WordPress has evolved from being just a simple blogging tool to a tool being used to create all kinds of web sites.
Whatever you can think of, somewhere around the world someone is most likely already building it using WordPress!
In this article you will discover the fastest and easiest to use visual content builder for WordPress sites.
Drag & Drop Content Editors For WordPress
Is The Default WordPress Editor Still Meeting All Of Your Web Design Needs?
Using the WordPress editor to build or edit sophisticated web site pages can be difficult for non-technical WordPress users.
(The WordPress content editor is great for adding, formatting and editing conventional text and images, but adding more complex content elements can be quite challenging!)
For example, if you look at the screenshot below …
Adding the above to a page would require inserting something like this into the WordPress visual editor …
Generally, this is not an issue … unless you choose to reconfigure your layout (for example, move some of the content from box 3 into box 2, or replace the background colour inside box 1 from dark green to dark red. Then, you’re stuck having to mess around with code.
The WordPress visual editor is supposed to give non-technical users an easy-to-use WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor, but as you can see, if you are trying to add more complex layouts, what you see on your editor screen may not be what you are getting when your content goes live …
(“What You See” isn’t always “What You Get” … unless you can visualize code!)
In some instances, you could be better off working with the html source itself 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 non-technical users to have full control of their own content.
The fundamental issue about using HTML and shortcodes to create content with WordPress can be summarized as follows:
1) Speed – How long will it take to build a web 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 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 have to abstract what the content will look like when working with complex layouts. Other solutions require taking multiple 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 progressing, which then affects how quickly you can create your content, as you wait for the content to reload.
Many WordPress developers have come up with a range of solutions aiming to make the visual editor more intuitive. Some of these range from plugins you can install on your site that add new functionality to the editor, to WordPress themes that include built-in features like drag and drop editing …
(WordPress “drag and drop” editors aim to make content creation easier!)
Some solutions end up combining so many page design features, that users need to learn how to work with complicated-looking front end content editors …
Many of these alternative solutions work, but they don’t really address the fundamental problem with using shortcodes and HTML as described earlier. Creating and adding 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 very frustrating after a while.
Ask yourself this …
If there were no technical constraints, how would you like your web page editor to work?
Now that you’ve asked this question, imagine the following …
- You spot something in the content that needs fixing so you, simply click on the content and start changing it. Your content has been instantly edited.
- You can drag and drop elements around the page, and see them exactly as they will appear on the front end without having to mentally translate shortcodes or HTML.
- You have an idea for a specific piece of content that you’d like to create, so you immediately start typing, and your page gets built as you go, with no delays, no tab switching, and without waiting for new web content to reload.
Would this not be the perfect way to build content for your WordPress site? A true visual content builder where all you have to do is click-to-edit and drag and drop elements around the pages?
(Imagine being able to create complex page layouts quickly 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 And Landing Pages – WordPress Click-To-Edit Drag And Drop Content And Landing Page Creation Plugin
Plugin Description
Thrive Content Builder is a truly intuitive WordPress click-to-edit drag and drop content creation tool.
Thrive Content Builder is a new and exciting way to set up conversion-focused pages on any WordPress web site.
Once installed, Thrive Content Builder adds a visual content editor and a sidebar menu that lets you click, then drag and drop elements to your web page …
(Thrive Content Builder adds a new visual content builder 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 a look at each of the above and how these powerful features work together to help you easily transform and improve your business online and create amazing marketing pages and engaging content.
Thrive Content Builder – WordPress Plugin
Thrive Content Builder lets you easily add content to your web pages and build complex page layouts using drag and drop elements …
Every aspect of your page can be built by ”clicking-to-edit” and “dragging and dropping” things around the page …
Once you have positioned elements on a page, you can continue to further customize these without having to go through additional steps or opening extra configuration windows …
The built-in functionality of the plugin also lets you build stunning landing pages that can just as easily be edited or customized …
Thrive Content Builder is simple, easy to use, and ideal for all WordPress users at all levels. In fact, working on content with the Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder plugin installed is so effortlessly simple, that the developers guarantee that once you start using it, you’ll never look back!
More info: Thrive Content Builder
The integrated Thrive Content and Landing Page Builder plugin was created by the same team that developed Thrive Leads, another terrific plugin for WordPress that we have previously reviewed on this site.
See this article to read about this plugin:
Plugin Benefits
Here are just some of the benefits and advantages of using Thrive Content Builder to speed up the process of creating content for your WordPress web site:
Quick And Simple To Install And Configure. Be Up And Running In Very Little Time.
Thrive Content Builder installs just like any other WordPress plugin. Simply upload it to your Plugins folder via your WP admin login and activate.
Create & Edit Content In Real Time
Thrive Content Builder is very simple to use and lets you build content in real-time.
What You See Is Really What You Get
With Thrive Content Builder installed, what you see as you work within the editor – typefaces, visual elements, page layouts, etc. is exactly what your visitors will see in the front end of your site.
