WordPress has evolved from being just a simple blogging application into a tool being used to design all types of pages – direct sales pages, product showcase pages, business pages, etc.
Whatever you can imagine, someone is probably already building it using WordPress!
In this article you will discover the simplest, most intuitive WYSIWYG editor for WordPress.
Drag & Drop Content Editors For WordPress
Is The Default WordPress Content Editor Meeting All Of Your Content Creation Needs?
Using the built-in WordPress WYSIWYG editor to build or edit complex page elements can be challenging.
(The built-in WordPress visual content editor is great for adding, formatting and editing “linear” text and images, 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, you would need to add short codes to your content for every single page element you want to create …
Generally, this is not really an issue … unless you want to edit an integral aspect of your layout (for example, move some of the content from box 3 into box 2, or replace the button inside box 3 from red to light blue. Then, you’re stuck having to mess around with page code.
The WordPress editor is supposed to provide users with an easy-to-use WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor, but as you can see, if you are creating with more complex layouts, what you see may not be 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 inside the html editor tab instead of the WordPress WYSIWYG editor when trying to build non-linear layouts …
Even though WordPress is extremely easy to use, this makes it hard for WordPress site owners with no knowledge of HTML or CSS to fully manage their own content.
The fundamental issue about using HTML and shortcodes to create content in the default WordPress editor can be summarized by asking 2 questions:
1) Speed – How long will it take to create a 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 image, what you see in the 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 complex layouts. Other solutions require a number of steps before you can start configuring your page layout, or endlessly switching browser tabs and performing updates to see how your content is progressing, which can interrupt the creative process, as you wait for the new content to load.
Many WordPress web developers have come up with different solutions with the goal of addressing this issue. Some of these solutions range from stand alone WordPress plugins you can add to your site that add new functionality to the editor, to WordPress 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 combining 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 don’t address the fundamental challenge of using HTML and shortcodes 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 content to look “just right” quickly, this can become quite frustrating.
Ask yourself this …
If there were no technical constraints, how would you like your web content editor to function?
Now that you’ve asked this question, visualize this …
- You spot something in the content that needs correction so you, just click on the content and start editing it. Your content has been instantly changed.
- You just drag and drop items around the page, and see them exactly as they will display on the front end without having to mentally visualize HTML or shortcodes.
- You have an idea for an item of content that you’d like to create, so you immediately start typing, and you build your page as you go, with no delays, without tab switching, and without waiting for edits to republish and reload.
Would that not be the perfect way to create content for your WordPress site? Just click-to-edit and drag and drop elements around your posts and pages?
(Imagine being able to create complex web page layouts ”on the fly” 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 – Create Beautiful Layouts With Drag & Drop Ease In WordPress
Plugin Description
Thrive Content Builder is a truly intuitive WordPress click-to-edit drag and drop content builder.
Thrive Content Builder is a new and incredibly easy way to speed up the process of adding amazing content to WordPress sites.
Once installed, the plugin adds a visual content editor and a sidebar menu that lets you drag and drop elements on your page …
(Thrive Content Builder adds a new visual content builder to your WordPress site)
Thrive Content And Landing Page Builder 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.
Let’s examine all of the above plugins and how all of this powerful functionality works together to help you easily transform and improve your site and create awesome sales pages and engaging content.
Thrive Content Builder
With the Thrive Content Builder plugin, you can easily add complex design layouts to your web pages using drag and drop elements …
Every element of your page can be built by ”clicking-to-edit” and “dragging and dropping” things around the page …
Once you have positioned elements on the page, you can then continue to edit them without having to go through multiple steps or opening new option windows …
The built-in functionality of the plugin also lets you create highly attractive landing pages and easily customize 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 and working on content with the Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder plugin installed is so effortlessly easy, that the developers guarantee that once you start using it, you’ll never look back!
Learn more here: Thrive Content Builder
The integrated Thrive Content and Landing Page Builder plugin was created by the same team that developed Thrive Leads, another terrific plugin for WordPress that we have recommended on this site.
Go here to read about this plugin:
Plugin Benefits
Below we have listed just some of the benefits of using Thrive Content Builder to speed up the process of creating content for your WordPress site:
Ready To Go To Work In Minutes
Thrive Content Builder is very easy to install. Just upload a zip file that contains the plugin to your Plugins folder via your WordPress admin user account and activate.
Edit And Build Content In Real Time
Thrive Content Builder is is not only very simple and intuitive to use, it also lets you add content to your web pages in real-time.
What You See Is Really What You Get
With Thrive Content Builder installed, what you see on the “back end” as you work within the editor – typefaces, visual elements, layouts, etc. is exactly what your visitors will see on the front end of your site.
Some additional benefits and advantages include:
- Stunning Page Layouts With Drag-And-Drop Ease: Create any type of layout you can imagine with intuitive drag and drop functionality.
- Add Customizable Elements With No Short Codes Required: With the Thrive Content Builder plugin you not only get an amazing drag and drop WordPress content editor, but the plugin also includes a jaw-dropping collection of design elements that you can customizable and add to your content layouts without using short codes, for e.g.: columns, content reveal feature, buttons, custom HTML and CSS, etc.
