WordPress has evolved from being just a simple blogging tool to a tool being used to design all types of web pages – direct sales pages, portfolio pages, local business pages, etc.
Whatever you can think of, somewhere around the world someone is bound to be already building it using WordPress!
This article will help you discover the simplest WYSIWYG editor for WordPress.
Drag & Drop Content Editors For WordPress
Is The WordPress WYSIWYG Editor Meeting All Of Your Content Creation And Editing Needs?
Using the default WordPress content editor to build or edit sophisticated website pages can be difficult.
(The WordPress WYSIWYG editor is great for adding, formatting and editing conventional content, but adding complex page elements can be challenging!)
For example, if you look at the image below …
Creating the above boxes with text and buttons in a page would require inserting something that looks like this into the default WordPress visual content editor …
Generally, this is not an issue … until you decide to change your layout (for example, move part of the content from box 3 into box 2, or change the background color inside a box from red to dark red. Then, you’re stuck having to mess around with code inside the content editor.
The WordPress content editor is supposed to be an easy-to-use WYSIWYG editor, but as you can see, if you are trying to edit more complex layouts, 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 you would probably be better off working directly with the source html itself instead of the WordPress visual editor when trying to build complex layouts …
Even though WordPress is very user-friendly, this makes it difficult for non-technical website owners to have full control of their own content.
The fundamental problem of having to use HTML and shortcodes to create content with WordPress can be summarized as follows:
1) Speed – How long does it take to create a web page using the 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 image, what you see when working in the content editor doesn’t look anything like what you see in the front end. This means that you have to translate mentally what the content will look like when working with sophisticated layouts. Other solutions require multiple steps before you can begin configuring your page layout, or endlessly going back and forth between browser 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 the updated content to refresh.
A number of WordPress developers have tried to come up with various solutions with the objective of addressing this issue. Some of these alternative solutions range from WordPress plugins you can add to 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 page layouts easier!)
Some solutions end up requiring so many complex page design features, that users need to learn how to work with complicated-looking front end editors …
Many of these alternative solutions work, but they still don’t address the fundamental problem with using HTML and shortcodes as described earlier. 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 content to look “just right” quickly, this can start to become quite frustrating after a while.
Ask yourself this …
If there were no technical constraints, how would you like your page builder to function?
Now, imagine the following scenario …
- You spot something in the content that needs fixing so you, simply click on the content and start editing it. Your content is then instantly changed.
- You can drag and drop items around the page, and see them exactly as they will appear on the front end without having to mentally visualize shortcodes or HTML.
- You have an idea for an item of content you would like to create, so you simply begin typing, and your web page gets built as you go, without delays, no switching tabs, and no waiting for new content to reload.
Would this not be the ideal way to create content for your site? A true WYSIWYG editor where all you have to do is click-to-edit and drag and drop elements around the pages?
(Imagine being able to create complex page layouts ”on the fly” 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 Builder Plugin – The Simplest, Most Intuitive Visual Editor For WordPress Web Sites
Plugin Description
Thrive Content Builder is a revolutionary 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.
Thrive Content Builder provides you with a new and exciting way to speed up the process of adding amazing content to your WordPress website.
Once installed, Thrive Content Builder adds a visual content editor with an item menu that lets you click, then drag and drop design elements on your web page …
(Thrive Content Builder adds a new content editing option to WordPress)
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.
We will discuss all of the above and how all of this exciting functionality works together to help you easily transform and improve your web presence and create awesome marketing pages, streamlined landing pages and engaging content.
Thrive Content Builder Plugin
With this plugin installed easily add content to your web pages using drag and drop elements …
Every element of your page can be built with ”click-to-edit” and “drag and drop” ease …
Once elements have been positioned on a page, you can continue to further customize or edit them without going through multiple steps or switching tabs …
The built-in functionality of the plugin also lets you create beautiful landing pages and easily edit 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 Thrive Content Builder installed is so amazingly simple, that the developers guarantee that you’ll never look back once you start using it
More info: Thrive Content Builder
The integrated Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder plugin was created by the same team that developed Thrive Leads, another amazing plugin for WordPress that we have recommended on this site.
See this page to read more about the plugin:
Plugin Benefits
Here we have listed just a few of the benefits and advantages of using Thrive Content Builder to speed up content creation:
Fast And Simple To Install And Use. Ready To Start Using In Minutes.
Thrive Content Builder installs just like every WordPress plugin. Just upload it to your Plugins folder via your admin account and activate.
Edit Content In Real Time
Thrive Content Builder is simple to use and lets you build and add content right inside your pages in real-time.
What You See Is Really What You Get
With Thrive Content Builder installed, what you see as you work within the editor – fonts, visual elements, layouts, etc. is exactly what you get on the front end of your site.
Some additional benefits and advantages include:
- Create Attractive Layouts With Drag-And-Drop Ease: Create any layout you can imagine with intuitive drag-and-drop functionality.
- Customizable Elements Included: With the Thrive Content Builder plugin you not only get a visually exciting drag and drop content builder, but the plugin also includes a very decent collection of design elements that you can use on your layouts without using shortcodes, for e.g.: tabbed content, table of contents builder, call to action buttons, responsive videos, etc.
