WordPress has evolved from being just a simple blogging tool to a tool being used to design all types of pages – marketing pages, portfolio pages, business pages, etc.
Whatever you can imagine, somewhere around the world someone is probably already building it using WordPress!
This article will help you learn how to create stunning content with drag & drop ease in WordPress web sites.
Drag And Drop Content Editors For WordPress
The WordPress Content Editor – Is There A Smarter Way For Designing Great-Looking Website Pages In WordPress?
Using the default WordPress content editor to build or edit sophisticated content elements can be challenging.
(The built-in 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 layout shown below …
To create the above boxes with text and buttons, you would need to insert short codes into the content for each of the elements you want to display to visitors …
Normally, this is not an issue … unless you decide to reconfigure the layout (for example, move part of the content from box 1 into box 2, or change the background color inside a box from dark green to some other colour. Then, you’re stuck having to mess around with code inside the editor.
The WordPress content editor is supposed to provide non-technical users with an easy-to-use WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor, but as you can see, when working with complex content elements, often what you see on your screen may not be the same as what you are going to get when your page is published …
(“What You See” isn’t always “What You Get” … unless you can visualize code!)
In some cases, some people argue that you could be better off working with the html source itself instead of the visual editor when trying to create something other than simple layouts …
Even though WordPress is very user-friendly, this makes it difficult for users without knowledge of HTML or CSS to have full control of their own content.
The fundamental challenge about using shortcodes and HTML to create content in WordPress can be summarized as follows:
1) Speed – How long will it take to create a web page using this 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 you have to translate mentally what your content will look like when working with sophisticated layouts. Other solutions require taking multiple steps before you can begin configuring your page layout, or endlessly going back and forth between tabs and performing tweaks and updates to see how your content is progressing, which interrupts the creative process, as you wait for your content to reload.
Many WordPress developers have come up with a range of solutions with the aim of addressing this issue. These range from WordPress plugins you can install on your site that add new functionality to the editor, to WP themes that provide built-in features like drag and drop editing …
(WordPress “drag and drop” editors aim to make content creation easier!)
Some solutions combine so many complex page design features, that users end up with complicated-looking front end editors …
Many of these alternative solutions work fine, but they don’t really address the fundamental issue of using HTML and shortcodes as described earlier. Creating and adding sophisticated content elements 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 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 content?
Now, visualize this …
- You look at your content and if you see something that needs to be changed, just click on the content and start writing. Your content has been instantly changed.
- You simply drag and drop items around the page, and the page looks exactly as it will appear on the front end without having to mentally translate shortcodes or HTML.
- You have an idea for a specific item of content that you’d like to create, so you simply begin typing, and you build your page as you go, with no delays, with no switching tabs, and no waiting for pages to reload.
Would this not be the ideal way to create content for your site? Just click-to-edit and drag and drop elements around the posts and pages?
(Imagine being able to create complex page layouts quickly 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 Landing Pages And Content Builder
Plugin Description
Thrive Content Builder is a ground-breaking plugin for WordPress that allows anyone to quickly add content to their posts and pages with true click-to-edit and drag and drop simplicity.
The Thrive Content Builder plugin is a new and incredibly easy way to set up conversion-focused pages on any WordPress site.
Once installed, the plugin adds a visual content editor with an item menu that lets you click, then drag and drop elements to your page …
(Thrive Content Builder adds a new visual content editor to WordPress)
The Thrive Landing Pages And Content Builder plugin is actually a combination of the Thrive Content Builder and Thrive Landing Pages plugins merged into one, plus an additional plugin feature called Thrive Lightbox.
We’ll examine each of the above plugins and how all of this exciting functionality works together to help you transform and improve your web site and create amazing sales pages, streamlined landing pages and engaging content.
Thrive Content Builder Plugin For WordPress
Thrive Content Builder lets you easily add complex design layouts to your web pages using drag and drop elements …
Everything on your page can be built, changed and repositioned with ”click-to-edit” and “drag and drop” ease …
Once you have positioned elements on the page, you can continue to further edit these without going through multiple steps or switching screens …
You can also build beautiful 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 Landing Pages and Content Builder installed is so effortlessly easy, that the developers guarantee that you’ll never look back once you start using it
For more details about the plugin go here: Thrive Content Builder
The integrated Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder plugin was created by the same team that developed Thrive Leads, another great plugin for WordPress that we have previously recommended on this site.
To read more about the plugin, see this article:
Plugin Benefits
Here are just a few of the benefits of using Thrive Content Builder to speed up the process of designing pages and creating content for your WordPress website:
Easy To Install
Thrive Content Builder installs just like every WP plugin. Just upload it to your Plugins folder via your WP dashboard and activate.
Edit And Create Content In Real Time
Thrive Content Builder is is not only very simple and intuitive to use, it also lets you build content in real-time.
What You See Is Truly What You Get
With Thrive Content Builder installed, what you see as you work within the editor – fonts, visual elements, layouts, etc. is exactly what you get on the front end of your site.
Additional benefits and advantages include:
- Create Attractive Page Layouts With Drag-And-Drop Ease: Create any kind of layout you can imagine with intuitive drag and drop functionality.
