WordPress has evolved from being just a simple blogging application to a tool that can be used to create all kinds of websites.
Whatever you can imagine, somewhere around the world someone is most likely already building it with WordPress!
This article will help you discover how to create stunning content faster and design beautiful page layouts with drag & drop ease in WordPress websites.
Drag & Drop Content Editors For WordPress
Does The WordPress WYSIWYG Editor Still Meet All Of Your Web Design Needs?
Using the built-in WordPress visual content editor to create or edit sophisticated layouts can be difficult.
(The built-in WordPress editor is great for adding, formatting and editing conventional content, but adding more complex page elements can be challenging!)
For example, if you look at the screenshot below …
To create the above boxes with text and buttons, users would normally need to insert short codes into the content for each element they want to display …
Generally, this is not really an issue … unless you have to reconfigure your layout (for example, move some of the content from box 1 into box 2, or change the button in a box from dark green to light green. Then, you’re stuck having to mess around with page code.
The WordPress editor is supposed to be an easy-to-use WYSIWYG content editor, but as you can see, if you are working with complex layouts, what you see may not be what you are going to get when your content is published …
(“What You See” isn’t always “What You Get” … unless you can visualize code!)
In some cases, you could even be better off working with the html source itself instead of the WordPress visual editor when trying to create something other than simple page elements …
Even though WordPress is the most user-friendly CMS platform available, this makes it difficult for non-technical website owners to have full control of their own content.
The fundamental problem with using shortcodes and HTML to create content in WordPress can be summarized as follows:
1) Speed – How long will it take to create a web page using this 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 screenshot, what you see when working in the back end looks nothing like what you see in the front end. This means that users have to mentally translate what the content will look like when working with complex layouts. Other solutions require taking several steps before you can start configuring your page layout, or endlessly going back and forth between browser tabs and performing updates to see how your content is coming along, which can interrupt the creative process, as you wait for your updates to load.
A number of WordPress web developers have come up with a range of solutions with the goal of making content editing more intuitive. Some of these alternative solutions range from stand alone WordPress plugins you can add to your site that add new functionality to the editor, to themes that include 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 combining 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 really seem to address the fundamental problem with using shortcodes and HTML as described earlier. Creating, adding and editing non-linear content 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 page layouts quickly, this can start to become very frustrating after a while.
Ask yourself this …
If there were no technical constraints, how would you like your web page builder to function?
Now, imagine the following …
- You look at your content and if you spot something that needs to be fixed, just click on the content and start changing it. Your content is then 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 code.
- You have an idea for some content that you would like to create, so you just start typing, and your web page gets built on the fly, with no delays, without tab switching, and without waiting for new web pages to republish and reload.
Would that not be the perfect way to create content for your site? Just click-to-edit and drag and drop elements around your pages?
(Imagine being able to create complex page layouts 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 Builder And Landing Pages – WordPress Click-To-Edit Drag & Drop Content Editing Plugin
Plugin Description
Thrive Content Builder is a truly intuitive click-to-edit drag and drop content editing plugin for WordPress.
Thrive Content Builder provides you with a new and exciting way to speed up the process of creating content on your WordPress website.
Once installed, Thrive Content Builder adds a visual content editor and an item menu that lets you select, then drag and drop elements to your page …
(Thrive Content Builder adds a new visual editor to WordPress)
The Thrive Content Builder And Landing Pages 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.
Let’s examine each of the above plugins and how all of this powerful functionality works seamlessly together to help you easily transform and improve your web presence and create awesome marketing pages, streamlined landing pages and engaging content.
Thrive Content Builder
With Thrive Content Builder easily add content to your web pages using drag and drop elements …
Every element on your web page can be configured by ”clicking-to-edit” and “dragging and dropping” things around the page …
Once elements have been added to your page, you can then continue to edit or customize these without going through additional steps or switching screens …
The built-in Landing Pages editor also lets you work inside stunning 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, working on content with Thrive Content Builder and Landing Pages installed is so amazingly simple, that the developers warn that you will never look at the process of creating and adding content the same way 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 great plugin for WordPress that we have written about on this site.
For more information about using this plugin, see this post:
Benefits
Below we have listed just some of the many benefits of using Thrive Content Builder to speed up the process of creating content for your website:
Fast And Simple To Install And Configure. Be Up And Running In Minutes.
Thrive Content Builder installs just like any plugin. Just upload the plugin file to your Plugin folder via your WP admin area and activate.
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 on the “backend” as you work within the editor – typefaces, visual elements, page layouts, etc. is exactly what you get in the front end of your site.
Additional benefits of the plugin include the following:
- Beautiful Web Page Layouts With Drag And Drop Ease: Create any type of layout you can imagine with drag and drop ease.
- Customizable Elements Included: With Thrive Content Builder you not only get a drag and drop content editor, but the plugin also includes a collection of design elements that you can use on your layouts without using short codes, such as tabbed content, feature grids, call to action buttons, HTML code insert boxes, etc.
- Ideal For Non-Technical Users: Not having to wait for for your updated content 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 need done.