Additional benefits of using the plugin include:
- Design Attractive Web Page Layouts With Drag & Drop Ease: Create any layout you can imagine with intuitive drag and drop functionality.
- Customizable Elements Included: With the Thrive Content Builder plugin you not only get a click-to-edit WordPress content editor, but the plugin also includes a very decent collection of functional and attractive design elements that you can customizable and add to your web pages without using shortcodes, such as content toggle, feature grids, page section dividers, custom HTML and CSS, etc.
- Ideal For Non-Technical Users: Not having to wait for the updated content to reload frees up your attention and allows you to build the content your business needs, quickly and without having to edit code or click through multiple steps to get what you need done.
(Create, edit and customize web page elements like testimonial boxes, content toggle, borderless content, dividers, responsive Google map embeds, etc.)
Features
Thrive Content Builder offers WP users many great features. Here are just a few of these:
- All Content Editor Functionality Is Still Available: You have access to all of the built-in WordPress editing options that you are used to (e.g. underline, centering text, headings, etc.),
- Drag And Drop Multi-Style Elements: The plugin adds a “drag and drop” list of elements to your post or page screen for creating or editing content.
- Conversion-Boosting Elements: The plugin includes various eye-catching and customizable elements that will help you increase the effectiveness of your sales pages, including buttons and call-to-action elements, testimonials, and guarantees. In addition to customization options, various elements also offer multiple design options.
- Mobile-Friendly Design: Add responsive columns, text boxes, content section dividers, e.g. which will display correctly on different screens.
- Add Animation Events To Pages: Thrive Content Builder’s Event Manager feature lets you create animations, trigger lightboxes and more!
(Add Animated Elements To Your 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 add conversion-optimized web pages to your web site)
Thrive Landing Pages Plugin – Benefits
- Everything is hosted on your own WordPress site
- Save time building stunning landing pages for your website
- 100% conversion-optimized landing pages
- No technical skills required
- Works with all themes
Thrive Content and Landing Page 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, 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 that are currently available, expect to see new templates in the future for email lead generation, sales pages, course pages, personal branding pages, webinar pages and more.
Fully Customizable Landing Page Template Sets
Typically, to be able to fully customize a 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 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 complex 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 great-looking pre-designed web page templates that are fully optimized and ready to go, and complete design freedom that allows you to change or edit any element of your page …
With the landing page templates included with this plugin, you can:
- Modify text in all bullet points, buttons, headlines, etc.
- Delete text, images or any other element of your landing page
- Change the background image or background colors
- Edit the color of buttons, links, text, etc.
- Use your own fonts
- Select your own images
- Edit content area size
- Change the order of page elements
- Translate everything on the page into a different language
- Add any type of custom content inside the pages
- Start with a blank page and create your own templates, or even build a library of custom landing page templates.
(Change and customize any element of the page templates)
Thrive Lightbox – Transform Your WordPress Site Into A Marketing Machine
The Thrive package also includes Thrive Lightbox, which lets you add fully customizable two-step opt-in forms and events to your content pages …
(Add lead capture forms and animated elements to your pages with Thrive Lightbox)
Two-Step Opt-in Forms
A two-step opt-in process helps to increase your conversion rates. Visitors click on a button or image, 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 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 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 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.
Testimonials From Users
Below are a few of the testimonials users have written about Thrive Content Builder:
”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”
***
“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 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 short codes inside Thrive Content Builder or Thrive Landing Pages and they will be displayed correctly when published.
Thrive Lightbox works with any content built using Thrive Content Builder.
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 unlimited software upgrades, plus 1 year unlimited support with their purchase, backed by a risk-free, 30 day, full refund guarantee.
This is an exciting product for WordPress users that will just keep getting better.
Plugin 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 run the plugin on one site only. Includes full feature set, unlimited updates and one year of unlimited support. Price = $59.00.
- Unlimited Sites License Edition – This lets you set up the plugin on unlimited web sites that you personally own. Pricing includes full feature set, unlimited updates and one year of unlimited support. Cost = $87.00.
- Agency Licensing – Use on your domains & on all your client web sites. Price includes access to Thrive Content Builder, plus all Thrive Themes & Thrive Plugins. Price = $247.00 per year.
Please Note: Current pricing for the product depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. The above reflects the current pricing at the time this article was written. This may not be the actual price charged by the product author when you visit the plugin site and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after purchasing.
Check the plugin’s website for the current pricing details here:
Additional Plugin Information
The Thrive Content and Landing Page Builder plugin developers 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 time-saving features like ready-made web page elements and beautiful, conversion-optimized template sets that help make designing your content faster, and on the other hand, you 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 lets you see exactly how the content you are working on will appear when published.
For a demo video of the plugin, including help documentation and tutorials, FAQs, customer 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’ll see the change happen instantly. If you want to move something, you drag it and drop it into its new position. There are no additional steps involved.
If you want to transform and improve your web site and create amazing marketing pages and content, this plugin delivers an incredible conversion-boosting package with a single, inexpensive plugin.
To learn more, visit the plugin website here:
***