- Design Elements Included: With the Thrive Content Builder plugin you not only get an exciting and an easy-to-use drag and drop content editor, but the plugin also includes a collection of customizable web design elements that you can use on your pages without using short codes, such as columns, feature grids, call to action buttons, responsive maps, etc.
- Ideal For Non-Technical Users: Not having to wait for the updates to reload frees up your attention and allows you to build the pages your business needs, quickly and without having to edit code or click through multiple steps to get what you need done.
(Create, edit and customize web page elements like testimonial boxes, columns, content reveal feature, section dividers, countdown timers, etc.)
Features
Thrive Content Builder offers website owners many powerful features. Below we have listed just some of those features:
- Regular Content Editor Functionality Is Still Available: You have access to all of the built-in WordPress editing options that you are used to (e.g. underline, justified paragraphs, headings and font sizes, etc.),
- Drag And Drop Elements: The plugin adds a “drag and drop” list of multi-style elements to your post or page screen for editing content.
- Conversion-Boosting Elements: The plugin provides you with various attention-grabbing and customizable elements that will help increase your conversions, including buttons and call-to-action elements, testimonials, and guarantee forms. In addition to being customizable, various elements also offer multiple design options.
- Responsive Element Design: Add mobile-friendly columns, text boxes, section dividers, e.g. which will adjust to display correctly on different device screens.
- Add Animation Events To Pages: The plugin’s Event Manager feature lets you insert animated content elements, trigger lightboxes and more!
(Add Animated Elements To Your Pages)
Thrive Landing Pages Plugin – 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 gives you conversion-optimized web page templates)
Thrive Landing Pages – Benefits
- Hosted on your own WordPress site
- Save time and money designing and customizing pages for your website
- 100% conversion-optimized landing pages
- No web coding skills required
- Works with all themes
Thrive Landing Pages and 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, conversion optimized page templates 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 30+ templates available, with more templates being worked on. 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.
Customizable Landing Page Template
Normally, in order to fully customize landing page templates, you would need to either hire a web site 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 creating conversion-optimized web pages.”
Thrive Landing Pages gives you beautiful pre-designed web page templates that are fully optimized and ready to go, and complete design freedom that lets you change and edit anything on your page template …
With the landing page templates included with this plugin, you can:
- Change text in all buttons, headlines, bullet points, etc.
- Remove text, images or any other element of the landing page
- Replace the background image or background color
- Edit the color of text, buttons, links, 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 anywhere inside your pages
- Use pre-designed, customized pages, or create your own landing pages from scratch and save them as new page templates.
(Change or edit anything on your page)
Transform Your WordPress Site Into A Marketing Machine With Thrive Lightbox Plugin
The Thrive package also includes Thrive Lightbox, which lets you add fully configurable 2-step opt-in forms and events to your site …
(Add lead capture forms and animated objects to your pages with the Thrive Lightbox plugin)
2-Step Opt-in Forms
A 2-step opt-in process helps improve your conversion rates. Visitors click on a button or image, and then they are presented with your opt-in form …
(2-step opt-in forms can help increase your conversion rates.)
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 attention-getting elements on your pages, using various effects (e.g. zoom in, slide in from top to bottom, roll in, etc.
(Set up and manage events on your marketing pages with the Thrive Lightbox plugin)
Lightboxes and events are created automatically for your landing pages, but you also have complete control over all events, triggers and design.
Testimonials
Below are some of the testimonials that users have written 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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“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 that was not created with the plugin installed.
You can add shortcodes inside the Content Builder or Landing Pages plugin and they will be displayed correctly on your website.
Thrive Lightbox works with any content you build with Thrive Content Builder.
Support
Thrive Content Builder and Landing Pages Plugin provides free updates, new landing pages and upcoming features. The plugin developers are constantly working on adding new features and improving existing ones.
Thrive software is well-supported, and users get unlimited updates, plus 1 year unlimited support with their purchase, backed by a no-risk, thirty day, complete refund guarantee.
This is an exciting product for WordPress users that will just keep getting better.
Product 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 lets you activate the plugin on 1 web site only. Includes full feature set, unlimited updates and 1 year of unlimited support. Price = $59.00.
- Unlimited Sites Licensing – This option lets you install the plugin on all of your personal web sites. Cost includes full feature set, unlimited updates and one year of unlimited support. Cost = $87.00.
- Agency Licensing – This option lets you configure the plugin on all of your own domains and any client sites. Includes access to Thrive Content Builder, plus all Thrive Themes & Thrive Plugins. Price = $247.00 per year.
Note: The price of this product depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. The price above was correct when this review was written. This may not be the actual pricing set by the plugin developer when you visit the plugin website and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after you’ve purchased.
Check the plugin’s website for the current pricing details here:
Additional Information
The Thrive Landing Pages and 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 the time-saving benefits of ready-made page elements and beautiful, pre-designed templates that help speed up page design and content creation, and on the other hand, you also have 100% control over the design process and the freedom to change anything and everything on your web page, using the plugin’s click-to-edit and drag and drop features, which allows you to see how the content you are working on will appear after being published.
For ”how to” videos showing how the plugin works, including installation instructions and tutorials, FAQs, customer help desk, contact details and more, visit the Thrive Content Builder website.
Install The Plugin …
If you want to edit something, simply 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 unnecessary 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.
For full details, visit the plugin website here:
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