WordPress has evolved from being just a simple blogging application into a tool that can be used to design all types of pages – direct sales pages, portfolio pages, local business pages, etc.
Whatever you can imagine, somewhere around the world someone is probably already building it using WordPress!
In this article you will learn how to create stunning content with drag & drop ease in WordPress websites.
Drag & Drop Content Editors For WordPress
Is The WordPress WYSIWYG Editor Still Meeting All Of Your Web Design Needs?
Using the built-in WordPress WYSIWYG content editor to create or edit complex web site pages can be difficult, especially for non-technical web site owners.
(The WordPress visual content editor is great for adding, formatting and editing conventional content, but adding complex content elements can be challenging!)
For example, let’s say you want to create something like the content shown below …
Adding the above to your content would require inserting something like this into your WordPress visual content editor …
Typically, this is not an issue … until you choose to edit something in your layout (for example, move some of the content from box 1 into box 2, or change the button inside box 2 from red to purple. Then, you’re stuck having to mess around with page code or html.
The WordPress visual content editor is supposed to give users an easy-to-use WYSIWYG content editor, but as you can see, if you are trying to create complex page elements, often what you see may not be the same as what you get …
(“What You See” isn’t always “What You Get” … unless you can visualize code!)
In some instances, users could even be better off working directly with the html source itself instead of the WYSIWYG editor when trying to add complex layouts …
Even though WordPress is the most user-friendly CMS platform available, this makes it hard for users with no coding skills to fully manage their own content.
The fundamental issue 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 will it take to create a page using the editor?
2) Abstraction – How closely does the content in the ”back end” resemble the “front end” content when you are creating or editing a page?
As you can see from the above image, what you see in the back end 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 several steps before you can start configuring your page layout, or endlessly switching browser tabs and performing updates to see how your content is coming along, which can interrupt the creative process, as you wait for your page to refresh.
A number of WordPress developers have come up with various solutions aiming to make the visual editor more intuitive. Some of these solutions range from stand alone 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 creating complex layouts easier!)
Some solutions end up combining so many page-building features, that users end up with complicated-looking front end content editors …
Many of these editors work fine, but they don’t really address the fundamental issue 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 page layouts quickly, this can start to become quite frustrating.
Ask yourself this …
If there were no technical constraints, how would you like your page builder to behave?
Now, visualize the following scenario …
- You see something in the content that needs fixing so you, just click on the content and start typing. Your content is instantly changed.
- You can drag and drop elements around the page, and see them exactly as they will appear on the front end without having to mentally abstract from HTML or shortcodes.
- You have an idea for a specific piece of content that you’d like to add, so you immediately begin typing, and you build your page as you go, without delays, without tab switching, and without having to wait for pages to republish and reload.
Would that not be the ideal way to create content for your web site? A true WYSIWYG content builder where all you have to do is click-to-edit and drag and drop elements around your pages and posts?
(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 Builder And Landing Pages
Plugin Description
Thrive Content Builder is a revolutionary WordPress plugin that gives you complete control over every aspect of your web page with true click-to-edit and drag and drop simplicity.
The Thrive Content Builder plugin is a new and incredibly easy way to set up conversion-focused pages on any WordPress web site.
Once installed, the plugin adds a visual content editor with a sidebar menu that lets you click, then drag and drop design elements on your page …
(Thrive Content Builder adds a new visual content editing option to WordPress)
Thrive Content Builder 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.
We will cover all of the above plugins and how all of this functionality works together to help you easily transform and improve your web site and create amazing marketing pages and engaging content.
Thrive Content Builder – Click-To-Edit Drag And Drop Content Creator And Editor For WordPress
Thrive Content Builder lets you easily add content to your web pages and build complex page layouts using drag and drop elements …
Everything on your web page can be created, changed and customized using simple ”click-to-edit” and “drag and drop” …
Once you have placed elements on a page, you can continue to further customize these without having to go through additional steps or opening new settings windows …
The built-in Landing Pages editor also lets you build 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 web pages with the plugin installed is so amazingly easy, that the developers guarantee that once you start using it, it will ruin the experience of using all other content editors forever, and you will never look back!
For more details, visit the plugin site here: Thrive Content Builder
Thrive Content Builder and Thrive Landing Pages were created by the same team that developed Thrive Leads, another great plugin for WordPress that we have written about on this site.
To learn more about using the plugin, go here:
Benefits
Here we have listed just a few of the benefits and advantages of using Thrive Content Builder to speed up the process of designing pages and creating content for your web site:
Easy To Install
Thrive Content Builder installs like every other plugin. Simply upload a zip file containing the plugin to your Plugins folder via your administrator account and activate.
Create & Edit Content In Real Time
Thrive Content Builder is is not only really simple to use, it also lets you build content in real-time.
A Truly Visual Content Editor
With Thrive Content Builder installed, what you see 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:
- Add Stunning Layouts With Drag-And-Drop Ease: Create any layout you can imagine with drag-and-drop ease.
