WordPress has evolved from being just a simple blogging tool to a tool that is now used to design all types of pages – direct sales pages, portfolio pages, local business pages, etc.
Whatever you can think of, someone is bound to be already building it using WordPress!
This article will help you discover the fastest visual content editor for WordPress.
Drag And Drop Content Editors For WordPress
Does The Default WordPress Editor Meet All Of Your Content Creation And Editing Needs?
With all the many advancements that the WordPress platform has gone through in recent years, many WordPress developers and users feel that using the default WordPress WYSIWYG content editor to create or edit more complex web pages can sometimes be quite difficult.
(The default WordPress editor is great for adding, formatting and editing conventional text and media, but adding more complex content elements can be challenging!)
For example, if you look at the illustration below …
To create the above in a page would require inserting something that looks like this inside your default WordPress visual content editor …
Normally, this is not an issue … unless you have to change the layout (for example, move part of the content from box 1 into box 2, or change the background color in a box from dark green to gray. Then, you’re stuck having to mess around with code inside the content editor.
The WordPress visual editor is supposed to provide users with 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 more complex page elements, what you see in the visual editor may not be what you get …
(“What You See” isn’t always “What You Get” … unless you can visualize code!)
In some situations, some people argue that you could even be better off working directly with the html source itself instead of the WordPress WYSIWYG editor when trying to add complex layouts …
Even though WordPress is extremely easy to use, this makes it difficult for WordPress site owners without knowledge of HTML or CSS to have full control of their own content.
The fundamental challenge of having to use shortcodes and HTML to create content in WordPress can be summarized as follows:
1) Speed – How long does it take to create a web page using the editor?
2) Abstraction – How closely does the content in the ”back end” resemble the “front end” content when you are creating or editing a page?
As you can see from the above, what you see in the back end doesn’t look even remotely similar to what you see in the front end. This means that users need to abstract what the content will look like when working with complex layouts. Other solutions require several steps before you can begin configuring your page layout, or endlessly switching tabs and performing updates to see how your content is progressing, which can interrupt the creative process, as you wait for the updates to refresh.
A number of WordPress web developers have tried to come up with different solutions with the objective of making the visual editor more intuitive. Some of these solutions range from standalone plugins you can add to your site that add new functionality to the editor, to WordPress themes that offer 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 end up with complicated-looking front end editors …
Many of these editors work fine, but they don’t really seem to address the fundamental challenge of 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 your web pages to look ”perfect” quickly, this can become really frustrating after a while.
Ask yourself this …
If there were no technical constraints, how would you like to build and edit your content?
Now, imagine the following …
- You look at your content and if you spot something that needs to be fixed, simply click on the content and start changing it. Your content has been instantly edited.
- You simply drag and drop elements around the page, and see them exactly as they will display on the front end without having to mentally abstract from code.
- You have an idea for some content that you’d like to create, so you simply start typing, and you build your page on the fly, without delays, with no tab switching, and without waiting for pages to reload.
Would that not be the ideal way to build content for your website? A true WYSIWYG content builder 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 page layouts 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 – The Fastest Way To Build Stunning Content In WordPress Web Sites
Plugin Description
Thrive Content Builder is a truly intuitive WordPress click-to-edit drag-and-drop content building plugin.
The Thrive Content Builder plugin provides you with a new and exciting way to speed up the process of adding content to your WordPress website.
Once installed, Thrive Content Builder adds a visual content editor with a sidebar menu that lets you click, then drag and drop elements to your page …
(Thrive Content Builder adds a new visual content editor to your WordPress site)
The Thrive Content Builder And Landing Pages 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 take a look at each of the above plugins and how these features work together to help you transform and improve your web presence and create amazing marketing pages and engaging content.
Thrive Content Builder – Click-To-Edit Drag And Drop Content Creation Tool For WordPress
You can easily build complex web page design layouts using drag and drop elements …
Everything on your web page can be designed using “drag and drop” and “click-to-edit” …
Once you have positioned elements on the page, you can then continue to customize or edit these without going through additional steps or complicated option screens …
The built-in Thrive Landing Pages also lets you build highly attractive 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 with the plugin installed is so effortlessly easy, that the developers warn that once you start using it, you’ll never look back!
For more details, visit the plugin site here: Thrive Content Builder
The integrated Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder plugin was created by the same team that developed Thrive Leads, another amazing plugin we’ve previously reviewed on this site.
See this article to read more about the plugin:
Benefits
Here are just some of the benefits of using Thrive Content Builder to speed up your page design and content creation process:
Fast Installation
Thrive Content Builder installs like every other plugin. Just upload it to your Plugin folder via your dashboard and activate.
Edit Content In Real Time
Thrive Content Builder is really simple to use and lets you edit and build content in real-time.
A Truly Visual Content Builder
With Thrive Content Builder installed, what you see as you work within the content editor – fonts, elements, layouts, etc. is exactly what you get on the front end of your site.
Some additional plugin benefits include:
- Stunning Page Layouts With Drag-And-Drop Ease: Create any kind of layout you can imagine with drag and drop ease.
- Design Elements Included: With the Thrive Content Builder plugin you not only get an exciting and an easy-to-use click-to-edit WordPress content builder, but the plugin also includes an impressive collection of professional design elements that you can insert into your web pages without using shortcodes, like pricing tables, content reveal feature, call to action buttons, HTML code insert boxes, etc.
- Ideal For Non-Technical Users: Not having to deal with technical stuff, or having to wait for the content to reload frees up your attention and allows you to build the web pages your business needs, quickly and without having to edit code or click through multiple steps to get what you need done.
