WordPress has evolved from being just a simple blogging application into a tool being used to create all types of sites.
Whatever you can think of, somewhere around the world someone is most likely already building it with WordPress!
In this article you will discover the simplest way to build stunning page layouts in WordPress.
Drag And Drop Content Editors For WordPress
The WordPress Editor – Is There A Smarter Way To Design Pages In WordPress?
Using the WordPress WYSIWYG editor to create or edit sophisticated page elements can sometimes be difficult.
(The built-in WordPress visual content editor is great for adding, formatting and editing “linear” content, but adding complex layouts can be quite challenging!)
For example, if you look at the screenshot below …
To create the above layout, users would need to insert short codes into the content for each of the elements they want to add to their page …
Generally, this is not really an issue … unless you decide to change the layout (for example, move part of the content from box 1 into box 2, or replace the background color in box 3 from dark green to some other color. Then, you’re stuck having to mess around with code inside the content editor.
The WordPress content editor is supposed to give non-technical users an easy-to-use WYSIWYG content editor, but as you can see, if you are trying to add more complex layouts, often what you see is not what you are getting 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 directly inside the text editor tab instead of the WordPress visual editor when trying to add complex layouts …
Even though WordPress is extremely easy to use, this makes it hard for non-technical website owners to have full control of their own content.
The fundamental challenge about having to use shortcodes and HTML to create content with WordPress 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 screenshot, what you see in the editor doesn’t look at all like what you see in the front end. This means that users have to translate mentally what the content will look like when working with sophisticated layouts. Other solutions require a number of 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 can interrupt the creative process, as you wait for the page to reload.
Many WordPress web developers have come up with a range of solutions with the aim of making the visual editor more intuitive. Some of these range from plugins you can add to your site that add new functionality to the editor, to WordPress themes that come with built-in features like drag and drop editing …
(WordPress “drag and drop” editors aim to make creating complex content easier!)
Some solutions include so many page-building features, that users need to learn how to work with complicated-looking front end editors …
Many of these editors work, but they don’t address the fundamental issue of using shortcodes and HTML as described earlier. Creating and adding sophisticated content elements 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 really frustrating after a while.
Ask yourself this …
If there were no technical constraints, how would you like to build and edit your content?
Now, imagine this …
- You see something in the content that needs to be changed so you, simply click on the content and start writing. Your content is then instantly changed.
- You can just drag and drop items on 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 item of content you’d like to add, so you simply begin typing, and your web page gets built on the fly, with no delays, without switching of tab browsers, and no waiting for new pages to republish and reload.
Would this not be the ideal way to build content for your WordPress website? Just click-to-edit and drag and drop elements around the page?
(Imagine being able to create complex web pages ”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 WYSIWYG Content Builder For WordPress
Plugin Description
Thrive Content Builder is a truly intuitive click-to-edit drag-and-drop content creator and editor for WordPress.
The Thrive Content Builder plugin provides WordPress users with a new and incredibly easy way to set up conversion-focused pages on any WordPress website.
Once installed, the plugin adds a visual content editor with an item menu that lets you drag and drop elements to your web page …
(Thrive Content Builder adds a new visual editor to your WordPress site)
The Thrive Landing Pages And Content Builder plugin 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 take an in-depth look at all of the above plugins and how all of this powerful functionality works seamlessly together to help you easily transform and improve your site and create amazing sales pages, streamlined landing pages and engaging content.
Thrive Content Builder
You can easily add content to your web pages and build complex page layouts using drag and drop elements …
Every element on your page can be created by dragging and dropping things around the page and then clicking to edit them …
Once you have placed elements on a page, you can then customize or edit these without having to go through additional steps or complicated settings screens …
You can also work inside beautiful landing pages that can also be easily customized …
Thrive Content Builder and Landing Pages is simple, easy to use, and ideal for all WordPress users at all levels. In fact, designing web pages and working on content with the Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder plugin installed is so amazingly simple, that the developers warn that you’ll never look at the process of creating and adding content the same way once you start using it
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 amazing plugin for WordPress that we have reviewed on this site.
For more information about this plugin, see this article:
Plugin Benefits
Below we have listed just a few of the benefits of using Thrive Content Builder to speed up the process of creating content for your WordPress website:
Fast And Simple To Install And Implement. Ready To Go To Work In Minutes.
Thrive Content Builder installs just like every WP plugin. Simply upload it to your Plugin folder via your WP administrator area and activate.
Add And Edit Content In Real Time
Thrive Content Builder is really simple to use and lets you create and edit content in real-time.
A Truly Visual Editor
With Thrive Content Builder installed, what you see on the “backend” as you work within the content editor – typefaces, elements, page layouts, etc. is exactly what you get on the front end of your site.
Additional benefits of using the plugin include:
- Beautiful Page Layouts With Drag & Drop Ease: Create any type of layout you can imagine with drag-and-drop ease.
- Design Elements Included: With the Thrive Content Builder plugin you not only get an amazing drag and drop WordPress content editor, but the plugin also includes an impressive collection of functional and attractive design elements that you can customizable and use on your content layouts without using shortcodes, like flat design elements, content reveal feature, buttons, Google Map embeds, etc.
