
Thrive Content Builder and Landing Pages not only can be used to create beautiful-looking content in your WordPress posts and pages, but you can also choose from dozens of professionally designed, conversion optimized web page templates and fully customizable …
(Thrive Landing Pages provides sets of templates 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 templates that are currently available, expect to see new templates in the future for email lead generation, sales pages, course pages, personal branding pages, webinar pages and more.
Completely Customizable And Flexible Landing Page Template
Typically, in order to have completely customizable landing page templates, 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 mess around with 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 creating conversion-optimized web pages.”
Thrive Landing Pages gives you attractive pre-built web page templates that are fully optimized and ready to go, and complete design freedom that allows you to change and customize anything on your page …
With the landing page template sets included with this plugin, you are able to:
- Edit text in any bullet point, headline, button, etc.
- Delete text, images or any other component of your landing page
- Replace all background images or color
- Edit the color of text, links, buttons, etc.
- Choose your own fonts
- Use your own images and graphics
- Change the size of the content area
- Change the order of page elements
- Translate pages into different languages
- Add any type of custom content in any of the pages
- Start with a blank page and create your own page templates, or even build your own custom landing page templates library.
(Change and edit any aspect of the page templates)
Thrive Lightbox – Transform Your Site Into A Marketing Machine
The Thrive plugin combo also includes Thrive Lightbox, which lets you add fully customizable 2-step opt-in forms and animated elements to your web site …
(Add lead capture forms and events to your WordPress site with Thrive Lightbox)
2-Step Opt-in Forms
A 2-step opt-in process can improve your conversion rates. Visitors click on an image or button, 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 their mouse 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 web pages, using various effects (e.g. zoom in from the page center, slide in from top to bottom, 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 the events, triggers and design.
Testimonials
Here are a couple of the testimonials users have provided for the Thrive Content Builder plugin:
“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 – 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 that was not created using the plugin.
You can add short codes inside the Content Builder or Landing Pages plugin and they will be displayed correctly on the front end.
Thrive Lightbox works with any content you build using Thrive Content Builder.
Plugin Support
Thrive 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 plugins are really well-supported, and users get unlimited upgrades, plus 1 year unlimited support with their purchase, backed by a risk-free, thirty day, 100% money-back guarantee.
This is an exciting product for WordPress users that will just keep getting better.
Plugin Cost
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 use the plugin on a single website. Includes full feature set, unlimited updates and 1 year of unlimited support. Cost = $59.00.
- Unlimited Sites License Edition – This license lets you set up the plugin on all of your personal domains. Includes full feature set, unlimited updates and 1 year of unlimited support. Cost = $87.00.
- Agency Licensing – This enables you to install the plugin on all of your own domains and your client domains. Includes access to Thrive Content Builder, plus all Thrive Themes & Thrive Plugins. Cost = $247.00 per year.
Please Note: The price of Thrive Content Builder can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. The above reflects the current pricing at the time this review was written. This may not be the actual price set by the software developer 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 current pricing details:
Additional Plugin Information
The developers of the Thrive Content and Page Builder plugin 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 the time-saving benefits of ready-made page elements and conversion-optimized template sets that help speed up content design, and on the other hand, you have complete control over the design process and the freedom to edit everything on your page, using the plugin’s click-to-edit and drag and drop features, that allows you to see how the content you are working on will display to visitors after being published.
For a demo video of the plugin in action, including help documentation and tutorials, FAQs, support help desk, contact details and more, visit the Thrive website.
Install This Plugin …
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 can see the change happen instantly. If you want to move something, all you have to do is drag it and drop it into its new location. There are no unnecessary 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 more information, visit the plugin website:
***