- More Enjoyable Content Creation: Not having to deal with technical stuff for your content to load frees up your attention and allows you to be more focused while you work or click through multiple layers of menus to get what you need done.
(Add, edit and customize page elements like testimonials, pricing tables, feature grids, section dividers, responsive video embeds, etc.)
Thrive Content Builder Features
Thrive Content Builder offers site owners many features. Below we have listed just some of these features:
- Regular Content Editor Functionality Is Preserved: You have access to all of the built-in content editing options that you are used to (e.g. bold formatting, paragraph centering, heading styles, etc.),
- Drag And Drop Elements: 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 comes with a range of 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 being customizable, multiple design options are also available for various elements.
- Responsive Element Design: Add mobile-friendly columns, text boxes, dividers, e.g. which will resize and display correctly on different device screens.
- Add Animation Events To Pages: The plugin’s Event Manager feature lets you insert animated buttons, trigger lightboxes and more!
(Add Animated Elements To Your Pages)
Thrive Landing Pages Plugin – Landing Page Template Sets
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 access to conversion-optimized page templates)
Thrive Landing Pages – Benefits
- Everything is hosted on your own WordPress site
- Save time building web pages
- 100% conversion-optimized pages
- No tech skills required
- Works with all WordPress themes
Thrive Content Builder and Landing Pages 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, conversion optimized 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 30+ templates available, with more templates planned for release. In addition to the templates that are currently available, the developers plan to release new page templates for email lead generation, sales pages, training pages, personal branding pages, webinar pages and more.
Completely Customizable And Flexible Landing Page Template Sets
Typically, in order to have a fully customizable landing page template, you would need to either pay a web site developer 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 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 customize any element of your page templates …
The landing page template sets included with this plugin let you do the following:
- Modify text in all headlines, bullet points, buttons, etc.
- Remove text, images or any other component of your landing page
- Change the background image or colour
- Change the color of links, text, buttons, etc.
- Use your own fonts
- Use your own images
- Edit the size of the content area
- Rearrange the order of page elements
- Translate everything on the page into different languages
- Add any type of custom content inside any of the pages
- Use pre-designed, customized pages, or create your own web pages from scratch and save them as new web page templates.
(Change and customize any element of the page templates)
Thrive Lightbox – Transform Your WordPress Site Into A Marketing Machine
The Thrive package also includes the Thrive Lightbox plugin, which lets you add fully configurable two-step opt-in forms and events to your WordPress site …
(Add lead capture forms and events to your web pages with the Thrive Lightbox plugin)
Thrive Lighbox 2-Step Opt-in Forms
A two-step opt-in process can increase 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 2-step opt-in process)
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 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 effects (e.g. fade in, slide in from bottom to top, roll in, etc.
(Set up and manage events on your WordPress website with Thrive Lightbox)
Lightboxes and events are created automatically for your landing pages, but you also have complete control over all events, triggers and design.
Feedback From Users
Here are a couple of the testimonials customers have submitted regarding Thrive Content Builder:
“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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”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 – Tips
Thrive Content Builder works with any WordPress theme, not just with the Thrive Landing Pages plugin. 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 shortcodes inside Thrive Content Builder or Thrive Landing Pages and they will display correctly on the front end.
Thrive Lightbox works with any content built using Thrive Content Builder.
Thrive Content Builder Support
Thrive Content Builder and Landing Pages comes with free updates, new landing pages and upcoming features. The plugin developers are constantly working on adding new features and improving existing ones.
Thrive products are very well-supported, and users get unlimited updates, plus one year unlimited support with their purchase, backed by a no-risk, thirty day, 100% refund guarantee.
This is an exciting product for WordPress users that just keeps getting better.
Product Licensing Price
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 license enables you to configure the plugin on a single web site. It includes full feature set, unlimited updates and 1 year of unlimited support. Price = $59.00.
- Unlimited Sites Licensing – This license option allows you to install the plugin on all of your personal sites. Includes full feature set, unlimited updates and 1 year of unlimited support. Cost = $87.00.
- Agency License – This license option allows you to run the plugin on all of your own web sites and any client sites. Includes access to Thrive Content Builder, plus all Thrive Themes & Thrive Plugins. Cost = $247.00 per year.
Note: The cost of purchasing Thrive Content Builder depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. Currently, the software is being retailed for the amounts shown above. This may or may not be the actual price set by the plugin developer when you visit the plugin site and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after purchasing.
Check the plugin’s website for current pricing details:
Additional Info
The Thrive Content and Page Builder plugin developers 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 time-saving features like ready-made web page elements and beautiful, conversion-optimized template sets that help to speed up your content creation, and on the other hand, you also have 100% control over the design process and the freedom to change and customize anything and everything on your page, using the plugin’s click-to-edit and drag and drop features, which lets you see exactly how the content you are working on will display on the “front end” when published.
For demo videos of the plugin in action, including help documentation and tutorials, FAQs, support help desk, contact details and more, visit the plugin 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 immediately. If you want to move something, all you need to do is drag it and drop it into its new position. There are no additional steps involved.
If you want to transform and improve your site and create awesome marketing 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:
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