WordPress has evolved from being just a simple blogging tool into a tool being used to design all types of web pages – direct sales pages, product showcase pages, local business pages, etc.
Whatever you can imagine, somewhere around the world someone is bound to be already building it using WordPress!
This article will help you discover the simplest and easiest to use visual editor for your WordPress web site.
Drag & Drop Content Editors For WordPress
Is The WordPress Editor Meeting All Of Your Page Design Needs?
Using the default WordPress WYSIWYG editor to build or edit sophisticated content elements can be challenging.
(The WordPress editor is great for adding, formatting and editing conventional text and media, but adding complex layouts can be quite challenging!)
For example, if you look at the illustration below …
To create the above boxes with text and buttons, users would normally need to add shortcodes to the content for each of the elements they would like to display on the page …
Typically, this is not really an issue … unless you decide to edit something in the layout (for example, move some of the content from box 1 into box 2, or replace the button in a box from bright red to purple. Then, you’re stuck having to mess around with page code.
The WordPress content 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 complex content elements, what you see on your screen is not exactly what you get …
(“What You See” isn’t always “What You Get” … unless you can visualize code!)
In some instances, you could be better off working inside the WordPress text editor tab instead of the WordPress visual editor when trying to build fancy layouts …
Even though WordPress is very user-friendly, this makes it difficult for WordPress site owners with no coding skills to fully manage their own content.
The fundamental issue with having to use HTML and shortcodes to create content in the default WordPress WYSIWYG editor can be summarized by asking the following questions:
1) Speed – How long will it take to create a web page using the editor?
2) Abstraction – How closely does the content in the ”back end” 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 in the back end doesn’t look at all like what you see in the front end. This means that you need to mentally translate what your content will look like when working with sophisticated layouts. Other solutions require a number of steps before you can begin 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 interrupts the creative process, as you wait for the page to load.
A number of WordPress web developers have come up with a range of solutions to try to address this issue. These solutions range from plugins you can add to 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 combine so many page design features, that users need to learn how to work with complicated-looking front end editors …
Many of these alternative solutions work fine, but they fail to address the fundamental issue of using shortcodes and HTML as described earlier. 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 to create or edit complex page layouts quickly, this can become really frustrating after a while.
Ask yourself this …
If there were no technical constraints, how would you like to build and edit your pages?
Now that you’ve asked this question, visualize the following scenario …
- You look at your content and if you spot something that needs correction, simply click on the content and start changing it. Your content has been instantly changed.
- You just drag and drop elements around the page, and see them exactly as they will display on the front end without having to mentally translate shortcodes or HTML.
- You have an idea for a specific item of content that you’d like to add, so you simply begin typing, and you build your page as you go, with no delays, with no switching tabs, and no waiting for edits to resave and reload.
Would this not be the perfect way to build content for your WordPress website? Just click-to-edit and drag and drop elements around the page?
(Imagine being able to create complex 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 – The Ultimate Click-To-Edit Front End Editor For WordPress Sites
Plugin Description
Thrive Content Builder is a truly intuitive click-to-edit drag-and-drop content and page creation plugin for WordPress.
Thrive Content Builder is a new and incredibly easy way to speed up the process of adding content to WordPress web sites.
Once installed, Thrive Content Builder adds a visual content editor with a menu that lets you select, then drag and drop design elements to your page …
(Thrive Content Builder adds a new visual content editor 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 rolled into one, plus an additional plugin feature called Thrive Lightbox.
We will take an in-depth look at all of the above plugins and how these features work together to help you easily transform and improve your site and create amazing sales pages, streamlined landing pages and engaging content.
Thrive Content Builder Plugin
You can easily add content to your web pages using drag and drop elements …
Everything on your page can be created with ”click-to-edit” and “drag and drop” ease …
Once elements have been positioned on a page, you can then continue to edit them without going through multiple steps or switching tabs …
The built-in Thrive Landing Pages also lets you work inside beautiful landing pages and easily customize these …
Thrive Content Builder is simple, easy to use, and ideal for all WordPress users at all levels. In fact, designing pages and working on content with the plugin installed is so effortlessly simple, that the developers warn that once you start using it, it’ll ruin the experience of using any other content editor forever, and you will never look back!
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 great plugin we’ve written about on this site.
See this post to read more about the plugin:
Benefits Of Using Thrive Content Builder Plugin
Below we have listed just a few of the benefits and advantages of using Thrive Content Builder to speed up content creation:
Installation Is Easy, Fast And Simple
Thrive Content Builder installs like any WordPress plugin. Simply upload the plugin file to your Plugin folder via your administrator account and activate.
Create & Edit Content In Real Time
Thrive Content Builder is simple and intuitive to use and lets you create, edit and add content to your web pages in real-time.
A Truly Visual Content Builder
With Thrive Content Builder installed, what you see on the “back end” as you work within the content editor – typefaces, visual elements, layouts, etc. is exactly what your visitors will see on the front end of your site.
Additional benefits of this plugin include:
- Design Attractive Web Page Layouts With Drag And Drop Ease: Create any type of layout you can imagine with drag-and-drop ease.
