WordPress has evolved from being just a simple blogging application into a tool that is now being used to create all kinds of websites.
Whatever you can imagine, someone is most likely already building it using WordPress!
In this article you will discover how to create stunning content and design beautiful layouts with drag & drop ease in WordPress sites.
Drag And Drop Content Editors For WordPress
Does The Default WordPress Content Editor Meet All Of Your Web Design Needs?
Using the built-in WordPress content editor to build or edit complex web pages can be quite difficult.
(The WordPress WYSIWYG content editor is great for adding, formatting and editing conventional text and media, but adding more complex content elements can be quite challenging!)
For example, if you look at the screenshot below …
To create the above in a page would require adding something that looks like this into the default WordPress editor …
Normally, this is not really an issue … until you need to change the layout (for example, move some of the content from box 3 into box 2, or change the button inside a box from red to orange. Then, you’re stuck having to mess around with page code.
The WordPress visual editor is supposed to be an easy-to-use WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) content editor, but as you can see, when working with more complex page elements, often what you see on your editor screen may not be the same as what you get …
(“What You See” isn’t always “What You Get” … unless you can visualize code!)
In some situations, users could be better off working directly with the html source itself instead of the WordPress visual editor when trying to create something other than simple page elements …
Even though WordPress is extremely easy to use, this makes it difficult for non-technical website owners to have full control of their own content.
The fundamental challenge with having to use HTML and shortcodes to create content in the default WordPress 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 ”back end” match 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 need to translate mentally what the content will look like when working with complex layouts. Other solutions require taking multiple steps before you can start configuring your page layout, or endlessly switching browser tabs and performing tweaks and updates to see how your content is coming along, which then affects how fast you can create your content, as you wait for your new content to load.
Many WordPress web developers have come up with different solutions to try and make content editing easier. Some of these alternative solutions range from WP plugins you can install on your site that add new functionality to the editor, to themes that include built-in features like drag and drop editing …
(WordPress “drag and drop” editors aim to make content creation easier!)
Some solutions end up including so many page-building features, that users end up with complicated-looking front end editors …
Many of these solutions work fine, but they still fail to address the fundamental problem with using shortcodes and HTML as described earlier. Creating and adding 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 after a while.
Ask yourself this …
If there were no technical constraints, how would you like to build and edit your web pages?
Now that you’ve asked this question, visualize the following …
- You spot something in the content that needs fixing so you, just click on the content and start changing it. Your content is then instantly fixed.
- You just drag and drop items on 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 you’d like to add, so you simply start typing, and you build your page as you go, without delays, without switching of tab browsers, and without having to wait for new content to resave and reload.
Would this not be the perfect way to create content for your WordPress site? A true visual editor where all you have to do is click-to-edit and drag and drop elements around the posts and pages?
(Imagine being able to create complex web pages ”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 Landing Pages And Content Builder – WordPress Click-To-Edit Drag And Drop Content And Page Builder
Plugin Description
Thrive Content Builder is a ground-breaking WordPress plugin that lets you easily create and change content on your posts and pages with true click-to-edit and drag and drop simplicity.
Thrive Content Builder provides you with a new and incredibly easy way to set up conversion-focused pages on your WordPress website.
Once installed, Thrive Content Builder adds a visual content editor and a sidebar menu that lets you select, then drag and drop design elements on your web page …
(Thrive Content Builder adds a new visual content builder to your WordPress site)
The plugin 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 each 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 content.
Thrive Content Builder For WordPress
You can easily build complex web page design layouts using drag and drop elements …
Every aspect of your page can be built by dragging and dropping things around the page and then clicking to edit them …
Once you have positioned elements on the page, you can then further edit them without going through additional steps or opening more option screens …
The built-in Landing Pages editor also lets you create stunning landing pages that can also be easily edited …
Thrive Content Builder and Landing Pages is simple, easy to use, and ideal for all WordPress users at all levels. In fact, designing pages with Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder installed is so amazingly easy, that the developers guarantee that once you start using it, you’ll never look back!
For more details about this plugin go here: Thrive Content Builder
Thrive Content Builder and Thrive Landing Pages were created by the same team that developed Thrive Leads, another terrific plugin for WordPress we’ve previously written about on this site.
See this article to read more about the plugin:
Plugin Benefits
Below are 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 site:
Quick And Simple To Install And Set Up. Be Up And Running In Minutes.
Thrive Content Builder is very easy to install. Just upload it to your Plugin folder via your dashboard and activate.
Real-Time Content Building & Editing
Thrive Content Builder is really simple to use and lets you 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 – typefaces, visual elements, page layouts, etc. is exactly what you get in the front end of your site.
Additional benefits and advantages include the following:
- Eye-Catching Web Page Layouts With Drag-And-Drop Ease: Create any kind of layout you can imagine with drag and drop ease.
