WordPress has evolved from being just a simple blogging tool into a tool that can be used to create all types of websites.
Whatever you can imagine, someone is bound to be already building it with WordPress!
This article will help you discover how to create stunning content with drag & drop ease in WordPress websites.
Drag And Drop Content Editors For WordPress
Is The Default WordPress Visual Content Editor Meeting All Of Your Web Design Needs?
Using the default WordPress WYSIWYG editor to build or edit complex web site pages can sometimes be quite difficult for non-technical web site owners.
(The built-in WordPress WYSIWYG editor is great for adding, formatting and editing conventional text and media, but adding more complex page elements can be quite challenging!)
For example, let’s say you want to create something like the layout shown below …
To create the above layout in your content would require inserting something like this inside your WordPress visual content editor …
Typically, this is not really an issue … unless you decide to reconfigure the layout (for example, move part of the content from box 3 into box 2, or change the button inside box 1 from red to gold. Then, you’re stuck having to mess around with page code or html.
The WordPress editor is supposed to provide non-technical users with an easy-to-use WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor, but as you can see, if you are trying to add complex content elements, often what you see on your editor screen may not be what you are getting when the content gets published …
(“What You See” isn’t always “What You Get” … unless you can visualize code!)
In some instances, some people argue that users could even be better off working directly inside the text editor tab instead of the WordPress WYSIWYG editor when trying to add non-linear 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 with having to use HTML and shortcodes to create content in the default WordPress visual editor can be summarized as follows:
1) Speed – How long does it take to create a page using the editor?
2) Abstraction – How closely does the content in the ”back end” match 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 anything 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 multiple steps before you can begin configuring your page layout, or endlessly switching browser tabs and performing updates to see how your content is coming along, which then impacts how quickly you can create your content, as you wait for for your updated content to load.
Many WordPress developers have tried to come up with a range of solutions aiming to make the visual editor easier. These range from WP plugins you can install on your site that add new functionality to the editor, to 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 combine so many page design features, that users end up with complicated-looking front end editors …
Many of these alternative solutions work fine, but they don’t address the fundamental issue of using HTML and shortcodes as described earlier. Adding and editing sophisticated content elements 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 layouts quickly, this can become quite frustrating after a while.
Ask yourself this …
If there were no technical constraints, how would you like your web page editor to behave?
Now that you’ve asked this question, imagine the following scenario …
- You look at your content and if you see something that needs changing, simply click on the content and start writing. Your content has been instantly changed.
- 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 HTML or shortcodes.
- You have an idea for an item of content that you’d like to create, so you just begin typing, and you build your page on the fly, without delays, without tab switching, and no waiting for new pages to refresh and reload.
Would that not be the ideal way to create content for your website? A true visual content builder where all you have to do is click-to-edit and drag and drop elements around your posts and pages?
(Imagine being able to create complex page layouts quickly for your web content without 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 Landing Pages And Content Builder – Click-To-Edit Drag And Drop Content Editing Plugin For WordPress
Plugin Description
Thrive Content Builder is a truly intuitive WordPress click-to-edit drag and drop content builder.
Thrive Content Builder is a new and exciting way to speed up the process of adding amazing content to your WordPress website.
Once installed, Thrive Content Builder adds a visual content editor with a sidebar menu that lets you click, then drag and drop elements on your page …
(Thrive Content Builder adds a new visual content editing option to your WordPress site)
Thrive Content And Landing Page Builder 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.
In this article we’ll take a look at all of the above plugins and how all of this powerful functionality works seamlessly together to help you transform and improve your web presence and create amazing sales pages, streamlined landing pages and engaging content.
Thrive Content Builder Plugin For WordPress
Thrive Content Builder lets you easily add content to your web pages and build complex page layouts using drag and drop elements …
Every element on your web page can be created by dragging and dropping things around the page and then clicking to edit them …
Once elements have been added to your page, you can then continue to edit or customize these without going through multiple steps or switching screens …
You can also work inside stunning 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 pages and working on content with the Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder plugin installed is so effortlessly simple, that the developers guarantee that you’ll never look at creating and adding content the same way 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 great plugin for WordPress we’ve recommended on this site.
To read more about this plugin, go here:
Benefits Of Using Thrive Content Builder Plugin
Below we have listed just a few of the benefits of using Thrive Content Builder to speed up content creation:
Installation Is Easy And Simple
Thrive Content Builder is really easy to install. Simply upload a zip file that contains the plugin to your Plugin folder via your admin user account and activate.
Edit Content In Real Time
Thrive Content Builder is simple and intuitive to use and lets you build 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 content editor – fonts, visual elements, layouts, etc. is exactly what you get in the front end of your site.
Some additional benefits include:
- Stunning Web Page Layouts With Drag & Drop Ease: Create any kind of layout you can imagine with drag and drop ease.
- Design Elements Included: With the Thrive Content Builder plugin you not only get a visually exciting click-to-edit WordPress content builder, but the plugin also includes a very decent collection of customizable web design elements that you can use on your layouts without using shortcodes, like columns, star ratings for review pages, section dividers, responsive Google map embeds, etc.
