WordPress has evolved from being just a simple blogging application into a tool that can be used to create all kinds of web sites.
Whatever you can think of, somewhere around the world someone is bound to be already building it using WordPress!
This article will help you discover the most straight-forward visual content editor for WordPress.
Drag And Drop Content Editors For WordPress
Does The Default WordPress Visual Content Editor Meet All Of Your Content Creation Needs?
With so many improvements that the WordPress platform has undergone in recent years, many WordPress users believe that the WordPress content editor is more suitable for performing conventional content editing than building or customizing page elements with more complex layouts.
(The default WordPress editor is great for adding, formatting and editing “linear” text and media, but adding more complex page elements can be challenging!)
For example, if you look at the screenshot below …
Creating the above in your content would require adding something that looks like this in your WordPress visual editor …
Typically, this is not an issue … unless you decide to change your layout (for example, move part of the content from box 1 into box 2, or replace the background color inside box 2 from dark green to gray. Then, you’re stuck having to mess around with page code.
The WordPress visual editor is supposed to give non-technical users an easy-to-use WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor, but as you can see, if you are creating with more complex content elements, often what you see on your editor screen is not what you are going to get when your content gets published …
(“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 with the source html itself instead of the visual editor when trying to create something other than simple page elements …
Even though WordPress is extremely easy to use, this makes it hard for WordPress users with no knowledge of HTML or CSS to have full control of their own content.
The fundamental issue with using HTML and shortcodes to create content in WordPress can be summarized by asking 2 questions:
1) Speed – How long will it take to build 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, what you see when working in the editor looks nothing 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 multiple steps before you can begin configuring your page layout, or endlessly going back and forth between tabs and performing tweaks and updates to see how your content is progressing, which can affect how fast you can create your content, as you wait for your updated content to refresh.
Many WordPress web developers have come up with different solutions to try to address this issue. Some of these range from 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 content creation easier!)
Some solutions require so many complex page design features, that users end up with complicated-looking front end editors …
Many of these editors work, but they fail to address the fundamental challenge of using HTML and shortcodes 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 your web content to look “just right” quickly, this can become quite frustrating.
Ask yourself this …
If there were no technical constraints, how would you like your web page editor to work?
Now, imagine the following scenario …
- You look at your content and if you see something that needs correction, simply click on the content and start changing it. Your content has been instantly edited.
- You can drag and drop elements around the page, and see them exactly as they will display on the front end without having to mentally abstract from shortcodes or HTML.
- You have an idea for a specific item of content that you’d like to add, so you just start typing, and you build your page as you go, without delays, no switching of tab browsers, and without having to wait for new web content to refresh and reload.
Would that not be the perfect way to build content for your WordPress web site? Just click-to-edit and drag and drop elements around your page?
(Imagine being able to create complex web pages in real-time 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 And Landing Pages
Plugin Description
Thrive Content Builder is a truly intuitive click-to-edit drag-and-drop content editing plugin for WordPress.
Thrive Content Builder is a new and exciting way to speed up the process of creating content on your WordPress website.
Once installed, the plugin adds a visual content editor and an item menu that lets you drag and drop design elements on your page …
(Thrive Content Builder adds a new visual content editing option to your WordPress site)
The Thrive Landing Pages And Content Builder 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.
In this article we’ll take a look at each of the above plugins and how these exciting features work together to help you easily transform and improve your business online and create awesome marketing pages and engaging content.
Thrive Content Builder – Click-To-Edit Drag & Drop Content Creator For WordPress
You can easily build complex web page design layouts using drag and drop elements …
Everything on your page can be configured by dragging and dropping things around the page and then clicking to edit them …
Once you have placed elements on a page, you can continue to further edit or customize them without having to go through additional steps or complicated settings windows …
The built-in Thrive Landing Pages also lets you create stunning landing pages that can also be easily customized …
Thrive Content Builder and Landing Pages 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 Thrive Content Builder plugin installed is so amazingly easy, that the developers warn that once you start using it, you’ll never look back!
More info: Thrive Content Builder
Thrive Content Builder and Thrive Landing Pages were created by the same team that developed Thrive Leads, another excellent plugin for WordPress that we have recommended on this site.
To read more about this plugin, go here:
Benefits Of Using Thrive Landing Pages And Content Builder Plugin
Here are just some of the benefits of using Thrive Content Builder to speed up your page design and content creation process:
Fast And Simple To Install And Set Up. Ready To Use In Minutes.
Thrive Content Builder is very easy to install. Just upload the plugin file to your Plugins folder via your WP admin area and activate.
Real-Time Content Content Creation
Thrive Content Builder is simple and intuitive to use and lets you edit content in real-time.
A Truly Visual Content 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 in the front end of your site.
Additional benefits of the plugin include:
- Add Stunning Web Page Layouts With Drag And Drop Ease: Create any layout you can imagine with drag-and-drop ease.
