WordPress has evolved from being just a simple blogging tool into a tool that is now being used to design all types of pages – marketing pages, product showcase pages, local business pages, etc.
Whatever you can think of, someone is probably already building it with WordPress!
This article will help you discover the simplest, most intuitive visual content editor for WordPress sites.
Drag And Drop Content Editors For WordPress
Is The Default WordPress WYSIWYG Editor Meeting All Of Your Page Design Needs?
With all the rapid developments that WordPress has gone through in recent years, many WordPress users believe that using the default WordPress content editor to build or edit complex content elements can sometimes be quite difficult.
(The default WordPress visual content editor is great for adding, formatting and editing conventional content, but adding more complex layouts can be quite challenging!)
For example, if you look at the image below …
Adding the above to your content would require inserting something that looks like this inside the default WordPress content editor …
Typically, this is not an issue … until you want to change the layout (for example, move part of the content from box 3 into box 2, or change the button inside a box from bright red to gold. Then, you’re stuck having to mess around with page code.
The WordPress visual content editor is supposed to be an easy-to-use WYSIWYG editor, but as you can see, if you are trying to add more complex content elements, what you see on your editor screen may not be 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 directly inside the WordPress html (text) editor tab instead of the WYSIWYG editor when trying to build complex page elements …
Even though WordPress is the most user-friendly CMS platform available, this makes it difficult for users without knowledge of HTML or CSS to fully manage their own content.
The fundamental problem of using shortcodes and HTML to create content in the default WordPress WYSIWYG editor can be summarized by asking the following questions:
1) Speed – How long does it take to build a 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 screenshot, what you see in the editor does not look anything like what you see in the front end. This means that users need to mentally translate what the content will look like when working with complex 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 progressing, which can affect how fast you can create your content, as you wait for your updates to load.
A number of WordPress web developers have come up with different solutions with the objective of making content editing easier. Some of these 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 creating complex content 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, but they don’t address the fundamental challenge of using HTML and shortcodes as described earlier. Adding and editing sophisticated content elements 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 to build and edit your web content?
Now, visualize this …
- You look at your content and if you spot something that needs changing, just click on the content and start typing. Your content has been instantly changed.
- You can drag and drop items on the page, and see them exactly as they will appear on the front end without having to mentally visualize any code.
- You have an idea for a specific piece of content you would like to create, so you just begin typing, and your web page gets built as you go, without delays, without switching tabs, and without having to wait for new web content to resave and reload.
Would that not be the ideal way to create content for your WordPress website? A true WYSIWYG content editor where all you have to do is click-to-edit and drag and drop elements around your pages?
(Imagine being able to create complex web pages in real-time for your web content without 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 Builder Plugin – Create Stunning Content Faster With Drag & Drop Ease In WordPress Web Sites
Plugin Description
Thrive Content Builder is a truly intuitive click-to-edit drag-and-drop content and landing page creator for WordPress.
Thrive Content Builder provides WordPress users with a new and incredibly easy way to set up conversion-focused pages on any WordPress site.
Once installed, the plugin adds a visual content editor with a sidebar menu that lets you click, then drag and drop design elements on your web page …
(Thrive Content Builder adds a new visual content builder to WordPress)
Thrive Content Builder And Landing Pages 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 examine all of the above plugins and how these features work together to help you transform and improve your business online and create amazing marketing pages and content.
Thrive Content Builder – WordPress Plugin
With this plugin installed easily add content to your web pages using drag and drop elements …
Everything on your web page can be designed and edited with “drag and drop” and “click-to-edit” ease …
Once elements have been positioned on your page, you can continue to further edit these without going through multiple steps or complicated settings screens …
The built-in functionality of the plugin also lets you work inside stunning landing pages that can just as easily be edited or customized …
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 Thrive Content Builder plugin installed is so effortlessly simple, that the developers guarantee that you will never look at the process of creating and adding content the same way once you start using it
Learn more here: Thrive Content Builder
The integrated Thrive Content Builder plugin was created by the same team that developed Thrive Leads, another great plugin that we have reviewed on this site.
To read more about this plugin, go here:
Benefits
Here 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:
Fast And Easy To Install And Implement. Ready To Go To Work In No Time.
Thrive Content Builder is very easy to install. Just upload it to your Plugin folder via your dashboard and activate.
Edit And Build Content In Real Time
Thrive Content Builder is is not only really simple and intuitive to use, it also lets you create and edit content in real-time.
A Truly Visual 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 plugin benefits include the following:
- Eye-Catching Layouts With Drag-And-Drop Ease: Create any kind of layout you can imagine with intuitive drag-and-drop functionality.
- Add Design Elements With No Shortcodes Required: With Thrive Content Builder you not only get an exciting and easy-to-use click-to-edit WordPress content builder, but the plugin also includes a collection of design elements that you can customizable and insert into your content layouts without using shortcodes, like tabbed content, borderless content, testimonials, responsive Google map embeds, etc.
- Distraction-Free Content Creation: Not having to deal with technical stuff for the updated content to reload frees up your attention and allows you to build the content your business needs, quickly and without having to edit code or click through multiple layers of menus to get what you need done.
(Thrive Content Builder lets you easily insert, edit and customize page elements like testimonial boxes, tabbed content, content reveal feature, dividers, responsive videos, etc.)
