WordPress has evolved from being just a simple blogging tool to a tool that can be used to create all types of web sites.
Whatever you can imagine, somewhere around the world someone is bound to be already building it with WordPress!
This article will help you discover the ultimate drag and drop front end builder for WordPress websites.
Drag & Drop Content Editors For WordPress
The WordPress Visual Editor – Is There A Better Way To Create Amazing-Looking Content Layouts In WordPress?
With all the many developments that WordPress has gone through in recent years, many WordPress developers feel that using the default WordPress editor to create or edit more complex page layouts can be quite challenging.
(The default WordPress editor is great for adding, formatting and editing “linear” text and images, but adding more complex page elements can be challenging!)
For example, let’s say you want to create something like the content shown below …
To create the above layout, you would normally have to add shortcodes to your content for each of the page elements you want to display on your web page …
Typically, this is not really an issue … unless you decide to change an element of your layout (for example, move part of the content from box 1 into box 2, or replace the button inside a box from green to light green. Then, you’re stuck having to mess around with page code.
The WordPress visual content 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, when creating with complex page elements, often what you see on your screen may not be what you get …
(“What You See” isn’t always “What You Get” … unless you can visualize code!)
In some situations, you could even be better off working with the source html itself instead of the WordPress WYSIWYG editor when trying to add fancy layouts …
Even though WordPress is very user-friendly, this makes it hard for users with no knowledge of HTML or CSS to fully manage their own content.
The fundamental problem about using shortcodes and HTML to create content in the default WordPress visual editor can be summarized as follows:
1) Speed – How long will it take to create a page using the 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 looks nothing like what you see in the front end. This means that users have to translate mentally what the content will look like when working with complex layouts. Other solutions require taking several 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 then impacts how fast you can create your content, as you wait for the content to load.
Many WordPress developers have tried to come up with various solutions with the goal of making the visual editor easier. Some of these range from WordPress plugins you can install on your site that add new functionality to the editor, to themes that come with built-in features like drag and drop editing …
(WordPress “drag and drop” editors aim to make creating complex content easier!)
Some solutions end up combining so many page-building features, that users end up with complicated-looking front end content editors …
Many of these editors work fine, but they don’t really seem to address the fundamental problem with using HTML and shortcodes 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 your content to look “just right” quickly, this can start to become quite frustrating after a while.
Ask yourself this …
If there were no technical constraints, how would you like your page editor to behave?
Now that you’ve asked this question, visualize the following scenario …
- You spot something in the content that needs changing so you, just click on the content and start writing. Your content has been instantly changed.
- You can just drag and drop elements around the page, and the page looks exactly as it will display on the front end without having to mentally translate shortcodes or HTML.
- You have an idea for a specific piece of content that you would like to add, so you immediately begin typing, and you build your page on the fly, with no delays, no switching of tab browsers, and no waiting for new web pages to refresh.
Would that not be the ideal way to create content for your website? Just click-to-edit and drag and drop elements around the page?
(Imagine being able to create complex web page layouts ”on the fly” 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 And Landing Pages
Plugin Description
Thrive Content Builder is a truly intuitive click-to-edit drag-and-drop content and page editor for WordPress.
Thrive Content Builder provides WordPress users with a new and incredibly easy way to set up conversion-focused pages on any WordPress web site.
Once installed, the plugin adds a visual content editor and a sidebar menu that lets you click, then drag and drop design elements to your web page …
(Thrive Content Builder adds a new visual editor to your WordPress site)
Thrive Content Builder And Landing Pages is actually a combination of the Thrive Content Builder and Thrive Landing Pages plugins combined into one, plus an additional plugin feature called Thrive Lightbox.
We’ll discuss 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, streamlined landing pages and engaging content.
Thrive Content Builder Plugin
This plugin lets you easily add content to your web pages and build complex page layouts using drag and drop elements …
Every aspect of your page can be configured using simple ”click-to-edit” and “drag and drop” …
Once elements have been added to your page, you can then edit them without having to go through multiple steps or complicated configuration screens …
You can also 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 pages and working on content with the plugin installed is so amazingly simple, that the developers warn that you’ll never look back once you start using it
Go here to learn more: Thrive Content Builder
The integrated Thrive Content and Landing Page Builder plugin was created by the same team that developed Thrive Leads, another fantastic plugin we’ve previously written about on this site.
To read more about this plugin, go here:
Plugin Benefits
Here we have listed just some of the benefits and advantages of using Thrive Content Builder to speed up the process of designing pages and creating content for your website:
Ready To Start Using In Very Little Time
Thrive Content Builder is quite easy to install. Just upload the plugin file to your Plugin folder via your WordPress dashboard and activate.
Add And Edit Content In Real Time
Thrive Content Builder is is not only very simple to use, it also lets you edit and add content right inside your pages in real-time.
What You See Is Truly What You Get
With Thrive Content Builder installed, what you see on the “backend” as you work within the content editor – typefaces, elements, page layouts, etc. is exactly what your visitors will see on the front end of your site.
Some additional benefits and advantages include:
- Beautiful Web Page Layouts With Drag & Drop Ease: Create any layout you can imagine with drag-and-drop ease.
- Add Design Elements With No Shortcodes Involved: With the Thrive Content Builder plugin you not only get an exciting and simple-to-use click-to-edit WordPress content builder, but the plugin also includes a very decent collection of professional web design elements that you can customizable and use on your pages without using short codes, like content toggle, text boxes, section dividers, responsive videos, etc.
