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 imagine, somewhere around the world someone is most likely already building it with WordPress!
In this article you will discover the fastest WYSIWYG content builder for WordPress.
Drag And Drop Content Editors For WordPress
The WordPress Editor – Is There An Easier Way To Create And Edit Content In WordPress?
With all the rapid advancements that the WordPress platform has undergone in recent years, many WordPress developers and users believe that the WordPress content editor is more suitable for performing ”linear” content editing (e.g. text running down the page with wraparound images or videos, etc.), than creating or editing content elements within sophisticated layouts.
(The WordPress editor is great for adding, formatting and editing “linear” content, but adding more complex content elements can be challenging!)
For example, if you look at the illustration below …
To create the above layout, you would normally have to insert shortcodes into your content for every page element you want to create …
Normally, this is not really an issue … unless you need to reconfigure the layout (for example, move part of the content from box 3 into box 2, or replace the background colour inside a box from bright red to purple. Then, you’re stuck having to mess around with page code.
The WordPress content editor is supposed to provide non-technical users with an easy-to-use WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) content editor, but as you can see, if you are trying to add complex page elements, what you see on your screen is not really what you get …
(“What You See” isn’t always “What You Get” … unless you can visualize code!)
In some cases, users may even be better off working directly inside the html editor tab instead of the WordPress visual editor when trying to create something other than simple layouts …
Even though WordPress is very user-friendly, this makes it hard for WordPress users with no knowledge of HTML or CSS to fully manage their own content.
The fundamental problem with having to use HTML and shortcodes to create content in the default WordPress WYSIWYG editor can be summarized by asking two questions:
1) Speed – How long will it take to build a web page using this 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 screenshot, what you see in the back end 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 sophisticated layouts. Other solutions require taking several steps before you can begin configuring your page layout, or endlessly switching browser tabs and performing updates to see how your content is progressing, which then impacts how fast you can create your content, as you wait for the new content to load.
A number of WordPress web developers have tried to come up with different solutions to try to address this issue. These range from plugins you can add to your site that add new functionality to the editor, to WordPress 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 page-building features, that users end up with complicated-looking front end content editors …
Many of these editors work, but they don’t address the fundamental issue of using shortcodes and HTML as described earlier. Creating, adding and editing 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 to create or edit complex page layouts quickly, this can start to become quite frustrating.
Ask yourself this …
If there were no technical constraints, how would you like to build and edit your content?
Now, imagine this …
- You look at your content and if you spot something that needs to be corrected, simply click on the content and start changing it. Your content has been instantly fixed.
- You just drag and drop elements on the page, and see them exactly as they will display on the front end without having to mentally abstract from HTML or shortcodes.
- You have an idea for a specific piece of content you would like to create, so you simply begin typing, and you build your web page as you go, without delays, no switching of tab browsers, and without having to wait for new pages to republish and reload.
Would that not be the perfect way to create content for your website? A true visual editor where all you have to do is click-to-edit and drag and drop elements around your pages?
(Imagine being able to create complex web pages quickly 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 Plugin – The Fastest WYSIWYG Content Builder For WordPress
Plugin Description
Thrive Content Builder is a unique WordPress plugin that allows website owners to quickly add amazing content to their posts and pages using a truly visual click-to-edit and drag and drop content editor.
The Thrive Content Builder plugin provides WordPress users with a new and exciting way to set up conversion-focused pages on any WordPress site.
Once installed, Thrive Content Builder adds a visual content editor with a menu that lets you drag and drop elements to your page …
(Thrive Content Builder adds a new visual editor to WordPress)
The Thrive Landing Pages And Content Builder 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.
We’ll cover each of the above and how all of this exciting functionality works together to help you transform and improve your web site and create awesome sales 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 …
Every aspect of your web page can be created with “drag and drop” and “click-to-edit” ease …
Once elements have been added to the page, you can then easily edit or customize them without going through additional steps or switching screens …
You can also work inside highly attractive landing pages that can just as easily be edited or 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 and working on content with Thrive Content Builder installed is so amazingly easy, that the developers guarantee that once you start using it, it’ll ruin the experience of using all other content editors forever, and you’ll never look back!
Go here to learn more about the plugin: Thrive Content Builder
Thrive Content Builder and Thrive Landing Pages were created by the same team that developed Thrive Leads, another excellent plugin we’ve reviewed on this site.
To read about the plugin, see this post:
Benefits
Here are just a few of the benefits and advantages of using Thrive Content Builder to speed up the process of creating content for your web site:
Easy, Quick & Simple To Install
Thrive Content Builder is really easy to install. Simply upload a zip file that contains the plugin files to your Plugin folder via your WP dashboard and activate.
Real-Time Content Content Editing
Thrive Content Builder is simple and intuitive to use and lets you edit and add content to your pages in real-time.
A Truly Visual Editor
With Thrive Content Builder installed, what you see on the “backend” as you work within the editor – typefaces, elements, layouts, etc. is exactly what your visitors will see in the front end of your site.
Some additional plugin benefits include:
- Eye-Catching Layouts With Drag-And-Drop Ease: Create any layout you can imagine with drag and drop ease.
