WordPress has evolved from being just a simple blogging application into a tool that can be used to design all types of pages – marketing pages, product showcase pages, business pages, etc.
Whatever you can think of, somewhere around the world someone is most likely already building it using WordPress!
This article will help you discover the simplest and easiest to use WYSIWYG content editor for your WordPress site.
Drag And Drop Content Editors For WordPress
The WordPress Editor – Is There A Simpler Way For Designing Amazing-Looking Web Pages In WordPress?
With so many developments that WordPress has undergone in recent years, many WordPress users believe that the WordPress editor is now lagging behind the improvements made to the software.
(The WordPress WYSIWYG editor is great for adding, formatting and editing “linear” content, but adding more complex layouts can be quite challenging!)
For example, let’s say you want to create something like the layout shown below …
To create the above boxes with text and buttons, users would normally have to insert short codes into the content for every page element they want to display on their web page …
Generally, this is not really an issue … unless you have to change your layout (for example, move some of the content from box 1 into box 2, or change the button in box 3 from dark green to yellow. Then, you’re stuck having to mess around with page code or html.
The WordPress visual editor is supposed to provide users with an easy-to-use WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) content editor, but as you can see, if you are trying to create more complex page elements, often what you see on your editor screen is not what you are getting when the page gets published …
(“What You See” isn’t always “What You Get” … unless you can visualize code!)
In some situations, users may even be better off working directly inside the text editor tab instead of the WordPress visual editor when trying to create something other than simple layouts …
Even though WordPress is extremely easy to use, this makes it hard for WordPress site owners without knowledge of HTML or CSS to have full control of their own content.
The fundamental problem about having to use shortcodes and HTML to create content in the default WordPress visual editor can be summarized by asking the following questions:
1) Speed – How long will it take to create 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 image, what you see when working in the content editor does not look at all like what you see in the front end. This means that you need to mentally translate what the content will look like when working with complex layouts. Other solutions require taking 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 coming along, which can impact how fast you can create your content, as you wait for for your updated content to load.
A number of WordPress web developers have tried to come up with various solutions to try to address this issue. Some of these range from stand alone WordPress plugins you can add to your site that add new functionality to the editor, to themes that provide built-in features like drag and drop editing …
(WordPress “drag and drop” editors aim to make creating complex page layouts easier!)
Some solutions end up including 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 issue of using shortcodes and HTML as described earlier. Creating, adding and editing 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 to create or edit complex layouts quickly, this can start to become quite frustrating.
Ask yourself this …
If there were no technical constraints, how would you like your content builder to work?
Now, visualize this …
- You look at your content and if you see something that needs fixing, simply click on the content and start editing it. Your content has been instantly edited.
- You simply drag and drop elements around the page, and the page looks exactly as it will display on the front end without having to mentally visualize any HTML or shortcodes.
- You have an idea for some content that you’d like to create, so you simply start typing, and your page gets built as you go, with no delays, no switching of tab browsers, and no waiting for edits to republish and reload.
Would that not be the ideal way to build content for your WordPress website? Just click-to-edit and drag and drop elements around your pages and posts?
(Imagine being able to create complex web page layouts quickly 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 – Create Stunning Content With Drag & Drop Ease In WordPress Websites
Plugin Description
Thrive Content Builder is a truly intuitive WordPress click-to-edit drag and drop content creator and editor.
The Thrive Content Builder plugin provides WordPress users with a new and exciting way to set up conversion-focused pages on any WordPress website.
Once installed, the plugin adds a visual content editor and a menu that lets you click, then drag and drop elements on your page …
(Thrive Content Builder adds a new content editor to your WordPress site)
Thrive Content And Landing Page Builder 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.
We will take an in-depth look at each of the above plugins and how all of this functionality works together to help you easily transform and improve your web site and create awesome sales pages and engaging content.
Thrive Content Builder – WordPress Plugin
This plugin lets you easily add content to your web pages and build complex page layouts using drag and drop elements …
Every element on your page can be configured and edited using ”click-to-edit” and “drag and drop” …
Once elements have been positioned on your page, you can then further edit them without going through additional steps or opening more settings screens …
The built-in Thrive Landing Pages also lets you work inside highly attractive landing pages and easily edit these …
Thrive Content and Page 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 Thrive Content Builder and Landing Pages installed is so effortlessly simple, that the developers warn that once you start using it, you’ll never look back!
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 amazing plugin we’ve reviewed on this site.
Go here to read about this plugin:
Benefits
Here we have listed just some of the benefits of using Thrive Content Builder to speed up your page design and content creation process:
Quick And Simple To Install And Set Up. Be Up And Running In No Time.
Thrive Content Builder installs just like every other plugin. Just upload it to your Plugin folder via your WordPress administrator section and activate.
Create & Edit Content In Real Time
Thrive Content Builder is really simple and intuitive to use and lets you create and edit content in real-time.
A Truly Visual Content Editor
With Thrive Content Builder installed, what you see as you work within the content editor – fonts, visual elements, page layouts, etc. is exactly what your visitors will see in the front end of your site.
Additional benefits include the following:
- Beautiful Layouts With Drag And Drop Ease: Create any type of layout you can imagine with drag and drop ease.
- Add Customizable Elements Without Short Codes: With Thrive Content Builder you not only get an amazing click-to-edit WordPress content editor, but the plugin also includes a collection of professional design elements that you can customizable and add to your layouts without using shortcodes, for e.g.: columns, borderless content, testimonials, countdown timers, etc.
