WordPress has evolved from being just a simple blogging application to a tool being used to create all types of web sites.
Whatever you can think of, someone is most likely already building it with WordPress!
In this article you will discover the ultimate drag and drop front end visual content editor for WordPress websites.
Drag & Drop Content Editors For WordPress
Does The WordPress Visual Content Editor Still Meet All Of Your Page Design Needs?
With so many improvements that WordPress has gone through in recent years, many WordPress users and developers feel that the WordPress content editor is not really suitable for creating or customizing complex layouts.
(The default WordPress editor is great for adding, formatting and editing conventional content, 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 boxes with text and buttons, you would have to insert short codes into your content for each of the elements you want to display to visitors …
Typically, this is not an issue … unless you decide to change your layout (for example, move part of the content from box 3 into box 2, or replace the background colour inside a box from dark green to yellow. Then, you’re stuck having to mess around with code inside the content editor.
The WordPress visual content editor is supposed to provide non-technical users with an easy-to-use WYSIWYG content editor, but as you can see, if you are working with complex layouts, what you see on your editor screen is not exactly what you are getting when your content is published …
(“What You See” isn’t always “What You Get” … unless you can visualize code!)
In some cases, users could even be better off working inside the WordPress html (text) editor tab instead of the WordPress WYSIWYG editor when trying to add complex page elements …
Even though WordPress is the most user-friendly CMS platform available, this makes it hard for WordPress users with no coding skills to fully manage their own content.
The fundamental challenge with having to use shortcodes and HTML to create content in WordPress can be summarized as follows:
1) Speed – How long will it take to create a page using the editor?
2) Abstraction – How closely does the content in the ”back end” resemble 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 does not 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 sophisticated layouts. Other solutions require several steps before you can begin 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 can interrupt the creative process, as you wait for the page to reload.
Many WordPress web developers have come up with a range of solutions with the aim of addressing this issue. These solutions range from stand alone plugins you can add to your site that add new functionality to the editor, to WP themes that provide built-in features like drag and drop editing …
(WordPress “drag and drop” editors aim to make creating complex content easier!)
Some solutions end up including so many page design features, that users end up with complicated-looking front end content editors …
Many of these editors work fine, but they still don’t address the fundamental problem with using shortcodes and HTML as described earlier. Creating and adding 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 your web pages to look “just right” quickly, this can become quite frustrating.
Ask yourself this …
If there were no technical constraints, how would you like your web content builder to work?
Now that you’ve asked this question, imagine the following scenario …
- You spot something in your content that needs to be corrected so you, simply click on the content and start typing. Your content is then instantly edited.
- You can drag and drop items on the page, and see them exactly as they will appear on the front end without having to mentally translate any shortcodes or HTML.
- You have an idea for a specific piece of content that you would like to add, so you immediately start typing, and you build your web page on the fly, without delays, no tab switching, and no waiting for edits to resave and reload.
Would this not be the perfect way to build content for your WordPress site? A true visual content editor where all you have to do is click-to-edit and drag and drop elements around the pages?
(Imagine being able to create complex web pages ”on the fly” 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 Content Builder And Landing Pages
Plugin Description
Thrive Content Builder is a truly intuitive WordPress click-to-edit drag-and-drop content editor.
The Thrive Content Builder plugin provides WordPress users with a new and incredibly easy way to set up conversion-focused pages on any WordPress web site.
Once installed, the plugin adds a visual content editor and a menu that lets you click, then drag and drop design elements to your page …
(Thrive Content Builder adds a new content editor to your WordPress site)
Thrive Content Builder And Landing Pages 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.
We’ll cover all of the above plugins and how these features work together to help you easily transform and improve your web presence and create awesome marketing pages, streamlined landing pages and engaging content.
Thrive Content Builder Plugin
With the Thrive Content Builder plugin, you can easily build complex web page design layouts using drag and drop elements …
Every aspect of your page can be built with “drag and drop” and “click-to-edit” ease …
Once you have placed elements on your page, you can then further customize or edit them without going through multiple steps or opening extra configuration windows …
The built-in Thrive Landing Pages also lets you work inside beautiful landing pages that can also be easily customized …
Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder is simple, easy to use, and ideal for all WordPress users at all levels. In fact, designing web pages with the Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder plugin installed is so amazingly easy, that the developers warn that once you start using it, you’ll never look back!
Go here to learn more: Thrive Content Builder
The integrated Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder plugin was created by the same team that developed Thrive Leads, another terrific plugin that we have written about on this site.
See this page to read about the plugin:
Benefits Of Using Thrive Content Builder And Landing Pages
Below are just some of the many benefits of using Thrive Content Builder to speed up the process of designing pages and creating content for your site:
Fast And Simple To Install And Implement. Ready To Start Using In No Time.
Thrive Content Builder is very easy to install. Simply upload a zip file that contains the plugin files to your Plugin folder via your WP admin login and activate.
Edit And Build Content In Real Time
Thrive Content Builder is is not only very simple to use, it also lets you create and add content right inside your pages in real-time.
A Truly Visual Content Builder
With Thrive Content Builder installed, what you see on the “back-end” as you work within the content editor – typefaces, visual elements, layouts, etc. is exactly what you get on the front end of your site.
Additional benefits include:
- Add Eye-Catching Layouts With Drag & Drop Ease: Create any type of layout you can imagine with intuitive drag and drop functionality.
- Add Design Elements With No Short Codes Involved: With Thrive Content Builder you not only get an exciting and simple-to-use click-to-edit WordPress content builder, but the plugin also includes a very decent collection of customizable design elements that you can customizable and insert into your layouts without using shortcodes, such as pricing tables, borderless content, page section dividers, countdown timers, etc.
