WordPress has evolved from being just a simple blogging application to a tool being used to create all kinds of web sites.
Whatever you can think of, someone is probably already building it with WordPress!
In this article you will discover the simplest, most intuitive visual editor for WordPress websites.
Drag & Drop Content Editors For WordPress
Does The WordPress Content Editor Still Meet All Of Your Content Creation And Editing Needs?
With all the many improvements that the WordPress platform has gone through in recent years, many WordPress developers believe that using the default WordPress WYSIWYG content editor to build or edit more complex page layouts can sometimes be quite difficult.
(The default WordPress WYSIWYG editor is great for adding, formatting and editing conventional text and images, but adding more complex layouts can be quite challenging!)
For example, let’s say you want to create something like the content shown below …
Creating the above content in a page would require inserting something that looks like this into your default WordPress visual content editor …
Typically, this is not really an issue … until you have to reconfigure the layout (for example, move some of the content from box 3 into box 2, or change the background colour inside a box from green to light blue. 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 editor, but as you can see, when working with more complex page elements, what you see in the visual editor may not be what you get …
(“What You See” isn’t always “What You Get” … unless you can visualize code!)
In some situations, you could be better off working directly with the html source itself instead of the visual editor when trying to build non-linear page elements …
Even though WordPress is the most user-friendly CMS platform available, this makes it difficult for non-technical website owners to fully manage their own content.
The fundamental issue with having to use HTML and shortcodes to create content with WordPress can be summarized as follows:
1) Speed – How long does 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, what you see in the content editor looks nothing like what you see in the front end. This means that users need to abstract what the content will look like when working with complex layouts. Other solutions require several steps before you can begin configuring your page layout, or endlessly going back and forth between browser tabs and performing tweaks and updates to see how your content is coming along, which interrupts the creative process, as you wait for the content to load.
A number of WordPress web developers have come up with various solutions with the objective of addressing this issue. These range from WP plugins you can add to 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 page layouts easier!)
Some solutions end up requiring so many page-building features, that users need to learn how to work with complicated-looking front end content editors …
Many of these alternative editors work fine, but they don’t really address the fundamental issue of using HTML and shortcodes as described earlier. Creating and adding non-linear content 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 content to look “just right” quickly, this can start to become very frustrating.
Ask yourself this …
If there were no technical constraints, how would you like to build and edit your pages?
Now that you’ve asked this question, visualize this …
- 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 just drag and drop elements around the page, and see them exactly as they will display on the front end without having to mentally visualize any code.
- You have an idea for a specific piece of content you would like to create, so you immediately begin typing, and your web page gets built as you go, with no delays, with no switching of tab browsers, and without waiting for new web content to resave and reload.
Would this not be the ideal way to create 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 page?
(Imagine being able to create complex web page layouts in real-time for your web content with no 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 And Landing Pages
Plugin Description
Thrive Content Builder is a truly intuitive WordPress click-to-edit drag-and-drop content creator and editor.
The Thrive Content Builder plugin provides you with 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 and a menu that lets you select, then drag and drop design elements to your page …
(Thrive Content Builder adds a new visual editor to your WordPress site)
The Thrive Content Builder And Landing Pages plugin is actually a combination of the Thrive Content Builder and Thrive Landing Pages plugins merged into one, plus an additional plugin feature called Thrive Lightbox.
Let’s examine all of the above and how these exciting features work seamlessly together to help you transform and improve your business online and create amazing sales pages, streamlined landing pages and engaging content.
Thrive Content Builder – WordPress Click-To-Edit Drag & Drop Content Creator And Editor
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 configured using simple “drag and drop” and “click-to-edit” …
Once you have placed elements on a page, you can then further customize or edit them without having to go through multiple steps or switching screens …
You can also create highly attractive landing pages and easily edit these …
Thrive Content Builder and Landing Pages is simple, easy to use, and ideal for all WordPress users at all levels. In fact, working on content with the plugin installed is so amazingly simple, that the developers guarantee that you will never look back 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 terrific plugin we’ve recommended on this site.
For more information about using the plugin, see this post:
Benefits
Below we have listed just some of the benefits of using Thrive Content Builder to speed up content creation:
Be Up And Running In Minutes
Thrive Content Builder installs just like any other plugin. Just upload it to your Plugins folder via your WordPress dashboard and activate.
Add & Edit Content In Real Time
Thrive Content Builder is simple and intuitive to use and lets you edit and add content to your web pages in real-time.
A Truly Visual Content Editor
With Thrive Content Builder installed, what you see as you work within the content editor – fonts, elements, page layouts, etc. is exactly what your visitors will see on the front end of your site.
Some additional benefits and advantages include the following:
- Attractive Page Layouts With Drag-And-Drop Ease: Create any layout you can imagine with drag-and-drop ease.
- Add Customizable Elements With No Shortcodes Involved: With Thrive Content Builder you not only get an amazing drag and drop WordPress content builder, but the plugin also includes an impressive collection of professional web design elements that you can customizable and use on your web pages without using short codes, such as pricing tables, styled lists, buttons, responsive maps, etc.
- Ideal For Non-Technical Users: Not having to deal with technical stuff, or having to wait for pages to refresh 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 want done.
(Insert, edit and customize web page elements like testimonial boxes, content toggle, borderless content, call to action buttons, responsive videos, etc.)