- Ideal For Non-Technical Users: Not having to constantly switch tabs as you edit your content and then wait for your new content to load frees up your attention and allows you to be more focused while you build or edit your content or click through multiple layers of menus to get what you want done.
(Easily add, edit and customize web page elements like testimonials, pricing tables, content reveal feature, section dividers, responsive maps, etc.)
Plugin Features
Thrive Content Builder offers many features to site owners. Here are just a few of these:
- Regular Editor Functionality Is Preserved: You have all of the built-in content editing options that you are used to (e.g. bold, paragraph centering, headings and font sizes, etc.),
- Drag And Drop Multi-Style Elements Menu: The plugin adds a “drag and drop” table of elements to your post or page screen when creating or editing content.
- Conversion-Boosting Elements: The plugin includes 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, testimonials, and guarantee forms. In addition to customization options, various elements also offer multiple design options.
- Responsive Element Design: Add mobile-friendly columns, text boxes, content section dividers, e.g. which will display correctly on different-sized screens.
- Add Animation Events To Pages: The plugin’s Event Manager feature lets you add animated images, trigger lightboxes and more!
(Add Animated Elements To Your 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 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 professional landing pages for your site
- 100% conversion-optimized web page templates
- No technical skills needed
- Works with all themes
Thrive Content Builder and Landing Pages not only lets you create beautiful content in your WordPress posts and pages, but you can also choose from dozens of beautifully designed, conversion optimized page templates and fully customizable …
(Landing page template sets 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, the developers plan to release new page templates for email lead generation, sales pages, lesson pages, personal branding pages, webinar pages and more.
Fully Customizable And Flexible Landing Page Template Sets
Typically, to be able to have fully customizable landing page templates, you would need to either hire a web site developer to do the work, or learn how to code web pages 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 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 web pages that are fully optimized and ready to go, and complete design freedom that allows you to change or edit anything on the page templates …
The landing page templates included with this plugin let you do the following:
- Modify text in all bullet points, buttons, headlines, etc.
- Remove text, images or any other component of the landing page
- Replace the background image or color
- Edit the color of text, buttons, links, etc.
- Choose your own fonts
- Use your own images and graphics
- Modify content area size
- Rearrange the order of page elements
- Translate pages into a different language
- Add any kind of custom content anywhere inside your pages
- Use pre-designed, customized pages, or create your own pages from scratch and save them as new page templates.
(Change or edit any element of the page template)
Thrive Lightbox Plugin – Transform Your Website Into A Marketing Machine
The Thrive plugin combo includes Thrive Lightbox, which lets you add fully customizable 2-step opt-in forms and events to your WordPress site …
(Add opt-in forms and animation to your WordPress website with Thrive Lightbox)
Thrive Lighbox 2-Step Opt-in Forms
A 2-step opt-in process helps improve your conversion rates. Visitors click on a button or image, and then they are presented with your opt-in form …
(When visitors click on the button, they 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 page, using a range of effects (e.g. zoom out, slide in from bottom to top, roll in, etc.
(Set up and manage events on your WordPress web site with the Thrive Lightbox plugin)
Lightboxes and events are created automatically for your landing pages, but you also have complete control over your events, triggers and design.
Feedback From Plugin Users
Here are some of the testimonials and feedback that customers have submitted for the Thrive Content Builder plugin:
”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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”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 Thrive Landing Pages. You cannot use Thrive Content Builder to edit content that was not created with the plugin installed.
You can add shortcodes inside the Content Builder or Landing Pages plugin and they will display correctly on the front end.
Thrive Lightbox works with any content built using Thrive Content Builder.
Plugin Support
Thrive Content and Page Builder Plugin provides free updates, new landing pages and upcoming features. The plugin developers are constantly working on adding new features and improving existing ones.
Thrive plugins are really well-supported, and users get lifetime software updates, and 1 year unlimited support with their purchase, backed by a no-risk, 30 day, full money-back guarantee.
This is an exciting product for WordPress users that just keeps getting better.
Plugin 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 License Edition – This enables you to install the plugin on a single website. Includes full feature set, unlimited updates and one year of unlimited support. Price = $59.00.
- Unlimited Sites Licensing – This lets you set up the plugin on all of your personal web sites. Cost includes full feature set, unlimited updates and 1 year of unlimited support. Price = $87.00.
- Agency License – This option enables you to configure the plugin on all of your own web sites and any client websites. Pricing includes access to Thrive Content Builder, plus all Thrive Themes & Thrive Plugins. Price = $247.00 per year.
Please Note: The cost of purchasing this product can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. Currently, the plugin is selling for the pricing shown above. This may or may not be the actual price set by the product seller when you visit the plugin site 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 and Landing Pages plugin developers 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 beautiful, conversion-optimized template sets that help speed up content creation, and on the other hand, you have complete control over your design process and the ability to change everything on your page, using the plugin’s click-to-edit and drag and drop features, that lets you work unhindered by overly complicated steps.
For ”how to” videos of the plugin in action, including help documentation and tutorials, FAQs, customer helpdesk, contact details and more, visit the Thrive plugins website.
Our Recommendation …
If you want to edit something, you just click on the element and start editing. If you want to change something, you can see the change happen instantly. If you want to move something, 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 site and create amazing marketing pages and content, this plugin delivers an incredible conversion-boosting package with a single, inexpensive plugin.
For complete details, check out the plugin here:
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