WordPress has evolved from being just a simple blogging tool into a tool being used to design all types of pages – landing pages, portfolio pages, business pages, etc.
Whatever you can think of, somewhere around the world someone is most likely already building it using 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 WYSIWYG Editor Meet All Of Your Content Creation And Editing Needs?
With all the many improvements that WordPress has undergone in recent years, many WordPress developers believe that the WordPress editor is more suitable for performing simple content editing (e.g. blocks of text running down the page with left-aligned images or videos, etc.), than creating or customizing content within more sophisticated layouts.
(The default WordPress visual content editor is great for adding, formatting and editing conventional text and images, but adding more complex layouts can be challenging!)
For example, if you look at the screenshot below …
To create the above layout, you would normally need to add shortcodes to your content for each element you want to add to your page …
Normally, this is not an issue … unless you decide to reconfigure the 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 light green. Then, you’re stuck having to mess around with code inside the editor.
The WordPress visual editor is supposed to be an easy-to-use WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) content editor, but as you can see, if you are working with complex layouts, often what you see in the visual editor may not be what you get …
(“What You See” isn’t always “What You Get” … unless you can visualize code!)
In some cases, some people argue that users could even be better off working inside the text 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 non-technical website owners to have full control of their own content.
The fundamental issue of having to use HTML and shortcodes to create content in the default WordPress WYSIWYG editor can be summarized by asking 2 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 image, what you see when working in the content editor doesn’t look anything like what you see in the front end. This means that you need to abstract what the content will look like when working with sophisticated layouts. Other solutions require a number of steps before you can begin configuring your page layout, or endlessly switching browser tabs and performing tweaks and updates to see how your content is progressing, which interrupts the creative process, as you wait for the page to refresh.
A number of WordPress developers have tried to come up with different solutions to make the visual editor easier. Some of these solutions range from standalone plugins you can add to your site that add new functionality to the editor, to WordPress themes that include built-in features like drag and drop editing …
(WordPress “drag and drop” editors aim to make content creation easier!)
Some solutions require so many page-building features, that users end up with complicated-looking front end editors …
Many of these editors work, but they fail to address the fundamental issue of using HTML and shortcodes as described earlier. Creating, 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 your web pages to look ”perfect” quickly, this can start to become quite frustrating after a while.
Ask yourself this …
If there were no technical constraints, how would you like your web page editor to work?
Now that you’ve asked this question, imagine the following …
- You spot something in the content that needs to be corrected so you, just click on the content and start writing. Your content is instantly fixed.
- You simply drag and drop elements on 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 some content you would like to add, so you simply begin typing, and your web page gets built as you go, with no delays, without switching of tab browsers, and without waiting for pages to reload.
Would this not be the perfect way to build content for your website? Just click-to-edit and drag and drop elements around the page?
(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 Content Builder – Create Beautiful Page Layouts With Drag & Drop Ease In WordPress
Plugin Description
Thrive Content Builder is a revolutionary WordPress plugin that allows you to quickly create and change content on your posts and pages with true click-to-edit and drag and drop simplicity.
Thrive Content Builder provides you with a new and incredibly easy way to speed up the process of adding amazing content to 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 page …
(Thrive Content Builder adds a new content editing option to your WordPress site)
The 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 address all of the above and how these exciting features work together to help you transform and improve your site and create awesome marketing pages, streamlined landing pages and engaging content.
Thrive Content Builder For WordPress
You can easily add content to your web pages and build complex page layouts using drag and drop elements …
Everything on your web page can be designed, edited and repositioned with ”click-to-edit” and “drag and drop” ease …
Once elements have been positioned on your page, you can then customize these without going through additional steps or switching screens …
You can also build highly attractive landing pages that can also be easily 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 the plugin installed is so effortlessly simple, that the developers warn that you’ll never look at creating and adding content the same way once you start using it
More info: Thrive Content Builder
Thrive Content Builder and Thrive Landing Pages were created by the same team that developed Thrive Leads, another great plugin we’ve recommended on this site.
See this article to learn more about this plugin:
Plugin Benefits
Below are just a few of the benefits and advantages of using Thrive Content Builder to speed up content creation:
Be Up And Running In Minutes
Thrive Content Builder installs like every other WP plugin. Simply upload it to your Plugin folder via your admin section and activate.
Real-Time Content Content Creation
Thrive Content Builder is simple to use and lets you edit and add content right inside 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, elements, layouts, etc. is exactly what your visitors will see in the front end of your site.
Some additional benefits of using this plugin include the following:
- Add Beautiful Web Page Layouts With Drag & Drop Ease: Create any kind of layout you can imagine with drag and drop ease.
- Customizable Elements Included: With Thrive Content Builder you not only get an amazing drag and drop content editor, but the plugin also includes a jaw-dropping collection of customizable design elements that you can customizable and add to your pages without using shortcodes, such as columns, table of contents builder, dividers, responsive video embeds, etc.
- Ideal For Non-Technical Users: Not having to wait for pages to refresh frees up your attention and allows you to build the web pages your business needs, quickly and without having to deal with code or click through multiple layers of menus to get what you want done.
