WordPress has evolved from being just a simple blogging application to a tool that is now used to create all kinds of sites.
Whatever you can imagine, somewhere around the world someone is bound to be already building it with WordPress!
In this article you will discover the most straight-forward visual editor for WordPress.
Drag And Drop Content Editors For WordPress
Is The WordPress Editor Meeting All Of Your Web Design Needs?
Using the default WordPress WYSIWYG editor to create or edit sophisticated layouts can sometimes be quite challenging for non-technical web site owners.
(The default WordPress editor is great for adding, formatting and editing conventional content, but adding more complex content elements can be challenging!)
For example, if you look at the image below …
Adding the above to a page would require entering something that looks like this in your WordPress content editor …
Generally, this is not an issue … until you need to reconfigure your layout (for example, move part of the content from box 3 into box 2, or replace the button inside box 3 from green to gold. Then, you’re stuck having to mess around with page code.
The WordPress editor is supposed to provide users with an easy-to-use WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor, but as you can see, if you are creating with complex page elements, often what you see may not be what you are going to get when your content is published …
(“What You See” isn’t always “What You Get” … unless you can visualize code!)
In some instances, some people argue that you may even be better off working inside the html (text) editor tab instead of the WordPress visual editor when trying to create fancy page elements …
Even though WordPress is very user-friendly, this makes it hard for WordPress site owners with no knowledge of HTML or CSS to fully manage their own content.
The fundamental problem about using shortcodes and HTML to create content in the default WordPress visual editor can be summarized by asking two questions:
1) Speed – How long will it take to build a web 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 image, what you see in the editor doesn’t look even remotely similar to what you see in the front end. This means that you need to mentally translate what your content will look like when working with complex 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 then impacts how quickly you can create your content, as you wait for your new content to reload.
A number of WordPress developers have come up with various solutions to address this issue. Some of these alternative solutions range from plugins you can install on your site that add new functionality to the editor, to themes that provide built-in features like drag and drop editing …
(WordPress “drag and drop” editors aim to make content creation easier!)
Some solutions combine so many page-building features, that users need to learn how to work with complicated-looking front end content editors …
Many of these alternative solutions work fine, but they still fail to address the fundamental problem with using HTML and shortcodes as described earlier. Adding and editing 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 ”perfect” quickly, this can start to become quite frustrating after a while.
Ask yourself this …
If there were no technical constraints, how would you like to build and edit your web content?
Now, imagine this …
- You look at your content and if you spot something that needs to be changed, just click on the content and start typing. Your content has been instantly changed.
- You can drag and drop elements on the page, and see them exactly as they will display on the front end without having to mentally translate any code.
- You have an idea for some content you’d like to add, so you simply start typing, and you build your page as you go, without delays, with no switching tabs, and no waiting for new content to republish and reload.
Would that not be the perfect way to create content for your web site? A true WYSIWYG editor where all you have to do is click-to-edit and drag and drop elements around your page?
(Imagine being able to create complex pages 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 – The Simplest, Most Intuitive WYSIWYG Content Builder For WordPress
Plugin Description
Thrive Content Builder is a ground-breaking plugin for WordPress that allows you to quickly add beautiful content to WordPress posts and pages with true click-to-edit and drag and drop simplicity.
Thrive Content Builder provides you 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 a sidebar menu that lets you select, then drag and drop design elements on your page …
(Thrive Content Builder adds a new visual editor to WordPress)
The Thrive Content Builder And Landing Pages 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.
Let’s take an in-depth a look at all of the above and how these exciting features work together to help you transform and improve your site and create awesome sales pages and engaging content.
Thrive Content Builder – Click-To-Edit Drag & Drop Content Creator For WordPress
You can easily add content to your web pages and build complex page layouts using drag and drop elements …
Every aspect of your web page can be created by dragging and dropping things around the page and then clicking to edit them …
Once you have positioned elements on the page, you can then easily edit or customize them without going through multiple steps or switching screens …
You can also build stunning landing pages that can just as easily be edited or customized …
Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder is simple, easy to use, and ideal for all WordPress users at all levels. In fact, working on content with the plugin installed is so effortlessly easy, that the developers guarantee that once you start using it, you’ll never look back!
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 for WordPress we’ve recommended on this site.
To read more about this plugin, go here:
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 site:
Fast And Easy To Install And Configure. Be Up And Running In Very Little Time.
Thrive Content Builder installs like every other plugin. Just upload a zip folder containing the plugin to your Plugin folder via your WordPress dashboard and activate.
Real-Time Content Building & Editing
Thrive Content Builder is is not only really simple and intuitive to use, it also lets you create, edit and add content to your pages in real-time.
A Truly Visual Content Builder
With Thrive Content Builder installed, what you see as you work within the editor – fonts, elements, page layouts, etc. is exactly what your visitors will see on the front end of your site.
Some additional plugin benefits include:
- Beautiful Layouts With Drag And Drop Ease: Create any kind of layout you can imagine with intuitive drag and drop functionality.
