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, portfolio pages, local business pages, etc.
Whatever you can think of, someone is bound to be already building it with WordPress!
In this article you will discover the fastest way to build beautiful layouts in WordPress websites.
Drag And Drop Content Editors For WordPress
Is The Default WordPress Visual Editor Meeting All Of Your Web Design Needs?
Using the WordPress WYSIWYG content editor to create or edit complex page elements can be quite difficult.
(The WordPress visual content editor is great for adding, formatting and editing “linear” content, but adding more complex content elements can be challenging!)
For example, let’s say you want to create something like the content shown below …
To create the above boxes with text and buttons, users would normally have to insert shortcodes into the content for every element they would like to display on their web page …
Typically, this is not really an issue … until you have to reconfigure your layout (for example, move some of the content from box 1 into box 2, or change the button inside a box from bright red to purple. Then, you’re stuck having to mess around with code.
The WordPress visual content editor is supposed to be an easy-to-use WYSIWYG content editor, but as you can see, if you are trying to add complex content elements, often what you see in the WordPress visual content editor screen may not be the same as what you are getting when the page goes live …
(“What You See” isn’t always “What You Get” … unless you can visualize code!)
In some cases, some people argue that users may even be better off working with the source html itself instead of the visual editor when trying to build complex page elements …
Even though WordPress is the most user-friendly CMS platform available, this makes it difficult for non-technical users to fully manage their own content.
The fundamental issue about using shortcodes and HTML to create content in WordPress 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 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 back end looks nothing like what you see in the front end. This means that you have to translate mentally what your content will look like when working with sophisticated layouts. Other solutions require multiple steps before you can start configuring your page layout, or endlessly going back and forth between tabs and performing updates to see how your content is progressing, which interrupts the creative process, as you wait for pages to reload.
Many WordPress web developers have come up with different solutions with the goal of addressing this issue. Some of these alternative solutions range from WP plugins you can add to your site that add new functionality to the editor, to WP themes that come with 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 combining so many complex page-building features, that users need to learn how to work with complicated-looking front end content editors …
Many of these alternative editors work fine, but they don’t really seem to address the fundamental problem with using shortcodes and HTML as described earlier. Creating, 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 to create or edit complex page content quickly, this can start to become very frustrating.
Ask yourself this …
If there were no technical constraints, how would you like your page builder to work?
Now, visualize the following …
- You look at your content and if you see something that needs to be changed, just click on the content and start editing it. Your content is instantly edited.
- You can drag and drop items on the page, and the page looks exactly as it will appear on the front end without having to mentally visualize code.
- You have an idea for a specific piece of content you would like to create, so you simply start typing, and you build your page on the fly, with no delays, with no switching of tab browsers, and without having to wait for new pages to refresh and reload.
Would this not be the perfect way to create content for your WordPress website? A true visual editor 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 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 Builder For WordPress
Plugin Description
Thrive Content Builder is a truly intuitive WordPress click-to-edit drag and drop content editing plugin.
The Thrive Content Builder plugin provides you with a new and incredibly easy way to speed up the process of adding content to 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 on your web page …
(Thrive Content Builder adds a new editor to your WordPress site)
The plugin is actually a combination of the Thrive Content Builder and Thrive Landing Pages plugins rolled into one, plus an additional plugin feature called Thrive Lightbox.
Let’s examine all of the above plugins and how these features work together to help you easily transform and improve your web presence and create awesome sales pages and engaging content.
Thrive Content Builder Plugin
This plugin lets you easily add content to your web pages and build complex page layouts using drag and drop elements …
Everything on your page can be built using ”click-to-edit” and “drag and drop” …
Once you have positioned elements on your page, you can then continue to edit these without going through multiple steps or switching tabs …
You can also work inside beautiful landing pages that can just as easily be edited or customized …
Thrive Content and Landing Page Builder is simple, easy to use, and ideal for all WordPress users at all levels. In fact, designing pages with the plugin installed is so effortlessly simple, that the developers guarantee 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 previously written about on this site.
To learn more about using this plugin, go here:
Benefits
Below we have listed just some of the many benefits and advantages of using Thrive Content Builder to speed up your page design and content creation process:
Quick And Easy To Install And Configure. Be Up And Running In Very Little Time.
Thrive Content Builder is very easy to install. Simply upload the plugin file to your Plugin folder via your dashboard and activate.
Edit And Build Content In Real Time
Thrive Content Builder is is not only simple to use, it also lets you build and add content to your pages 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, page layouts, etc. is exactly what your visitors will see in the front end of your site.
Some additional benefits of this plugin include the following:
- Beautiful Page Layouts With Drag & Drop Ease: Create any kind of layout you can imagine with intuitive drag-and-drop functionality.
- Customizable Elements Included: With the Thrive Content Builder plugin you not only get a drag and drop WordPress content editor, but the plugin also includes a jaw-dropping collection of professional design elements that you can insert into your web pages without using short codes, for e.g.: flat design elements, styled lists, call to action buttons, responsive videos, etc.
