WordPress has evolved from being just a simple blogging tool into a tool that can be used to create all types of web 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 how to create beautiful layouts with drag & drop ease in WordPress.
Drag And Drop Content Editors For WordPress
Is The WordPress Content Editor Meeting All Of Your Content Creation Needs?
With all the many advancements that the WordPress platform has undergone in recent years, many WordPress users and developers believe that the WordPress editor is not really suitable for creating and customizing complex layouts.
(The default WordPress 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 layout shown below …
To create the above in your content would require typing something that looks like this in the WordPress visual content editor …
Typically, this is not really an issue … until you have to change something in the layout (for example, move part of the content from box 1 into box 2, or change the background colour inside a box from bright red to light green. Then, you’re stuck having to mess around with code inside the content editor.
The WordPress visual editor is supposed to give users an easy-to-use WYSIWYG editor, but as you can see, if you are working with more complex page elements, what you see in the visual editor may not be what you get …
(“What You See” isn’t always “What You Get” … unless you can visualize code!)
In some cases, users could be better off working inside the text editor tab instead of the WordPress WYSIWYG editor when trying to create something other than simple page elements …
Even though WordPress is the most user-friendly CMS platform available, this makes it difficult for WordPress users without coding skills to have full control of their own content.
The fundamental issue with using HTML and shortcodes to create content in the default WordPress WYSIWYG editor can be summarized by asking the following questions:
1) Speed – How long does it take to create a page using the editor?
2) Abstraction – How closely does the content in the editor resemble the “front end” content when you are creating or editing a page?
As you can see from the above screenshot, what you see when working in the editor looks nothing like what you see in the front end. This means that users need to mentally translate what the 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 going back and forth between tabs and performing tweaks and updates to see how your content is coming along, which interrupts the creative process, as you wait for the content to load.
Many WordPress developers have come up with a range of solutions with the objective of making the visual editor more intuitive. Some of these alternative solutions range from standalone 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 require so many complex page-building features, that users need to learn how to work with complicated-looking front end content editors …
Many of these solutions work, but they still don’t address the fundamental problem with 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 layouts quickly, this can start to become really frustrating.
Ask yourself this …
If there were no technical constraints, how would you like your content builder to behave?
Now, visualize this …
- You look at your content and if you see something that needs changing, simply click on the content and start changing it. Your content is instantly fixed.
- You can just drag and drop elements around the page, and the page looks exactly as it will appear on the front end without having to mentally abstract from HTML or shortcodes.
- You have an idea for an item of content that you’d like to create, so you immediately begin typing, and your page gets built as you go, without delays, with no tab switching, and no waiting for new pages to republish and reload.
Would that not be the perfect way to build content for your WordPress web site? Just click-to-edit and drag and drop elements around your pages and posts?
(Imagine being able to create complex web page layouts ”on the fly” 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 – Create Beautiful Layouts With Drag & Drop Ease In WordPress Web Sites
Plugin Description
Thrive Content Builder is a revolutionary plugin for WordPress that allows site owners to easily create stunning content layout with a truly visual click-to-edit and drag and drop content editor.
Thrive Content Builder is a new and exciting way to set up conversion-focused pages on any WordPress site.
Once installed, the plugin adds a visual content editor with a sidebar menu that lets you select, then drag and drop elements to your page …
(Thrive Content Builder adds a new visual content editing option to WordPress)
The Thrive Content And Landing Page 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 functionality works seamlessly together to help you easily transform and improve your site and create amazing sales pages and content.
Thrive Content Builder – WordPress Plugin
You can easily add content to your web pages and build complex page layouts using drag and drop elements …
Everything on your web page can be built using “drag and drop” and “click-to-edit” …
Once elements have been positioned on the page, you can then easily customize these without having to go through additional steps or switching screens …
You can also build stunning landing pages and easily customize these …
Thrive Content Builder and Landing Pages is simple, easy to use, and ideal for all WordPress users at all levels. In fact, designing pages and working on content with Thrive Content Builder and Landing Pages installed is so amazingly simple, that the developers warn that you will never look back once you start using it
For more details, visit the plugin site here: Thrive Content Builder
The integrated Thrive Content Builder and Landing Pages plugin was created by the same team that developed Thrive Leads, another fantastic plugin that we have previously recommended on this site.
To learn more about using this plugin, see this article:
Benefits
Here we have listed just some of the benefits of using Thrive Content Builder to speed up content creation:
Fast And Easy To Install And Implement. Ready To Go To Work In Very Little Time.
Thrive Content Builder is really easy to install. Simply upload a zip folder containing the plugin to your Plugin folder via your admin user area and activate.
Real-Time Content Content Editing
Thrive Content Builder is simple and intuitive to use and lets you create and add content to your web pages in real-time.
What You See Is Exactly What You Get
With Thrive Content Builder installed, what you see on the “back-end” as you work within the editor – typefaces, visual elements, page layouts, etc. is exactly what your visitors will see on the front end of your site.
Additional benefits of the plugin include:
- Beautiful Layouts With Drag And Drop Ease: Create any kind of layout you can imagine with drag and drop ease.
- Add Design Elements With No Shortcodes Required: With Thrive Content Builder you not only get a drag and drop WordPress content editor, but the plugin also includes an impressive collection of professional design elements that you can customizable and insert into your pages without using short codes, for e.g.: pricing tables, star ratings for review pages, call to action buttons, responsive Google maps, etc.
