WordPress has evolved from being just a simple blogging tool into a tool being used to create all kinds of sites.
Whatever you can imagine, somewhere around the world someone is probably already building it with WordPress!
This article will help you learn how to create beautiful page layouts with drag & drop ease in WordPress.
Drag & Drop Content Editors For WordPress
The WordPress Visual Content Editor – Is There A Better Way To Create And Edit Content In WordPress?
With all the rapid advancements that WordPress has gone through in recent years, many WordPress users and developers feel that the WordPress editor is more suitable for performing simple content editing than creating or customizing page elements with more complex layouts.
(The WordPress visual content editor is great for adding, formatting and editing “linear” content, but adding complex page elements can be challenging!)
For example, if you look at the image below …
Adding the above to a page would require typing something that looks like this inside the WordPress visual content editor …
Generally, this is not an issue … unless you want to change your layout (for example, move some of the content from box 3 into box 2, or replace the background color in a box from bright 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 provide non-technical users with an easy-to-use WYSIWYG editor, but as you can see, when working with complex page elements, often what you see is not what you get …
(“What You See” isn’t always “What You Get” … unless you can visualize code!)
In some situations, some people argue that users could even be better off working directly with the source html itself instead of the visual editor when trying to add something other than simple page elements …
Even though WordPress is extremely easy to use, this makes it hard for non-technical users to have full control of their own content.
The fundamental issue of 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 web page using the editor?
2) Abstraction – How closely does the content in the editor match the content in the “front end” when you are creating or editing a page?
As you can see from the above screenshot, what you see in the editor does not look anything like what you see in the front end. This means that you need to abstract what the content will look like when working with complex layouts. Other solutions require taking multiple steps before you can begin configuring your page layout, or endlessly switching tabs and performing tweaks and updates to see how your content is coming along, which can impact how fast you can create your content, as you wait for your updated content to refresh.
A number of WordPress developers have come up with different solutions with the aim of making content editing easier. These solutions range from WordPress 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 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 still fail to address the fundamental problem with using HTML and shortcodes as described earlier. Creating, adding and editing 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 layouts quickly, this can start to become very frustrating.
Ask yourself this …
If there were no technical constraints, how would you like to build and edit your content?
Now, imagine this …
- You see something in your content that needs correction so you, simply click on the content and start typing. Your content is then instantly changed.
- You just drag and drop elements on the page, and the page looks exactly as it will appear on the front end without having to mentally translate any HTML or shortcodes.
- You have an idea for a specific piece of content that you’d like to add, so you simply start typing, and you build your page as you go, with no delays, without tab switching, and no waiting for edits to republish and reload.
Would that not be the ideal way to build content for your WordPress site? A true WYSIWYG content 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 page layouts quickly 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 Content Builder Plugin – Create Stunning Content With Drag & Drop Ease In WordPress
Plugin Description
Thrive Content Builder is a ground-breaking WordPress plugin that gives you total control over every aspect of your web page design using a true WYSIWYG click-to-edit and drag and drop content editor.
The Thrive Content Builder plugin provides WordPress users with a new and exciting way to set up conversion-focused pages on any WordPress web site.
Once installed, the plugin adds a visual content editor and a menu that lets you drag and drop design elements to your web page …
(Thrive Content Builder adds a new content editor 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 a look at all of the above and how these features work together to help you transform and improve your web site and create awesome sales pages and content.
Thrive Content Builder – WordPress Plugin
This plugin lets you easily add content to your web pages using drag and drop elements …
Everything on your web page can be built with “drag and drop” and “click-to-edit” ease …
Once elements have been positioned on a page, you can then edit or customize them without going through multiple steps or complicated settings windows …
The built-in Thrive Landing Pages also lets you create stunning landing pages that can just as easily be edited or customized …
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 the plugin installed is so amazingly easy, that the developers guarantee that you will never look at creating and adding content the same way once you start using it
For more details, visit the plugin site here: Thrive Content Builder
The integrated Thrive Content Builder plugin was created by the same team that developed Thrive Leads, another excellent plugin for WordPress we’ve recommended on this site.
For more information about using this plugin, go here:
Benefits
Here are just some of the many benefits and advantages of using Thrive Content Builder to speed up content creation:
Be Up And Running In Minutes
Thrive Content Builder is quite easy to install. Just upload the plugin file to your Plugins folder via your WordPress dashboard and activate.
Real-Time Content Content Editing
Thrive Content Builder is is not only really simple to use, it also lets you create, edit and add content to your web pages 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, elements, page layouts, etc. is exactly what your visitors will see on the front end of your site.
Additional plugin benefits include:
- Attractive Web Page Layouts With Drag-And-Drop Ease: Create any layout you can imagine with drag and drop ease.
- Add Design Elements With No Short Codes Required: With the Thrive Content Builder plugin you not only get an exciting and simple-to-use click-to-edit WordPress content builder, but the plugin also includes a jaw-dropping collection of design elements that you can use on your web pages without using shortcodes, like columns, feature grids, buttons, responsive Google map embeds, etc.
- Ideal For Non-Technical Users: Not having to deal with technical stuff, or wait for your updates to reload frees up your attention and allows you to be more focused while you work or click through multiple steps to get what you want done.
(Create, edit and customize web page elements like testimonial boxes, pricing tables, feature grids, call to action buttons, HTML code insert boxes, etc.)
