WordPress has evolved from being just a simple blogging tool into a tool that is now being used to create all types of sites.
Whatever you can think of, someone is most likely already building it with WordPress!
In this article you will discover how to create beautiful page layouts with drag & drop ease in WordPress.
Drag & Drop Content Editors For WordPress
The WordPress Visual Content Editor – Is There A Better Tool For Creating Web Pages In WordPress?
With all the rapid developments that WordPress has undergone in recent years, many WordPress users believe that the WordPress content editor is lagging behind all of the other developments being made to the software.
(The default WordPress visual content editor is great for adding, formatting and editing “linear” content, but adding more complex content elements can be challenging!)
For example, if you look at the screenshot below …
To create the above layout in a page would require adding something that looks like this in your default WordPress content editor …
Typically, this is not really an issue … until you need to reconfigure the layout (for example, move part of the content from box 3 into box 2, or change the button inside box 1 from dark green to blue. Then, you’re stuck having to mess around with code inside the editor.
The WordPress visual editor is supposed to be an easy-to-use WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) content editor, but as you can see, if you are creating with more complex content elements, what you see may not be what you are going to get when your web page goes live …
(“What You See” isn’t always “What You Get” … unless you can visualize code!)
In some cases, some people argue that users could even be better off working directly inside the WordPress text editor tab instead of the WYSIWYG editor when trying to add non-linear layouts …
Even though WordPress is extremely easy to use, this makes it difficult for non-technical website owners to fully manage their own content.
The fundamental challenge of using HTML and shortcodes to create content with WordPress can be summarized by asking two questions:
1) Speed – How long does it take to create a web page using the 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 image, what you see when working in the content editor doesn’t look anything like what you see in the front end. This means that users have to abstract what the content will look like when working with complex layouts. Other solutions require several steps before you can start configuring your page layout, or endlessly switching tabs and performing tweaks and updates to see how your content is progressing, which can interrupt the creative process, as you wait for your page to reload.
Many WordPress web developers have come up with various solutions with the objective of addressing this issue. Some of these range from WP 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 design features, that users need to learn how to work with complicated-looking front end content editors …
Many of these editors work, but they fail to address the fundamental challenge of using HTML and shortcodes as described earlier. Creating, adding and editing 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 your content to look “just right” quickly, this can start to become quite frustrating.
Ask yourself this …
If there were no technical constraints, how would you like your web page editor to behave?
Now that you’ve asked this question, imagine this …
- You look at your content and if you spot something that needs fixing, simply click on the content and start writing. Your content has been instantly edited.
- You just drag and drop elements on the page, and the page looks exactly as it will display on the front end without having to mentally abstract from HTML or shortcodes.
- You have an idea for some content you’d like to add, so you immediately begin typing, and you build your page as you go, with no delays, no switching of tab browsers, and no waiting for new web pages to resave and reload.
Would that not be the perfect way to create content for your site? Just click-to-edit and drag and drop elements around the page?
(Imagine being able to create complex web pages in real-time 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 Builder Plugin – The Simplest Way To Create Stunning Content In WordPress
Plugin Description
Thrive Content Builder is a truly intuitive WordPress click-to-edit drag-and-drop content creator.
The Thrive Content Builder plugin provides WordPress users with a new and incredibly easy way to set up conversion-focused pages on any WordPress site.
Once installed, the plugin adds a visual content editor and a menu that lets you drag and drop elements on your page …
(Thrive Content Builder adds a new content editing option to your WordPress site)
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.
Let’s take an in-depth a look at all of the above plugins and how all of this exciting functionality works together to help you transform and improve your website and create amazing marketing pages and engaging content.
Thrive Content Builder Plugin For WordPress
You can easily add content to your web pages and build complex page layouts using drag and drop elements …
Everything on 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 continue to further customize or edit these without having to go through additional steps or switching tabs …
The built-in functionality of the plugin also lets you build beautiful 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 guarantee that you’ll never look at creating and adding content the same way once you start using it
Go here to learn more about this plugin: Thrive Content Builder
The integrated Thrive Content and Page Builder plugin was created by the same team that developed Thrive Leads, another excellent plugin for WordPress we’ve reviewed on this site.
To read about this plugin, see this article:
Benefits
Below we have listed just a few of the benefits and advantages of using Thrive Content Builder to speed up content creation:
Be Up And Running In Very Little Time
Thrive Content Builder installs just like every other WordPress plugin. Simply upload it to your Plugins folder via your WP administrator account and activate.
Real-Time Content Building And Editing
Thrive Content Builder is really simple and intuitive to use and lets you create and edit content in real-time.
What You See Is Exactly What You Get
With Thrive Content Builder installed, what you see as you work within the editor – typefaces, visual elements, layouts, etc. is exactly what you get in the front end of your site.
Some additional plugin benefits include:
- Attractive Page Layouts With Drag-And-Drop Ease: Create any type of layout you can imagine with intuitive drag-and-drop functionality.
- Add Design Elements Without Shortcodes: With Thrive Content Builder you not only get an amazing drag and drop WordPress content builder, but the plugin also includes a very decent collection of professional design elements that you can insert into your content layouts without using shortcodes, such as pricing tables, borderless content, page section dividers, responsive video embeds, etc.
- Ideal For Non-Technical Users: Not having to wait for the updated content to reload frees up your attention and allows you to be more focused while you work or click through multiple layers of menus to get what you want done.