(Easily insert, edit and customize page elements like testimonial boxes, tabbed content, feature grids, section dividers, responsive maps, etc.)
Thrive Content Builder Features
Thrive Content Builder provides web site owners many great features. Here are just some:
- Built-In WordPress Content Functionality Is Still Available: You have all of the built-in content editing options that you are used to (e.g. underlines, paragraph centering, headings and font sizes, etc.),
- Drag And Drop Multi-Style Elements Menu: The plugin adds a “drag and drop” list of elements to your post or page screen when creating or editing content.
- Conversion-Boosting Elements: The plugin includes a range of attention-grabbing and customizable elements that will help you increase your conversions, including buttons and call-to-action elements, testimonials, and guarantee forms. In addition to customization options, multiple design options are also available for various elements.
- Responsive Element Design: Add responsive columns, boxes, dividers, e.g. which will adjust to display great on different device screens.
- Add Animation Events 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 Web Pages)
Thrive Landing Pages Plugin – Landing Page Sets
Landing page sets are 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 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 landing pages for your website
- 100% conversion-optimized landing page templates
- No tech skills needed
- Works with all WordPress themes
Thrive Content and Landing Page Builder not only lets you create beautiful-looking content in your WordPress posts and pages, but you can also choose from dozens of beautifully designed, page templates that are conversion-optimized and fully customizable …
(Landing page sets that work together logically and use the same conversion-optimized design language)
There are currently over thirty templates available, with more templates being worked on. In addition to the templates shown above, the developers plan to release new page templates for email lead generation, sales pages, training pages, personal branding pages, webinar pages and more.
Completely Customizable And Flexible Landing Page Template Sets
Typically, to be able to fully customize landing page templates, you would need to either pay a web developer to do the work, or learn web coding languages like HTML and CSS 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 complex 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 web pages 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:
- Edit text in any button, headline, bullet point, etc.
- Remove text, images or any other element of the landing page
- Replace the background image or colours
- Edit the color of text, buttons, links, etc.
- Use your own fonts
- Select your own images
- Change the size of the content area
- Rearrange the order of elements on your pages
- Translate pages into different languages
- Add any type of custom content in the pages
- Use pre-designed, customized pages, or create your own pages from scratch and save them as new page templates.
(Change or customize any element of your page template)
Thrive Lightbox – Transform Your Site Into A Marketing Machine
The Thrive plugin package includes the Thrive Lightbox plugin, which lets you add fully customizable two-step opt-in forms and animated elements to your WordPress site …
(Add lead capture forms and animation to your pages with the Thrive Lightbox plugin)
Two-Step Opt-in Forms
A two-step opt-in process helps improve your conversion rates. Visitors click on a button or image, and then they are presented with your opt-in form …
(When visitors click on the button, they are presented with an opt-in form)
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 an image, 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 a range of effects (e.g. zoom in, slide in from top to bottom, roll out, 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 the events, triggers and design.
User Feedback
Here are a few of the testimonials and comments that customers have written about the Thrive Content Builder plugin:
”You guys are simply awesome I am loving everything you are doing at the moment. Keep up the great work you really are making such a big difference in this field. Jule Fuller”
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“I’m blown away by the plugin. Keep up the incredible, WordPress changing work, guys! Dean Phillips”
Thrive Content Builder Plugin – Tips
Thrive Content Builder works with any theme in WordPress, 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 shortcodes inside the Content Builder or Landing Pages plugin and they will be displayed correctly when published.
Thrive Lightbox works with any content you build with 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 software is well-supported, and users get lifetime software upgrades, and 1 year unlimited support with their purchase, backed by a risk-free, 30 day, full money-back guarantee.
This is an exciting product for WordPress users that just keeps getting better.
Software 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 License – This enables you to activate the plugin on a single web site. Includes full feature set, unlimited updates and one year of unlimited support. Price = $59.00.
- Unlimited Sites License – This license allows you to activate the plugin on all domains that you own. Price includes full feature set, unlimited updates and one year of unlimited support. Cost = $87.00.
- Agency Licensing – This option allows you to set up the plugin on all of your own websites and all client web sites. Includes access to Thrive Content Builder, plus all Thrive Themes & Thrive Plugins. Cost = $247.00 per year.
Please Note: The cost of purchasing the product can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. When we last checked, the plugin retails for the prices shown above. This may not be the actual price set by the software developer when you visit the website and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after your purchase.
Check the plugin’s website for the current pricing information:
Additional Information
The Thrive Content Builder and Landing Pages 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 the time-saving benefits of ready-made web page elements and conversion-optimized template sets that help to make designing your content faster, and on the other hand, you have complete control over the design process and the ability to change 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 showing plugin usage, including installation instructions and tutorials, FAQs, support helpdesk, contact details and more, visit the Thrive website.
Get This Plugin …
If you want to edit something, just click on the element and start editing. If you want to change something, you’ll see the change happen immediately. If you want to move something, simply drag it and drop it into its new position. There are no unnecessary 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 more information, visit the plugin website:
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