- Add Design Elements Without Using Short Codes: With the Thrive Content Builder plugin you not only get an exciting and easy-to-use click-to-edit content editor, but the plugin also includes a jaw-dropping collection of professional design elements that you can customizable and insert into your web pages without using shortcodes, such as content toggle, content reveal feature, testimonials, Google Map embeds, etc.
- Ideal For Non-Technical Users: Not having to deal with technical stuff, or having to wait for the updates to load 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.
(Add, edit and customize web page elements like testimonial boxes, tabbed content, table of contents builder, buttons, responsive video embeds, etc.)
Thrive Content Builder Features
Thrive Content Builder provides many features to site owners. Here are just a few of these:
- All WordPress Editor Functionality Is Preserved: You have access to all of the regular WordPress editing options that you are used to (e.g. bold formatting, centering text, heading 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 for editing content.
- Conversion-Boosting Elements: The plugin provides you with 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, testimonials, and guarantees. In addition to being customizable, multiple design options are also available for various elements.
- Responsive Element Design: Add mobile-friendly elements like columns, guarantee boxes, dividers, e.g. which will resize and display correctly on different device screens.
- Add Animation Events To Your Pages: The Event Manager feature lets you insert animation in buttons, 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 from initial signup to purchase, product download and more.
(Thrive Landing Pages lets you add conversion-optimized web pages to your site)
Thrive Landing Pages Plugin – Benefits
- Everything is hosted on your own WordPress site
- Save time designing stunning web pages for your site
- 100% conversion-optimized web pages
- No web coding skills required
- Works with all WordPress themes
Thrive Content and 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, conversion optimized 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 30 templates available, with more templates planned for future release. In addition to the templates shown above, the developers plan to release new page templates for email lead generation, sales pages, course pages, personal branding pages, webinar pages and more.
Fully Customizable And Flexible Landing Page Template Sets
Typically, to be able to have fully customizable landing page templates, you would need to either pay 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 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 edit any element of your page template …
With the landing page templates included with this plugin, you can:
- Change text in any bullet point, headline, button, etc.
- Remove text, images or any other element of your landing page
- Replace the background image and edit colour
- Edit the color of links, buttons, text, etc.
- Select your own fonts
- Use your own images
- Change content area size
- Change the order of web page elements
- Translate pages into different languages
- Add custom content anywhere in your pages
- Use pre-designed, customized pages, or create your own pages from scratch and save them as new web page templates.
(Change and edit any element of your page templates)
Thrive Lightbox Plugin – Transform Your Site Into A Marketing Machine
The Thrive package includes the Thrive Lightbox plugin, which lets you add fully editable two-step opt-in forms and animated objects to your web pages …
(Add lead capture forms and animated objects to your WordPress website with Thrive Lightbox)
Thrive Lighbox 2-Step Opt-in Forms
A two-step opt-in process helps to improve your conversion rates. When visitors click on a button or image 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 opt-in forms appear when when visitors click or hover their mouse 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 various animation effects (e.g. zoom in from the page center, slide in from top to bottom, roll in, etc.
(Set up and manage events on your sales pages with Thrive Lightbox)
A lightbox and event is created automatically for your landing pages, but you also have complete control over your events, triggers and design.
User Feedback
Here are a couple of the testimonials and feedback users have provided 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. Note, however, that you cannot use Thrive Content Builder to edit content that was not created with the plugin installed.
You can add WordPress shortcodes inside Thrive Content Builder or Thrive Landing Pages and they will display correctly when published.
Thrive Lightbox works with any content you build using Thrive Content Builder.
Support
Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder provides free updates, new landing pages and upcoming features. The Thrive team is constantly working on adding new features and improving existing ones.
Thrive software is well-supported, and users get unlimited updates, and 1 year unlimited support with their purchase, backed by a no-risk, thirty day, full money-back guarantee.
This is an exciting product that just keeps 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 enables you to configure the plugin on 1 domain only. It includes full feature set, unlimited updates and one year of unlimited support. Price = $59.00.
- Unlimited Sites License – This lets you set up the plugin on unlimited web sites that you personally own. Price includes full feature set, unlimited updates and one year of unlimited support. Price = $87.00.
- Agency Licensing – This lets you install the plugin on all of your own websites and any client web sites. Includes access to Thrive Content Builder, plus all Thrive Themes & Thrive Plugins. Price = $247.00 per year.
Note: Pricing details of this product depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. Currently, the software is being retailed for the amounts shown above. This may not be the actual price set by the plugin author when you visit the plugin website and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after your purchase.
Check the plugin’s website for current pricing details:
Additional Info
The developers of the Thrive Content Builder and Landing Pages plugin 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 time-saving features like ready-made page elements and beautiful, pre-designed template sets that help make designing your content faster, and on the other hand, you have 100% control over the design process and the freedom to edit everything on your web page, using the plugin’s click-to-edit and drag and drop features, which allows you to work unhindered by overly complicated options.
For a demo video showing how the plugin works, including help documentation and tutorials, FAQs, customer helpdesk, contact details and more, visit the plugin website.
The Bottom Line …
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 will see the change happen instantly. If you want to move something, just drag it and drop it into its new position. There are no complicated steps involved.
If you want to transform and improve your web site and create amazing marketing pages, streamlined landing pages and engaging content, Thrive Content Builder and Landing Pages delivers an incredible conversion-boosting package with a single, inexpensive plugin.
For more details, visit the plugin website here:
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