WordPress has evolved from being just a simple blogging application into a tool that can be used to create all types of web sites.
Whatever you can imagine, somewhere around the world someone is bound to be already building it using WordPress!
This article will help you discover how to create beautiful layouts with drag & drop ease in WordPress.
Drag And Drop Content Editors For WordPress
Does The Default WordPress Visual Editor Still Meet All Of Your Web Design Needs?
Using the WordPress visual content editor to build or edit sophisticated layouts can sometimes be quite difficult for non-technical WordPress users.
(The built-in WordPress WYSIWYG editor is great for adding, formatting and editing conventional content, but adding more complex page elements can be quite challenging!)
For example, if you look at the illustration below …
To create the above layout, users would normally have to add short codes to the content for each of the elements they would like to add to their page …
Typically, this is not an issue … unless you choose to edit an element in your layout (for example, move part of the content from box 3 into box 2, or change the background color inside a box from dark green to dark red. Then, you’re stuck having to mess around with page code or html.
The WordPress visual content editor is supposed to give users an easy-to-use WYSIWYG content editor, but as you can see, if you are trying to add more complex layouts, what you see on your editor screen is not exactly what you are going to get when the page gets published …
(“What You See” isn’t always “What You Get” … unless you can visualize code!)
In some instances, users could even be better off working with the html source itself instead of the visual editor when trying to create fancy layouts …
Even though WordPress is extremely easy to use, this makes it difficult for non-technical users to have full control of their own content.
The fundamental challenge about using shortcodes and HTML to create content in the default WordPress WYSIWYG editor can be summarized by asking two questions:
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 “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 doesn’t look even remotely similar to what you see in the front end. This means that you have to translate mentally what the content will look like when working with complex layouts. Other solutions require taking several steps before you can begin configuring your page layout, or endlessly switching tabs and performing updates to see how your content is coming along, which can affect how fast you can create your content, as you wait for the updated content to reload.
Many WordPress web developers have come up with a range of solutions with the objective of addressing this issue. Some of these alternative solutions range from plugins you can install on your site that add new functionality to the editor, to WP themes that include built-in features like drag and drop editing …
(WordPress “drag and drop” editors aim to make creating complex page layouts easier!)
Some solutions end up combining 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 fine, but they still don’t address the fundamental issue of using shortcodes and HTML as described earlier. Creating, 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 your page content to look ”perfect” 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, imagine this …
- You look at your content and if you spot something that needs to be fixed, just click on the content and start writing. Your content has been instantly changed.
- You can just 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 any HTML or shortcodes.
- You have an idea for a specific piece of content that you would like to create, so you simply begin typing, and your page gets built on the fly, without delays, with no switching tabs, and without having to wait for new web pages to resave and reload.
Would that not be the ideal way to create content for your website? Just click-to-edit and drag and drop elements around the posts and pages?
(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 Plugin – Create Stunning Content Faster And Beautiful Page Layouts With Drag & Drop Ease In WordPress Websites
Plugin Description
Thrive Content Builder is a revolutionary plugin for WordPress that lets you quickly create stunning content layout using a true WYSIWYG 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 website.
Once installed, Thrive Content Builder adds a visual content editor with a sidebar menu that lets you select, then drag and drop design elements to your page …
(Thrive Content Builder adds a new visual content builder to WordPress)
The 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.
In this article we’ll take an in-depth look at each of the above plugins and how these exciting features work together to help you transform and improve your business online and create amazing marketing pages and content.
Thrive Content Builder Plugin
This plugin lets you easily add complex design layouts to your web pages using drag and drop elements …
Every element on your web page can be configured using simple ”click-to-edit” and “drag and drop” …
Once elements have been positioned on the page, you can then further edit them without going through multiple steps or switching tabs …
You can also create beautiful landing pages that can also be easily edited …
Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder is simple, easy to use, and ideal for all WordPress users at all levels. In fact, designing pages and working on content with the plugin installed is so effortlessly simple, that the developers warn that once you start using it, you’ll never look back!
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 excellent plugin for WordPress we’ve recommended on this site.
Go here to read more about this plugin:
Benefits
Below we have listed just some of the many benefits of using Thrive Content Builder to speed up content creation:
Ready To Use In Very Little Time
Thrive Content Builder installs just like every other plugin. Simply upload it to your Plugin folder via your WordPress admin area and activate.
Real-Time Content Content Editing
Thrive Content Builder is very simple to use and lets you edit and add content right inside your pages in real-time.
What You See Is Exactly What You Get
With Thrive Content Builder installed, what you see as you work within the editor – fonts, elements, layouts, etc. is exactly what your visitors will see in the front end of your site.
Additional benefits of the plugin include the following:
- Stunning Web Page Layouts With Drag And Drop Ease: Create any type of layout you can imagine with drag-and-drop ease.
