WordPress has evolved from being just a simple blogging application into a tool that is now being used to create all types of web sites.
Whatever you can imagine, somewhere around the world someone is most likely already building it using WordPress!
This article will help you discover the fastest and easiest to use visual content editor for WordPress web sites.
Drag And Drop Content Editors For WordPress
Is The WordPress Content Editor Still Meeting All Of Your Content Creation Needs?
With all the many improvements that WordPress has gone through in recent years, many WordPress developers and users feel that using the default WordPress WYSIWYG content editor to create or edit more complex layouts can be difficult.
(The WordPress editor is great for adding, formatting and editing “linear” text and images, but adding more complex content elements can be challenging!)
For example, if you look at the screenshot below …
To add the above boxes with text and buttons to your content would require typing something that looks like this inside your WordPress content editor …
Normally, this is not an issue … until you have to change a fundamental aspect of the layout (for example, move some of the content from box 1 into box 2, or change the button inside box 1 from dark green to blue. Then, you’re stuck having to mess around with page code.
The WordPress visual editor is supposed to provide non-technical users with an easy-to-use WYSIWYG editor, but as you can see, when working with complex content elements, often what you see may not be what you are going to get when your content goes live …
(“What You See” isn’t always “What You Get” … unless you can visualize code!)
In some instances, you may even be better off working with the html source itself instead of the WordPress WYSIWYG editor when trying to add something other than simple layouts …
Even though WordPress is extremely easy to use, this makes it hard for WordPress site owners without coding skills to fully manage their own content.
The fundamental challenge about having to use HTML and shortcodes to create content in the default WordPress WYSIWYG editor can be summarized as follows:
1) Speed – How long will it take to build a web page using the editor?
2) Abstraction – How closely does the content in the editor resemble the content in the “front end” when you are creating or editing a page?
As you can see from the above image, what you see in the editor doesn’t 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 several steps before you can begin configuring your page layout, or endlessly going back and forth between tabs and performing updates to see how your content is progressing, which then impacts how quickly you can create your content, as you wait for the new content to reload.
Many WordPress developers have tried to come up with various solutions with the aim of addressing this issue. Some of these range from WordPress plugins you can install on your site that add new functionality to the editor, to themes that offer 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-building features, that users need to learn how to work with complicated-looking front end editors …
Many of these solutions work, but they don’t address the fundamental issue of using HTML and shortcodes as described earlier. 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 content quickly, this can become quite frustrating after a while.
Ask yourself this …
If there were no technical constraints, how would you like your content builder to behave?
Now, visualize this …
- You spot something in your content that needs correction so you, just click on the content and start changing it. Your content has been instantly fixed.
- You simply drag and drop items on the page, and see them exactly as they will display on the front end without having to mentally translate any HTML or shortcodes.
- You have an idea for a specific piece of content that you would like to add, so you simply begin typing, and you build your page on the fly, with no delays, no tab switching, and no waiting for new pages to refresh and reload.
Would this not be the ideal way to build content for your WordPress site? Just click-to-edit and drag and drop elements around the posts and pages?
(Imagine being able to create complex page layouts quickly 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 – WordPress Click-To-Edit Drag & Drop Content Editing Plugin
Plugin Description
Thrive Content Builder is a truly intuitive WordPress click-to-edit drag-and-drop content builder plugin.
The Thrive Content Builder plugin is a new and exciting way to set up conversion-focused pages on any WordPress website.
Once installed, the plugin adds a visual content editor with a sidebar menu that lets you select, then drag and drop elements to your page …
(Thrive Content Builder adds a new content editing option to WordPress)
The Thrive Landing Pages And Content Builder plugin 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’ll take an in-depth look at each of the above plugins and how all of this functionality works seamlessly together to help you easily transform and improve your site and create amazing sales pages, streamlined landing pages and engaging content.
Thrive Content Builder Plugin
You can easily build complex web page design layouts using drag and drop elements …
Every aspect of your web page can be designed using simple ”click-to-edit” and “drag and drop” …
Once you have placed elements on your page, you can continue to further customize or edit them without going through additional steps or complicated option windows …
You can also work inside highly attractive landing pages that can also be easily 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 Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder installed is so effortlessly simple, that the developers warn that you’ll never look back once you start using it
For more details about the plugin go here: Thrive Content Builder
Thrive Content Builder and Thrive Landing Pages were created by the same team that developed Thrive Leads, another great plugin that we have recommended on this site.
To learn more about the plugin, see this page:
Benefits
Here we have listed just a few of the benefits and advantages of using Thrive Content Builder to speed up the process of creating content for your site:
Fast And Simple To Install And Configure. Ready To Go To Work In No Time.
Thrive Content Builder installs just like every WordPress plugin. Simply upload a zip file containing the plugin files to your Plugins folder via your administrator area and activate.
Build & Edit Content In Real Time
Thrive Content Builder is is not only simple and intuitive to use, it also lets you edit and add content to your pages in real-time.
What You See Is Truly What You Get
With Thrive Content Builder installed, what you see on the “back end” as you work within the editor – typefaces, visual elements, layouts, etc. is exactly what your visitors will see in the front end of your site.
Some additional benefits include:
- Eye-Catching Page 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 a visually exciting drag and drop content editor, but the plugin also includes a collection of professional web design elements that you can customizable and insert into your web pages without using short codes, such as tabbed content, guarantee boxes, testimonials, responsive videos, etc.
