WordPress has evolved from being just a simple blogging tool into a tool that is now being used to design all types of web pages – marketing pages, portfolio pages, business pages, etc.
Whatever you can think of, someone is probably already building it using WordPress!
This article will help you learn how to create stunning content faster and design beautiful web page layouts with drag & drop ease in WordPress sites.
Drag And Drop Content Editors For WordPress
Is The WordPress Visual Content Editor Meeting All Of Your Web Design Needs?
Using the default WordPress WYSIWYG content editor to create or edit complex web site pages can sometimes be quite challenging.
(The built-in WordPress content editor is great for adding, formatting and editing conventional content, but adding complex page elements can be 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, you would need to add short codes to the content for each of the page elements you want to display on your page …
Generally, this is not an issue … until you want to change a fundamental aspect of your layout (for example, move part of the content from box 3 into box 2, or replace the background color inside box 2 from bright red to some other colour. Then, you’re stuck having to mess around with code inside the editor.
The WordPress editor is supposed to give users an easy-to-use WYSIWYG editor, but as you can see, if you are trying to add complex page elements, often what you see on your screen may not be the same as what you get …
(“What You See” isn’t always “What You Get” … unless you can visualize code!)
In some situations, you may even be better off working directly inside the WordPress html editor tab instead of the WordPress visual editor when trying to build fancy layouts …
Even though WordPress is the most user-friendly CMS platform available, this makes it hard for non-technical website owners to have full control of their own content.
The fundamental challenge about having to use HTML and shortcodes to create content in the default WordPress editor can be summarized as follows:
1) Speed – How long does it take to build a page using this editor?
2) Abstraction – How closely does the content in the editor 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 back end does not look at all like what you see in the front end. This means that users need to translate mentally what the content will look like when working with complex layouts. Other solutions require taking a number of steps before you can start configuring your page layout, or endlessly switching browser tabs and performing tweaks and updates to see how your content is progressing, which can interrupt the creative process, as you wait for the new content to reload.
Many WordPress web developers have come up with a range of solutions with the objective of addressing this issue. These solutions range from WP plugins you can add to your site that add new functionality to the editor, to themes that offer built-in features like drag and drop editing …
(WordPress “drag and drop” editors aim to make content creation easier!)
Some solutions include so many page design features, that users need to learn how to work with complicated-looking front end content editors …
Many of these alternative solutions work fine, but they don’t really address the fundamental problem with using HTML and shortcodes as described earlier. Creating, adding and editing non-linear content on a 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 content quickly, this can start to become very frustrating after a while.
Ask yourself this …
If there were no technical constraints, how would you like your content builder to behave?
Now, imagine the following scenario …
- You look at your content and if you spot something that needs correction, simply click on the content and start typing. Your content has been instantly fixed.
- You simply drag and drop elements on the page, and the page looks exactly as it will display on the front end without having to mentally visualize HTML or shortcodes.
- You have an idea for a specific item of content that you’d like to add, so you just start typing, and your page gets built on the fly, with no delays, without switching of tab browsers, and without waiting for new pages to republish and reload.
Would that not be the ideal way to build content for your WordPress website? A true visual editor where all you have to do is click-to-edit and drag and drop elements around the pages?
(Imagine being able to create complex page layouts in real-time for your web content with no 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 And Page Builder – WordPress Click-To-Edit Drag And Drop Content Creation Plugin
Plugin Description
Thrive Content Builder is a truly intuitive click-to-edit drag and drop content editing plugin for WordPress.
Thrive Content Builder provides you with a new and incredibly easy way to speed up the process of creating amazing content on your WordPress website.
Once installed, the plugin adds a visual content editor and a menu that lets you drag and drop design elements on your web page …
(Thrive Content Builder adds a new visual content editor to your WordPress site)
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 take an in-depth a look at all of the above and how all of this exciting functionality works seamlessly together to help you transform and improve your web site and create amazing sales pages, streamlined landing pages and engaging content.
Thrive Content Builder
With the Thrive Content Builder plugin, you can easily add content to your web pages and build complex page layouts using drag and drop elements …
Every element on your web page can be created with “drag and drop” and “click-to-edit” ease …
Once you have placed your elements on a page, you can continue to further customize or edit them without going through additional steps or opening new settings screens …
You can also create 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 and working on content with Thrive Content and Landing Page Builder installed is so effortlessly easy, that the developers guarantee that you’ll never look back once you start using it
For more details, visit the plugin site here: Thrive Content Builder
The integrated Thrive Content Builder and Landing Pages plugin was created by the same team that developed Thrive Leads, another terrific plugin for WordPress that we have written about on this site.
To read about the plugin, see this post:
Benefits
Here we have listed just some of the many benefits and advantages of using Thrive Content Builder to speed up your page design and content creation process:
Fast And Easy To Install And Use. Be Up And Running In Minutes.
Thrive Content Builder installs just like every plugin. Just upload it to your Plugins folder via your WordPress dashboard and activate.
Add & Edit Content In Real Time
Thrive Content Builder is is not only simple and intuitive to use, it also lets you create content in real-time.
A Truly Visual Editor
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 on the front end of your site.
Some additional benefits include the following:
- Eye-Catching Page Layouts With Drag And Drop Ease: Create any kind of layout you can imagine with intuitive drag-and-drop functionality.
- Design Elements Included: With Thrive Content Builder you not only get a visually exciting drag and drop WordPress content editor, but the plugin also includes a jaw-dropping collection of web design elements that you can customizable and add to your web pages without using shortcodes, for e.g.: content toggle, borderless content, dividers, countdown timers, etc.