- Add Customizable Elements Without Shortcodes: With Thrive Content Builder you not only get an amazing click-to-edit content editor, but the plugin also includes a very decent collection of web design elements that you can add to your layouts without using short codes, such as tabbed content, content reveal feature, page section dividers, 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 build content or click through multiple steps to get what you want done.
(Insert, edit and customize web page elements like testimonial boxes, flat design elements, styled lists, section dividers, responsive Google maps, etc.)
Plugin Features
Thrive Content Builder provides WordPress users many unique features. Here are just a few of these:
- Regular Content Editor Functionality Is Preserved: You have access to all of the regular content editing options that you are used to (e.g. underline, paragraph formatting, headings and font sizes, etc.),
- Drag And Drop Elements Menu: The plugin makes a “drag and drop” list of multi-style elements available on your post or page screen when editing content.
- Conversion-Boosting Elements: The plugin includes a range of eye-catching and customizable elements that will help you increase your sales conversions, including buttons and call-to-action elements, testimonials, and guarantee forms. In addition to being customizable, various elements also offer multiple design options.
- Responsive Web Element Design: Add mobile-friendly columns, guarantee boxes, content section dividers, e.g. which will display great on different-sized screens.
- Add Animation Events To Web Pages: The 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 signup to purchase, product download and more.
(Thrive Landing Pages gives you conversion-optimized web page templates)
Thrive Landing Pages – Benefits
- Everything is hosted on your own WordPress site
- Save time and money designing and customizing web pages for your WordPress web site
- 100% conversion-optimized page templates
- No technical skills needed
- Works with all themes
Thrive Content 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 being worked on. In addition to the available templates, the developers plan to release new page templates for email lead generation, sales pages, lesson pages, personal branding pages, webinar pages and more.
Customize Your Landing Page Template
Typically, to be able to have a fully customizable landing page template, you would need to either hire a web 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 code or use 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 allows you to change and customize any aspect of the page template …
With the landing page templates included with this plugin, you can do the following:
- Change text in any headline, button, bullet point, etc.
- Delete text, images or any other component of your landing page
- Change any background images or background colours
- Change the color of buttons, links, text, etc.
- Use your own fonts
- Use your own images
- Change content area size
- Change the order of web page elements
- Translate pages into a different language
- Add any type of custom content in any of the pages
- Use pre-designed, customized pages, or create your own from scratch and save them as new web page templates.
(Change and customize anything on the page template)
Transform Your Web Site Into A Powerful Marketing Machine With Thrive Lightbox Plugin
The Thrive plugin combo includes Thrive Lightbox, which lets you add fully customizable two-step opt-in forms and events to your web site …
(Add opt-in forms and animation to your WordPress web site with Thrive Lightbox)
Two-Step Opt-in Forms
A two-step opt-in process helps to 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)
Event Manager
An “event” consists of a trigger and an action. You can make opt-in forms appear when when visitors click or hover 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. zoom out, slide in from right to left, roll out, etc.
(Set up and manage events on your sales pages with the Thrive Lightbox plugin)
Lightboxes and events are created automatically for your landing pages, but you also have complete control over your events, triggers and design.
Testimonials From Users
Below are just a few of the testimonials that users have written about 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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”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”
Useful 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 using the plugin.
You can add shortcodes inside Thrive Content Builder or Thrive Landing Pages and they will display correctly when published.
Thrive Lightbox works with any content built using Thrive Content Builder.
Product Support
Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder Plugin 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 software is really well-supported, and users get lifetime software updates, and one year unlimited support with their purchase, backed by a no-risk, thirty day, full refund guarantee.
This is an exciting product that just keeps getting better.
Product 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 lets you configure the plugin on a single domain. Includes full feature set, unlimited updates and one year of unlimited support. Cost = $59.00.
- Unlimited Sites Licensing – This enables you to use the plugin on all of your personal sites. Includes full feature set, unlimited updates and one year of unlimited support. Price = $87.00.
- Agency License Edition – This edition allows you to use the plugin on all of your own domains and all client sites. Includes access to Thrive Content Builder, plus all Thrive Themes & Thrive Plugins. Cost = $247.00 per year.
Please Note: The cost of purchasing the Thrive Content Builder product depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. The above reflects the pricing at the time this article was written. This may not be the actual price charged by the software seller when you visit the product website and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after purchasing.
Check the plugin’s website for current pricing details:
Additional Info
The developers of the Thrive Content and Landing Page Builder plugin emphatically 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 page elements and template sets that help to make designing your pages faster, and on the other hand, you also have complete control over the design process and the ability to change anything and everything on your page, using the plugin’s visual content editor, that allows you to work unhindered by overly complicated options.
For ”how to” videos showing plugin usage, including installation instructions and tutorials, FAQs, support help desk, contact details and more, visit the plugin website.
Get This Plugin …
If you want to edit something, simply click on the element and start editing. If you want to change something, you can see the change happen instantly. If you want to move something, just drag it and drop it into its new position. There are no additional steps involved.
If you want to transform and improve your website and create amazing sales pages and content, Thrive Content Builder and Landing Pages delivers an incredible conversion-boosting package with a single, inexpensive plugin.
For more information, check out the plugin here:
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