WordPress has evolved from being just a simple blogging application into a tool that can be used to design all types of web pages – direct sales pages, product showcase pages, local business pages, etc.
Whatever you can think of, somewhere around the world someone is probably already building it with WordPress!
In this article you will discover the simplest WYSIWYG content editor for WordPress.
Drag & Drop Content Editors For WordPress
Does The Default WordPress WYSIWYG Editor Still Meet All Of Your Content Creation Needs?
With all the rapid advancements that WordPress has undergone in recent years, many WordPress users and developers feel that the WordPress editor is not flexible enough for creating and changing sophisticated web page layouts.
(The WordPress WYSIWYG editor is great for adding, formatting and editing conventional content, but adding complex layouts can be challenging!)
For example, let’s say you want to create something like the layout shown below …
To create the above layout, users would have to insert short codes into the content for every page element they want to display …
Normally, this is not an issue … unless you choose to edit something in the layout (for example, move part of the content from box 3 into box 2, or replace the button inside a box from dark green to a different colour. Then, you’re stuck having to mess around with page code.
The WordPress editor is supposed to give users an easy-to-use WYSIWYG editor, but as you can see, if you are creating with more complex page elements, what you see on your screen may not be what you are going to get when your content goes live …
(“What You See” isn’t always “What You Get” … unless you can visualize code!)
In some cases, you may even be better off working inside the WordPress text editor tab instead of the visual editor when trying to create non-linear layouts …
Even though WordPress is the most user-friendly CMS platform available, this makes it hard for non-technical website owners to have full control of their own content.
The fundamental challenge with having to use HTML and shortcodes to create content in the default WordPress visual editor can be summarized as follows:
1) Speed – How long does it take to create a page using this editor?
2) Abstraction – How closely does the content in the ”back end” resemble the content in the “front end” when you are creating or editing a page?
As you can see from the above, what you see when working in the editor looks nothing like what you see in the front end. This means that users need to translate mentally what the content will look like when working with complex layouts. Other solutions require taking 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 then affects how fast you can create your content, as you wait for your page to load.
A number of WordPress developers have come up with various solutions aiming to make the visual editor easier. Some of these alternative solutions range from WordPress plugins you can install on your site that add new functionality to the editor, to themes that come with 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 content editors …
Many of these alternative solutions work fine, but they don’t really 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 to create or edit complex layouts quickly, this can become very frustrating after a while.
Ask yourself this …
If there were no technical constraints, how would you like your content editor to behave?
Now that you’ve asked this question, imagine the following …
- You look at your content and if you spot something that needs fixing, just click on the content and start changing it. Your content has been instantly changed.
- You simply drag and drop items around the page, and see them exactly as they will appear on the front end without having to mentally visualize code.
- You have an idea for a specific piece of content you’d like to add, so you just start typing, and your web page gets built as you go, with no delays, with no tab switching, and no waiting for new pages to reload.
Would this not be the ideal way to create content for your website? A true visual content builder where all you have to do is click-to-edit and drag and drop elements around the page?
(Imagine being able to create complex page layouts quickly for your web content with no 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 And Landing Page Builder – Click-To-Edit Drag And Drop Content Building Plugin For WordPress
Plugin Description
Thrive Content Builder is a truly intuitive click-to-edit drag and drop content editor for WordPress.
Thrive Content Builder is a new and incredibly easy way to set up conversion-focused pages on your WordPress website.
Once installed, Thrive Content Builder adds a visual content editor and an item menu that lets you select, then drag and drop design elements on your web page …
(Thrive Content Builder adds a new visual content editor to your WordPress site)
The Thrive Content Builder 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.
We’ll take an in-depth look at all of the above plugins and how these features work together to help you transform and improve your site and create amazing marketing pages and content.
Thrive Content Builder Plugin
With this plugin installed easily add complex design layouts to your web pages using drag and drop elements …
Every element on your page can be configured, edited and repositioned with “drag and drop” and “click-to-edit” ease …
Once you have positioned elements on the page, you can then further edit or customize these without going through additional steps or complicated settings windows …
The built-in functionality of the plugin also lets you work inside stunning landing pages that can also be easily customized …
Thrive Content Builder 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 amazingly simple, that the developers warn that you will never look back once you start using it
Go here to learn more: Thrive Content Builder
Thrive Content Builder and Thrive Landing Pages were created by the same team that developed Thrive Leads, another amazing plugin for WordPress we’ve reviewed on this site.
To read about this plugin, see this article:
Benefits Of Using Thrive Landing Pages And Content Builder Plugin
Here are just a few of the benefits and advantages of using Thrive Content Builder to speed up your page design and content creation process:
Be Up And Running In Minutes
Thrive Content Builder is quite easy to install. Simply upload a zip file containing the plugin to your Plugins folder via your WordPress dashboard and activate.
Edit And Add Content In Real Time
Thrive Content Builder is is not only really 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 as you work within the content editor – typefaces, visual elements, layouts, etc. is exactly what your visitors will see in the front end of your site.
Additional plugin benefits include:
- Design Attractive Layouts With Drag & Drop Ease: Create any kind of layout you can imagine with drag and drop ease.
- Customizable Elements Included: With Thrive Content Builder you not only get an exciting and easy-to-use click-to-edit WordPress content editor, but the plugin also includes a jaw-dropping collection of functional and eye-catching web design elements that you can use on your web pages without using short codes, such as pricing tables, styled lists, page section dividers, credit card icons, etc.