(Add, edit and customize web page elements like testimonial boxes, flat design elements, styled lists, call to action buttons, responsive videos, etc.)
Plugin Features
Thrive Content Builder provides a number of unique features to WP users. Here are just some:
- Regular WordPress Content Functionality Is Preserved: You have access to all of the regular WordPress editing options that you are used to (e.g. underlines, paragraph centering, font sizes, etc.),
- Drag And Drop Elements Menu: The plugin adds a “drag and drop” list of elements to 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 increase the effectiveness of your sales pages, including buttons and call-to-action elements, testimonials, and guarantees. In addition to being customizable, multiple design options are also available for various elements.
- Responsive Element Design: Add responsive columns, boxes, content section dividers, e.g. which will resize and display correctly on different device screens.
- Add Animation To Your Web Pages: The Event Manager feature lets you insert animations, trigger lightboxes and more!
(Add Animated Elements To Your Pages)
Thrive Landing Pages Plugin – Landing Page Template 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 lets you add conversion-optimized web pages to your site)
Thrive Landing Pages Plugin – Benefits
- Everything is hosted on your own WordPress site
- Save time building and customizing pages
- 100% conversion-optimized pages
- No coding skills required
- Works with any WordPress theme
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, web page templates that are conversion-optimized and fully customizable …
(Landing page template sets that work together logically and use the same conversion-optimized design language)
There are over 30 templates available, with more templates being worked on. In addition to the available templates, 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
Typically, in order to fully customize a landing page template, you would need to either hire a web developer to do the work, or learn how to code web pages 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 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 great-looking pre-built web pages that are fully optimized and ready to go, and complete design freedom that lets you change or edit any aspect of your page …
The landing page templates included with this plugin let you do the following:
- Modify text in all buttons, headlines, bullet points, etc.
- Delete text, images or any other element of your landing page
- Change all background images or background colours
- Edit the color of text, links, buttons, etc.
- Choose your own fonts
- Use your own images
- Change the size of the content area
- Rearrange the order of elements on your pages
- Translate everything on the page into different languages
- Add any kind of custom content inside your pages
- Use pre-designed, customized pages, or create your own web pages from scratch and save them as new web page templates.
(Change or edit any element of your page templates)
Thrive Lightbox Plugin – Transform Your Web Site Into A Powerful Marketing Machine
The Thrive package includes the Thrive Lightbox plugin, which lets you add fully editable 2-step opt-in forms and animated elements to your WordPress site …
(Add lead capture forms and events to your WordPress site with the Thrive Lightbox plugin)
Two-Step Opt-in Forms
A 2-step opt-in process can improve your conversion rates. Visitors click on a button or image, and then they are presented with your opt-in form …
(Capture more leads and subscribers with a 2-step opt-in process)
Thrive Lightbox Event Manager
An “event” consists of a trigger and an action. You can make an opt-in form appear when when visitors click or hover their mouse 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 attention-getting elements on your web pages, using various animation effects (e.g. zoom in from the page center, slide in from bottom to top, roll out, etc.
(Set up and manage events on your web pages with Thrive Lightbox)
Lightboxes and events are created automatically for your landing pages, but you also have complete control over your events, triggers and design.
User Feedback
Here are a couple of the testimonials users have written about the Thrive Content Builder plugin:
”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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”Your stuff is beautifully designed, fast and has great options for marketers that you just don’t see with other themes. Great, great job! Absolutely love Thrive! David Coleman”
Thrive Content Builder – 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 that was not created using the plugin.
You can add WordPress short codes inside the Content Builder or Landing Pages plugin and they will be displayed correctly when published.
Thrive Lightbox works with any content you build with Thrive Content Builder.
Product Support
Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder provides 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 really well-supported, and users get unlimited upgrades, and one year unlimited support with their purchase, backed by a risk-free, thirty day, complete refund guarantee.
This is an exciting product for WordPress users that will just keep getting better.
Product License 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 Licensing – This enables you to activate the plugin on one site only. Includes full feature set, unlimited updates and one year of unlimited support. Price = $59.00.
- Unlimited Sites Licensing – This allows you to set up the plugin on all of your personal domains. Includes full feature set, unlimited updates and one year of unlimited support. Cost = $87.00.
- Agency License – Use on all your web sites & on all your client sites. Includes access to Thrive Content Builder, plus all Thrive Themes & Thrive Plugins. Cost = $247.00 per year.
Note: The cost of purchasing Thrive Content Builder depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. Presently, the software is being retailed for the prices shown above. This may or may not be the actual pricing set by the product developer when you visit the site and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after your purchase.
Check the plugin’s website for current pricing details:
Additional Plugin Info
The Thrive Content and Landing Page Builder plugin developers repeatedly 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 web page elements and template sets that help to speed up content design, and on the other hand, you have complete control over your design process and the freedom to change everything on your web page, using the plugin’s visual content editor, that allows you to work unhindered by overly complicated options.
For ”how to” videos of the plugin, including installation instructions and tutorials, FAQs, customer helpdesk, contact details and more, visit the Thrive Content Builder website.
We Highly Recommend This …
If you want to edit something, you 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, just drag it and drop it into its new position. There are no extra steps involved.
If you want to transform and improve your website and create awesome marketing pages, streamlined landing pages and engaging content, this plugin delivers an incredible conversion-boosting package with a single, inexpensive plugin.
For full details, visit the plugin website here:
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