Thrive Content Builder Features
Thrive Content Builder provides WP users many great features. Here are just some of those:
- All WordPress Editor Functionality Is Still Available: You have all of the regular text editing options that you are used to (e.g. underlines, justified paragraphs, heading styles, etc.),
- Drag And Drop Elements Menu: 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 includes a range of attention-grabbing and customizable elements that will help you increase the effectiveness of your sales pages, including buttons and call-to-action elements, testimonial boxes, and guarantees. In addition to customization options, various elements also offer multiple design options.
- Mobile-Friendly Design: Add responsive columns, text boxes, content dividers, e.g. which will resize and display correctly on different device screens.
- Add Animation Events To Pages: The plugin’s Event Manager feature lets you create animated page content, trigger lightboxes and more!
(Add Animated Elements To Your Web 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 from initial signup to purchase, product download and more.
(Thrive Landing Pages plugin lets you add conversion-optimized web pages to your website)
Thrive Landing Pages – Benefits
- Hosted on your own WordPress site
- Save time and money designing gorgeous-looking landing pages
- 100% conversion-optimized web page templates
- No technical skills needed
- Works with any theme
Thrive Content and Landing Page Builder not only can be used to create beautiful-looking 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 …
(Landing page template sets that work together logically and use the same conversion-optimized design language)
There are currently over thirty templates available, with more templates planned for release. In addition to the templates that are currently available, expect to see new templates in the future for email lead generation, sales pages, training pages, personal branding pages, webinar pages and more.
Customize Your Landing Page Template
Typically, in order to fully customize landing page templates, you would need to either pay a web developer 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 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 stunning pre-designed pages that are fully optimized and ready to go, and complete design freedom that lets you change and customize anything on the page templates …
The landing page templates included with this plugin let you do the following:
- Modify text in any headline, button, bullet point, etc.
- Delete text, images or any other element of the landing page
- Change the background image and background colours
- Edit the color of buttons, links, text, etc.
- Use your own fonts
- Select your own images and graphics
- Change content area size
- Change the order of elements on your page
- Translate pages into a different language
- Add any kind of custom content inside the pages
- Start with a blank page and create your own page templates, or even build a custom landing pages library.
(Change and customize anything on the page templates)
Transform Your Website Into A Marketing Machine With Thrive Lightbox Plugin
The Thrive plugin combo also includes the Thrive Lightbox plugin, which lets you add fully editable two-step opt-in forms and animated elements to your web pages …
(Add opt-in forms and animated elements to your sales pages with the Thrive Lightbox plugin)
Two-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 …
(Capture more leads and subscribers with a two-step opt-in process)
Event Manager
An “event” consists of a trigger and an action. You can make an opt-in form appear when when visitors click or hover 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 images on your web pages, using various animation effects (e.g. zoom in, slide in from left to right, rotate, etc.
(Set up and manage events on your pages with Thrive Lightbox)
A lightbox and event is created automatically for your landing pages, but you also have complete control over events, triggers and design.
User Testimonials
Below are some of the testimonials and feedback that users have submitted regarding the Thrive Content Builder plugin:
“I have had nothing but the best experience imaginable with this tool since I purchased it. This is by far one of, if not the best plug-in I have purchase to date and it has definitely made working with WordPress a whole new experience. Jim Bond”
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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”
Thrive Content Builder Plugin – Useful Tips
Thrive Content Builder works with any theme in WordPress, not just with the Thrive Landing Pages plugin. Note, however, that you cannot use Thrive Content Builder to edit content that was not created with the plugin.
You can add shortcodes inside Thrive Content Builder or Thrive Landing Pages and they will be displayed correctly on the front end.
Thrive Lightbox works with any content built using Thrive Content Builder.
Thrive Content Builder Support
Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder Plugin comes with free updates, new landing templates and upcoming features. The plugin developers are constantly working on adding new features and improving existing ones.
Thrive plugins are very well-supported, and users get lifetime software updates, plus 1 year unlimited support with their purchase, backed by a risk-free, 30 day, 100% refund guarantee.
This is an exciting product that just keeps 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 Edition – This license lets you set up the plugin on 1 site only. Includes full feature set, unlimited updates and one year of unlimited support. Price = $59.00.
- Unlimited Sites License – This license option allows you to run the plugin on all domains that you own. Includes full feature set, unlimited updates and one year of unlimited support. Price = $87.00.
- Agency Licensing – Use on your websites & on client websites. Includes access to Thrive Content Builder, plus all Thrive Themes & Thrive Plugins. Cost = $247.00 per year.
Note: The cost to purchase Thrive Content Builder can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. Currently, the software is being retailed for the amounts shown above. This may or may not be the actual pricing charged by the software author when you visit the plugin website and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after your purchase.
Check the plugin’s website for the current pricing details:
Additional Information
The Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder plugin developers emphatically 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 conversion-optimized template sets that help to make designing your pages faster, and on the other hand, you also have complete control over the design process and the freedom to edit anything and everything on your web page, using the plugin’s visual content editor, which allows you to get things done without having to go through multiple steps.
For ”how to” videos of the plugin in action, including help documentation and tutorials, FAQs, support help desk, contact details and more, visit the Thrive plugins website.
Install The Plugin …
If you want to edit something, just click on the element and start editing. If you want to change something, you will see the change happen instantly. If you want to move something, all you have to do is drag it and drop it into its new position. There are no extra steps involved.
If you want to transform and improve your web 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.
For full details, check out the plugin here:
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