- Ideal For Non-Technical Users: Not having to deal with technical stuff, or having to wait for your updated content to reload frees up your attention and allows you to be more focused while you build content or click through multiple steps to get what you need done.
(Insert, edit and customize web page elements like testimonial boxes, content toggle, star ratings for review pages, section dividers, responsive maps, etc.)
Plugin Features
Thrive Content Builder provides WordPress users many great features. Here are just a few of these:
- Built-In WordPress Content Functionality Is Still Available: You have all of the regular text editing options that you are used to (e.g. underline, paragraph formatting, font sizes, etc.),
- Drag And Drop Multi-Style Elements Menu: The plugin makes a “drag and drop” list of elements available on your post or page screen when 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, testimonial boxes, and guarantees. In addition to being customizable, various elements also offer multiple design options.
- Mobile-Friendly Design: Add mobile-friendly columns, text boxes, content section dividers, e.g. which will adjust to display great on different device screens.
- Add Animation To Web Pages: The plugin’s Event Manager feature lets you add animated buttons, 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 from initial signup to purchase, product download and more.
(Thrive Landing Pages plugin 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 creating and customizing pages for your WordPress site
- 100% conversion-optimized web pages
- No coding skills required
- Works with all themes
Thrive Content Builder and Landing Pages 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, web page templates that are conversion-optimized and fully customizable …
(Landing page sets that work together logically and use the same conversion-optimized design language)
There are currently 30+ templates available, with more templates planned for future release. In addition to the existing templates, the developers plan to release new templates for email lead generation, sales pages, course pages, personal branding pages, webinar pages and more.
Completely Customizable And Flexible Landing Page Template
Typically, in order to have a completely 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 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 beautiful pre-designed page templates that are fully optimized and ready to go, and complete design freedom that lets you change or edit any aspect of your page template …
With the landing page template sets included with this plugin, you are able to:
- Edit text in any button, headline, bullet point, etc.
- Remove text, images or any other component of the landing page
- Replace the background image and edit colors
- Change the color of links, text, buttons, etc.
- Select your own fonts
- Use your own images
- Edit the size of the content area
- Change the order of web page elements
- Translate everything on the page into different languages
- Add custom content anywhere inside any of the pages
- Use pre-designed, customized pages, or create your own landing pages from scratch and save them as new page templates.
(Change or customize any element of the page template)
Thrive Lightbox Plugin – Transform Your WordPress Website Into A Powerful Marketing Machine
The Thrive plugin package includes the Thrive Lightbox plugin, which lets you add fully customizable two-step opt-in forms and events to your pages …
(Add opt-in forms and events to your WordPress site with Thrive Lightbox)
Thrive Lighbox Two-Step Opt-in Forms
A two-step opt-in process helps increase your conversion rates. Visitors click on a button or image, and then they are presented with your opt-in form …
(two-step opt-in forms can help improve your conversion rates.)
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 an image, or when someone reaches a certain point on the page. You can also use the Event Manager to animate images on your web pages, using a range of effects (e.g. zoom in, slide in from right to left, roll in, etc.
(Set up and manage events on your web pages with Thrive Lightbox)
Lightboxes and events are created automatically for your landing pages, but you also have complete control over events, triggers and design.
Testimonials From Users
Here are a few of the testimonials plugin customers have published about the Thrive Content Builder plugin:
“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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”Great stuff! I am really impressed by all the new additions. You guys have shown a true commitment to making these themes and the Content Builder awesome. Michael Johnson”
Thrive Content Builder – 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 that was not created with the plugin.
You can add WordPress short codes inside Thrive Content Builder or Thrive Landing Pages and they will be displayed correctly on on your web site.
Thrive Lightbox works with any content built with Thrive Content Builder.
Thrive Content Builder Support
Thrive Content Builder and Landing Pages comes with free updates, new landing pages and upcoming features. The plugin developers are constantly working on adding new features and improving existing ones.
Thrive plugins are really well-supported, and users get unlimited updates, and 1 year unlimited support with their purchase, backed by a no-risk, thirty day, complete money-back guarantee.
This is an exciting product for WordPress users 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 License Edition – This lets you set up the plugin on one domain only. Pricing includes full feature set, unlimited updates and one year of unlimited support. Price = $59.00.
- Unlimited Sites Edition – This allows you to run the plugin on unlimited domains that you personally own. Price includes full feature set, unlimited updates and 1 year of unlimited support. Price = $87.00.
- Agency License – Use on your websites & on all your client websites. Price includes access to Thrive Content Builder, plus all Thrive Themes & Thrive Plugins. Cost = $247.00 per year.
Note: Pricing for the Thrive Content Builder product depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. The above reflects the current pricing when this content was published. This may not be the actual pricing charged by the plugin author when you visit the site and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after you’ve purchased.
Check the plugin’s website for current pricing details:
Additional Information
The developers of the Thrive Landing Pages and Content 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 the time-saving benefits of ready-made page elements and templates that help to speed up content design, and on the other hand, you also have complete control over the design process and the ability to edit everything on your web page, using the plugin’s click-to-edit and drag and drop features, which allows you to get things done without having to keep switching tabs or going through multiple steps.
For a demo video of the plugin, including help documentation 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, 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 complicated steps involved.
If you want to transform and improve your web presence 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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