WordPress has evolved from being just a simple blogging tool into a tool being used to create all types of web sites.
Whatever you can imagine, somewhere around the world someone is bound to be already building it using WordPress!
This article will help you discover the most intuitive visual content builder for WordPress.
Drag And Drop Content Editors For WordPress
The WordPress Visual Editor – Is There A Simpler Option To Design Pages In WordPress?
With all the many developments that WordPress has gone through in recent years, many WordPress users and developers believe that the WordPress editor is not flexible enough for creating and changing complex layouts.
(The WordPress editor is great for adding, formatting and editing conventional text and media, but adding more complex page elements can be quite challenging!)
For example, let’s say you want to create something like the content shown below …
Adding the above to a page would require inserting something like this inside your default WordPress visual content editor …
Typically, this is not really an issue … unless you choose to change the layout (for example, move part of the content from box 3 into box 2, or change the background colour in a box from dark green to dark red. Then, you’re stuck having to mess around with code.
The WordPress visual content editor is supposed to provide non-technical users with an easy-to-use WYSIWYG content editor, but as you can see, when working with complex layouts, what you see in the WordPress content editor is not the same as what you get …
(“What You See” isn’t always “What You Get” … unless you can visualize code!)
In some instances, you would probably be better off working with the html source itself instead of the visual editor when trying to create complex page elements …
Even though WordPress is the most user-friendly CMS platform available, this makes it difficult for WordPress site owners with no coding skills to have full control of their own content.
The fundamental issue of using HTML and shortcodes to create content in the default WordPress WYSIWYG editor can be summarized by asking the following questions:
1) Speed – How long will it take to create a page using this 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 screenshot, what you see in the editor looks nothing like what you see in the front end. This means that you have to abstract what the content will look like when working with complex layouts. Other solutions require multiple steps before you can begin configuring your page layout, or endlessly switching browser tabs and performing tweaks and updates to see how your content is progressing, which then impacts how quickly you can create your content, as you wait for the page to load.
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 stand alone plugins you can add to your site that add new functionality to the editor, to WordPress themes that include built-in features like drag and drop editing …
(WordPress “drag and drop” editors aim to make creating complex layouts easier!)
Some solutions end up combining so many page design features, that users need to learn how to work with complicated-looking front end editors …
Many of these alternative editors work fine, but they don’t address the fundamental issue of using shortcodes and HTML as described earlier. Adding and editing non-linear content on a page becomes overly complicated, involves multiple steps and doesn’t match what users expect to see on the “front end.”
If you want your content to look ”perfect” quickly, this can become very frustrating.
Ask yourself this …
If there were no technical constraints, how would you like to build and edit your content?
Now that you’ve asked this question, imagine this …
- You see something in the content that needs fixing so you, just click on the content and start changing it. Your content is instantly edited.
- You can drag and drop elements around the page, and the page looks exactly as it will appear on the front end without having to mentally translate HTML or shortcodes.
- You have an idea for a specific piece of content you’d like to add, so you simply start typing, and your page gets built as you go, without delays, without tab switching, and no waiting for edits to reload.
Would this not be the ideal way to create content for your WordPress website? A true WYSIWYG 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 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 Simplest, Most Intuitive WYSIWYG Content Editor For WordPress Web Sites
Plugin Description
Thrive Content Builder is a truly intuitive WordPress click-to-edit drag and drop content creator.
The Thrive Content Builder plugin is a new and incredibly easy way to speed up the process of creating great content on your WordPress website.
Once installed, the plugin adds a visual content editor and a sidebar menu that lets you click, then drag and drop design elements to your web page …
(Thrive Content Builder adds a new visual content builder to your WordPress site)
The 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.
Let’s examine each of the above plugins and how all of this exciting functionality works seamlessly together to help you easily transform and improve your website and create awesome marketing pages and engaging content.
Thrive Content Builder – WordPress Plugin
With this plugin installed easily add complex design layouts to your web pages using drag and drop elements …
Every aspect of your web page can be built, edited and repositioned with ”click-to-edit” and “drag and drop” ease …
Once elements have been added to your page, you can then further edit or customize these without going through multiple steps or switching tabs …
You can also create stunning landing pages and easily customize these …
Thrive Content and Landing Page Builder is simple, easy to use, and ideal for all WordPress users at all levels. In fact, working on content with the Thrive Content and Page Builder plugin installed is so amazingly easy, that the developers guarantee that you’ll never look back once you start using it
For more details, visit the plugin site here: Thrive Content Builder
The integrated Thrive Content Builder and Landing Pages plugin was created by the same team that developed Thrive Leads, another amazing plugin that we have previously written about on this site.
Go here to read about the plugin:
Plugin Benefits
Below are just a few of the benefits and advantages of using Thrive Content Builder to speed up your page design and content creation process:
Installation Is Easy, Fast & Simple
Thrive Content Builder is very easy to install. Just upload the plugin file to your Plugins folder via your admin user account and activate.
Real-Time Content Content Creation
Thrive Content Builder is is not only simple to use, it also lets you edit and build content in real-time.
What You See Is Truly What You Get
With Thrive Content Builder installed, what you see on the “back end” as you work within the editor – typefaces, elements, page layouts, etc. is exactly what you get in the front end of your site.