- Distraction-Free Content Creation: Not having to deal with technical stuff for the updates to refresh frees up your attention and allows you to be more focused while you work or click through multiple layers of menus to get what you want done.
(Easily insert, edit and customize page elements like testimonial boxes, content toggle, table of contents builder, buttons, responsive Google map embeds, etc.)
Thrive Content Builder Features
Thrive Content Builder provides many features to WordPress users. Below we have listed just a few of these:
- Regular Editor Functionality Is Still Available: You have all of the built-in content editing options that you are used to (e.g. underline, centering text, font sizes, etc.),
- Drag And Drop Multi-Style Elements Menu: The plugin makes a “drag and drop” table of elements available on your post or page screen for editing content.
- Conversion-Boosting Elements: The plugin provides you with a range of eye-catching and customizable elements that will help you increase your conversions, including buttons and call-to-action elements, testimonial boxes, and guarantee forms. In addition to being customizable, multiple design options are also available for various elements.
- Responsive Element Design: Add responsive elements like column layouts, guarantee boxes, dividers, e.g. which will display correctly on devices with differently sized screens.
- Add Animation To Web Pages: Thrive Content Builder’s Event Manager feature lets you create animation in images, trigger lightboxes and more!
(Add Animated Elements To Your Pages)
Thrive Landing Pages – 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 initial signup to purchase, product download and more.
(Thrive Landing Pages plugin lets you add conversion-optimized web pages to your site)
Thrive Landing Pages Plugin – Benefits
- Hosted on your own WordPress site
- Save time creating attractive-looking web pages
- 100% conversion-optimized pages
- No coding skills required
- Works with any WordPress theme
Thrive 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, 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 over thirty templates available, with more templates being worked on. In addition to the available templates, the developers plan to release new web page templates for email lead generation, sales pages, training pages, personal branding pages, webinar pages and more.
Fully Customizable Landing Page Template Sets
Normally, to be able to have completely customizable landing page templates, you would need to either hire a web site designer to do the work, or learn web coding languages like HTML and CSS 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 web pages that are fully optimized and ready to go, and complete design freedom that allows you to change or customize any element of your page templates …
With the landing page templates included with this plugin, you can do the following:
- Change text in any bullet point, button, headline, etc.
- Remove text, images or any other component of your landing page
- Change all background images and edit colour
- Edit the color of text, links, buttons, etc.
- Select your own fonts
- Use your own images
- Modify the size of the content area
- Rearrange the order of elements on the page
- Translate everything on the page into different languages
- Add any type of custom content in your pages
- Use pre-designed, customized pages, or create your own from scratch and save them as new page templates.
(Change or edit any aspect of your page template)
Transform Your Site Into A Marketing Machine With Thrive Lightbox Plugin
The Thrive plugin package also 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 sales pages with Thrive Lightbox)
Thrive Lighbox Two-Step Opt-in Forms
A 2-step opt-in process helps to 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)
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 an image, or when someone scrolls down to a certain point on the page. You can also use the Event Manager to animate images on your pages, using a range of animation effects (e.g. zoom in, slide in from bottom to top, rotate, etc.
(Set up and manage events on your WordPress site with Thrive Lightbox)
A lightbox and event is created automatically for your landing pages, but you also have complete control over events, triggers and design.
User Feedback
Here are just a few of the testimonials and comments that users have submitted regarding the Thrive Content Builder plugin:
“I have had nothing but the best experience imaginable with this tool since I purchased it. This is by far one of, if not the best plug-in I have purchase to date and it has definitely made working with WordPress a whole new experience. Jim Bond”
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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”
Plugin Tips
Thrive Content Builder works with any theme in WordPress, not just with the Thrive Landing Pages plugin. You cannot use Thrive Content Builder to edit content on existing pages or posts that were not created with the plugin.
You can add WordPress shortcodes inside Thrive Content Builder or Thrive Landing Pages and they will be displayed correctly when published.
Thrive Lightbox works with any content built 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 plugins are well-supported, and users get unlimited software upgrades, and 1 year unlimited support with their purchase, backed by a no-risk, 30 day, 100% refund guarantee.
This is an exciting product 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 – This option enables you to configure the plugin on one web site only. Cost includes full feature set, unlimited updates and 1 year of unlimited support. Price = $59.00.
- Unlimited Sites Licensing – This license enables you to configure the plugin on all websites that you personally own. Includes full feature set, unlimited updates and 1 year of unlimited support. Cost = $87.00.
- Agency License – Use on your sites & on client web sites. Cost includes access to Thrive Content Builder, plus all Thrive Themes & Thrive Plugins. Price = $247.00 per year.
Please Note: Pricing for the Thrive Content Builder software can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. Presently, the software sells for the amounts shown above. This may or may not be the actual pricing charged by the software developer 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 developers of the Thrive Content 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 web page elements and templates that help to speed up the page design and content creation process, and on the other hand, you also have complete control over the design process and the ability to edit everything on your page, using the plugin’s visual content editor, which allows you to work unhindered by overly complicated steps.
For a demo video showing plugin usage, including installation instructions and tutorials, FAQs, support help desk, contact details and more, visit the Thrive website.
Install The Plugin …
If you want to edit something, you 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, all you need to do is simply drag it and drop it into its new location. There are no additional steps involved.
If you want to transform and improve your business online and create awesome marketing pages and engaging content, Thrive Content Builder delivers an incredible conversion-boosting package with a single, inexpensive plugin.
For more details, visit the plugin website here:
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