- Ideal For Non-Technical Users: Not having to wait for the new 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.
(Easily add, edit and customize page elements like testimonial boxes, flat design elements, styled lists, buttons, responsive Google map embeds, etc.)
Thrive Content Builder Features
Thrive Content Builder offers many great features to site owners. Below we have listed just a few:
- All Editor Functionality Is Preserved: You have all of the regular WordPress editing options that you are used to (e.g. bold, paragraph centering, font sizes, etc.),
- Drag And Drop Elements: The plugin adds a “drag and drop” list of multi-style elements to your post or page screen for creating and editing content.
- Conversion-Boosting Elements: The plugin comes with various attention-grabbing 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, various elements also offer multiple design options.
- Mobile-Friendly Design: Add responsive columns, boxes, content section dividers, e.g. which will display correctly on devices with differently sized screens.
- Add Animation Events To Web Pages: The plugin’s Event Manager feature lets you add animated page content, trigger lightboxes and more!
(Add Animated Elements To Your Web Pages)
Thrive Landing Pages – Landing Page Templates
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 lets you add conversion-optimized web pages to your web site)
Thrive Landing Pages – Benefits
- Hosted on your own WordPress site
- Save time and money creating and customizing pages
- 100% conversion-optimized web page templates
- No tech skills needed
- Works with all 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 landing page templates and fully customizable …
(Landing page sets that work together logically and use the same conversion-optimized design language)
There are 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, lesson pages, personal branding pages, webinar pages and more.
Customize Your Landing Page Template Sets
Normally, in order to fully customize 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 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 complex 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 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 …
With the landing page template sets included with this plugin, you are able to:
- Change text in all bullet points, headlines, buttons, etc.
- Remove text, images or any other element of your landing page
- Change the background image and edit color
- Change the color of text, buttons, links, etc.
- Select your own fonts
- Select your own images
- Modify content area size
- Rearrange the order of elements on the pages
- Translate everything on the page into a different language
- Add custom content anywhere in any of the pages
- Start with a blank web page and create your own page templates, or even build a library of custom landing page templates.
(Change or customize any element of your page template)
Thrive Lightbox Plugin – Transform Your 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 elements to your content pages …
(Add opt-in forms and events to your sales pages with the Thrive Lightbox plugin)
Two-Step Opt-in Forms
A 2-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 …
(Visitors click on a button and are presented with an opt-in form)
Thrive Lightbox Event Manager
An “event” consists of a trigger and an action. You can make opt-in forms appear when when visitors click or hover 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 images on your pages, using various effects (e.g. zoom in from the page center, slide in from bottom to top, rotate, etc.
(Set up and manage events on your WordPress pages 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.
Testimonials From Users
Below are a couple of the testimonials that users have written about Thrive Content Builder:
”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 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 installed.
You can add short codes inside Thrive Content Builder or Thrive Landing Pages and they will display correctly on on your site.
Thrive Lightbox works with any content you build using Thrive Content Builder.
Support
Thrive Content Builder and Landing Pages Plugin comes with free updates, new landing pages and upcoming features. The Thrive team is constantly working on adding new features and improving existing ones.
Thrive software is very well-supported, and users get unlimited updates, plus one year unlimited support with their purchase, backed by a no-risk, 30 day, 100% money-back 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 – This edition lets you set up the plugin on 1 web site only. Price includes full feature set, unlimited updates and 1 year of unlimited support. Price = $59.00.
- Unlimited Sites Licensing – This license allows you to use the plugin on unlimited web sites that you personally own. Includes full feature set, unlimited updates and 1 year of unlimited support. Price = $87.00.
- Agency License – This option enables you to activate the plugin on all of your own sites and all client domains. Price includes access to Thrive Content Builder, plus all Thrive Themes & Thrive Plugins. Cost = $247.00 per year.
Note: The cost to purchase Thrive Content Builder depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. When we last checked, the software is being retailed for the amounts shown above. This may not be the actual pricing charged by the plugin author when you visit the plugin site and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after your purchase.
Check the plugin’s website for the current price:
Additional Info
The Thrive Content and Landing Page Builder plugin developers 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 page elements and template sets that help to speed up your content creation, and on the other hand, you have complete control over your design process and the ability to change anything and everything on your web page, using the plugin’s visual content editor, that allows you to see exactly how the content you are working on will display when published.
For a demo video showing plugin usage, including installation instructions and tutorials, FAQs, support helpdesk, contact details and more, visit the Thrive website.
Get The Plugin …
If you want to edit something, just click on the element and start editing. If you want to change something, 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 unnecessary steps involved.
If you want to transform and improve your web site and create amazing marketing pages and engaging content, this plugin delivers an incredible conversion-boosting package with a single, inexpensive plugin.
For full details, check out the plugin here:
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