WordPress has evolved from being just a simple blogging tool to a tool that is now used to create all types of sites.
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 fastest way to create beautiful web page layouts in WordPress.
Drag And Drop Content Editors For WordPress
Is The WordPress Editor Meeting All Of Your Content Creation Needs?
Using the built-in WordPress WYSIWYG content editor to create or edit complex content elements can sometimes be difficult for non-technical website owners.
(The WordPress visual content editor is great for adding, formatting and editing conventional text and media, but adding complex content elements can be challenging!)
For example, if you look at the image below …
Adding the above layout would require inserting something like this into your default WordPress editor …
Typically, this is not an issue … until you choose to reconfigure your layout (for example, move part of the content from box 3 into box 2, or replace the background color inside a box from dark green to gray. Then, you’re stuck having to mess around with page code or html.
The WordPress visual content editor is supposed to be an easy-to-use WYSIWYG editor, but as you can see, when working with more complex page elements, 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, users could even be better off working inside the WordPress text editor tab instead of the visual editor when trying to build something other than simple page elements …
Even though WordPress is the most user-friendly CMS platform available, this makes it hard for non-technical website owners to have full control of their own content.
The fundamental challenge with using HTML and shortcodes to create content in the default WordPress editor can be summarized as follows:
1) Speed – How long will it take to create a page using this editor?
2) Abstraction – How closely does the content in the ”back end” match the “front end” content when you are creating or editing a page?
As you can see from the above, what you see in the back end does not look anything like what you see in the front end. This means that you need to mentally translate what your content will look like when working with sophisticated layouts. Other solutions require taking a number of 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 pages to load.
A number of WordPress web developers have tried to come up with different solutions with the objective of making content editing more intuitive. These range from standalone plugins you can add to your site that add new functionality to the editor, to WP themes that offer built-in features like drag and drop editing …
(WordPress “drag and drop” editors aim to make content creation easier!)
Some solutions end up including so many page-building features, that users need to learn how to work with complicated-looking front end content editors …
Many of these editors work, but they don’t really seem to address the fundamental issue of using shortcodes and HTML as described earlier. Creating and adding 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 your web pages to look “just right” quickly, this can start to become very frustrating.
Ask yourself this …
If there were no technical constraints, how would you like to build and edit your web content?
Now that you’ve asked this question, visualize the following …
- You look at your content and if you spot something that needs changing, just click on the content and start writing. Your content is instantly edited.
- You can drag and drop elements around the page, and see them exactly as they will display on the front end without having to mentally translate any HTML or shortcodes.
- You have an idea for some content you’d like to create, so you simply start typing, and you build your page as you go, with no delays, no switching tabs, and without having to wait for new web pages to refresh.
Would that not be the perfect way to create content for your web site? Just click-to-edit and drag and drop elements around your page?
(Imagine being able to create complex pages in real-time for your web content with no technical constraints!)
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 Description
Thrive Content Builder is a unique WordPress plugin that lets you quickly build and edit content on your posts and pages with true click-to-edit and drag and drop simplicity.
Thrive Content Builder provides you with a new and exciting way to speed up the process of adding great content to your WordPress website.
Once installed, Thrive Content Builder adds a visual content editor with an item menu that lets you drag and drop elements on your web page …
(Thrive Content Builder adds a new visual content builder to WordPress)
Thrive Content Builder And Landing Pages 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 these powerful features work seamlessly together to help you transform and improve your website and create amazing sales pages, streamlined landing pages and engaging content.
Thrive Content Builder – WordPress Plugin
With this plugin installed easily build complex web page design layouts using drag and drop elements …
Everything on your page can be built with ”click-to-edit” and “drag and drop” ease …
Once elements have been positioned on the page, you can then continue to edit or customize these without going through multiple steps or complicated configuration screens …
You can also work inside 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 Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder installed is so amazingly easy, that the developers guarantee that you will never look back once you start using it
More info: Thrive Content Builder
Thrive Content Builder and Thrive Landing Pages were created by the same team that developed Thrive Leads, another excellent plugin we’ve previously recommended on this site.
To read about the plugin, see this post:
Plugin Benefits
Below we have listed just a few of the benefits and advantages of using Thrive Content Builder to speed up your page design and content creation process:
Installation Is Easy And Simple
Thrive Content Builder is really easy to install. Just upload the plugin file to your Plugin folder via your WordPress admin account and activate.
Real-Time Content Building & Editing
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 Truly What You Get
With Thrive Content Builder installed, what you see on the “back-end” as you work within the editor – typefaces, visual elements, layouts, etc. is exactly what you get in the front end of your site.
Additional benefits include:
- Beautiful Page Layouts With Drag-And-Drop Ease: Create any kind of layout you can imagine with drag and drop ease.
- Add Customizable Elements With No Shortcodes Involved: With the Thrive Content Builder plugin you not only get a drag and drop content editor, but the plugin also includes a very decent collection of customizable web design elements that you can add to your pages without using short codes, for e.g.: columns, borderless content, section dividers, code insert boxes, etc.
- Distraction-Free Content Creation: Not having to deal with technical stuff, or wait for your updates to reload frees up your attention and allows you to build the pages your business needs, quickly and without having to edit code or click through multiple layers of menus to get what you want done.
(Add, edit and customize page elements like testimonials, flat design elements, feature grids, section dividers, Google Map embeds, etc.)
