WordPress has evolved from being just a simple blogging tool into a tool that can be used to create all types of web sites.
Whatever you can think of, someone is probably already building it with WordPress!
In this article you will learn how to create beautiful web page layouts with drag & drop ease in WordPress sites.
Drag & Drop Content Editors For WordPress
Does The WordPress Visual Content Editor Meet All Of Your Web Design Needs?
Using the default WordPress editor to create or edit sophisticated website pages can be challenging for non-technical website owners.
(The default WordPress editor is great for adding, formatting and editing conventional text and images, but adding more complex layouts can be quite challenging!)
For example, if you look at the illustration below …
Creating the above in your content would require entering something like this in the default WordPress visual editor …
Typically, this is not an issue … until you want to reconfigure the layout (for example, move part of the content from box 3 into box 2, or change the background colour in box 2 from dark green to purple. Then, you’re stuck having to mess around with code inside the editor.
The WordPress visual content editor is supposed to give users an easy-to-use WYSIWYG content editor, but as you can see, if you are trying to edit more complex page elements, often what you see on your screen is not what you get …
(“What You See” isn’t always “What You Get” … unless you can visualize code!)
In some situations, some people argue that users could even be better off working directly with the html source itself instead of the WordPress visual editor when trying to add fancy page elements …
Even though WordPress is the most user-friendly CMS platform available, this makes it difficult for users with no coding skills to have full control of their own content.
The fundamental problem of having to use shortcodes and HTML to create content in the default WordPress WYSIWYG editor can be summarized as follows:
1) Speed – How long will it take to build a page using this editor?
2) Abstraction – How closely does the content in the ”back end” 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 when working in the back end doesn’t look at all like 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 multiple steps before you can start configuring your page layout, or endlessly switching tabs and performing updates to see how your content is coming along, which then affects how quickly you can create your content, as you wait for pages to load.
A number of WordPress web developers have come up with various solutions to try and make content editing easier. These range from 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 content creation easier!)
Some solutions end up combining so many complex page design 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 fail to address the fundamental challenge of using HTML and shortcodes as described earlier. Adding and editing sophisticated content elements 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 layouts quickly, this can start to become really frustrating.
Ask yourself this …
If there were no technical constraints, how would you like to build and edit your content?
Now that you’ve asked this question, visualize the following …
- You look at your content and if you see something that needs correction, just click on the content and start typing. Your content is instantly changed.
- You 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 an item of content that you would like to add, so you just start typing, and you build your page on the fly, without delays, with no switching tabs, and no waiting for edits to reload.
Would that not be the perfect way to create content for your web site? A true WYSIWYG 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 pages 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 Plugin – Create Stunning Content And Beautiful Page Layouts With Drag & Drop Ease In WordPress Sites
Plugin Description
Thrive Content Builder is a truly intuitive WordPress click-to-edit drag-and-drop content editing plugin.
Thrive Content Builder is a new and exciting way to speed up the process of creating great content on your WordPress website.
Once installed, Thrive Content Builder adds a visual content editor and a sidebar menu that lets you click, then drag and drop elements to your web page …
(Thrive Content Builder adds a new visual content builder to your WordPress site)
Thrive Content Builder 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’ll cover all of the above plugins and how all of this powerful functionality works together to help you transform and improve your web presence and create awesome sales pages and engaging content.
Thrive Content Builder – Click-To-Edit Drag & Drop Content Editor For WordPress
Thrive Content Builder lets you easily build complex web page design layouts using drag and drop elements …
Every element on your web page can be built by dragging and dropping things around the page and then clicking to edit them …
Once elements have been positioned on the page, you can then continue to edit them without having to go through multiple steps or opening extra settings screens …
The built-in Landing Pages editor also lets you build beautiful landing pages and easily edit these …
Thrive Content and Page Builder is simple, easy to use, and ideal for all WordPress users at all levels. In fact, working on content with Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder installed is so effortlessly simple, that the developers guarantee that you’ll never look at the process of creating and adding content the same way once you start using it
More info: Thrive Content Builder
The integrated Thrive Content Builder and Landing Pages plugin was created by the same team that developed Thrive Leads, another amazing plugin that we have recommended on this site.
Go here to read more about the plugin:
Plugin Benefits
Below are just a few of the benefits and advantages of using Thrive Content Builder to speed up the process of creating content for your WordPress site:
Ready To Use In Very Little Time
Thrive Content Builder installs like any regular WP plugin. Just upload the plugin file to your Plugins folder via your dashboard and activate.
Edit And Add Content In Real Time
Thrive Content Builder is simple to use and lets you edit and add content to your web pages in real-time.
What You See Is Truly What You Get
With Thrive Content Builder installed, what you see as you work within the content editor – fonts, elements, layouts, etc. is exactly what your visitors will see in the front end of your site.
Some additional benefits of this plugin include:
- Beautiful Page Layouts With Drag And Drop Ease: Create any layout you can imagine with intuitive drag and drop functionality.
