WordPress has evolved from being just a simple blogging application into a tool that is now being used to create all kinds of websites.
Whatever you can imagine, someone is bound to be already building it using WordPress!
This article will help you discover the fastest way to build beautiful page layouts in WordPress websites.
Drag & Drop Content Editors For WordPress
The WordPress Visual Editor – Is There A Smarter Tool For Creating Content In WordPress?
With all the many developments that the WordPress platform has gone through in recent years, many WordPress developers and users feel that the WordPress editor is now lagging behind other areas of developments being made to the software.
(The WordPress WYSIWYG editor is great for adding, formatting and editing conventional content, but adding more complex content elements can be challenging!)
For example, if you look at the illustration below …
To create the above layout, users would need to insert shortcodes into the content for each of the elements they want to add to their page …
Generally, this is not really an issue … until you decide to change the layout (for example, move part of the content from box 1 into box 2, or change the background colour in box 1 from bright red to gray. Then, you’re stuck having to mess around with code.
The WordPress visual content editor is supposed to provide non-technical users with an easy-to-use WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor, but as you can see, if you are trying to add complex layouts, what you see on your editor screen is not exactly what you get …
(“What You See” isn’t always “What You Get” … unless you can visualize code!)
In some cases, users would probably be better off working directly with the source html itself instead of the WordPress visual editor when trying to create fancy page elements …
Even though WordPress is very user-friendly, this makes it difficult for non-technical website owners to fully manage their own content.
The fundamental problem of having to use shortcodes and HTML to create content with WordPress can be summarized as follows:
1) Speed – How long will it take to build a web 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 content editor doesn’t look anything like what you see in the front end. This means that you have to mentally translate 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 going back and forth between browser tabs and performing tweaks and updates to see how your content is coming along, which can impact how quickly you can create your content, as you wait for the updated content to refresh.
A number of WordPress developers have tried to come up with various solutions to try to make the visual editor more intuitive. Some of these alternative solutions range from stand alone 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 creating complex layouts easier!)
Some solutions end up combining so many page-building features, that users need to learn how to work with complicated-looking front end editors …
Many of these alternative editors work, but they don’t really seem to address the fundamental challenge of using shortcodes and HTML as described earlier. 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 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 page builder to work?
Now, visualize the following …
- You see something in your content that needs correction so you, simply click on the content and start writing. Your content has been instantly fixed.
- 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 translate any HTML or shortcodes.
- You have an idea for a specific item of content you would like to add, so you simply start typing, and your web page gets built as you go, without delays, no switching tabs, and no waiting for new web content to refresh and reload.
Would this not be the perfect way to create content for your WordPress website? A true WYSIWYG editor where all you have to do is click-to-edit and drag and drop elements around the posts and pages?
(Imagine being able to create complex web pages ”on the fly” 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 – The Simplest, Most Intuitive Visual Editor For WordPress Sites
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 website.
Once installed, Thrive Content Builder adds a visual content editor with an item menu that lets you drag and drop elements to your page …
(Thrive Content Builder adds a new content builder to WordPress)
Thrive Landing Pages And Content Builder 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 each of the above and how all of this powerful functionality works together to help you easily transform and improve your business online and create amazing marketing pages and content.
Thrive Content Builder
This plugin lets you easily build complex web page design layouts using drag and drop elements …
Every aspect of your page can be configured with ”click-to-edit” and “drag and drop” ease …
Once elements have been positioned on your page, you can then further customize these without having to go through additional steps or switching screens …
You can also build beautiful landing pages and easily edit these …
Thrive Content Builder is simple, easy to use, and ideal for all WordPress users at all levels. In fact, designing web pages and working on content with the plugin installed is so amazingly simple, that the developers guarantee that you will never look at creating and adding content the same way once you start using it
Learn more about this plugin 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 that we have previously reviewed on this site.
Go here to learn more about using this plugin:
Benefits Of Using Thrive Content Builder And Landing Pages Plugin
Below are just a few of the benefits and advantages of using Thrive Content Builder to speed up the process of creating content for your WordPress site:
Easy To Install
Thrive Content Builder installs just like every plugin. Just upload a zip folder containing the plugin to your Plugins folder via your administrator area and activate.
Real-Time Content Content Editing
Thrive Content Builder is really simple and intuitive to use and lets you create content in real-time.
What You See Is Truly What You Get
With Thrive Content Builder installed, what you see on the “back end” as you work within the content editor – typefaces, elements, layouts, etc. is exactly what you get in the front end of your site.
Some additional benefits of using this plugin include the following:
- Add Eye-Catching Web Page Layouts With Drag-And-Drop Ease: Create any kind of layout you can imagine with drag and drop ease.
- Customizable Elements Included: With Thrive Content Builder you not only get a drag and drop WordPress content editor, but the plugin also includes a very decent collection of customizable design elements that you can add to your layouts without using short codes, for e.g.: flat design elements, borderless content, buttons, Google Map embeds, etc.
- Ideal For Non-Technical Users: Not having to deal with technical stuff for your content to refresh frees up your attention and allows you to build the web pages your business needs, quickly and without having to mess with code or click through multiple steps to get what you want done.
