WordPress has evolved from being just a simple blogging application to a tool that can be used to create all kinds of sites.
Whatever you can think of, somewhere around the world someone is most likely already building it using WordPress!
This article will help you discover the simplest, most intuitive visual content editor for WordPress.
Drag & Drop Content Editors For WordPress
Does The WordPress WYSIWYG Editor Still Meet All Of Your Page Design Needs?
Using the default WordPress WYSIWYG content editor to build or edit complex content elements can be quite challenging.
(The built-in WordPress editor is great for adding, formatting and editing conventional content, but adding more complex layouts can be challenging!)
For example, if you look at the screenshot below …
Adding the above to your content would require adding something that looks like this in your default WordPress visual content editor …
Typically, this is not really an issue … unless you choose to change something in your layout (for example, move some of the content from box 1 into box 2, or replace the button in box 3 from green to maroon. Then, you’re stuck having to mess around with code inside the editor.
The WordPress visual editor is supposed to give non-technical users an easy-to-use WYSIWYG content editor, but as you can see, when working with complex content elements, often what you see in the WordPress content editor screen may not be the same as what you get …
(“What You See” isn’t always “What You Get” … unless you can visualize code!)
In some instances, users could even be better off working directly inside the WordPress html editor tab instead of the WordPress WYSIWYG editor when trying to add something other than simple layouts …
Even though WordPress is very user-friendly, this makes it hard for users without coding skills to fully manage their own content.
The fundamental challenge with using HTML and shortcodes to create content in WordPress 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 editor resemble the “front end” content when you are creating or editing a page?
As you can see from the above image, what you see when working in the editor looks nothing like what you see in the front end. This means that you have to translate mentally what your content will look like when working with sophisticated layouts. Other solutions require several steps before you can begin configuring your page layout, or endlessly switching browser tabs and performing tweaks and updates to see how your content is progressing, which can impact how fast you can create your content, as you wait for the content to load.
Many WordPress developers have come up with various solutions with the aim of making content editing easier. Some of these range from plugins you can add to 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 creating complex content easier!)
Some solutions end up combining 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 HTML and shortcodes 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 to create or edit complex layouts quickly, this can become quite frustrating.
Ask yourself this …
If there were no technical constraints, how would you like your content editor to behave?
Now that you’ve asked this question, visualize this …
- You see something in your content that needs to be changed so you, just click on the content and start writing. Your content has been instantly edited.
- You can just drag and drop elements around the page, and see them exactly as they will display on the front end without having to mentally abstract from code.
- You have an idea for a specific piece of content that you would like to create, so you just begin typing, and you build your web page on the fly, without delays, without switching tabs, and no waiting for pages to reload.
Would this not be the perfect way to build content for your WordPress web site? Just click-to-edit and drag and drop elements around the pages and posts?
(Imagine being able to create complex page layouts in real-time 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 Landing Pages And Content Builder
Plugin Description
Thrive Content Builder is a truly intuitive click-to-edit drag-and-drop content and landing page editing plugin for WordPress.
The Thrive Content Builder plugin 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 design elements on your web page …
(Thrive Content Builder adds a new visual content editing option to WordPress)
Thrive Content And Page Builder is actually a combination of the Thrive Content Builder and Thrive Landing Pages plugins rolled 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 these powerful features work together to help you easily transform and improve your website and create awesome marketing pages, streamlined landing pages and engaging content.
Thrive Content Builder Plugin
This plugin lets you easily add content to your web pages and build complex page layouts using drag and drop elements …
Everything on your page can be created using “drag and drop” and “click-to-edit” …
Once elements have been added to a page, you can continue to further customize these without going through additional steps or complicated configuration screens …
The built-in Landing Pages editor also lets you build beautiful landing pages that can just as easily be edited or customized …
Thrive Content Builder and Landing Pages 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 simple, that the developers warn that you will never look at creating and adding content the same way once you start using it
Learn more here: Thrive Content Builder
Thrive Content Builder and Thrive Landing Pages were created by the same team that developed Thrive Leads, another fantastic plugin for WordPress that we have previously written about on this site.
To read more about this plugin, go here:
Benefits
Below we have listed just some of the benefits and advantages of using Thrive Content Builder to speed up your page design and content creation process:
Fast And Simple To Install And Use. Ready To Use In Minutes.
Thrive Content Builder is very easy to install. Simply upload the plugin file to your Plugin folder via your dashboard and activate.
Add And Edit Content In Real Time
Thrive Content Builder is really simple and intuitive to use and lets you build content in real-time.
What You See Is Exactly What You Get
With Thrive Content Builder installed, what you see as you work within the content editor – fonts, visual elements, layouts, etc. is exactly what you get on the front end of your site.
Additional benefits of using this plugin include the following:
- Stunning Layouts With Drag & Drop Ease: Create any kind of layout you can imagine with intuitive drag and drop functionality.
- Add Customizable Elements Without Short Codes: With Thrive Content Builder you not only get a visually exciting drag and drop content builder, but the plugin also includes a jaw-dropping collection of web design elements that you can customizable and add to your content layouts without using shortcodes, for e.g.: columns, styled lists, page section dividers, responsive video embeds, etc.