- Add Design Elements With No Short Codes Required: With the Thrive Content Builder plugin you not only get a click-to-edit WordPress content builder, but the plugin also includes a jaw-dropping collection of design elements that you can add to your pages without using shortcodes, for e.g.: columns, content reveal feature, section dividers, code insert boxes, etc.
- Ideal For Non-Technical Users: Not having to deal with technical stuff for pages to reload frees up your attention and allows you to build the pages 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 testimonial boxes, flat design elements, gradient boxes, section dividers, code insert boxes, etc.)
Features
Thrive Content Builder offers a number of great features to WordPress users. Below we have listed just a few:
- All WordPress Content Functionality Is Still Available: You have all of the built-in content editing options that you are used to (e.g. underline, paragraph centering, headings, etc.),
- Drag And Drop Multi-Style 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 includes a range of eye-catching and customizable elements that will help you increase your conversions, including buttons and call-to-action elements, testimonial boxes, and guarantee forms. In addition to customization options, various elements also offer multiple design options.
- Responsive Design: Add mobile-friendly columns, boxes, section dividers, e.g. which will display correctly on all different kinds of devices.
- Add Animation Events To Web Pages: Thrive Content Builder’s Event Manager feature lets you insert animated page content, 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 from signup to purchase, product download and more.
(Thrive Landing Pages plugin provides you with conversion-optimized page templates)
Thrive Landing Pages Plugin – Benefits
- Hosted on your own WordPress site
- Save time and money building pages
- 100% conversion-optimized web page templates
- No web coding skills required
- Works with all themes
Thrive Content 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, 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 planned for release. In addition to the templates shown above, expect to see new templates in the future for email lead generation, sales pages, lesson pages, personal branding pages, webinar pages and more.
Fully Customizable And Flexible Landing Page Template
Normally, to be able to have completely customizable landing page templates, you would need to either hire 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 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 great-looking pre-designed page templates that are fully optimized and ready to go, and complete design freedom that lets you change and customize anything on the page …
The landing page template sets included with this plugin let you do the following:
- Modify text in any button, bullet point, headline, etc.
- Delete text, images or any other part of the landing page
- Change the background image or background colours
- Edit the color of links, buttons, text, etc.
- Select your own fonts
- Select your own images and graphics
- Modify the size of the content area
- Change the order of elements on your page
- Translate everything on the page into a different language
- Add any kind of custom content anywhere inside any of the pages
- Use pre-designed, customized pages, or create your own from scratch and save them as new page templates.
(Change or edit anything on your page templates)
Thrive Lightbox Plugin – Transform Your Website Into A Powerful Marketing Machine
The Thrive plugin combo includes Thrive Lightbox, which lets you add fully editable two-step opt-in forms and events to your web site …
(Add lead capture forms and events to your web pages with Thrive Lightbox)
Thrive Lighbox 2-Step Opt-in Forms
A two-step opt-in process can help 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.)
Thrive Lightbox 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 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 web pages, using various effects (e.g. fade in, slide in from top to bottom, roll in, etc.
(Set up and manage events on your marketing pages with Thrive Lightbox)
Lightboxes and events are created automatically for your landing pages, but you also have complete control over the events, triggers and design.
Feedback From Users
Here are just some testimonials plugin users have provided for Thrive Content Builder:
”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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”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 theme in WordPress, not just with the Thrive Landing Pages plugin. You cannot use Thrive Content Builder to edit content on existing pages or posts that were not created using the plugin.
You can add short codes inside the Content Builder or Landing Pages plugin and they will display correctly when published.
Thrive Lightbox works with any content you build with Thrive Content Builder.
Support
Thrive Content 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 products are really well-supported, and users get unlimited upgrades, plus one year unlimited support with their purchase, backed by a risk-free, 30 day, full refund 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 lets you use the plugin on a single web site. Includes full feature set, unlimited updates and one year of unlimited support. Cost = $59.00.
- Unlimited Sites Edition – This edition allows you to run the plugin on unlimited domains that you personally own. Includes full feature set, unlimited updates and 1 year of unlimited support. Cost = $87.00.
- Agency License Edition – This license option allows you to install the plugin on all of your own websites and any client sites. Pricing includes access to Thrive Content Builder, plus all Thrive Themes & Thrive Plugins. Cost = $247.00 per year.
Please Note: The cost to purchase Thrive Content Builder depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. The price above was correct when this review was written. This may or may not be the actual price charged by the software seller when you visit the product site and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after purchasing.
Check the plugin’s website for the current price here:
Additional Information
The Thrive Content and Page 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 page elements and beautiful, pre-designed template sets that help speed up content design, and on the other hand, you also have 100% control over your design process and the ability to edit anything and everything on your web page, using the plugin’s click-to-edit and drag and drop features, that lets you work unhindered by overly complicated steps.
For a demo video showing how the plugin works, including help documentation and tutorials, FAQs, customer helpdesk, contact details and more, visit the Thrive 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 immediately. If you want to move something, just drag it and drop it into its new location. There are no complicated steps involved.
If you want to transform and improve your web site and create awesome marketing pages and engaging content, this plugin delivers an incredible conversion-boosting package with a single, inexpensive plugin.
For complete details, check out the plugin here:
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