(Insert, edit and customize web page elements like testimonial boxes, tabbed content, styled lists, page section dividers, countdown timers, etc.)
Features
Thrive Content Builder offers WP users many powerful features. Here are just a few of these:
- All WordPress Content Functionality Is Still Available: You have access to all of the regular WordPress text editing options that you are used to (e.g. underline, paragraph formatting, font styles, etc.),
- Drag And Drop Elements Menu: The plugin makes a “drag and drop” list of elements available on your post or page screen when creating or editing content.
- Conversion-Boosting Elements: The plugin comes with various attention-grabbing and customizable elements that will help increase the effectiveness of your sales pages, 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 mobile-friendly elements like columns, guarantee boxes, section dividers, e.g. which will adjust to display correctly on different device screens.
- Add Animation To Your Web Pages: The plugin’s Event Manager feature lets you add animated page content, trigger lightboxes and more!
(Add Animated Elements To Your Web 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 all the way from signup to purchase, product download and more.
(Thrive Landing Pages lets you easily add conversion-optimized web pages to your website)
Thrive Landing Pages – Benefits
- Hosted on your own WordPress site
- Save time designing web pages
- 100% conversion-optimized web pages
- No coding skills required
- Works with all WordPress themes
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 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 thirty templates available, with more templates being worked on. In addition to the existing templates, the developers plan to release new web page templates for email lead generation, sales pages, course pages, personal branding pages, webinar pages and more.
Customize Your Landing Page Template
Normally, in order to have a fully customizable landing page template, you would need to either pay a web 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 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 building conversion-optimized web pages.”
Thrive Landing Pages gives you great-looking pre-built web pages that are fully optimized and ready to go, and complete design freedom that allows you to change and customize any element of the page templates …
With the landing page template sets included with this plugin, you can do the following:
- Modify text in any headline, bullet point, button, etc.
- Remove text, images or any other part of your landing page
- Change the background image or background colour
- Change the color of text, buttons, links, etc.
- Use your own fonts
- Use your own images and graphics
- Modify the size of the content area
- Rearrange the order of elements on your pages
- Translate pages into a different language
- Add custom content inside the pages
- Use pre-designed, customized pages, or create your own web pages from scratch and save them as new web page templates.
(Change and customize any aspect of your page templates)
Thrive Lightbox – Transform Your Website Into A Marketing Machine
The Thrive plugin package also includes the Thrive Lightbox plugin, which lets you add fully editable two-step opt-in forms and animated elements to your web site …
(Add lead capture forms and animated elements to your pages with the Thrive Lightbox plugin)
2-Step Opt-in Forms
A 2-step opt-in process can help increase your conversion rates. Visitors click on a button or image, 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 your visitor clicks or hovers 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 page, using a range of animation effects (e.g. zoom in from the page center, slide in from left to right, roll in, etc.
(Set up and manage events on your WordPress website with the Thrive Lightbox plugin)
Lightboxes and events are created automatically for your landing pages, but you also have complete control over events, triggers and design.
Feedback From Plugin Customers
Below are just a few of the testimonials and comments customers have published about Thrive Content Builder:
”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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“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 Thrive Landing Pages. You cannot use Thrive Content Builder to edit content on pages or posts that were not created with the plugin.
You can add WordPress shortcodes inside the Content Builder or Landing Pages plugin and they will display correctly when published.
Thrive Lightbox works with any content built using Thrive Content Builder.
Thrive Content Builder Support
Thrive Content Builder comes with free updates, new landing pages and upcoming features. The Thrive team is constantly working on adding new features and improving existing ones.
Thrive products are really well-supported, and users get unlimited upgrades, plus one year unlimited support with their purchase, backed by a no-risk, 30 day, complete refund guarantee.
This is an exciting product for WordPress users that just keeps 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 License – This allows you to run the plugin on a single website. Price includes full feature set, unlimited updates and 1 year of unlimited support. Cost = $59.00.
- Unlimited Sites Licensing – This allows you to activate the plugin on unlimited websites that you own. It includes full feature set, unlimited updates and one year of unlimited support. Price = $87.00.
- Agency Licensing – This option enables you to install the plugin on all of your own websites and your client sites. Includes access to Thrive Content Builder, plus all Thrive Themes & Thrive Plugins. Price = $247.00 per year.
Note: The cost of purchasing the Thrive Content Builder software depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. Currently, the software is being retailed for the prices shown above. This may or may not be the actual pricing set by the plugin seller when you visit the website and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after your purchase.
Check the plugin’s website for current pricing details:
Additional Info
The Thrive Content Builder plugin developers 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 time-saving features like ready-made page elements and beautiful, conversion-optimized templates that help make designing your content faster, and on the other hand, you also have complete control over the design process and the ability to change anything and 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 keep switching tabs or going through multiple steps.
For a demo video of the plugin, including help documentation and tutorials, FAQs, customer helpdesk, contact details and more, visit the plugin website.
We Highly Recommend This …
If you want to edit something, just 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 drag it and drop it into its new location. There are no complicated steps involved.
If you want to transform and improve your website 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, check out the plugin here:
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