Features
Thrive Content Builder provides WP users many features. Here are just some:
- All WordPress Content Functionality Is Still Available: You have access to all of the built-in text editing options that you are used to (e.g. underline, paragraph formatting, headings, etc.),
- Drag And Drop Multi-Style Elements Menu: The plugin makes a “drag and drop” table of multi-style elements available on your post or page screen for creating or editing content.
- Conversion-Boosting Elements: The plugin provides you with a range of attention-grabbing and customizable elements that will help you increase your sales conversions, including buttons and call-to-action elements, testimonial boxes, and guarantee forms. In addition to being customizable, multiple design options are also available for various elements.
- Responsive Element Design: Add responsive columns, boxes, section dividers, e.g. which will display great on different screens.
- Add Animation Events To Your Web 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 Plugin – Landing Page Templates
Thrive Landing Pages provides sets of templates that work together logically and use the same conversion-optimized design language to take your visitors from signup to purchase, product download and more.
(Thrive Landing Pages plugin gives you conversion-optimized page templates)
Thrive Landing Pages Plugin – Benefits
- Hosted on your own WordPress site
- Save time creating attractive-looking landing pages
- 100% conversion-optimized landing pages
- No coding skills required
- Works with all WordPress themes
Thrive Content Builder and Landing Pages not only can be used to 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 currently over thirty templates available, with more templates planned for future release. In addition to the available templates, the developers plan to release new templates for email lead generation, sales pages, lesson pages, personal branding pages, webinar pages and more.
Fully Customizable And Flexible Landing Page Template Sets
Typically, to be able to have a completely customizable 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 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 creating conversion-optimized web pages.”
Thrive Landing Pages gives you attractive pre-built web page templates that are fully optimized and ready to go, and complete design freedom that lets you change or customize any element of your page template …
With the landing page templates included with this plugin, you are able to:
- Modify text in all headlines, bullet points, buttons, etc.
- Remove text, images or any other part of the landing page
- Replace any background images and background colours
- Change the color of buttons, links, text, etc.
- Select your own fonts
- Use your own images
- Edit the size of the content area
- Rearrange the order of web page elements
- Translate pages into a different language
- Add any kind of custom content inside the pages
- Start with a blank page and create your own page templates, or even build your own library of custom landing pages.
(Change or edit any aspect of your page template)
Thrive Lightbox Plugin – Transform Your Site Into A Marketing Machine
The Thrive plugin package also includes Thrive Lightbox, which lets you add fully editable 2-step opt-in forms and events to your web site …
(Add opt-in forms and events to your WordPress website with Thrive Lightbox)
2-Step Opt-in Forms
A 2-step opt-in process can help increase your conversion rates. When visitors click on an image or button they are presented with your opt-in form …
(When visitors click on the button, they are presented with an opt-in form)
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 graphic elements, or when someone scrolls down to a certain point on the page. You can also use the Event Manager to animate images on your page, using a range of effects (e.g. fade out, slide in from left to right, roll out, etc.
(Set up and manage events on your web 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
Here are just a few of the testimonials and comments that users 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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”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 Plugin – Useful Tips
Thrive Content Builder works with any theme in WordPress, not just with Thrive Landing Pages. Note, however, that you cannot use Thrive Content Builder to edit content on existing pages or posts that were not created using the plugin.
You can add WordPress short codes inside Thrive Content Builder or Thrive Landing Pages and they will be displayed correctly when published.
Thrive Lightbox works with any content you build using Thrive Content Builder.
Thrive Content Builder Support
Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder comes with free updates, new landing templates and upcoming features. The plugin developers are constantly working on adding new features and improving existing ones.
Thrive software is very well-supported, and users get unlimited upgrades, and 1 year unlimited support with their purchase, backed by a risk-free, thirty day, complete refund guarantee.
This is an exciting product 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 Edition – This enables you to run the plugin on a single web site. Price includes full feature set, unlimited updates and one year of unlimited support. Cost = $59.00.
- Unlimited Sites License Edition – This license lets you set up the plugin on all of your personal web sites. Includes full feature set, unlimited updates and 1 year of unlimited support. Price = $87.00.
- Agency License Edition – This license option lets you activate the plugin on all of your own sites and all client domains. Pricing includes access to Thrive Content Builder, plus all Thrive Themes & Thrive Plugins. Price = $247.00 per year.
Note: Pricing details of the Thrive Content Builder plugin can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. The pricing shown above was current at the time this article was written. This may or may not be the actual price charged by the product seller when you visit the product website and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after purchasing.
Check the plugin’s website for the latest price here:
Additional Info
The Thrive Content 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 the time-saving benefits of ready-made web page elements and template sets that help make designing your pages faster, and on the other hand, you also have 100% control over your design process and the freedom to change anything and everything on your page, using the plugin’s click-to-edit and drag and drop features, which allows you to work unhindered by overly complicated options.
For a demo video of the plugin, including help documentation and tutorials, FAQs, support helpdesk, contact details and more, visit the Thrive website.
The Bottom Line …
If you want to edit something, just click on the element and start editing. If you want to change something, you can see the change happen instantly. If you want to move something, just drag it and drop it into its new position. There are no additional steps involved.
If you want to transform and improve your business online and create awesome sales pages and engaging content, Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder delivers an incredible conversion-boosting package with a single, inexpensive plugin.
To learn more, visit the plugin website here:
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