- Ideal For Non-Technical Users: Not having to constantly switch tabs as you edit content and then wait for the updates to refresh frees up your attention and allows you to be more focused while you work or click through multiple steps to get what you need done.
(Create, edit and customize web page elements like testimonial boxes, pricing tables, content reveal feature, buttons, countdown timers, etc.)
Thrive Content Builder Features
Thrive Content Builder provides web site owners a number of great features. Here are just a few:
- Regular Content Editor Functionality Is Still Available: You have all of the regular WordPress text editing options that you are used to (e.g. underlines, paragraph formatting, font styles, etc.),
- Drag And Drop Elements Menu: The plugin adds a “drag and drop” table of elements to your post or page screen for editing content.
- Conversion-Boosting Elements: The plugin provides you with various attention-grabbing and customizable elements that will help increase your conversions, including buttons and call-to-action elements, testimonial boxes, and guarantee forms. In addition to customization options, multiple design options are also available for various elements.
- Responsive Web Element Design: Add mobile-friendly elements like column layouts, guarantee boxes, content dividers, e.g. which will adjust to display great on different device screens.
- Add Animation Events To Your Pages: The plugin’s Event Manager feature lets you create animated buttons, trigger lightboxes and more!
(Add Animated Elements To Your Pages)
Thrive Landing Pages Plugin – 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 initial signup to purchase, product download and more.
(Thrive Landing Pages gives you conversion-optimized page templates)
Thrive Landing Pages – Benefits
- Hosted on your own WordPress site
- Save time and money creating and customizing landing pages
- 100% conversion-optimized pages
- No web coding skills needed
- Works with any WordPress theme
Thrive Landing Pages and 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, web page templates that are conversion-optimized and fully customizable …
(Thrive Landing Pages provides sets of templates 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 existing templates, the developers plan to release new templates for email lead generation, sales pages, lesson pages, personal branding pages, webinar pages and more.
Customizable Landing Page Template Sets
Normally, to be able to fully customize landing page templates, you would need to either pay a web developer to do the work, or learn web coding languages like HTML and CSS 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 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 stunning pre-designed web pages that are fully optimized and ready to go, and complete design freedom that allows you to change and edit any element of your page template …
The landing page templates included with this plugin let you do the following:
- Change text in all headlines, buttons, bullet points, etc.
- Delete text, images or any other component of the landing page
- Change the background image or background color
- Change the color of text, buttons, links, etc.
- Select your own fonts
- Select your own images and graphics
- 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 the pages
- Use pre-designed, customized pages, or create your own from scratch and save them as new web page templates.
(Change and edit anything on your page)
Transform Your WordPress Website Into A Powerful Marketing Machine With Thrive Lightbox Plugin
The Thrive package includes Thrive Lightbox, which lets you add fully configurable 2-step opt-in forms and events to your web pages …
(Add opt-in forms and animation to your marketing pages with Thrive Lightbox)
Thrive Lighbox Two-Step Opt-in Forms
A 2-step opt-in process helps improve your conversion rates. When visitors click on a button or image they are presented with your opt-in form …
(Opt-in forms can increase your conversion rates.)
Thrive Lightbox Event Manager
An “event” consists of a trigger and an action. You can make an opt-in form appear when your visitor clicks or hovers their mouse 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 pages, using various effects (e.g. fade in, slide in from bottom to top, roll in, etc.
(Set up and manage events on your web pages with the Thrive Lightbox plugin)
Lightboxes and events are created automatically for your landing pages, but you also have complete control over events, triggers and design.
Testimonials
Below are just a few of the testimonials that plugin users have published about 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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“I’m blown away by the plugin. Keep up the incredible, WordPress changing work, guys! Dean Phillips”
Thrive Content Builder Plugin – Tips
Thrive Content Builder works with any WordPress theme, not just with the Thrive Landing Pages plugin. Note, however, that you cannot use Thrive Content Builder to edit content on pages or posts that were not created with the plugin installed.
You can add WordPress shortcodes inside Thrive Content Builder or Thrive Landing Pages and they will display correctly on the front end.
Thrive Lightbox works with any content built with Thrive Content Builder.
Plugin Support
Thrive Content Builder and Landing Pages provides free updates, new landing templates and upcoming features. The Thrive team is constantly working on adding new features and improving existing ones.
Thrive products are well-supported, and users get lifetime updates, plus one year unlimited support with their purchase, backed by a no-risk, 30 day, full money-back guarantee.
This is an exciting product that will just keep getting better.
Product Cost
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 – This allows you to set up the plugin on a single web site. Includes full feature set, unlimited updates and one year of unlimited support. Cost = $59.00.
- Unlimited Sites Edition – This license option enables you to configure the plugin on all of your personal sites. Includes full feature set, unlimited updates and one year of unlimited support. Cost = $87.00.
- Agency Licensing – This license option lets you activate the plugin on all of your own websites and your client domains. Pricing includes access to Thrive Content Builder, plus all Thrive Themes & Thrive Plugins. Price = $247.00 per year.
Please Note: Current pricing for this product depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. Currently, the product retails for the amounts shown above. This may not be the actual price set by the software developer when you visit the website and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after you’ve purchased.
Check the plugin’s website for current pricing details:
Additional 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 the time-saving benefits of ready-made web page elements and beautiful, conversion-optimized templates that help to speed up page design and content creation, and on the other hand, you also have 100% control over your design process and the freedom 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 help desk, contact details and more, visit the Thrive website.
Download The Plugin …
If you want to edit something, you just click on the element and start editing. If you want to change something, do it, and 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 position. There are no unnecessary steps involved.
If you want to transform and improve your web site and create awesome sales pages and content, this plugin delivers an incredible conversion-boosting package with a single, inexpensive plugin.
For more information, check out the plugin here:
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