- Ideal For Non-Technical Users: Not having to deal with technical stuff for the page to refresh frees up your attention and allows you to build the web pages your business needs, quickly and without having to deal with code or click through multiple layers of menus to get what you need done.
(Thrive Content Builder lets you easily add, edit and customize web page elements like testimonial boxes, columns, star ratings for review pages, call to action buttons, Google Map embeds, etc.)
Plugin Features
Thrive Content Builder offers site owners many features. Here are just some of these:
- All WordPress Content Functionality Is Preserved: You have access to all of the regular content editing options that you are used to (e.g. bold, paragraph formatting, font sizes, etc.),
- Drag And Drop Elements Menu: The plugin makes a “drag and drop” list of multi-style elements available on your post or page screen for 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, testimonials, and guarantees. In addition to customization options, multiple design options are also available for various elements.
- Responsive Design: Add mobile-friendly elements like column layouts, guarantee boxes, section dividers, e.g. which will display correctly on all different kinds of devices.
- Add Animation Events To Web Pages: The Event Manager feature lets you add animated images, trigger lightboxes and more!
(Add Animated Elements To Your 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 initial signup to purchase, product download and more.
(Thrive Landing Pages plugin gives you access to conversion-optimized page templates)
Thrive Landing Pages Plugin – Benefits
- Hosted on your own WordPress site
- Save time designing and customizing pages
- 100% conversion-optimized page templates
- No coding skills needed
- Works with all themes
Thrive Content and Page Builder not only lets you create beautiful-looking content in your WordPress posts and pages, but you can also choose from dozens of beautifully designed, landing 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 being worked on. In addition to the templates shown above, expect to see new templates in the future for email lead generation, sales pages, course pages, personal branding pages, webinar pages and more.
Fully Customizable Landing Page Template Sets
Typically, in order to have fully customizable landing page templates, you would need to either pay a web designer to do the work, or learn web coding languages like HTML and CSS 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 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 building conversion-optimized web pages.”
Thrive Landing Pages gives you stunning pre-built pages that are fully optimized and ready to go, and complete design freedom that allows you to change and edit any element of the page templates …
The landing page templates included with this plugin let you do the following:
- Modify text in any bullet point, headline, button, etc.
- Remove text, images or any other part of your landing page
- Change all background images or color
- Change the color of links, text, buttons, etc.
- Select your own fonts
- Use your own images and graphics
- Change content area size
- Change the order of elements on the page
- Translate pages into different languages
- Add custom content in your pages
- Use pre-designed, customized pages, or create your own from scratch and save them as new web page templates.
(Change and edit any element of your page)
Thrive Lightbox – Transform Your Web Site Into A Marketing Machine
The Thrive plugin combo also includes the Thrive Lightbox plugin, which lets you add fully customizable two-step opt-in forms and animated elements to your website …
(Add lead capture forms and events to your WordPress website with the Thrive Lightbox plugin)
Two-Step Opt-in Forms
A two-step opt-in process can help improve your conversion rates. Visitors click on an image or button, and then 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 opt-in forms appear when your visitor clicks or hovers their mouse over a button or graphic elements, 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. fade out, slide in from left to right, roll out, etc.
(Set up and manage events on your WordPress website with the Thrive Lightbox plugin)
Lightboxes and events are created automatically for your landing pages, but you also have complete control over the events, triggers and design.
Testimonials
Here are a couple of the testimonials that plugin users have written about the Thrive Content Builder plugin:
”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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“I’m blown away by the plugin. Keep up the incredible, WordPress changing work, guys! Dean Phillips”
Thrive Content Builder – Tips
Thrive Content Builder works with any WordPress theme, 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 Thrive Content Builder or Thrive Landing Pages and they will be displayed correctly on the front end.
Thrive Lightbox works with any content you build with Thrive Content Builder.
Thrive Content Builder Plugin Support
Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder Plugin provides free updates, new landing templates 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 lifetime updates, plus one year unlimited support with their purchase, backed by a risk-free, thirty day, complete refund guarantee.
This is an exciting product that just keeps getting better.
Software Pricing
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 Edition – This option allows you to use the plugin on a single web site. Includes full feature set, unlimited updates and 1 year of unlimited support. Price = $59.00.
- Unlimited Sites License – This license enables you to configure the plugin on all of your personal websites. Includes full feature set, unlimited updates and 1 year of unlimited support. Cost = $87.00.
- Agency Licensing – This license option allows you to configure the plugin on all of your own domains and all client domains. Includes access to Thrive Content Builder, plus all Thrive Themes & Thrive Plugins. Cost = $247.00 per year.
Please Note: Pricing details of the product depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. Presently, the software is selling for the prices shown above. This may not be the actual price set by the software developer when you visit the product website and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after your purchase.
Check the plugin’s website for current pricing details:
Additional Plugin Information
The Thrive Content and Page 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 templates that help make designing your content faster, and on the other hand, you also have complete control over your design process and the freedom to edit and customize anything and everything on your web page, using the plugin’s visual content editor, that allows you to get things done without having to open multiple dialog boxes.
For a demo video of the plugin in action, including help documentation and tutorials, FAQs, customer help desk, contact details and more, visit the Thrive website.
Get The Plugin …
If you want to edit something, you just click on the element and start editing. If you want to change something, you will see the change happen immediately. If you want to move something, all you have to do is simply drag it and drop it into its new location. There are no additional 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 complete details, check out the plugin here:
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