Thrive Content Builder Features
Thrive Content Builder provides many features to WP users. Below we have listed just some of these features:
- All WordPress Editor Functionality Is Still Available: You have all of the built-in WordPress content editing options that you are used to (e.g. bold, justified paragraphs, headings and font sizes, etc.),
- Drag And Drop Multi-Style Elements: The plugin adds a “drag and drop” table of elements to your post or page screen for creating or editing content.
- Conversion-Boosting Elements: The plugin provides you with various eye-catching and customizable elements that will help increase your sales conversions, including buttons and call-to-action elements, testimonials, 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 column layouts, guarantee boxes, section dividers, e.g. which will adjust to display correctly on different device screens.
- Add Animation Events To Your Pages: Thrive Content Builder’s Event Manager feature lets you create animated images, trigger lightboxes and more!
(Add Animated Elements To Your Web Pages)
Thrive Landing Pages – 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 gives you access to conversion-optimized web page templates)
Thrive Landing Pages – Benefits
- Everything is hosted on your own WordPress site
- Save time creating and customizing landing pages
- 100% conversion-optimized web pages
- No web coding skills required
- Works with all WordPress themes
Thrive Content and 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, conversion optimized landing page templates and fully customizable …
(Landing page sets that work together logically and use the same conversion-optimized design language)
There are 30+ templates available, with more templates planned for future release. In addition to the templates shown above, expect to see new templates in the future for email lead generation, sales pages, training pages, personal branding pages, webinar pages and more.
Customizable Landing Page Template Sets
Typically, to be able to have completely customizable landing page templates, 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 beautiful pre-designed pages that are fully optimized and ready to go, and complete design freedom that lets you change and customize any aspect of the page template …
With the landing page template sets included with this plugin, you can do the following:
- Modify text in any headline, bullet point, button, etc.
- Delete text, images or any other part of the landing page
- Change the background image and background color
- Edit the color of buttons, links, text, etc.
- Use your own fonts
- Select your own images
- Edit the size of the content area
- Rearrange the order of elements on your page
- Translate everything on the page into different languages
- Add custom content in any of the pages
- Start with a blank web page and create your own templates, or even build a custom landing pages library.
(Change and customize any aspect of your page templates)
Transform Your Web Site Into A Powerful Marketing Machine With Thrive Lightbox
The Thrive package also includes Thrive Lightbox, which lets you add fully configurable 2-step opt-in forms and events to your web pages …
(Add opt-in forms and events to your WordPress web site with Thrive Lightbox)
Thrive Lighbox 2-Step Opt-in Forms
A 2-step opt-in process can increase your conversion rates. When visitors click on a button or image 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 an image, or when someone reaches a certain point on the page. You can also use the Event Manager to animate images on your pages, using a range of effects (e.g. fade in, slide in from bottom to top, roll out, etc.
(Set up and manage events on your web pages with Thrive Lightbox)
A lightbox and event is created automatically for your landing pages, but you also have complete control over your events, triggers and design.
Feedback From Plugin Users
Here are a couple of the testimonials 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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“I’m blown away by the plugin. Keep up the incredible, WordPress changing work, guys! Dean Phillips”
Thrive Content Builder – Useful Tips
Thrive Content Builder works with any WordPress theme, not just with Thrive Landing Pages. Note, however, that you cannot use Thrive Content Builder to edit content on existing pages or posts that were not created using the plugin.
You can add shortcodes inside Thrive Content Builder or Thrive Landing Pages and they will display correctly on the front end.
Thrive Lightbox works with any content built using Thrive Content Builder.
Support
Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder Plugin 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 plugins are well-supported, and users get unlimited upgrades, and one year unlimited support with their purchase, backed by a no-risk, thirty day, 100% money-back guarantee.
This is an exciting product for WordPress users that will just keep getting better.
Software Cost
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 license option lets you use the plugin on a single site. Pricing includes full feature set, unlimited updates and one year of unlimited support. Price = $59.00.
- Unlimited Sites License – This license option allows you to install the plugin on unlimited domains that you own. Price includes full feature set, unlimited updates and one year of unlimited support. Cost = $87.00.
- Agency Licensing – This enables you to use the plugin on all of your own web sites and all client websites. Cost includes access to Thrive Content Builder, plus all Thrive Themes & Thrive Plugins. Cost = $247.00 per year.
Please Note: The price of the Thrive Content Builder plugin can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. The above reflects the pricing at the time this content was published. This may not be the actual price charged by the plugin author when you visit the website and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after purchasing.
Check the plugin’s website for current pricing details:
Additional Plugin Info
The Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder plugin developers 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 time-saving features like ready-made web page elements and template sets that help to make designing your pages faster, and on the other hand, you have 100% control over the design process and the freedom to edit and customize anything and everything on your page, using the plugin’s click-to-edit and drag and drop features, that lets you see exactly how the content you are working on will appear to visitors when published.
For a demo video of the plugin, including installation instructions and tutorials, FAQs, support helpdesk, contact details and more, visit the Thrive website.
We Recommend …
If you want to edit something, you 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, all you need to do is drag it and drop it into its new location. There are no additional steps involved.
If you want to transform and improve your site and create amazing marketing pages and engaging content, Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder delivers an incredible conversion-boosting package with a single, inexpensive plugin.
For more information, visit the plugin website:
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