WordPress has evolved from being just a simple blogging application into a tool being used to design all types of web pages – landing pages, product showcase pages, local business pages, etc.
Whatever you can imagine, someone is most likely already building it using WordPress!
This article will help you discover the simplest and most straight-forward visual editor for WordPress websites.
Drag & Drop Content Editors For WordPress
Is The WordPress Visual Content Editor Meeting All Of Your Content Creation Needs?
With so many developments that the WordPress platform has gone through in recent years, many WordPress users feel that using the built-in WordPress editor to create or edit more complex website pages can sometimes be quite challenging.
(The WordPress WYSIWYG content editor is great for adding, formatting and editing “linear” text and media, but adding complex page elements can be quite challenging!)
For example, let’s say you want to create something like the content shown below …
To create the above boxes with text and buttons, users would have to add short codes to the content for every element they want to create …
Normally, this is not an issue … until you decide to reconfigure the layout (for example, move some of the content from box 3 into box 2, or change the button inside box 3 from dark green to orange. Then, you’re stuck having to mess around with code inside the editor.
The WordPress visual 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 trying to create complex page elements, often what you see in the WordPress visual content 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, some people argue that you may even be better off working with the source html itself instead of the WYSIWYG editor when trying to create non-linear page elements …
Even though WordPress is very user-friendly, this makes it hard for WordPress site owners without coding skills to fully manage their own content.
The fundamental issue of 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 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 when working in the content editor does not look even remotely similar to what you see in the front end. This means that you have to mentally translate what your 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 switching browser tabs and performing updates to see how your content is coming along, which can interrupt the creative process, as you wait for your updates to load.
Many WordPress web developers have tried to come up with various solutions with the goal of making content editing more intuitive. Some of these solutions range from WP plugins you can add to your site that add new functionality to the editor, to WordPress 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 combine so many complex page-building features, that users end up with complicated-looking front end editors …
Many of these alternative editors work fine, but they fail to address the fundamental challenge of using HTML and shortcodes as described earlier. Creating, adding and editing non-linear content 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 layouts quickly, this can become really frustrating after a while.
Ask yourself this …
If there were no technical constraints, how would you like your web content builder to function?
Now that you’ve asked this question, visualize the following …
- You spot something in your content that needs changing so you, just 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 appear on the front end without having to mentally visualize any code.
- You have an idea for an item of content you would like to add, so you immediately begin typing, and you build your page on the fly, without delays, with no switching of tab browsers, and without having to wait for new content to refresh.
Would this not be the perfect 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 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 Landing Pages And Content Builder – WordPress Click-To-Edit Drag & Drop Content And Page Creator
Plugin Description
Thrive Content Builder is a ground-breaking WordPress plugin that gives you total control over every aspect of your content pages using true click-to-edit and drag and drop simplicity.
The Thrive Content Builder plugin provides WordPress users with a new and exciting way to set up conversion-focused pages on any WordPress site.
Once installed, the plugin adds a visual content editor and a menu that lets you click, then drag and drop elements on your web page …
(Thrive Content Builder adds a new content editing option to your WordPress site)
The plugin 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.
In this article we’ll take an in-depth look at all of the above and how these powerful features work seamlessly together to help you easily transform and improve your web site and create amazing sales pages and engaging content.
Thrive Content Builder Plugin
You can easily build complex web page design layouts using drag and drop elements …
Everything on your web page can be configured by ”clicking-to-edit” and “dragging and dropping” things around the page …
Once elements have been added to a page, you can then further customize or edit these without having to go through additional steps or switching screens …
The built-in functionality of the plugin also lets you work inside beautiful landing pages and easily edit these …
Thrive Landing Pages and 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 and Landing Page Builder plugin installed is so effortlessly simple, that the developers warn that once you start using it, you’ll never look back!
Learn more 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 reviewed on this site.
Go here to read about the plugin:
Plugin Benefits
Below we have listed just a few of the benefits and advantages of using Thrive Content Builder to speed up content creation:
Fast And Simple To Install And Set Up. Ready To Go To Work In No Time.
Thrive Content Builder is really easy to install. Simply upload it to your Plugin folder via your administrator section and activate.
Real-Time Content Building And Editing
Thrive Content Builder is very simple to use and lets you edit and build content in real-time.
What You See Is Exactly What You Get
With Thrive Content Builder installed, what you see as you work within the editor – fonts, elements, layouts, etc. is exactly what you get in the front end of your site.
Additional plugin benefits include:
- Stunning Page Layouts With Drag-And-Drop Ease: Create any layout you can imagine with intuitive drag and drop functionality.
- Add Customizable Elements With No Short Codes Required: With the Thrive Content Builder plugin you not only get an exciting and easy-to-use drag and drop WordPress content editor, but the plugin also includes a collection of web design elements that you can insert into your pages without using shortcodes, for e.g.: columns, styled lists, call to action buttons, code insert boxes, etc.