- Distraction-Free Content Creation: Not having to deal with technical stuff for your updates to refresh frees up your attention and allows you to be more focused while you build content or click through multiple layers of menus to get what you want done.
(Add, edit and customize page elements like testimonials, columns, table of contents builder, page section dividers, responsive Google map embeds, etc.)
Features
Thrive Content Builder provides many powerful features to website owners. Below we have listed just a few:
- All Content Editor Functionality Is Still Available: You have access to all of the regular WordPress editing options that you are used to (e.g. underlines, centering text, headings and font sizes, etc.),
- Drag And Drop Elements: The plugin adds a “drag and drop” list of elements to your post or page screen when creating and editing content.
- Conversion-Boosting Elements: The plugin provides you with a range of attention-grabbing and customizable elements that will help increase your sales conversions, 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 Design: Add mobile-friendly columns, boxes, content section dividers, e.g. which will resize and display great on different device screens.
- Add Animation Events To Web Pages: The plugin’s Event Manager feature lets you create animated page content, trigger lightboxes and more!
(Add Animated Elements To Your 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 all the way from initial signup to purchase, product download and more.
(Thrive Landing Pages gives you access to conversion-optimized web page templates)
Thrive Landing Pages Plugin – Benefits
- Everything is hosted on your own WordPress site
- Save time and money building and customizing web pages
- 100% conversion-optimized landing pages
- No web coding skills required
- Works with all WordPress themes
Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder not only can be used to create beautiful-looking content in your WordPress posts and pages, but you can also choose from dozens of professionally designed, conversion optimized web page templates and fully customizable …
(Landing page template sets that work together logically and use the same conversion-optimized design language)
There are over 30 templates available, with more templates scheduled for release. In addition to the templates shown above, the developers plan to release new page templates for email lead generation, sales pages, course pages, personal branding pages, webinar pages and more.
Fully Customizable And Flexible Landing Page Template
Typically, to be able to have a fully customizable landing page template, you would need to either hire a web designer to do the work, or learn how to code web pages 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 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 stunning pre-built web pages that are fully optimized and ready to go, and complete design freedom that allows you to change or edit any aspect of the page template …
The landing page template sets included with this plugin let you do the following:
- Change text in any headline, bullet point, button, etc.
- Delete text, images or any other component of your landing page
- Change the background image or color
- Edit the color of links, buttons, text, etc.
- Choose your own fonts
- Select your own images
- Modify content area size
- Rearrange the order of elements on your pages
- Translate everything on the page into different languages
- Add any kind of custom content in any of the pages
- Use pre-designed, customized pages, or create your own landing pages from scratch and save them as new web page templates.
(Change and edit any aspect of your page)
Thrive Lightbox – Transform Your Web Site Into A Marketing Machine
The Thrive package includes Thrive Lightbox, which lets you add fully configurable two-step opt-in forms and animated elements to your WordPress site …
(Add opt-in forms and events to your web pages with Thrive Lightbox)
2-Step Opt-in Forms
A 2-step opt-in process can help increase 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 your visitor clicks or hovers 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 a range of animation effects (e.g. zoom out, slide in from top to bottom, roll in, etc.
(Set up and manage events on your web pages with the Thrive Lightbox plugin)
A lightbox and event is created automatically for your landing pages, but you also have complete control over your events, triggers and design.
Testimonials From Plugin Users
Here are a few of the testimonials that plugin users have written about Thrive Content Builder:
”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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”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 Thrive Landing Pages. 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 the Content Builder or Landing Pages plugin and they will display correctly when published.
Thrive Lightbox works with any content you build using Thrive Content Builder.
Product 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 really well-supported, and users get unlimited software upgrades, plus one year unlimited support with their purchase, backed by a no-risk, 30 day, full money-back guarantee.
This is an exciting product for WordPress users that just keeps getting better.
Product 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 enables you to run the plugin on 1 website only. Includes full feature set, unlimited updates and 1 year of unlimited support. Cost = $59.00.
- Unlimited Sites Edition – This allows you to run the plugin on all websites that you own. Pricing includes full feature set, unlimited updates and one year of unlimited support. Price = $87.00.
- Agency Licensing – Use on all your web sites & on client web sites. Includes access to Thrive Content Builder, plus all Thrive Themes & Thrive Plugins. Price = $247.00 per year.
Please Note: The cost of purchasing the Thrive Content Builder software can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. The above reflects the pricing when this content was written. This may or may not be the actual price set by the plugin developer when you visit the plugin website and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after your purchase.
Check the plugin’s website for the latest pricing information:
Additional Info
The Thrive Landing Pages and Content 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 the time-saving benefits of ready-made web page elements and conversion-optimized templates that help make designing your pages faster, and on the other hand, you have 100% control over your design process and the freedom to edit anything and everything on your web page, using the plugin’s click-to-edit and drag and drop features, that lets you see how the content you are working on will appear after being published.
For demo videos of the plugin, including help documentation and tutorials, FAQs, support help desk, contact details and more, visit the Thrive Content Builder website.
The Bottom Line …
If you want to edit something, simply click on the element and start editing. If you want to change something, you will 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 website and create awesome sales pages, streamlined landing pages and engaging content, Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder delivers an incredible conversion-boosting package with a single, inexpensive plugin.
For full details, check out the plugin here:
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