- Design Elements Included: With the Thrive Content Builder plugin you not only get a visually exciting drag and drop WordPress content builder, but the plugin also includes a collection of professional design elements that you can add to your pages without using short codes, like tabbed content, borderless content, call to action buttons, credit card icons, etc.
- Ideal For Non-Technical Users: Not having to deal with technical stuff, or having to wait for your page to refresh frees up your attention and allows you to be more focused while you build or edit your content or click through multiple steps to get what you want done.
(Add, edit and customize web page elements like testimonial boxes, content toggle, star ratings for review pages, call to action buttons, Google Map embeds, etc.)
Thrive Content Builder Features
Thrive Content Builder offers a number of great features to web site owners. Here are just a few:
- Regular WordPress Content Functionality Is Still Available: You have all of the regular WordPress editing options that you are used to (e.g. bold formatting, paragraph centering, heading styles, etc.),
- Drag And Drop Multi-Style Elements Menu: The plugin makes a “drag and drop” table of multi-style elements available on your post or page screen when editing content.
- Conversion-Boosting Elements: The plugin comes with a range of eye-catching and customizable elements that will help you increase your conversions, including buttons and call-to-action elements, testimonials, and guarantees. In addition to being customizable, various elements also offer multiple design options.
- Responsive Element 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 Pages: The Event Manager feature lets you create animation in buttons, 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 all the way from signup to purchase, product download and more.
(Thrive Landing Pages plugin lets you add conversion-optimized pages to your web site)
Thrive Landing Pages Plugin – Benefits
- Everything is hosted on your own WordPress site
- Save time and money creating landing pages
- 100% conversion-optimized page templates
- No technical skills needed
- Works with any theme
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, page templates that are conversion-optimized and fully customizable …
(Landing page sets that work together logically and use the same conversion-optimized design language)
There are currently 30+ templates available, with more templates being worked on. 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.
Customizable Landing Page Template Sets
Normally, to be able to fully customize a landing page template, you would need to either pay 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 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 building conversion-optimized web pages.”
Thrive Landing Pages gives you attractive pre-designed web pages that are fully optimized and ready to go, and complete design freedom that lets you change and customize any element of the page template …
The landing page template sets included with this plugin let you do the following:
- Modify text in any button, bullet point, headline, etc.
- Delete text, images or any other component of the landing page
- Change the background image and edit color
- Edit the color of text, links, buttons, etc.
- Use your own fonts
- Select your own images
- Change content area size
- Change the order of elements on the page
- Translate pages into different languages
- Add any type of custom content in your 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 anything on your page templates)
Transform Your Website Into A Marketing Machine With Thrive Lightbox Plugin
The Thrive plugin package includes Thrive Lightbox, which lets you add fully customizable 2-step opt-in forms and events to your site …
(Add lead capture forms and animated elements to your pages with the Thrive Lightbox plugin)
Thrive Lighbox 2-Step Opt-in Forms
A 2-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 …
(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 when visitors click or hover 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 page, using a range of animation effects (e.g. fade in, 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 the events, triggers and design.
Feedback From Users
Here are a couple of the testimonials and feedback 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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”Your stuff is beautifully designed, fast and has great options for marketers that you just don’t see with other themes. Great, great job! Absolutely love Thrive! David Coleman”
Plugin 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.
You can add WordPress short codes inside the Content Builder or Landing Pages plugin and they will display correctly when published.
Thrive Lightbox works with any content you build with Thrive Content Builder.
Thrive Content Builder Plugin Support
Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder 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 updates, plus 1 year unlimited support with their purchase, backed by a risk-free, thirty day, complete refund guarantee.
This is an exciting product that just keeps 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 License Edition – This lets you configure the plugin on one website only. Pricing includes full feature set, unlimited updates and 1 year of unlimited support. Cost = $59.00.
- Unlimited Sites Licensing – This allows you to run the plugin on all of your personal sites. Cost includes full feature set, unlimited updates and one year of unlimited support. Cost = $87.00.
- Agency Licensing – Use on your domains and on all your client sites. Cost includes access to Thrive Content Builder, plus all Thrive Themes & Thrive Plugins. Price = $247.00 per year.
Note: Pricing for this product depends 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 or may not be the actual pricing charged by the software seller when you visit the product site and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after purchasing.
Check the plugin’s website for the current pricing:
Additional Information
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 web page elements and conversion-optimized templates that help speed up your content creation, and on the other hand, you also have complete control over your design process and the freedom to change everything on your web page, using the plugin’s click-to-edit and drag and drop features, which lets you get things done without having to go through multiple steps.
For a demo video of the plugin, including installation instructions and tutorials, FAQs, support help desk, contact details and more, visit the Thrive plugins website.
Get The Plugin …
If you want to edit something, just click on the element and start editing. If you want to change something, do it, and you can see the change happen immediately. If you want to move something, just drag it and drop it into its new position. There are no additional steps involved.
If you want to transform and improve your site and create amazing marketing pages, streamlined landing pages and engaging content, this plugin delivers an incredible conversion-boosting package with a single, inexpensive plugin.
For full details, check out the plugin here:
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