WordPress has evolved from being just a simple blogging tool into a tool that is now being used to design all types of pages – landing pages, product showcase pages, business pages, etc.
Whatever you can imagine, somewhere around the world someone is most likely already building it with WordPress!
This article will help you discover how to create beautiful web page layouts with drag & drop ease in WordPress sites.
Drag & Drop Content Editors For WordPress
The WordPress Visual Editor – Is There A Simpler Tool To Create Web Pages In WordPress?
With so many improvements that WordPress has undergone in recent years, many WordPress developers feel that using the default WordPress editor to create or edit more complex web pages can sometimes be difficult.
(The default WordPress WYSIWYG content editor is great for adding, formatting and editing conventional text and images, but adding more complex layouts can be challenging!)
For example, if you look at the image below …
Creating the above in a page would require adding something like this in your WordPress editor …
Normally, this is not really an issue … unless you decide to change the layout (for example, move some of the content from box 1 into box 2, or replace the background colour in a box from red to dark red. Then, you’re stuck having to mess around with page code or html.
The WordPress editor is supposed to be an easy-to-use WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) content editor, but as you can see, if you are trying to create complex page elements, often what you see in the visual editor may not be the same as what you are getting when the page gets published …
(“What You See” isn’t always “What You Get” … unless you can visualize code!)
In some cases, some people argue that users could even be better off working inside the WordPress html (text) editor tab instead of the WYSIWYG editor when trying to add non-linear page elements …
Even though WordPress is extremely easy to use, this makes it difficult for non-technical website owners to fully manage their own content.
The fundamental issue of having to use shortcodes and HTML to create content in the default WordPress editor can be summarized by asking the following questions:
1) Speed – How long does it take to create a page using the editor?
2) Abstraction – How closely does the content in the editor resemble 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 content editor does not look anything like what you see in the front end. This means that users have to abstract what the 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 updates to see how your content is progressing, which then affects how quickly you can create your content, as you wait for for your updated content to refresh.
A number of WordPress web developers have come up with a range of solutions aiming to address this issue. Some of these alternative solutions range from plugins you can install on your site that add new functionality to the editor, to themes that offer built-in features like drag and drop editing …
(WordPress “drag and drop” editors aim to make creating complex layouts easier!)
Some solutions end up requiring so many page design features, that users need to learn how to work with complicated-looking front end editors …
Many of these solutions work, but they fail to address the fundamental issue of using shortcodes and HTML as described earlier. Adding and editing sophisticated content elements 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 page content to look ”perfect” quickly, this can become quite frustrating.
Ask yourself this …
If there were no technical constraints, how would you like your content builder to behave?
Now that you’ve asked this question, visualize the following scenario …
- You see something in your content that needs to be changed so you, simply click on the content and start changing it. Your content has been instantly fixed.
- You just drag and drop items around the page, and see them exactly as they will appear on the front end without having to mentally translate shortcodes or HTML.
- You have an idea for some content you’d like to create, so you immediately start typing, and you build your page on the fly, without delays, without switching tabs, and without having to wait for new web content to resave and reload.
Would that not be the ideal way to build content for your site? A true visual content builder where all you have to do is click-to-edit and drag and drop elements around the pages and posts?
(Imagine being able to create complex web 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 And Landing Pages
Plugin Description
Thrive Content Builder is a revolutionary plugin for WordPress that lets anyone easily add amazing content to WordPress posts and pages using a powerful click-to-edit and drag and drop content editor.
The Thrive Content Builder plugin is a new and incredibly easy way to speed up the process of creating content on your WordPress website.
Once installed, Thrive Content Builder adds a visual content editor with a menu that lets you click, then drag and drop elements to your web page …
(Thrive Content Builder adds a new visual content builder to WordPress)
Thrive Landing Pages And Content 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.
We will take a look at each of the above plugins and how these powerful features work seamlessly together to help you easily transform and improve your website and create awesome sales pages and engaging content.
Thrive Content Builder
Thrive Content Builder lets you easily add complex design layouts to your web pages using drag and drop elements …
Every element on your page can be configured with “drag and drop” and “click-to-edit” ease …
Once elements have been added to a page, you can then easily edit these without having to go through multiple steps or switching tabs …
The built-in Landing Pages editor also lets you build beautiful 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 simple, that the developers warn that you’ll never look back once you start using it
Go here to learn more about the plugin: 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 for WordPress we’ve recommended on this site.
To read about this plugin, see this post:
Benefits
Here we have listed just a few of the benefits of using Thrive Content Builder to speed up content creation:
Fast And Easy To Install And Configure. Be Up And Running In Minutes.
Thrive Content Builder is really easy to install. Simply upload it to your Plugin folder via your dashboard and activate.
Edit Content In Real Time
Thrive Content Builder is simple to use and lets you create content in real-time.
A Truly Visual Content Editor
With Thrive Content Builder installed, what you see as you work within the content editor – fonts, elements, layouts, etc. is exactly what your visitors will see on the front end of your site.
Some additional plugin benefits include:
- Attractive Web Page Layouts With Drag & Drop Ease: Create any type of layout you can imagine with intuitive drag-and-drop functionality.
