WordPress has evolved from being just a simple blogging application into a tool that can be used to create all kinds of websites.
Whatever you can think of, someone is most likely already building it using WordPress!
This article will help you discover the fastest visual content builder for WordPress sites.
Drag And Drop Content Editors For WordPress
Is The WordPress Visual Editor Meeting All Of Your Web Design Needs?
With so many developments that the WordPress platform has gone through in recent years, many WordPress users and developers believe that using the default WordPress visual content editor to create or edit complex page layouts can sometimes be difficult.
(The default WordPress content editor is great for adding, formatting and editing conventional text and media, but adding more complex layouts can be challenging!)
For example, if you look at the illustration below …
To create the above in a page would require typing something like this in your default WordPress visual editor …
Normally, this is not an issue … unless you want to reconfigure your layout (for example, move part of the content from box 1 into box 2, or replace the button inside box 3 from bright red to gold. Then, you’re stuck having to mess around with page code or html.
The WordPress visual editor is supposed to provide non-technical users with an easy-to-use WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor, but as you can see, if you are trying to edit more complex page elements, what you see in the visual editor is not exactly what you get …
(“What You See” isn’t always “What You Get” … unless you can visualize code!)
In some situations, users would probably be better off working directly with the html source itself instead of the WordPress WYSIWYG editor when trying to create fancy layouts …
Even though WordPress is extremely easy to use, this makes it hard for non-technical users to have full control of their own content.
The fundamental challenge with having to use shortcodes and HTML to create content in the default WordPress editor can be summarized by asking two questions:
1) Speed – How long does it take to build a web 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 in the editor does not look even remotely similar to what you see in the front end. This means that users have to abstract what the content will look like when working with complex layouts. Other solutions require taking multiple 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 progressing, which can interrupt the creative process, as you wait for your new content to load.
Many WordPress developers have come up with different solutions with the aim of making the visual editor easier. These range from stand alone 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 content creation easier!)
Some solutions end up including so many complex page-building features, that users end up with complicated-looking front end content editors …
Many of these alternative editors work, but they still don’t address the fundamental challenge of using HTML and shortcodes as described earlier. Adding and editing sophisticated content elements 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 to create or edit complex layouts quickly, this can become really frustrating after a while.
Ask yourself this …
If there were no technical constraints, how would you like your page editor to behave?
Now that you’ve asked this question, visualize this …
- You spot something in the content that needs changing so you, just click on the content and start changing it. Your content has been instantly edited.
- You can drag and drop elements around the page, and the page looks exactly as it will appear on the front end without having to mentally abstract from HTML or shortcodes.
- You have an idea for a specific item of content you would like to add, so you simply start typing, and your page gets built as you go, with no delays, without switching tabs, and without having to wait for new web pages to refresh.
Would this not be the perfect way to build content for your web site? A true visual editor where all you have to do is click-to-edit and drag and drop elements around the posts and pages?
(Imagine being able to create complex pages in real-time 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 And Landing Page Builder – WordPress Click-To-Edit Drag And Drop Content Editor
Plugin Description
Thrive Content Builder is a revolutionary WordPress plugin that lets you easily build stunning content pages using a truly visual click-to-edit and drag and drop content editor.
The Thrive Content Builder plugin provides you with a new and exciting way to speed up the process of creating great content on your WordPress website.
Once installed, the plugin adds a visual content editor and a menu that lets you click, then drag and drop design elements on your web page …
(Thrive Content Builder adds a new content 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 combined into one, plus an additional plugin feature called Thrive Lightbox.
We will cover each of the above and how all of this functionality works together to help you easily transform and improve your site and create amazing sales pages, streamlined landing pages and engaging content.
Thrive Content Builder – WordPress Click-To-Edit Drag & Drop Content Creator
You can easily add complex design layouts to your web pages using drag and drop elements …
Every aspect of your web page can be configured by dragging and dropping things around the page and then clicking to edit them …
Once elements have been positioned on your page, you can then customize these without having to go through multiple steps or complicated settings windows …
The built-in functionality of the plugin also lets you work inside beautiful landing pages that can just as easily be edited or customized …
Thrive Content and Page Builder is simple, easy to use, and ideal for all WordPress users at all levels. In fact, designing web pages with the Thrive Content Builder plugin installed is so effortlessly easy, that the developers warn that you’ll never look back once you start using it
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 terrific plugin for WordPress that we have written about on this site.
To learn more about using the plugin, see this page:
Plugin Benefits
Here we have listed just a few of the benefits of using Thrive Content Builder to speed up your page design and content creation process:
Fast And Easy To Install And Configure. Be Up And Running In No Time.
Thrive Content Builder installs just like every plugin. Simply upload it to your Plugins folder via your dashboard and activate.
Real-Time Content Content Creation
Thrive Content Builder is is not only really simple and intuitive to use, it also lets you create content in real-time.
A Truly Visual Content Editor
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.
Some additional benefits include:
- Add Beautiful Layouts With Drag-And-Drop Ease: Create any type of layout you can imagine with drag and drop ease.