(Add, edit and customize page elements like testimonials, tabbed content, table of contents builder, page section dividers, code insert boxes, etc.)
Plugin Features
Thrive Content Builder provides website owners many features. Here are just a few:
- Regular Editor Functionality Is Still Available: You have access to all of the built-in content editing options that you are used to (e.g. bold, paragraph formatting, headings and font sizes, etc.),
- Drag And Drop Elements Menu: The plugin adds a “drag and drop” table of elements to your post or page screen for creating or editing content.
- Conversion-Boosting Elements: The plugin includes various 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 being customizable, multiple design options are also available for various elements.
- Mobile-Friendly Design: Add responsive columns, text boxes, content section dividers, e.g. which will adjust to display great on different device screens.
- Add Animation Events To Web Pages: The Event Manager feature lets you insert animation in buttons, trigger lightboxes and more!
(Add Animated Elements To Your Pages)
Thrive Landing Pages Plugin – Landing Page Sets
Landing page sets are web page templates that work together logically and use the same conversion-optimized design language to take your visitors all the way from initial signup to purchase, product download and more.
(Thrive Landing Pages provides you with conversion-optimized page templates)
Thrive Landing Pages Plugin – Benefits
- Everything is hosted on your own WordPress site
- Save time designing and customizing landing pages for your website
- 100% conversion-optimized landing pages
- No technical skills needed
- Works with any WordPress theme
Thrive 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 beautifully 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 currently over 30 templates available, with more templates planned 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.
Completely Customizable And Flexible Landing Page Template Sets
Normally, to be able to have completely customizable landing page templates, you would need to either hire a web site designer to do the work, or learn how to code web pages 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 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 beautiful pre-designed web pages that are fully optimized and ready to go, and complete design freedom that allows you to change or edit any aspect of the page templates …
With the landing page template sets included with this plugin, you can:
- Edit text in all buttons, headlines, bullet points, etc.
- Remove text, images or any other component of the landing page
- Replace the background image or background colors
- Edit the color of text, buttons, links, etc.
- Select your own fonts
- Select your own images
- Change content area size
- Change the order of web page elements
- Translate everything on the page into a different language
- Add custom content inside the pages
- Use pre-designed, customized pages, or create your own from scratch and save them as new web page templates.
(Change and customize any element of the page templates)
Thrive Lightbox – Transform Your Site Into A Marketing Machine
The Thrive plugin package also includes the Thrive Lightbox plugin, which lets you add fully configurable two-step opt-in forms and events to your WordPress site …
(Add lead capture forms and animation to your web pages with the Thrive Lightbox plugin)
Two-Step Opt-in Forms
A two-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)
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 over a button or graphic elements, or when someone scrolls down to a certain point on the page. You can also use the Event Manager to animate attention-getting elements on your pages, using a range of effects (e.g. zoom in from the page center, slide in from left to right, roll out, etc.
(Set up and manage events on your pages with Thrive Lightbox)
A lightbox and event is created automatically for your landing pages, but you also have complete control over events, triggers and design.
Feedback From Users
Here are a couple of the testimonials and comments users 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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“I’m blown away by the plugin. Keep up the incredible, WordPress changing work, guys! Dean Phillips”
Thrive Content Builder Plugin – Tips
Thrive Content Builder works with any WordPress theme, 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.
You can add short codes inside Thrive Content Builder or Thrive Landing Pages and they will be displayed correctly when published.
Thrive Lightbox works with any content built with Thrive Content Builder.
Thrive Content Builder Support
Thrive Content Builder and Landing Pages comes with free updates, new landing templates and upcoming features. The plugin developers are constantly working on adding new features and improving existing ones.
Thrive software is really well-supported, and users get unlimited updates, plus 1 year unlimited support with their purchase, backed by a no-risk, 30 day, 100% money-back guarantee.
This is an exciting product for WordPress users that will just keep getting better.
Software 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 Edition – This license enables you to install the plugin on a single website. It includes full feature set, unlimited updates and one year of unlimited support. Cost = $59.00.
- Unlimited Sites Edition – This enables you to activate the plugin on all sites that you personally own. Cost includes full feature set, unlimited updates and 1 year of unlimited support. Price = $87.00.
- Agency Edition – Use on your domains & on client domains. Includes access to Thrive Content Builder, plus all Thrive Themes & Thrive Plugins. Cost = $247.00 per year.
Please Note: The cost to purchase the product can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. When we last checked, the product is selling for the prices shown above. This may not be the actual price set by the software developer when you visit the site and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after you’ve purchased.
Check the plugin’s website for current pricing details:
Additional Information
The developers of the Thrive Content Builder and Landing Pages plugin repeatedly 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 the time-saving benefits of ready-made page elements and beautiful, conversion-optimized template sets that help to speed up page design and content creation, and on the other hand, you have 100% control over your 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 get things done without having to go through multiple steps.
For ”how-to” videos showing how the plugin works, including help documentation and tutorials, FAQs, support help desk, contact details and more, visit the Thrive Content Builder website.
Install This 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 will 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 position. There are no complicated steps involved.
If you want to transform and improve your web presence and create amazing marketing pages and engaging content, this plugin delivers an incredible conversion-boosting package with a single, inexpensive plugin.
To learn more, check out the plugin here:
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