WordPress has evolved from being just a simple blogging application into a tool being used to create all kinds of web sites.
Whatever you can imagine, somewhere around the world someone is probably already building it using WordPress!
This article will help you discover the fastest way to build stunning web page layouts in WordPress web sites.
Drag And Drop Content Editors For WordPress
Is The WordPress Editor Still Meeting All Of Your Content Creation And Editing Needs?
With all the many advancements that the WordPress platform has undergone in recent years, many WordPress developers believe that the WordPress content editor is now lagging behind all of the other improvements made to the software.
(The default WordPress editor is great for adding, formatting and editing conventional content, but adding complex content elements can be challenging!)
For example, let’s say you want to create something like the content shown below …
To create the above layout, users would normally need to add short codes to the content for each page element they would like to add to their page …
Generally, this is not an issue … unless you need to change the layout (for example, move part of the content from box 3 into box 2, or replace the button in box 3 from red to light green. Then, you’re stuck having to mess around with page code or html.
The WordPress visual content editor is supposed to give users an easy-to-use WYSIWYG content editor, but as you can see, if you are trying to add complex content elements, what you see may not be the same as what you are going to get when your page gets published …
(“What You See” isn’t always “What You Get” … unless you can visualize code!)
In some instances, users could be better off working directly inside the html (text) editor tab instead of the WordPress WYSIWYG editor when trying to create fancy layouts …
Even though WordPress is very user-friendly, this makes it hard for WordPress users with no coding skills to have full control of their own content.
The fundamental issue with having to use shortcodes and HTML to create content in WordPress can be summarized as follows:
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” match 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 in the content editor looks nothing 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 sophisticated layouts. Other solutions require multiple steps before you can start configuring your page layout, or endlessly switching tabs and performing tweaks and updates to see how your content is coming along, which can interrupt the creative process, as you wait for the page to load.
A number of WordPress developers have tried to come up with various solutions with the goal of making content editing easier. Some of these alternative solutions range from WP plugins you can add to your site that add new functionality to the editor, to WP 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 including so many page-building features, that users need to learn how to work with complicated-looking front end editors …
Many of these solutions work fine, but they don’t address the fundamental problem with using shortcodes and HTML 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 to create or edit complex page content quickly, this can start to become very frustrating.
Ask yourself this …
If there were no technical constraints, how would you like your web content editor to behave?
Now that you’ve asked this question, visualize this …
- You see something in the content that needs fixing so you, just click on the content and start writing. Your content has been instantly fixed.
- You can just drag and drop items around the page, and the page looks exactly as it will display on the front end without having to mentally visualize code.
- You have an idea for a specific piece of content you’d like to add, so you immediately begin typing, and you build your page as you go, with no delays, with no switching of tab browsers, and without waiting for edits to resave and reload.
Would this not be the perfect way to build content for your WordPress website? A true WYSIWYG content builder where all you have to do is 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 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 – The Ultimate Click-To-Edit Front End Editor For WordPress Sites
Plugin Description
Thrive Content Builder is a unique plugin for WordPress that gives you complete control over every aspect of your content layout using true click-to-edit and drag and drop simplicity.
Thrive Content Builder provides WordPress users with a new and incredibly easy way to speed up the process of creating content on.
Once installed, the plugin adds a visual content editor with a sidebar menu that lets you drag and drop design elements to your web page …
(Thrive Content Builder adds a new editor 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.
We’ll discuss each of the above plugins and how all of this functionality works seamlessly together to help you transform and improve your business online and create amazing sales pages, streamlined landing pages and engaging content.
Thrive Content Builder Plugin
Thrive Content Builder 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 built with ”click-to-edit” and “drag and drop” ease …
Once elements have been positioned on a page, you can then further edit or customize them without going through multiple steps or opening extra configuration screens …
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, working on content with Thrive Content Builder and Landing Pages installed is so amazingly simple, that the developers guarantee that once you start using it, you’ll never look back!
Learn more about this plugin here: Thrive Content Builder
Thrive Content Builder and Thrive Landing Pages were created by the same team that developed Thrive Leads, another fantastic plugin for WordPress that we have reviewed on this site.
See this post to learn more about using the plugin:
Benefits
Below we have listed just some of the many benefits and advantages of using Thrive Content Builder to speed up content creation:
Be Up And Running In No Time
Thrive Content Builder is really easy to install. Simply upload it to your Plugins folder via your WP dashboard and activate.
Real-Time Content Building & Editing
Thrive Content Builder is very simple to use and lets you edit and build content in real-time.
A Truly Visual Content Editor
With Thrive Content Builder installed, what you see as you work within the content editor – fonts, visual elements, layouts, etc. is exactly what you get on the front end of your site.
Additional benefits and advantages include the following:
- Beautiful Web Page Layouts With Drag And Drop Ease: Create any layout you can imagine with drag-and-drop ease.
- Add Design Elements Without Short Codes: With the Thrive Content Builder plugin you not only get a click-to-edit content builder, but the plugin also includes a very decent collection of professional design elements that you can add to your pages without using shortcodes, for e.g.: tabbed content, borderless content, call to action buttons, credit card icons, etc.
- Distraction-Free Content Creation: Not having to constantly switch tabs as you tweak your content and then wait for your updates to load 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.
(Insert, edit and customize page elements like testimonial boxes, columns, styled lists, call to action buttons, responsive Google map embeds, etc.)