- Add Design Elements With No Short Codes Involved: With the Thrive Content Builder plugin you not only get a visually exciting click-to-edit content editor, but the plugin also includes a very decent collection of customizable web design elements that you can customizable and insert into your layouts without using shortcodes, like flat design elements, styled lists, dividers, responsive video embeds, etc.
- Distraction-Free Content Creation: Not having to deal with technical stuff for the new content to reload frees up your attention and allows you to build the content your business needs, quickly and without having to mess with code or click through multiple steps to get what you want done.
(Thrive Content Builder lets you easily create, edit and customize page elements like testimonial boxes, columns, star ratings for review pages, dividers, Google Map embeds, etc.)
Plugin Features
Thrive Content Builder offers website owners many features. Below we have listed just a few of these:
- All Content Editor Functionality Is Still Available: You have all of the regular WordPress editing options that you are used to (e.g. underlines, paragraph centering, headings, etc.),
- Drag And Drop Elements: The plugin adds a “drag and drop” table of multi-style elements to your post or page screen for creating and 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 guarantees. In addition to being customizable, multiple design options are also available for various elements.
- Responsive Element Design: Add mobile-friendly elements like column layouts, boxes, section dividers, e.g. which will adjust to display correctly on different device screens.
- Add Animation To Web Pages: Thrive Content Builder’s Event Manager feature lets you create animated page content, trigger lightboxes and more!
(Add Animated Elements To Your Web Pages)
Thrive Landing Pages – Landing Page 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 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 creating and customizing web pages
- 100% conversion-optimized page templates
- No web coding skills needed
- Works with all themes
Thrive Content and Landing Page Builder not only can be used to create beautiful content in your WordPress posts and pages, but you can also choose from dozens of professionally 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 over thirty templates available, with more templates planned for release. In addition to the templates shown above, the developers plan to release new page templates 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 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 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-built 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 …
With the landing page template sets included with this plugin, you can:
- Modify text in all bullet points, buttons, headlines, etc.
- Remove text, images or any other element of the landing page
- Replace the background image and edit colour
- Change the color of text, buttons, links, etc.
- Choose your own fonts
- Use your own images
- Change the size of the content area
- Rearrange the order of elements on the pages
- Translate everything on the page into different languages
- Add any type of custom content in the pages
- Start with a blank page and create your own page templates, or even build a library of custom landing page templates.
(Change or edit anything on the page)
Transform Your Website Into A Marketing Machine With Thrive Lightbox Plugin
The Thrive package includes the Thrive Lightbox plugin, which lets you add fully customizable 2-step opt-in forms and events to your content pages …
(Add lead capture forms and animation to your WordPress pages with Thrive Lightbox)
Thrive Lighbox 2-Step Opt-in Forms
A two-step opt-in process helps to 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 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 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 pages, using a range of effects (e.g. fade in, slide in from top to bottom, roll out, etc.
(Set up and manage events on your marketing pages with the Thrive Lightbox plugin)
A lightbox and event is created automatically for your landing pages, but you also have complete control over all events, triggers and design.
User Feedback
Below are some of the testimonials customers have written about the Thrive Content Builder plugin:
”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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“I’m blown away by the plugin. Keep up the incredible, WordPress changing work, guys! Dean Phillips”
Plugin Tips
Thrive Content Builder works with any theme in WordPress, not just with Thrive Landing Pages. You cannot use Thrive Content Builder to edit content on pages or posts that were not created with the plugin.
You can add WordPress shortcodes inside the Content Builder or Landing Pages plugin and they will display correctly when published.
Thrive Lightbox works with any content you build with Thrive Content Builder.
Support
Thrive Content Builder and Landing Pages comes with 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 unlimited updates, and 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 just keeps getting better.
Plugin 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 License – This lets you configure the plugin on 1 website only. Includes full feature set, unlimited updates and 1 year of unlimited support. Cost = $59.00.
- Unlimited Sites Licensing – This enables you to configure the plugin on all of your personal sites. Includes full feature set, unlimited updates and one year of unlimited support. Price = $87.00.
- Agency Licensing – Use on all your domains & on all your client sites. Price includes access to Thrive Content Builder, plus all Thrive Themes & Thrive Plugins. Cost = $247.00 per year.
Please Note: Current pricing for the Thrive Content Builder plugin can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. The above reflects the pricing at the time this article was written. This may or may not be the actual pricing set by the plugin author when you visit the site and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after your purchase.
Check the plugin’s website for current pricing details:
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 time-saving features like ready-made page elements and conversion-optimized templates that help to speed up content design, and on the other hand, you have 100% control over your design process and the ability to edit anything and everything on your web page, using the plugin’s visual content editor, which allows you to see how the content you are working on will look when published.
For a demo video of the plugin in action, including installation instructions and tutorials, FAQs, customer helpdesk, contact details and more, visit the Thrive plugins website.
Install The Plugin …
If you want to edit something, just click on the element and start editing. If you want to change something, do it, and you can see the change happen instantly. If you want to move something, you drag it and drop it into its new position. There are no extra steps involved.
If you want to transform and improve your business online and create amazing marketing pages, streamlined landing pages and engaging content, this plugin delivers an incredible conversion-boosting package with a single, inexpensive plugin.
For more details, check out the plugin here:
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