- Design Elements Included: With Thrive Content Builder you not only get an exciting and simple-to-use drag and drop content builder, but the plugin also includes a collection of functional and attractive design elements that you can insert into your content layouts without using short codes, like content toggle, text boxes, testimonials, countdown timers, 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 or edit your content or click through multiple steps to get what you want done.
(Insert, edit and customize web page elements like testimonials, flat design elements, content reveal feature, page section dividers, responsive videos, etc.)
Features
Thrive Content Builder offers a number of features to web site owners. Below we have listed just a few:
- Built-In Editor Functionality Is Preserved: You have all of the regular WordPress editing options that you are used to (e.g. underline, justified text, headings, etc.),
- Drag And Drop Elements Menu: The plugin makes a “drag and drop” table 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, multiple design options are also available for various elements.
- Responsive Design: Add responsive elements like columns, boxes, content section 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 insert animated page elements, trigger lightboxes and more!
(Add Animated Elements To Your Web Pages)
Thrive Landing Pages – 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 pages to your site)
Thrive Landing Pages Plugin – Benefits
- Everything is hosted on your own WordPress site
- Save time and money building pages for your site
- 100% conversion-optimized page templates
- No technical skills needed
- Works with all WordPress 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, conversion optimized landing 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 templates shown above, expect to see new templates in the future for email lead generation, sales pages, course pages, personal branding pages, webinar pages and more.
Customize Your Landing Page Template Sets
Normally, to be able to fully customize landing page templates, 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 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 great-looking pre-built page templates that are fully optimized and ready to go, and complete design freedom that lets you change and edit anything on the page template …
The landing page template sets included with this plugin let you do the following:
- Change text in all bullet points, headlines, buttons, etc.
- Remove text, images or any other component of your landing page
- Change all background images and background colours
- Edit the color of buttons, links, text, etc.
- Use your own fonts
- Select your own images and graphics
- Change 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 the pages
- Start with a blank page and create your own page templates, or even build your own library of custom landing page templates.
(Change and edit any aspect of the page)
Thrive Lightbox – Transform Your Website Into A Marketing Machine
The Thrive plugin package includes the Thrive Lightbox plugin, which lets you add fully configurable 2-step opt-in forms and animated elements to your website …
(Add lead capture forms and animated elements to your WordPress web site with the Thrive Lightbox plugin)
Thrive Lighbox 2-Step Opt-in Forms
A 2-step opt-in process helps improve your conversion rates. When visitors click on an image or button they are presented with your opt-in form …
(2-step opt-in forms help increase your conversion rates.)
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 reaches a certain point on the page. You can also use the Event Manager to animate attention-getting elements on your web pages, using a range of animation effects (e.g. zoom out, slide in from right to left, rotate, etc.
(Set up and manage events on your WordPress pages with Thrive Lightbox)
Lightboxes and events are created automatically for your landing pages, but you also have complete control over all events, triggers and design.
Testimonials
Below are some of the testimonials and comments that plugin customers have submitted regarding the Thrive Content Builder plugin:
”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 – Tips
Thrive Content Builder works with any WordPress theme, 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 the Content Builder or Landing Pages plugin and they will display correctly when published.
Thrive Lightbox works with any content you build with Thrive Content Builder.
Product Support
Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder provides free updates, new landing pages and upcoming features. The plugin developers are constantly working on adding new features and improving existing ones.
Thrive software is very well-supported, and users get unlimited upgrades, and 1 year unlimited support with their purchase, backed by a risk-free, 30 day, complete 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 License Edition – This license lets you activate the plugin on a single domain. It includes full feature set, unlimited updates and one year of unlimited support. Cost = $59.00.
- Unlimited Sites License Edition – This lets you use the plugin on unlimited web sites that you own. Includes full feature set, unlimited updates and 1 year of unlimited support. Cost = $87.00.
- Agency Edition – This lets you run the plugin on all of your own web sites and any client web sites. Includes access to Thrive Content Builder, plus all Thrive Themes & Thrive Plugins. Price = $247.00 per year.
Note: The price of the Thrive Content Builder product can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. The price above was correct when this content was written. This may not be the actual price charged by the product developer when you visit the plugin site and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after your purchase.
Check the plugin’s website for the latest pricing details:
Additional Plugin Info
The Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder plugin developers 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 time-saving features like ready-made page elements and beautiful, pre-designed template sets that help to make designing your content faster, and on the other hand, you have 100% control over the design process and the ability to change and customize anything and everything on your page, using the plugin’s visual content editor, that lets you see exactly how the content you are working on will look on the “front end” when published.
For a demo video of the plugin, including help documentation and tutorials, FAQs, support help desk, contact details and more, visit the plugin website.
Download This Plugin …
If you want to edit something, you just 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 location. There are no unnecessary steps involved.
If you want to transform and improve your site and create amazing marketing 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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