- Ideal For Non-Technical Users: Not having to constantly switch tabs as you tweak your content and then wait for the new content to load frees up your attention and allows you to be more focused while you build content or click through multiple steps to get what you need done.
(Insert, edit and customize web page elements like testimonial boxes, pricing tables, gradient boxes, dividers, code insert boxes, etc.)
Features
Thrive Content Builder provides WP users a number of features. Here are just a few of these:
- Regular Editor Functionality Is Preserved: You have access to all of the built-in WordPress editing options that you are used to (e.g. bold, paragraph formatting, headings, etc.),
- Drag And Drop Elements: The plugin makes a “drag and drop” table of multi-style elements available on your post or page screen when creating or editing content.
- Conversion-Boosting Elements: The plugin includes various attention-grabbing and customizable elements that will help you increase the effectiveness of your sales pages, including buttons and call-to-action elements, testimonial boxes, and guarantees. In addition to being customizable, multiple design options are also available for various elements.
- Mobile-Friendly Design: Add mobile-friendly columns, text boxes, content section dividers, e.g. which will display correctly on devices with differently sized screens.
- Add Animation To Your Web Pages: The Event Manager feature lets you insert animations, trigger lightboxes and more!
(Add Animated Elements To Your Web 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 signup to purchase, product download and more.
(Thrive Landing Pages lets you easily add conversion-optimized pages to your web site)
Thrive Landing Pages – Benefits
- Hosted on your own WordPress site
- Save time and money designing web pages
- 100% conversion-optimized landing page templates
- No web coding skills required
- Works with any theme
Thrive Content and Landing Page Builder not only can be used to create beautiful-looking content in your WordPress posts and pages, but you can also choose from dozens of beautifully designed, landing 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 30+ templates available, with more templates scheduled for future release. In addition to the templates that are currently available, the developers plan to release new templates for email lead generation, sales pages, course pages, personal branding pages, webinar pages and more.
Completely Customizable And Flexible Landing Page Template Sets
Normally, in order to have a completely customizable landing page template, you would need to either hire 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 mess around with 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 stunning pre-built web pages that are fully optimized and ready to go, and complete design freedom that allows you to change or customize any aspect of the page …
The landing page templates included with this plugin let you do the following:
- Modify text in all headlines, buttons, bullet points, etc.
- Remove text, images or any other part of the landing page
- Change the background image or background colour
- Change the color of buttons, links, text, etc.
- Select your own fonts
- Use your own images
- Modify content area size
- Change the order of elements on the pages
- 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 pages from scratch and save them as new page templates.
(Change or edit anything on the page)
Transform Your Site Into A Powerful Marketing Machine With Thrive Lightbox Plugin
The Thrive package also includes the Thrive Lightbox plugin, which lets you add fully customizable 2-step opt-in forms and events to your web pages …
(Add opt-in forms and events to your pages with Thrive Lightbox)
2-Step Opt-in Forms
A two-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 two-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 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 web pages, using various effects (e.g. fade in, slide in from top to bottom, roll in, etc.
(Set up and manage events on your pages with the Thrive Lightbox plugin)
A lightbox and event is created automatically for your landing pages, but you also have complete control over all events, triggers and design.
Feedback From Plugin Users
Below are a few of the testimonials and comments that users have submitted for 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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”Great stuff! I am really impressed by all the new additions. You guys have shown a true commitment to making these themes and the Content Builder awesome. Michael Johnson”
Useful Tips
Thrive Content Builder works with any theme in WordPress, 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 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.
Product Support
Thrive Content and Landing Page Builder provides free updates, new landing pages and upcoming features. The Thrive team is constantly working on adding new features and improving existing ones.
Thrive software is really well-supported, and users get unlimited upgrades, and one year unlimited support with their purchase, backed by a risk-free, 30 day, full refund guarantee.
This is an exciting product that will just keep getting better.
Software 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 lets you configure the plugin on a single web site. Cost includes full feature set, unlimited updates and 1 year of unlimited support. Price = $59.00.
- Unlimited Sites Licensing – This license enables you to activate the plugin on all web sites that you personally own. Includes full feature set, unlimited updates and one year of unlimited support. Price = $87.00.
- Agency License Edition – Use on all your domains & on client websites. Includes access to Thrive Content Builder, plus all Thrive Themes & Thrive Plugins. Price = $247.00 per year.
Please Note: Current pricing for the Thrive Content Builder plugin can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. Presently, the plugin is selling for the pricing shown above. This may or may not be the actual price set by the product author when you visit the product site and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after your purchase.
Check the plugin’s website for current pricing details:
Additional Information
The developers of the Thrive Content Builder and Landing Pages 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 template sets that help to make designing your content faster, and on the other hand, you also have 100% control over the design process and the freedom to edit anything and everything on your web page, using the plugin’s click-to-edit and drag and drop features, which lets you see exactly how the content you are working on will appear to visitors after being published.
For ”how-to” videos showing how the plugin works, including help documentation and tutorials, FAQs, customer helpdesk, contact details and more, visit the plugin website.
Our Recommendation …
If you want to edit something, you click on the element and start editing. If you want to change something, you’ll see the change happen instantly. If you want to move something, all you need to do is drag it and drop it into its new position. There are no additional steps involved.
If you want to transform and improve your web site and create amazing sales pages, streamlined landing pages and engaging content, this plugin delivers an incredible conversion-boosting package with a single, inexpensive plugin.
To learn more, visit the plugin website:
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