Plugin Features
Thrive Content Builder offers WordPress users many unique features. Here are just some:
- Built-In 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, paragraph centering, heading styles, etc.),
- Drag And Drop Multi-Style Elements: The plugin makes a “drag and drop” table of multi-style elements available on your post or page screen for creating and editing content.
- Conversion-Boosting Elements: The plugin includes 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 customization options, multiple design options are also available for various elements.
- Responsive Web Page Design: Add responsive columns, guarantee boxes, section dividers, e.g. which will resize and display correctly on different device screens.
- Add Animation Events To Pages: The plugin’s Event Manager feature lets you create animations, trigger lightboxes and more!
(Add Animated Elements To Your Web Pages)
Thrive Landing Pages – Landing Page Sets
Landing page template sets are 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 provides you with conversion-optimized web page templates)
Thrive Landing Pages Plugin – Benefits
- Hosted on your own WordPress site
- Save time and money designing web pages
- 100% conversion-optimized landing pages
- No web coding skills needed
- Works with all themes
Thrive Content Builder and Landing Pages not only lets you create beautiful-looking content in your WordPress posts and pages, but you can also choose from dozens of professionally designed, landing 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 over thirty templates available, with more templates planned for release. In addition to the available templates, the developers plan to release new templates for email lead generation, sales pages, training pages, personal branding pages, webinar pages and more.
Customize Your Landing Page Template
Normally, to be able to fully customize landing page templates, 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 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 stunning pre-built page templates that are fully optimized and ready to go, and complete design freedom that lets you change and customize any aspect of your page templates …
With the landing page template sets included with this plugin, you can do the following:
- Modify text in any button, headline, bullet point, etc.
- Delete text, images or any other component of the landing page
- Change the background image and edit colour
- Change the color of text, buttons, links, etc.
- Select your own fonts
- Use your own images and graphics
- Change the size of the content area
- Change the order of elements on the pages
- Translate pages into a different language
- Add custom content anywhere in the pages
- Use pre-designed, customized pages, or create your own pages from scratch and save them as new web page templates.
(Change or edit any aspect of your page template)
Thrive Lightbox Plugin – Transform Your Site Into A Powerful Marketing Machine
The Thrive plugin combo also includes Thrive Lightbox, which lets you add fully configurable 2-step opt-in forms and animated elements to your website …
(Add opt-in forms and animated elements to your pages with the Thrive Lightbox plugin)
Thrive Lighbox 2-Step Opt-in Forms
A two-step opt-in process can increase your conversion rates. When visitors click on an image or button they are presented with your opt-in form …
(Opt-in forms can help increase your conversion rates.)
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 scrolls down to a certain point on the page. You can also use the Event Manager to animate images on your web pages, using various animation effects (e.g. zoom in from the page center, slide in from right to left, rotate, etc.
(Set up and manage events on your WordPress website with the Thrive Lightbox plugin)
A lightbox and event is created automatically for your landing pages, but you also have complete control over all events, triggers and design.
User Feedback
Below are a few of the testimonials and feedback plugin users 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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”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”
Thrive Content Builder – Tips
Thrive Content Builder works with any WordPress theme, not just with the Thrive Landing Pages plugin. Note, however, that you cannot use Thrive Content Builder to edit content on pages or posts that were not created with the plugin.
You can add shortcodes inside Thrive Content Builder or Thrive Landing Pages and they will display correctly when published.
Thrive Lightbox works with any content built with Thrive Content Builder.
Thrive Content Builder Plugin Support
Thrive Content and Landing Page Builder comes with free updates, new landing templates and upcoming features. The Thrive team is constantly working on adding new features and improving existing ones.
Thrive software is well-supported, and users get lifetime upgrades, plus one year unlimited support with their purchase, backed by a no-risk, 30 day, 100% refund guarantee.
This is an exciting product for WordPress users that just keeps getting better.
Product 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 edition lets you configure the plugin on one domain only. Includes full feature set, unlimited updates and one year of unlimited support. Cost = $59.00.
- Unlimited Sites Licensing – This edition allows you to run the plugin on all sites that you own. Includes full feature set, unlimited updates and one year of unlimited support. Price = $87.00.
- Agency License Edition – This allows you to activate the plugin on all of your own web sites and any client websites. Includes access to Thrive Content Builder, plus all Thrive Themes & Thrive Plugins. Cost = $247.00 per year.
Note: The price of the Thrive Content Builder software depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. Presently, the product retails for the pricing shown above. This may or may not be the actual pricing charged by the plugin developer when you visit the product website and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after your purchase.
Check the plugin’s website for the current pricing:
Additional Information
The developers of the Thrive Content Builder and Landing Pages plugin 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 time-saving features like ready-made web page elements and beautiful, pre-designed templates that help speed up content creation, and on the other hand, you also have 100% control over the design process and the ability to edit anything and everything on your web page, using the plugin’s visual content editor, that allows you to see exactly how the content you are working on will display on the “front end” when published.
For a demo video of the plugin in action, including help documentation and tutorials, FAQs, customer help desk, contact details and more, visit the Thrive Content Builder website.
The Bottom Line …
If you want to edit something, simply 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 unnecessary steps involved.
If you want to transform and improve your web presence and create amazing sales pages and engaging content, this plugin delivers an incredible conversion-boosting package with a single, inexpensive plugin.
For complete details, visit the plugin website here:
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