(Thrive Content Builder lets you easily insert, edit and customize page elements like testimonials, columns, borderless content, section dividers, Google Map embeds, etc.)
Thrive Content Builder Features
Thrive Content Builder offers site owners many powerful features. Here are just a few of these:
- All WordPress Editor Functionality Is Preserved: You have access to all of the built-in content editing options that you are used to (e.g. bold, paragraph formatting, font styles, etc.),
- Drag And Drop Elements Menu: The plugin makes a “drag and drop” list of elements available on your post or page screen for creating and editing content.
- Conversion-Boosting Elements: The plugin provides you with various eye-catching and customizable elements that will help increase your conversions, including buttons and call-to-action elements, testimonial boxes, and guarantee forms. In addition to being customizable, multiple design options are also available for various elements.
- Responsive Design: Add responsive elements like columns, boxes, section dividers, e.g. which will display correctly on different screens.
- Add Animation To Web Pages: The Event Manager feature lets you add animations, trigger lightboxes and more!
(Add Animated Elements To Your 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 all the way from signup to purchase, product download and more.
(Thrive Landing Pages plugin gives you conversion-optimized web page templates)
Thrive Landing Pages Plugin – Benefits
- Hosted on your own WordPress site
- Save time building and customizing web pages
- 100% conversion-optimized pages
- No technical skills required
- Works with any WordPress 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 beautifully designed, conversion optimized web 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 thirty templates available, with more templates being worked on. In addition to the templates that are currently available, the developers plan to release new web page templates for email lead generation, sales pages, training pages, personal branding pages, webinar pages and more.
Fully Customizable And Flexible Landing Page Template Sets
Normally, to be able to have a completely customizable landing page template, 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 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 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 beautiful pre-built web page templates that are fully optimized and ready to go, and complete design freedom that lets you change or edit any element of the page …
The landing page template sets included with this plugin let you do the following:
- Change text in any button, bullet point, headline, etc.
- Delete text, images or any other element of the landing page
- Change all background images or colour
- Edit the color of links, buttons, text, etc.
- Select your own fonts
- Select your own images
- Change content area size
- Rearrange the order of page elements
- Translate everything on the page into different languages
- Add any kind of custom content anywhere in your pages
- Start with a blank web page and create your own templates, or even build your own custom landing pages library.
(Change or edit any element of your page template)
Transform Your Site Into A Marketing Machine With Thrive Lightbox
The Thrive plugin package also includes Thrive Lightbox, which lets you add fully configurable 2-step opt-in forms and events to your web pages …
(Add lead capture forms and events to your WordPress web site with Thrive Lightbox)
Two-Step Opt-in Forms
A two-step opt-in process can help 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)
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 images on your web pages, using a range of animation effects (e.g. zoom in, slide in from right to left, roll out, etc.
(Set up and manage events on your web pages with the Thrive Lightbox plugin)
Lightboxes and events are created automatically for your landing pages, but you also have complete control over events, triggers and design.
User Feedback
Here are some of the testimonials and comments that users have provided for the Thrive Content Builder plugin:
”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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“I’m blown away by the plugin. Keep up the incredible, WordPress changing work, guys! Dean Phillips”
Useful Tips
Thrive Content Builder works with any theme in WordPress, not just with Thrive Landing Pages. 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 be displayed correctly when published.
Thrive Lightbox works with any content you build using Thrive Content Builder.
Product Support
Thrive Content Builder Plugin comes with free updates, new landing templates and upcoming features. The Thrive team is constantly working on adding new features and improving existing ones.
Thrive products are well-supported, and users get unlimited upgrades, plus 1 year unlimited support with their purchase, backed by a risk-free, thirty day, 100% money-back guarantee.
This is an exciting product that will just keep 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 lets you activate the plugin on a single site. Price includes full feature set, unlimited updates and one year of unlimited support. Price = $59.00.
- Unlimited Sites Licensing – This option enables you to set up the plugin on unlimited sites that you personally own. Includes full feature set, unlimited updates and 1 year of unlimited support. Cost = $87.00.
- Agency Edition – This lets you run the plugin on all of your own domains and your client web sites. Pricing includes access to Thrive Content Builder, plus all Thrive Themes & Thrive Plugins. Price = $247.00 per year.
Note: The cost of purchasing the product can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. The above reflects the current price when this article was written. This may or may not be the actual pricing charged by the product author when you visit the site and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after you’ve purchased.
Check the plugin’s website for the latest pricing details:
Additional Information
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 the time-saving benefits of ready-made page elements and conversion-optimized template sets that help to speed up your content creation, and on the other hand, you have complete control over your design process and the freedom to change everything on your web page, using the plugin’s click-to-edit and drag and drop features, which lets you work unhindered by overly complicated options.
For a demo video showing plugin usage, including help documentation and tutorials, FAQs, customer helpdesk, contact details and more, visit the Thrive Content Builder website.
The Bottom Line …
If you want to edit something, simply 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, all you have to do is drag it and drop it into its new position. There are no unnecessary steps involved.
If you want to transform and improve your web presence and create awesome sales pages and engaging content, this plugin delivers an incredible conversion-boosting package with a single, inexpensive plugin.
For full details, visit the plugin website here:
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