- Distraction-Free Content Creation: Not having to constantly switch tabs as you tweak content and then wait for the updates 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 want done.
(Create, edit and customize page elements like testimonial boxes, tabbed content, star ratings for review pages, call to action buttons, Google Map embeds, etc.)
Thrive Content Builder Features
Thrive Content Builder provides WordPress users many unique features. Here are just a few of these:
- Built-In WordPress Editor Functionality Is Still Available: You have access to all of the regular WordPress text editing options that you are used to (e.g. underlines, paragraph formatting, heading styles, etc.),
- Drag And Drop Multi-Style Elements: The plugin adds a “drag and drop” list of elements to your post or page screen when editing content.
- Conversion-Boosting Elements: The plugin comes with a range of attention-grabbing and customizable elements that will help increase the effectiveness of your sales pages, including buttons and call-to-action elements, testimonials, and guarantees. In addition to being customizable, various elements also offer multiple design options.
- Responsive Element Design: Add responsive elements like column layouts, guarantee boxes, section dividers, e.g. which will resize and display great on different device screens.
- Add Animation To Your Pages: Thrive Content Builder’s Event Manager feature lets you create animated page elements, trigger lightboxes and more!
(Add Animated Elements To Your Pages)
Thrive Landing Pages Plugin – 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 all the way from signup to purchase, product download and more.
(Thrive Landing Pages gives you conversion-optimized page templates)
Thrive Landing Pages Plugin – Benefits
- Hosted on your own WordPress site
- Save time and money creating pages for your web site
- 100% conversion-optimized web page templates
- No technical skills required
- Works with any theme
Thrive Content Builder and Landing Pages not only lets you 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 …
(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 planned for future release. In addition to the templates that are currently available, expect to see new templates in the future for email lead generation, sales pages, course pages, personal branding pages, webinar pages and more.
Fully Customizable And Flexible Landing Page Template
Normally, in order to have a fully customizable landing page template, you would need to either pay a web site designer to do the work, or learn how to code web pages 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 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 attractive pre-designed page templates that are fully optimized and ready to go, and complete design freedom that allows you to change and edit anything on your page template …
The landing page template sets included with this plugin let you do the following:
- Change text in any bullet point, headline, button, etc.
- Remove text, images or any other component of the landing page
- Change all background images and background colors
- Change the color of text, buttons, links, etc.
- Select your own fonts
- Use your own images
- Edit the size of the content area
- Change the order of page elements
- Translate everything on the page into different languages
- Add custom content anywhere in any of the pages
- Start with a blank page and create your own page templates, or even build your own custom landing pages library.
(Change or customize any element of your page template)
Transform Your WordPress Site Into A Powerful Marketing Machine With Thrive Lightbox
The Thrive plugin combo includes the Thrive Lightbox plugin, which lets you add fully editable 2-step opt-in forms and animated objects to your pages …
(Add opt-in forms and animated elements to your pages with Thrive Lightbox)
Thrive Lighbox Two-Step Opt-in Forms
A 2-step opt-in process can increase your conversion rates. Visitors click on an image or button, and then they are presented with your opt-in form …
(Opt-in forms help to increase your conversion rates.)
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 their mouse over a button or an image, or when someone reaches a certain point on the page. You can also use the Event Manager to animate images on your page, using various animation effects (e.g. fade in, slide in from right to left, roll out, etc.
(Set up and manage events on your pages with the Thrive Lightbox plugin)
A lightbox and event is created automatically for your landing pages, but you also have complete control over the events, triggers and design.
User Feedback
Here are just a few of the testimonials that customers 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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“I’m blown away by the plugin. Keep up the incredible, WordPress changing work, guys! Dean Phillips”
Thrive Content Builder – 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 installed.
You can add WordPress short codes inside Thrive Content Builder or Thrive Landing Pages and they will be displayed correctly when published.
Thrive Lightbox works with any content built using Thrive Content Builder.
Support
Thrive Content and Landing Page Builder 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 software is well-supported, and users get lifetime software updates, plus 1 year unlimited support with their purchase, backed by a risk-free, thirty day, 100% money-back guarantee.
This is an exciting product for WordPress users 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 License – This edition allows you to use the plugin on 1 domain only. Cost includes full feature set, unlimited updates and 1 year of unlimited support. Cost = $59.00.
- Unlimited Sites Licensing – This license option allows you to install the plugin on unlimited web sites that you personally own. Includes full feature set, unlimited updates and one year of unlimited support. Cost = $87.00.
- Agency Edition – Use on all your web sites & on client domains. Includes access to Thrive Content Builder, plus all Thrive Themes & Thrive Plugins. Price = $247.00 per year.
Please Note: The price of this product depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. The above reflects the price when this review was published. This may not be the actual price charged by the software author when you visit the site and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after purchasing.
Check the plugin’s website for the current pricing here:
Additional Information
The Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder plugin developers 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 templates that help speed up the content creation process, and on the other hand, you also have 100% control over your design process and the ability to change everything on your web page, using the plugin’s click-to-edit and drag and drop features, that lets you get things done without having to keep switching tabs or going through multiple steps.
For demo videos of the plugin, including installation instructions and tutorials, FAQs, customer help desk, contact details and more, visit the Thrive plugins website.
Install This 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 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 extra steps involved.
If you want to transform and improve your business online and create amazing sales pages and content, Thrive Content and Page Builder delivers an incredible conversion-boosting package with a single, inexpensive plugin.
For more details, visit the plugin website:
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