- More Enjoyable Content Creation: Not having to deal with technical stuff for pages to reload 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.
(Thrive Content Builder lets you easily add, edit and customize page elements like testimonials, pricing tables, content reveal feature, call to action buttons, responsive video embeds, etc.)
Plugin Features
Thrive Content Builder offers many features to site owners. Here are just some:
- Regular Editor Functionality Is Preserved: You have all of the built-in WordPress editing options that you are used to (e.g. bold, paragraph centering, heading styles, etc.),
- Drag And Drop Elements: The plugin adds a “drag and drop” list of elements to your post or page screen when creating or editing content.
- Conversion-Boosting Elements: The plugin includes various eye-catching and customizable elements that will help you increase your 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.
- Responsive Design: Add mobile-friendly columns, text boxes, section dividers, e.g. which will display great on different screens.
- Add Animation Events To Web Pages: The Event Manager feature lets you add animated images, trigger lightboxes and more!
(Add Animated Elements To Your 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 all the way from initial signup to purchase, product download and more.
(Thrive Landing Pages lets you easily add conversion-optimized pages to your web site)
Thrive Landing Pages – Benefits
- Hosted on your own WordPress site
- Save time and money building pages for your website
- 100% conversion-optimized page templates
- No coding skills needed
- Works with all WordPress 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 professionally designed, conversion optimized web page templates and fully customizable …
(Landing page sets that work together logically and use the same conversion-optimized design language)
There are currently over 30 templates available, with more templates planned for future release. In addition to the templates that are currently available, 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, in order to have a completely customizable 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 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 great-looking pre-built web page templates that are fully optimized and ready to go, and complete design freedom that lets you change and edit anything on the page template …
With the landing page templates included with this plugin, you can:
- Change text in all buttons, bullet points, headlines, etc.
- Remove text, images or any other element of your landing page
- Change all background images and background colors
- Change the color of links, text, buttons, etc.
- Choose your own fonts
- Select your own images
- Modify content area size
- Change the order of page elements
- Translate pages into different languages
- Add custom content inside your pages
- Start with a blank page and create your own templates, or even build your own custom landing pages library.
(Change or customize any element of the page)
Thrive Lightbox – Transform Your Web Site Into A Powerful Marketing Machine
The Thrive plugin combo also includes Thrive Lightbox, which lets you add fully editable 2-step opt-in forms and animated elements to your website …
(Add lead capture forms and animated elements to your WordPress site with Thrive Lightbox)
Thrive Lighbox 2-Step Opt-in Forms
A two-step opt-in process can help increase your conversion rates. Visitors click on an image or button, and then they are presented with your opt-in form …
(Capture more leads and subscribers with a two-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 their mouse 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 images on your pages, using a range of effects (e.g. fade out, slide in from bottom to top, rotate, etc.
(Set up and manage events on your pages with the Thrive Lightbox plugin)
A lightbox and event is created automatically for your landing pages, but you also have complete control over the events, triggers and design.
Testimonials
Below are just a few of the testimonials customers have written about Thrive Content Builder:
”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”
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 on pages or posts that were not created with the plugin installed.
You can add short codes inside Thrive Content Builder or Thrive Landing Pages and they will be displayed correctly on the front end.
Thrive Lightbox works with any content you build using Thrive Content Builder.
Product Support
Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder provides free updates, new landing templates 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, full money-back guarantee.
This is an exciting product for WordPress users that will just keep getting better.
Plugin 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 License – This edition enables you to activate the plugin on 1 site only. It includes full feature set, unlimited updates and 1 year of unlimited support. Price = $59.00.
- Unlimited Sites Edition – This edition allows you to activate the plugin on all domains that you own. Includes full feature set, unlimited updates and 1 year of unlimited support. Cost = $87.00.
- Agency License Edition – Use on your domains and on client web sites. Includes access to Thrive Content Builder, plus all Thrive Themes & Thrive Plugins. Price = $247.00 per year.
Note: Pricing details of Thrive Content Builder depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. The above reflects the current price at the time this article was published. This may not be the actual price set by the plugin seller when you visit the product website 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 plugin developers emphatically 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 the time-saving benefits of ready-made web page elements and templates that help make designing your pages faster, and on the other hand, you have 100% control over your design process and the ability to change and customize everything on your web page, using the plugin’s click-to-edit and drag and drop features, which allows you to see exactly how the content you are working on will appear to visitors when published.
For demo videos of the plugin, including help documentation and tutorials, FAQs, customer help desk, contact details and more, visit the Thrive website.
Install This 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’ll see the change happen instantly. If you want to move something, you drag it and drop it into its new position. There are no extra steps involved.
If you want to transform and improve your business online and create awesome sales pages, streamlined landing pages and engaging content, this plugin delivers an incredible conversion-boosting package with a single, inexpensive plugin.
To learn more, visit the plugin website here:
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