- Add Design Elements Without Using Shortcodes: With the Thrive Content Builder plugin you not only get a click-to-edit content editor, but the plugin also includes a very decent collection of functional and attractive web design elements that you can customizable and use on your web pages without using short codes, for e.g.: content toggle, guarantee boxes, testimonials, responsive Google map embeds, etc.
- Ideal For Non-Technical Users: Not having to deal with technical stuff for your new content 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.
(Create, edit and customize web page elements like testimonial boxes, tabbed content, table of contents builder, buttons, responsive Google map embeds, etc.)
Features
Thrive Content Builder provides a number of features to web site owners. Below we have listed just some of these:
- Built-In Content Editor Functionality Is Still Available: You have all of the regular text editing options that you are used to (e.g. underlines, centering text, font styles, etc.),
- Drag And Drop Multi-Style Elements Menu: The plugin adds a “drag and drop” table of multi-style elements to your post or page screen for editing content.
- Conversion-Boosting Elements: The plugin comes with a range of 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, various elements also offer multiple design options.
- Responsive Element Design: Add responsive columns, guarantee boxes, content dividers, e.g. which will display correctly on different-sized screens.
- Add Animation To Web Pages: Thrive Content Builder’s Event Manager feature lets you add animations, 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 all the way from initial signup to purchase, product download and more.
(Thrive Landing Pages plugin provides you with conversion-optimized web page templates)
Thrive Landing Pages Plugin – Benefits
- Hosted on your own WordPress site
- Save time designing and customizing web pages for your web site
- 100% conversion-optimized pages
- No tech skills needed
- Works with all themes
Thrive Content and Page Builder not only lets you create beautiful content in your WordPress posts and pages, but you can also choose from dozens of beautifully designed, landing page templates that are conversion-optimized and fully customizable …
(Thrive Landing Pages provides sets of templates that work together logically and use the same conversion-optimized design language)
There are currently over thirty templates available, with more templates scheduled for future release. In addition to the templates shown above, expect to see new templates in the future for email lead generation, sales pages, lesson pages, personal branding pages, webinar pages and more.
Fully Customizable And Flexible Landing Page Template
Typically, to be able to have fully customizable landing page templates, you would need to either pay a web 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 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 edit any element of the page …
With the landing page templates included with this plugin, you can:
- Edit text in all bullet points, buttons, headlines, etc.
- Delete text, images or any other component of the landing page
- Replace any background images and edit colour
- Change the color of buttons, links, text, etc.
- Select your own fonts
- Use your own images
- Change the size of the content area
- Change the order of page elements
- Translate everything on the page into a different language
- Add any type of custom content anywhere in the pages
- Use pre-designed, customized pages, or create your own web pages from scratch and save them as new web page templates.
(Change and edit any element of the page)
Transform Your Web Site Into A Powerful Marketing Machine With Thrive Lightbox Plugin
The Thrive plugin package also includes Thrive Lightbox, which lets you add fully configurable two-step opt-in forms and events to your pages …
(Add lead capture forms and animated objects to your WordPress web site with Thrive Lightbox)
Thrive Lighbox 2-Step Opt-in Forms
A two-step opt-in process can help improve 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 2-step opt-in process)
Event Manager
An “event” consists of a trigger and an action. You can make opt-in forms appear when when visitors click or hover their mouse 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 web pages, using a range of effects (e.g. zoom in, slide in from bottom to top, rotate, etc.
(Set up and manage events on your pages 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.
User Testimonials
Here are just a few of the testimonials customers have published about 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”
Plugin Tips
Thrive Content Builder works with any WordPress theme, 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 installed.
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 built using Thrive Content Builder.
Product Support
Thrive Content and Page 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 products are very well-supported, and users get unlimited 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 will just keep 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 enables you to run the plugin on one web site only. Includes full feature set, unlimited updates and one year of unlimited support. Cost = $59.00.
- Unlimited Sites Licensing – This license option lets you activate the plugin on unlimited websites that you own. It includes full feature set, unlimited updates and 1 year of unlimited support. Price = $87.00.
- Agency Edition – This lets you configure the plugin on all of your own websites and your client domains. It includes access to Thrive Content Builder, plus all Thrive Themes & Thrive Plugins. Price = $247.00 per year.
Note: Pricing for the Thrive Content Builder plugin can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. The price above was correct when this article was written. This may not be the actual pricing charged by the product developer when you visit the site and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after purchasing.
Check the plugin’s website for current pricing details:
Additional Information
The Thrive Content Builder 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 time-saving features like ready-made page elements and conversion-optimized template sets that help to make designing your pages faster, and on the other hand, you have 100% control over your design process and the ability to edit anything and everything on your 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 after publishing.
For ”how to” videos of the plugin, including help documentation and tutorials, FAQs, customer help desk, contact details and more, visit the Thrive Content Builder website.
Install This Plugin …
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, simply drag it and drop it into its new location. There are no unnecessary steps involved.
If you want to transform and improve your website 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 more details, visit the plugin website here:
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