- Design Elements Included: With Thrive Content Builder you not only get an exciting and an easy-to-use click-to-edit content builder, but the plugin also includes a very decent collection of functional and attractive web design elements that you can customizable and insert into your web pages without using shortcodes, such as pricing tables, content reveal feature, buttons, responsive maps, etc.
- More Enjoyable Content Creation: Not having to constantly switch tabs as you edit content and then wait for your page to load frees up your attention and allows you to be more focused while you build or edit your content or click through multiple steps to get what you need done.
(Thrive Content Builder lets you easily create, edit and customize web page elements like testimonials, tabbed content, gradient boxes, buttons, Google Map embeds, etc.)
Features
Thrive Content Builder provides website owners a number of powerful features. Here are just some:
- Regular Editor Functionality Is Still Available: You have access to all of the regular WordPress content editing options that you are used to (e.g. underlines, paragraph centering, headings and font sizes, etc.),
- Drag And Drop Elements: The plugin adds a “drag and drop” table of elements to your post or page screen for editing content.
- Conversion-Boosting Elements: The plugin comes with a range of attention-grabbing 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 customization options, multiple design options are also available for various elements.
- Responsive Web Element Design: Add responsive elements like column layouts, text boxes, dividers, e.g. which will adjust to display great on different device screens.
- Add Animation To Your Web Pages: The plugin’s Event Manager feature lets you create animation in 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 – Benefits
- Everything is hosted on your own WordPress site
- Save time and money building pages
- 100% conversion-optimized landing page templates
- No tech skills needed
- Works with all WordPress themes
Thrive Content Builder and Landing Pages not only lets you 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 …
(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 that are currently available, expect to see new templates in the future for email lead generation, sales pages, training pages, personal branding pages, webinar pages and more.
Customizable Landing Page Template
Typically, to be able to have completely customizable landing page templates, you would need to either pay a web site 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 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-designed web page templates that are fully optimized and ready to go, and complete design freedom that allows you to change and customize any aspect of your page templates …
The landing page template sets included with this plugin let you do the following:
- Change text in all headlines, buttons, bullet points, etc.
- Remove text, images or any other element of the landing page
- Change the background image and background colour
- Change the color of buttons, links, text, etc.
- Use your own fonts
- Use your own images
- Modify content area size
- Rearrange the order of page elements
- Translate pages into different languages
- Add custom content anywhere inside the pages
- Start with a blank page and create your own templates, or even build a custom landing page templates library.
(Change and customize any aspect of the page template)
Thrive Lightbox – Transform Your Website Into A Marketing Machine
The Thrive plugin combo also includes the Thrive Lightbox plugin, which lets you add fully customizable 2-step opt-in forms and animated elements to your WordPress site …
(Add lead capture forms and animation to your WordPress web site with the Thrive Lightbox plugin)
Two-Step Opt-in Forms
A two-step opt-in process can improve your conversion rates. When visitors click on a button or image they are presented with your opt-in form …
(2-step opt-in forms can improve your conversion rates.)
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 their mouse 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 various effects (e.g. zoom out, slide in from bottom to top, roll in, etc.
(Set up and manage events on your WordPress website with the Thrive Lightbox plugin)
A lightbox and event is created automatically for your landing pages, but you also have complete control over events, triggers and design.
Testimonials
Here are a few of the testimonials customers have submitted regarding the Thrive Content Builder plugin:
“I have had nothing but the best experience imaginable with this tool since I purchased it. This is by far one of, if not the best plug-in I have purchase to date and it has definitely made working with WordPress a whole new experience. Jim Bond”
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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. Note, however, that you cannot use Thrive Content Builder to edit content on pages or posts that were not created with the plugin.
You can add short codes inside Thrive Content Builder or Thrive Landing Pages and they will be displayed correctly when published.
Thrive Lightbox works with any content built with 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 well-supported, and users get lifetime software upgrades, and one year unlimited support with their purchase, backed by a risk-free, 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 license lets you activate the plugin on a single domain. Includes full feature set, unlimited updates and one year of unlimited support. Price = $59.00.
- Unlimited Sites License – This license allows you to configure the plugin on all web sites that you personally own. Includes full feature set, unlimited updates and one year of unlimited support. Price = $87.00.
- Agency License – This option lets you set up the plugin on all of your own web sites and any client websites. Pricing includes access to Thrive Content Builder, plus all Thrive Themes & Thrive Plugins. Cost = $247.00 per year.
Please Note: The price of this product can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. The price above was correct at the time this content was published. This may not be the actual pricing charged by the product seller when you visit the site and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after purchasing.
Check the plugin’s website for the current pricing information:
Additional Plugin Info
The developers of the Thrive Content Builder and Landing Pages plugin 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 beautiful, pre-designed templates that help to make designing your pages faster, and on the other hand, you also have 100% control over the design process and the freedom to edit anything and everything on your page, using the plugin’s visual content editor, which allows you to see how the content you are working on will look after publishing.
For ”how-to” videos showing how the plugin works, including installation instructions and tutorials, FAQs, customer helpdesk, contact details and more, visit the Thrive Content Builder website.
The Bottom Line …
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, you drag it and drop it into its new location. There are no unnecessary steps involved.
If you want to transform and improve your site and create awesome marketing pages and content, Thrive Content Builder delivers an incredible conversion-boosting package with a single, inexpensive plugin.
For more information, visit the plugin website:
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