- Customizable Elements Included: With Thrive Content Builder you not only get an exciting and simple-to-use drag and drop WordPress content editor, but the plugin also includes a very decent collection of customizable design elements that you can insert into your layouts without using shortcodes, such as columns, feature grids, section dividers, responsive maps, etc.
- Ideal For Non-Technical Users: Not having to deal with technical stuff for your new content to refresh frees up your attention and allows you to build the web pages your business needs, quickly and without having to edit code or click through multiple steps to get what you want done.
(Thrive Content Builder lets you easily create, edit and customize page elements like testimonials, content toggle, content reveal feature, section dividers, responsive maps, etc.)
Plugin Features
Thrive Content Builder offers many powerful features to website owners. Below we have listed just some:
- Regular WordPress Editor Functionality Is Preserved: You have all of the built-in content editing options that you are used to (e.g. bold, paragraph centering, heading styles, etc.),
- Drag And Drop Elements: The plugin makes a “drag and drop” table of elements available on your post or page screen when editing content.
- Conversion-Boosting Elements: The plugin provides you with a range of 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 guarantees. In addition to customization options, multiple design options are also available for various elements.
- Responsive Web Page Design: Add mobile-friendly elements like columns, boxes, content section dividers, e.g. which will adjust to display correctly on different device screens.
- Add Animation To Pages: The plugin’s Event Manager feature lets you create animated images, trigger lightboxes and more!
(Add Animated Elements To Your Web Pages)
Thrive Landing Pages Plugin – Landing Page Sets
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 provides you with conversion-optimized page templates)
Thrive Landing Pages Plugin – Benefits
- Everything is hosted on your own WordPress site
- Save time creating beautiful-looking web pages for your WordPress site
- 100% conversion-optimized landing page templates
- No technical skills required
- Works with all themes
Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder not only lets you 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 scheduled for future 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.
Fully Customizable Landing Page Template Sets
Normally, to be able to fully customize a landing page template, you would need to either pay a web 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 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 great-looking pre-designed page templates that are fully optimized and ready to go, and complete design freedom that lets you change or customize any element of the page …
With the landing page template sets included with this plugin, you can do the following:
- Change text in all headlines, buttons, bullet points, etc.
- Remove text, images or any other element of your landing page
- Change any background images and background colour
- Edit the color of text, buttons, links, etc.
- Choose your own fonts
- Use your own images
- Change the size of the content area
- Change the order of web page elements
- Translate everything on the page into a different language
- Add any type of custom content anywhere inside the pages
- Use pre-designed, customized pages, or create your own landing pages from scratch and save them as new web page templates.
(Change and edit any aspect of your page template)
Thrive Lightbox Plugin – Transform Your Website Into A Powerful Marketing Machine
The Thrive plugin combo also includes Thrive Lightbox, which lets you add fully configurable two-step opt-in forms and events to your web pages …
(Add lead capture forms and animation to your sales pages with the Thrive Lightbox plugin)
2-Step Opt-in Forms
A two-step opt-in process helps increase your conversion rates. When visitors click on an image or button 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 an opt-in form appear when your visitor clicks or hovers over a button or graphic elements, or when someone reaches 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. fade in, slide in from right to left, rotate, etc.
(Set up and manage events on your WordPress web site with Thrive Lightbox)
Lightboxes and events are created automatically for your landing pages, but you also have complete control over events, triggers and design.
Testimonials
Here are some of the testimonials that plugin users have submitted regarding 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”
***
”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 WordPress theme, not just with the Thrive Landing Pages plugin. 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 WordPress short codes inside Thrive Content Builder or Thrive Landing Pages and they will display correctly on the front end.
Thrive Lightbox works with any content you build with Thrive Content Builder.
Thrive Content Builder Support
Thrive Content Builder and Landing Pages comes with 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 software upgrades, plus 1 year unlimited support with their purchase, backed by a risk-free, thirty day, 100% refund guarantee.
This is an exciting product for WordPress users that just keeps getting better.
Product 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 Edition – This allows you to 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 – This option lets you activate the plugin on all sites that you own. Cost includes full feature set, unlimited updates and one year of unlimited support. Cost = $87.00.
- Agency License – This enables you to install the plugin on all of your own web sites and any client domains. Pricing includes access to Thrive Content Builder, plus all Thrive Themes & Thrive Plugins. Price = $247.00 per year.
Please Note: The price of the product can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. When we last checked, the plugin retails for the prices shown above. This may not be the actual price charged by the software developer when you visit the product site and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after purchasing.
Check the plugin’s website for current pricing details:
Additional Info
The developers of the Thrive Content and Page Builder plugin emphatically 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 conversion-optimized template sets that help make designing your pages faster, and on the other hand, you also have 100% control over the design process and the ability 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 look after publishing.
For ”how-to” videos of the plugin in action, including installation instructions and tutorials, FAQs, support help desk, contact details and more, visit the Thrive Content Builder website.
Install The Plugin …
If you want to edit something, just click on the element and start editing. If you want to change something, you will see the change happen instantly. If you want to move something, you drag it and drop it into its new position. There are no complicated 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, check out the plugin here:
***