- Ideal For Non-Technical Users: Not having to constantly switch tabs as you tweak content and then wait for your content to load frees up your attention and allows you to build the content your business needs, quickly and without having to edit code or click through multiple layers of menus to get what you want done.
(Insert, edit and customize web page elements like testimonial boxes, content toggle, content reveal feature, buttons, responsive Google maps, etc.)
Thrive Content Builder Features
Thrive Content Builder provides web site owners many unique features. Below we have listed just a few:
- All WordPress Editor Functionality Is Preserved: You have all of the built-in content editing options that you are used to (e.g. underlines, left-aligned paragraphs, font sizes, etc.),
- Drag And Drop Elements Menu: The plugin adds a “drag and drop” table of multi-style elements to your post or page screen for creating or editing content.
- Conversion-Boosting Elements: The plugin provides you with various eye-catching and customizable elements that will help increase the effectiveness of your sales pages, including buttons and call-to-action elements, testimonial boxes, and guarantee forms. In addition to being customizable, various elements also offer multiple design options.
- Responsive Web Page Design: Add responsive elements like columns, guarantee boxes, dividers, e.g. which will display great on different screens.
- Add Animation Events To Your Pages: Thrive Content Builder’s Event Manager feature lets you create animated images, trigger lightboxes and more!
(Add Animated Elements To Your Web Pages)
Thrive Landing Pages – 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 initial signup to purchase, product download and more.
(Thrive Landing Pages gives you access to conversion-optimized page templates)
Thrive Landing Pages Plugin – Benefits
- Hosted on your own WordPress site
- Save time building and customizing pages
- 100% conversion-optimized web page templates
- No web coding skills needed
- Works with all WordPress themes
Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder not only lets you create beautiful content in your WordPress posts and pages, but you can also choose from dozens of professionally designed, conversion optimized landing 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 over thirty templates available, with more templates being worked on. In addition to the existing 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 Landing Page Template Sets
Normally, in order to fully customize landing page templates, you would need to either pay a web site designer 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 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 great-looking pre-designed web page templates that are fully optimized and ready to go, and complete design freedom that allows you to change and customize any element of your page templates …
With the landing page template sets included with this plugin, you can:
- Change text in any headline, bullet point, button, etc.
- Remove text, images or any other part of your landing page
- Change the background image and background colors
- Edit the color of links, buttons, text, etc.
- Select your own fonts
- Use your own images and graphics
- Modify the size of the content area
- Change the order of page elements
- Translate everything on the page into a different language
- Add custom content anywhere inside any of the pages
- Use pre-designed, customized pages, or create your own landing pages from scratch and save them as new page templates.
(Change or customize anything on the page template)
Transform Your Site Into A Marketing Machine With Thrive Lightbox
The Thrive plugin package also includes the Thrive Lightbox plugin, which lets you add fully configurable 2-step opt-in forms and events to your website …
(Add lead capture forms and animated elements to your pages with Thrive Lightbox)
2-Step Opt-in Forms
A two-step opt-in process helps to improve your conversion rates. When visitors click on a button or image they are presented with your opt-in form …
(Capture more leads and subscribers with a two-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 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 a range of animation effects (e.g. zoom in from the page center, slide in from right to left, roll out, etc.
(Set up and manage events on your WordPress web site 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 Feedback
Here are a few of the testimonials and comments plugin customers 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”
***
”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 Thrive Landing Pages. 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 shortcodes inside Thrive Content Builder or Thrive Landing Pages and they will display correctly when published.
Thrive Lightbox works with any content built using Thrive Content Builder.
Support
Thrive Content Builder and Landing Pages Plugin provides 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 really well-supported, and users get lifetime upgrades, plus 1 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 will just keep getting better.
Software 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 License – This enables you to configure the plugin on a single web site. Includes full feature set, unlimited updates and one year of unlimited support. Price = $59.00.
- Unlimited Sites License – This option lets you set up the plugin on unlimited websites that you personally own. Includes full feature set, unlimited updates and 1 year of unlimited support. Cost = $87.00.
- Agency License – This license option allows you to configure the plugin on all of your own websites and your client web sites. It includes access to Thrive Content Builder, plus all Thrive Themes & Thrive Plugins. Price = $247.00 per year.
Note: Price details for Thrive Content Builder can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. When we last checked, the product is selling for the pricing shown above. This may not be the actual price charged by the software developer when you visit the site and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after your purchase.
Check the plugin’s website for current pricing details:
Additional Info
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 time-saving features like ready-made page elements and beautiful, pre-designed template sets that help to speed up the content creation process, and on the other hand, you also have complete control over the design process and the freedom to change and customize everything on your web page, using the plugin’s visual content editor, which allows you to get things done without having to go through multiple steps.
For a demo video of the plugin, including installation instructions and tutorials, FAQs, support helpdesk, contact details and more, visit the plugin website.
Our Recommendation …
If you want to edit something, just 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, all you have to do is simply drag it and drop it into its new position. There are no extra steps involved.
If you want to transform and improve your site and create awesome sales pages, streamlined landing pages and engaging content, Thrive Content and Landing Page Builder delivers an incredible conversion-boosting package with a single, inexpensive plugin.
For complete details, check out the plugin here:
***