- Ideal For Non-Technical Users: Not having to wait for your page to reload frees up your attention and allows you to build the content your business needs, quickly and without having to deal with code or click through multiple layers of menus to get what you need done.
(Easily create, edit and customize page elements like testimonial boxes, tabbed content, borderless content, buttons, responsive Google maps, etc.)
Features
Thrive Content Builder offers many great features to website owners. Below we have listed just a few:
- All WordPress Editor Functionality Is Still Available: You have all of the built-in content editing options that you are used to (e.g. bold, centering text, font styles, 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 creating or editing content.
- Conversion-Boosting Elements: The plugin includes various eye-catching and customizable elements that will help increase your conversions, including buttons and call-to-action elements, testimonials, and guarantee forms. In addition to being customizable, multiple design options are also available for various elements.
- Responsive Web Element Design: Add responsive elements like column layouts, text boxes, section dividers, e.g. which will resize and display great on different device screens.
- Add Animation To Web Pages: The 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 from initial signup to purchase, product download and more.
(Thrive Landing Pages gives you access to conversion-optimized page templates)
Thrive Landing Pages – Benefits
- Everything is hosted on your own WordPress site
- Save time and money designing web pages for your website
- 100% conversion-optimized pages
- No web coding skills needed
- Works with any WordPress theme
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, conversion optimized page templates and fully customizable …
(Landing page sets that work together logically and use the same conversion-optimized design language)
There are 30+ templates available, with more templates being worked on. In addition to the templates shown above, the developers plan to release new web page templates for email lead generation, sales pages, training pages, personal branding pages, webinar pages and more.
Customize Your Landing Page Template
Normally, in order to fully customize a landing page template, you would need to either hire a web site designer to do the work, or learn web coding languages like HTML and CSS 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 mess around with 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 building 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 or customize any aspect of the page templates …
The landing page templates included with this plugin let you do the following:
- Edit text in any button, headline, bullet point, etc.
- Delete text, images or any other part of the landing page
- Change any background images or background colour
- Change the color of links, buttons, text, etc.
- Use your own fonts
- Use your own images
- Edit content area size
- Rearrange the order of elements on the page
- Translate everything on the page into a different language
- Add any type of custom content anywhere inside the pages
- Start with a blank web page and create your own page templates, or even build your own library of custom landing pages.
(Change and customize anything on your page)
Thrive Lightbox – Transform Your WordPress Website Into A Powerful Marketing Machine
The Thrive package also includes Thrive Lightbox, which lets you add fully customizable 2-step opt-in forms and animated objects to your WordPress site …
(Add lead capture forms and events to your pages with Thrive Lightbox)
Thrive Lighbox 2-Step Opt-in Forms
A two-step opt-in process helps to increase your conversion rates. When visitors click on a button or image they are presented with your opt-in form …
(When visitors click on the button, they 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 reaches a certain point on the page. You can also use the Event Manager to animate images on your pages, using various effects (e.g. fade out, slide in from left to right, roll out, 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 all events, triggers and design.
Feedback From Users
Below are a few of the testimonials and feedback 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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”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”
Plugin Tips
Thrive Content Builder works with any theme in WordPress, not just with Thrive Landing Pages. You cannot use Thrive Content Builder to edit content on pages or posts that were not created with the plugin.
You can add shortcodes inside Thrive Content Builder or Thrive Landing Pages and they will display correctly when published.
Thrive Lightbox works with any content built with Thrive Content Builder.
Plugin Support
Thrive Content Builder Plugin provides 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 well-supported, and users get unlimited software upgrades, plus 1 year unlimited support with their purchase, backed by a risk-free, thirty day, full money-back guarantee.
This is an exciting product 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 Edition – This allows you to set up the plugin on a single website. Pricing includes full feature set, unlimited updates and 1 year of unlimited support. Cost = $59.00.
- Unlimited Sites Licensing – This enables you to use the plugin on all of your personal websites. Includes full feature set, unlimited updates and 1 year of unlimited support. Cost = $87.00.
- Agency Edition – Use on all your sites & on client sites. Pricing includes access to Thrive Content Builder, plus all Thrive Themes & Thrive Plugins. Price = $247.00 per year.
Please Note: Pricing details of Thrive Content Builder can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. Currently, the software retails for the prices shown above. This may or may not be the actual pricing charged by the software author when you visit the site and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after your purchase.
Check the plugin’s website for the latest pricing here:
Additional Info
The Thrive Content and 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, pre-designed template sets that help speed up content creation, and on the other hand, you have 100% control over the design process and the freedom to change everything on your page, using the plugin’s visual content editor, which allows you to work unhindered by overly complicated steps.
For a demo video of the plugin, including help documentation and tutorials, FAQs, customer help desk, contact details and more, visit the Thrive Content Builder website.
In Conclusion …
If you want to edit something, just click on the element and start editing. If you want to change something, do it, and you’ll see the change happen instantly. 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 web site and create awesome marketing pages, streamlined landing pages and engaging content, this plugin delivers an incredible conversion-boosting package with a single, inexpensive plugin.
For full details, visit the plugin website:
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