Thrive Content Builder Features
Thrive Content Builder provides many unique features to web site owners. Here are just some:
- All WordPress Editor Functionality Is Still Available: You have all of the built-in text editing options that you are used to (e.g. underline, paragraph formatting, font sizes, etc.),
- Drag And Drop Elements Menu: The plugin adds a “drag and drop” table of multi-style elements to your post or page screen for editing content.
- Conversion-Boosting Elements: The plugin includes a range of attention-grabbing and customizable elements that will help increase the effectiveness of your sales pages, including buttons and call-to-action elements, testimonials, and guarantee forms. In addition to being customizable, multiple design options are also available for various elements.
- Responsive Design: Add responsive columns, text boxes, content dividers, e.g. which will adjust to display great on different device screens.
- Add Animation To Pages: Thrive Content Builder’s Event Manager feature lets you add animated page content, 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 all the way from signup to purchase, product download and more.
(Thrive Landing Pages plugin lets you easily add conversion-optimized web pages to your website)
Thrive Landing Pages Plugin – Benefits
- Hosted on your own WordPress site
- Save time building web pages
- 100% conversion-optimized web pages
- No technical skills required
- Works with any WordPress theme
Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder not only lets you create beautiful content in your WordPress posts and pages, but you can also choose from dozens of professionally designed, landing 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 over thirty templates available, with more templates being worked on. In addition to the templates that are currently available, the developers plan to release new templates for email lead generation, sales pages, lesson pages, personal branding pages, webinar pages and more.
Fully Customizable Landing Page Template
Normally, 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 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 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 beautiful pre-built web page templates that are fully optimized and ready to go, and complete design freedom that lets you change and customize any element of your page templates …
With the landing page template sets included with this plugin, you can:
- Edit text in all bullet points, buttons, headlines, etc.
- Remove text, images or any other element of your landing page
- Replace all background images or background color
- Edit the color of text, buttons, links, etc.
- Select your own fonts
- Select your own images
- Edit the size of the content area
- Change the order of web page elements
- Translate pages into different languages
- Add custom content anywhere in any of the pages
- Start with a blank web page and create your own templates, or even build a custom landing pages library.
(Change and edit any aspect of your page templates)
Transform Your WordPress Site Into A Marketing Machine With Thrive Lightbox
The Thrive plugin package also includes Thrive Lightbox, which lets you add fully editable two-step opt-in forms and animated elements to your website …
(Add opt-in forms and animated objects to your marketing pages with the Thrive Lightbox plugin)
Thrive Lighbox Two-Step Opt-in Forms
A 2-step opt-in process can help increase your conversion rates. When visitors click on an image or button 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 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 attention-getting elements on your page, using various animation effects (e.g. zoom in, slide in from top to bottom, roll in, etc.
(Set up and manage events on your pages with Thrive Lightbox)
A lightbox and event is created automatically for your landing pages, but you also have complete control over the events, triggers and design.
User Feedback
Below are just some testimonials and comments that customers have provided for the Thrive Content Builder plugin:
”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”
Plugin Tips
Thrive Content Builder works with any WordPress theme, not just with Thrive Landing Pages. You cannot use Thrive Content Builder to edit content that was not created with the plugin installed.
You can add shortcodes inside Thrive Content Builder or Thrive Landing Pages and they will display correctly on on your web site.
Thrive Lightbox works with any content built using Thrive Content Builder.
Thrive Content Builder Support
Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder Plugin provides free updates, new landing templates and upcoming features. The Thrive team is constantly working on adding new features and improving existing ones.
Thrive plugins are very well-supported, and users get unlimited upgrades, plus 1 year unlimited support with their purchase, backed by a risk-free, thirty day, 100% money-back guarantee.
This is an exciting product that just keeps getting better.
Product 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 Edition – This allows you to set up the plugin on a single domain. Cost includes full feature set, unlimited updates and 1 year of unlimited support. Price = $59.00.
- Unlimited Sites Edition – This lets you run the plugin on all of your personal domains. Includes full feature set, unlimited updates and 1 year of unlimited support. Price = $87.00.
- Agency License – Use on your web sites & on client domains. Pricing includes access to Thrive Content Builder, plus all Thrive Themes & Thrive Plugins. Price = $247.00 per year.
Note: Current pricing for the Thrive Content Builder plugin depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. Currently, the software is being retailed for the pricing shown above. This may not be the actual price set by the software developer when you visit the website and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after purchasing.
Check the plugin’s website for current pricing details:
Additional Plugin Information
The developers of the Thrive Content Builder and Landing Pages plugin 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 the time-saving benefits of ready-made page elements and beautiful, pre-designed template sets that help to make designing your pages faster, and on the other hand, you also have 100% control over your design process and the freedom to change everything on your web page, using the plugin’s click-to-edit and drag and drop features, which allows you to work unhindered by overly complicated steps.
For a demo video of the plugin in action, including installation instructions and tutorials, FAQs, customer helpdesk, contact details and more, visit the Thrive Content Builder website.
Install This Plugin …
If you want to edit something, simply click on the element and start editing. If you want to change something, do it, and you will see the change happen instantly. If you want to move something, all you need to do is simply drag it and drop it into its new position. There are no complicated steps involved.
If you want to transform and improve your site and create amazing sales pages, streamlined landing pages and engaging content, this plugin delivers an incredible conversion-boosting package with a single, inexpensive plugin.
For more details, visit the plugin website here:
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