- Ideal For Non-Technical Users: Not having to deal with technical stuff, or wait for your page to load frees up your attention and allows you to be more focused while you build or edit your content or click through multiple layers of menus to get what you need done.
(Create, edit and customize web page elements like testimonials, content toggle, feature grids, page section dividers, responsive Google map embeds, etc.)
Plugin Features
Thrive Content Builder provides website owners many features. Below we have listed just a few:
- Built-In Editor Functionality Is Preserved: You have all of the built-in WordPress text editing options that you are used to (e.g. underlines, paragraph formatting, headings and 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 editing content.
- Conversion-Boosting Elements: The plugin comes with various attention-grabbing and customizable elements that will help you increase your sales conversions, including buttons and call-to-action elements, testimonials, and guarantees. In addition to customization options, various elements also offer multiple design options.
- Responsive Design: Add mobile-friendly columns, guarantee boxes, content dividers, e.g. which will adjust to display correctly on different device screens.
- Add Animation Events To Your Web Pages: Thrive Content Builder’s Event Manager feature lets you create animations, trigger lightboxes and more!
(Add Animated Elements To Your Web 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 signup to purchase, product download and more.
(Thrive Landing Pages plugin lets you easily add conversion-optimized web pages to your web site)
Thrive Landing Pages – Benefits
- Everything is hosted on your own WordPress site
- Save time building landing pages for your web site
- 100% conversion-optimized web page templates
- No coding skills required
- Works with all themes
Thrive Content Builder and Landing Pages not only lets you create beautiful content in your WordPress posts and pages, but you can also choose from dozens of beautifully designed, 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 over 30 templates available, with more templates being worked on. In addition to the templates shown above, the developers plan to release new page templates for email lead generation, sales pages, training pages, personal branding pages, webinar pages and more.
Customize Your Landing Page Template Sets
Typically, in order to have a fully customizable landing page template, you would need to either pay a web designer to do the work, or learn how to code web pages and figure out how to edit the page code 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 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 creating conversion-optimized web pages.”
Thrive Landing Pages gives you beautiful pre-built page templates that are fully optimized and ready to go, and complete design freedom that allows you to change or edit anything on the page …
With the landing page template sets included with this plugin, you can do the following:
- Modify text in all buttons, bullet points, headlines, etc.
- Remove text, images or any other component of the landing page
- Change all background images and background colors
- Change the color of buttons, links, text, etc.
- Select your own fonts
- Select your own images and graphics
- Change content area size
- Rearrange the order of web page elements
- Translate pages into a different language
- Add custom content anywhere inside any of the pages
- Use pre-designed, customized pages, or create your own from scratch and save them as new page templates.
(Change and edit anything on your page templates)
Transform Your Site Into A Marketing Machine With Thrive Lightbox Plugin
The Thrive plugin package includes the Thrive Lightbox plugin, which lets you add fully editable 2-step opt-in forms and animated elements to your pages …
(Add opt-in forms and animated elements to your WordPress website with Thrive Lightbox)
Thrive Lighbox 2-Step Opt-in Forms
A two-step opt-in process can help increase your conversion rates. When visitors click on a button or image 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 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 attention-getting elements on your web pages, using various animation effects (e.g. fade in, slide in from left to right, roll out, etc.
(Set up and manage events on your WordPress site 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.
Feedback From Users
Below are just some testimonials that plugin customers have submitted for 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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“I’m blown away by the plugin. Keep up the incredible, WordPress changing work, guys! Dean Phillips”
Useful Tips
Thrive Content Builder works with any theme in WordPress, not just with the Thrive Landing Pages plugin. 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 site.
Thrive Lightbox works with any content built with Thrive Content Builder.
Product Support
Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder 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 plugins are very well-supported, and users get unlimited updates, plus one year unlimited support with their purchase, backed by a no-risk, 30 day, complete refund guarantee.
This is an exciting product for WordPress users 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 Edition – This license option enables you to use the plugin on 1 domain only. Cost includes full feature set, unlimited updates and 1 year of unlimited support. Price = $59.00.
- Unlimited Sites License – This allows you to set up the plugin on all websites that you personally own. Cost includes full feature set, unlimited updates and one year of unlimited support. Cost = $87.00.
- Agency License Edition – This edition allows you to activate the plugin on all of your own web sites and all client domains. Includes access to Thrive Content Builder, plus all Thrive Themes & Thrive Plugins. Cost = $247.00 per year.
Note: The price of the Thrive Content Builder product depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. The pricing above was current at the time this review was written. This may not be the actual pricing charged by the product author when you visit the product website and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after your purchase.
Check the plugin’s website for the current pricing here:
Additional Info
The developers of the Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder plugin 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 beautiful, pre-designed templates that help make designing your content faster, and on the other hand, you have complete control over the design process and the ability to change everything on your page, using the plugin’s click-to-edit and drag and drop features, which lets you work unhindered by overly complicated steps.
For a demo video of the plugin, including help documentation and tutorials, FAQs, support helpdesk, contact details and more, visit the Thrive website.
Get The Plugin …
If you want to edit something, you click on the element and start editing. If you want to change something, you’ll see the change happen immediately. If you want to move something, all you need to do is simply drag it and drop it into its new location. There are no overly 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.
To learn more, check out the plugin here:
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