- Design Elements Included: With Thrive Content Builder you not only get an exciting and simple-to-use click-to-edit content editor, but the plugin also includes a very decent collection of customizable web design elements that you can customizable and insert into your content layouts without using short codes, for e.g.: tabbed content, feature grids, call to action buttons, code insert boxes, etc.
- Ideal For Non-Technical Users: Not having to wait for your content to load 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.
(Add, edit and customize web page elements like testimonials, columns, content boxes, page section dividers, countdown timers, etc.)
Thrive Content Builder Features
Thrive Content Builder offers website owners many unique features. Here are just some of those features:
- Regular Content Editor Functionality Is Preserved: You have access to all of the regular content editing options that you are used to (e.g. bold, paragraph formatting, headings and font sizes, etc.),
- Drag And Drop Elements Menu: The plugin adds a “drag and drop” list of elements to your post or page screen for editing content.
- Conversion-Boosting Elements: The plugin provides you with various eye-catching and customizable elements that will help you increase your sales conversions, including buttons and call-to-action elements, testimonials, and guarantee forms. In addition to being customizable, various elements also offer multiple design options.
- Responsive Design: Add mobile-friendly elements like column layouts, boxes, content section dividers, e.g. which will display great on different-sized screens.
- Add Animation To Pages: Thrive Content Builder’s Event Manager feature lets you insert animations, 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 signup to purchase, product download and more.
(Thrive Landing Pages plugin gives you access to conversion-optimized web page templates)
Thrive Landing Pages – Benefits
- Everything is hosted on your own WordPress site
- Save time designing web pages
- 100% conversion-optimized landing pages
- No technical skills needed
- Works with all themes
Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder not only lets you create beautiful content in your WordPress posts and pages, but you can also choose from dozens of beautifully designed, conversion optimized web page templates and fully customizable …
(Landing page template sets that work together logically and use the same conversion-optimized design language)
There are currently 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, lesson pages, personal branding pages, webinar pages and more.
Customizable Landing Page Template
Normally, to be able to fully customize landing page templates, 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 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-designed web pages that are fully optimized and ready to go, and complete design freedom that lets you change or edit anything on the page template …
The landing page template sets included with this plugin let you do the following:
- Edit text in all buttons, headlines, bullet points, etc.
- Remove text, images or any other part of your landing page
- Change the background image and background colors
- Edit the color of links, buttons, text, etc.
- Choose your own fonts
- Select your own images
- Edit content area size
- Rearrange the order of web page elements
- Translate pages into a different language
- Add custom content in any of the pages
- Use pre-designed, customized pages, or create your own landing pages from scratch and save them as new web page templates.
(Change or customize any aspect of the page template)
Thrive Lightbox – Transform Your Website Into A Marketing Machine
The Thrive package also includes Thrive Lightbox, which lets you add fully editable two-step opt-in forms and animated elements to your web site …
(Add lead capture forms and animated elements to your pages with Thrive Lightbox)
2-Step Opt-in Forms
A two-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 2-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 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 a range of effects (e.g. fade in, slide in from left to right, roll in, etc.
(Set up and manage events on your web 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.
Feedback From Users
Here are a couple of the testimonials that customers 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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”Your stuff is beautifully designed, fast and has great options for marketers that you just don’t see with other themes. Great, great job! Absolutely love Thrive! David Coleman”
Thrive Content Builder Plugin – Tips
Thrive Content Builder works with any WordPress theme, not just with the Thrive Landing Pages plugin. You cannot use Thrive Content Builder to edit content that was not created with the plugin.
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 plugin developers are constantly working on adding new features and improving existing ones.
Thrive products are really well-supported, and users get unlimited updates, plus 1 year unlimited support with their purchase, backed by a risk-free, thirty day, 100% refund guarantee.
This is an exciting product that will just keep getting better.
Software 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 Licensing – This allows you to configure the plugin on one site only. Cost includes full feature set, unlimited updates and one year of unlimited support. Price = $59.00.
- Unlimited Sites License – This allows you to use the plugin on all domains that you own. It includes full feature set, unlimited updates and 1 year of unlimited support. Price = $87.00.
- Agency Licensing – This edition allows you to activate the plugin on all of your own domains and all client web sites. It includes access to Thrive Content Builder, plus all Thrive Themes & Thrive Plugins. Cost = $247.00 per year.
Please Note: Pricing details of Thrive Content Builder can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. When we last checked, the software is selling for the pricing shown above. This may not be the actual pricing set by the product developer when you visit the plugin site and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after your purchase.
Check the plugin’s website for the current price here:
Additional Info
The developers of the Thrive Content and Page Builder plugin repeatedly assert 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 pages faster, and on the other hand, you have complete control over your design process and the freedom to edit anything and everything on your web page, using the plugin’s click-to-edit and drag and drop features, that allows you to work unhindered by overly complicated steps.
For ”how to” videos of the plugin, including installation instructions and tutorials, FAQs, support help desk, contact details and more, visit the plugin website.
In Conclusion …
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 immediately. If you want to move something, just drag it and drop it into its new position. There are no additional steps involved.
If you want to transform and improve your web presence and create awesome sales pages, streamlined landing pages and engaging content, this plugin delivers an incredible conversion-boosting package with a single, inexpensive plugin.
For more information, visit the plugin website:
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