Some additional benefits of using this plugin include the following:
- Beautiful 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 click-to-edit WordPress content editor, but the plugin also includes a collection of functional and eye-catching design elements that you can customizable and use on your web pages without using shortcodes, such as pricing tables, star ratings for review pages, testimonials, responsive videos, etc.
- Ideal For Non-Technical Users: Not having to deal with technical stuff for your updated content to refresh frees up your attention and allows you to build the web pages your business needs, quickly and without having to mess with code or click through multiple steps to get what you need done.
(Insert, edit and customize web page elements like testimonial boxes, tabbed content, text boxes, section dividers, credit card icons, etc.)
Plugin Features
Thrive Content Builder offers WordPress users a number of great features. Here are just a few of these:
- Built-In Content Editor Functionality Is Still Available: You have access to all of the built-in WordPress content editing options that you are used to (e.g. bold, paragraph formatting, heading styles, etc.),
- Drag And Drop Multi-Style Elements Menu: The plugin makes a “drag and drop” table of elements available on your post or page screen for creating and editing content.
- Conversion-Boosting Elements: The plugin provides you with a range of eye-catching and customizable elements that will help you increase the effectiveness of your sales pages, including buttons and call-to-action elements, testimonials, and guarantee forms. In addition to being customizable, various elements also offer multiple design options.
- Responsive Design: Add mobile-friendly columns, text boxes, dividers, e.g. which will display great on devices with differently sized screens.
- Add Animation Events To Web Pages: The plugin’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 Sets
Landing page template sets are web 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 provides you with conversion-optimized web page templates)
Thrive Landing Pages – Benefits
- Hosted on your own WordPress site
- Save time designing web pages
- 100% conversion-optimized page templates
- No technical skills required
- Works with any theme
Thrive Content and Page Builder not only can be used to create beautiful-looking content in your WordPress posts and pages, but you can also choose from dozens of beautifully designed, web 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 currently over thirty 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.
Completely Customizable And Flexible Landing Page Template Sets
Typically, to be able to fully customize a landing page template, 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 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 stunning pre-built web page templates that are fully optimized and ready to go, and complete design freedom that allows you to change or edit any element of your page …
The landing page template sets included with this plugin let you do the following:
- Modify text in all bullet points, headlines, buttons, etc.
- Delete text, images or any other part of the landing page
- Replace the background image or background color
- Edit the color of buttons, links, text, etc.
- Select your own fonts
- Use your own images
- Edit the size of the content area
- Change the order of web page elements
- Translate pages into a different language
- Add any type of custom content in any of the pages
- Use pre-designed, customized pages, or create your own web pages from scratch and save them as new page templates.
(Change or edit anything on your page templates)
Thrive Lightbox – Transform Your WordPress Website Into A Powerful Marketing Machine
The Thrive package includes Thrive Lightbox, which lets you add fully customizable two-step opt-in forms and animated objects to your WordPress site …
(Add lead capture forms and animated elements to your WordPress site with the Thrive Lightbox plugin)
Thrive Lighbox 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 …
(two-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 their mouse 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 page, using various effects (e.g. fade in, slide in from right to left, roll out, etc.
(Set up and manage events on your WordPress 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.
Testimonials From Plugin Customers
Here are some of the testimonials plugin customers have provided for 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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”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 Plugin – Tips
Thrive Content Builder works with any theme in WordPress, not just with the Thrive Landing Pages plugin. You cannot use Thrive Content Builder to edit content on pages or posts that were not created with the plugin installed.
You can add WordPress shortcodes 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 Content Builder and Landing Pages 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 unlimited upgrades, plus one year unlimited support with their purchase, backed by a risk-free, 30 day, 100% money-back 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 Edition – This option allows you to configure the plugin on a single web site. Includes full feature set, unlimited updates and one year of unlimited support. Cost = $59.00.
- Unlimited Sites License Edition – This license option enables you to activate the plugin on all of your personal web sites. Includes full feature set, unlimited updates and one year of unlimited support. Price = $87.00.
- Agency Edition – Use on your sites & on all your client websites. Includes access to Thrive Content Builder, plus all Thrive Themes & Thrive Plugins. Cost = $247.00 per year.
Please Note: The price of Thrive Content Builder can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. The above reflects the current pricing when this article was published. This may not be the actual price charged by the plugin seller when you visit the plugin website and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after your purchase.
Check the plugin’s website for current pricing details:
Additional Information
The developers of the Thrive Content Builder and Landing Pages plugin repeatedly 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 the time-saving benefits of ready-made page elements and templates that help make designing your content faster, and on the other hand, you have complete control over the design process and the freedom to edit and customize anything and everything on your page, using the plugin’s visual content editor, that lets you get things done without having to keep switching tabs or going through multiple steps.
For a demo video of the plugin, including installation instructions and tutorials, FAQs, support helpdesk, contact details and more, visit the Thrive plugins website.
Get The Plugin …
If you want to edit something, you 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, simply drag it and drop it into its new location. There are no additional steps involved.
If you want to transform and improve your web presence 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 more information, visit the plugin website here:
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