WordPress has evolved from being just a simple blogging application to a tool being used to create all kinds of web sites.
Whatever you can imagine, somewhere around the world someone is probably already building it with WordPress!
In this article you will learn how to create stunning content and design beautiful page layouts with drag & drop ease in WordPress web sites.
Drag & Drop Content Editors For WordPress
The WordPress Visual Content Editor – Is There A Smarter Tool For Designing Web Site Pages In WordPress?
Using the default WordPress WYSIWYG editor to create or edit sophisticated layouts can sometimes be challenging, especially for non-technical users.
(The WordPress visual content editor is great for adding, formatting and editing conventional content, but adding more complex content elements can be quite challenging!)
For example, if you look at the image below …
Adding the above boxes with text and buttons would require inserting something like this into your WordPress editor …
Normally, this is not really an issue … unless you choose to change the layout (for example, move part of the content from box 3 into box 2, or replace the background colour inside box 1 from red to purple. Then, you’re stuck having to mess around with code.
The WordPress visual content editor is supposed to give users an easy-to-use WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor, but as you can see, when working with complex page elements, what you see on your editor screen may not be what you get …
(“What You See” isn’t always “What You Get” … unless you can visualize code!)
In some cases, you could be better off working directly inside the WordPress html editor tab instead of the WordPress WYSIWYG editor when trying to add something other than simple page elements …
Even though WordPress is very user-friendly, this makes it hard for WordPress site owners with no knowledge of HTML or CSS to fully manage their own content.
The fundamental challenge about using HTML and shortcodes to create content with WordPress can be summarized as follows:
1) Speed – How long will it take to create a page using this 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 when working in the content editor looks nothing 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 several steps before you can begin configuring your page layout, or endlessly switching tabs and performing tweaks and updates to see how your content is progressing, which can interrupt the creative process, as you wait for the updated content to load.
Many WordPress web developers have come up with various solutions with the objective of addressing this issue. These range from stand alone plugins you can install on 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 content creation easier!)
Some solutions end up including so many complex page design features, that users end up with complicated-looking front end editors …
Many of these solutions work fine, but they don’t really address the fundamental issue of using shortcodes and HTML as described earlier. Creating and adding 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 quite frustrating after a while.
Ask yourself this …
If there were no technical constraints, how would you like your web page builder to work?
Now that you’ve asked this question, imagine the following scenario …
- You look at your content and if you spot something that needs correction, simply click on the content and start typing. Your content is instantly changed.
- You can just drag and drop items around the page, and see them exactly as they will display on the front end without having to mentally translate HTML or shortcodes.
- You have an idea for some content you would like to create, so you just start typing, and your web page gets built as you go, with no delays, with no tab switching, and without waiting for new pages to refresh and reload.
Would this not be the ideal way to create content for your WordPress web site? Just click-to-edit and drag and drop elements around the page?
(Imagine being able to create complex pages ”on the fly” 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 – The Fastest Way To Create Stunning Content In WordPress
Plugin Description
Thrive Content Builder is a revolutionary plugin for WordPress that lets website owners easily build and change content on their posts and pages with true click-to-edit and drag and drop simplicity.
Thrive Content Builder provides WordPress users with a new and exciting way to speed up the process of creating content on.
Once installed, Thrive Content Builder adds a visual content editor and a sidebar menu that lets you select, then drag and drop design elements on your page …
(Thrive Content Builder adds a new content editor to WordPress)
The plugin is actually a combination of the Thrive Content Builder and Thrive Landing Pages plugins merged into one, plus an additional plugin feature called Thrive Lightbox.
Let’s take a look at all of the above plugins and how these powerful features work seamlessly together to help you easily transform and improve your site and create awesome marketing pages and engaging content.
Thrive Content Builder Plugin For WordPress
This plugin lets you easily build complex web page design layouts using drag and drop elements …
Every aspect of your web page can be designed by dragging and dropping things around the page and then clicking to edit them …
Once elements have been added to the page, you can continue to further edit these without having to go through additional steps or switching screens …
You can also work inside beautiful landing pages that can also be easily customized …
Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder is simple, easy to use, and ideal for all WordPress users at all levels. In fact, designing pages and working on content with the plugin installed is so effortlessly simple, that the developers warn that once you start using it, you’ll never look back!
Learn more here: Thrive Content Builder
The integrated Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder plugin was created by the same team that developed Thrive Leads, another terrific plugin for WordPress we’ve previously recommended on this site.
To read about this plugin, go here:
Benefits
Below are just a few of the benefits of using Thrive Content Builder to speed up content creation:
Be Up And Running In Very Little Time
Thrive Content Builder is really easy to install. Just upload a zip folder containing the plugin files to your Plugin folder via your dashboard and activate.
Real-Time Content Building And Editing
Thrive Content Builder is very simple to use and 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, elements, layouts, etc. is exactly what your visitors will see on the front end of your site.
Additional benefits and advantages include the following:
- Add Beautiful Layouts With Drag-And-Drop Ease: Create any kind 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 drag and drop WordPress content builder, but the plugin also includes a jaw-dropping collection of functional and attractive design elements that you can use on your pages without using shortcodes, such as tabbed content, text boxes, call to action buttons, Google Map embeds, etc.
- Ideal For Non-Technical Users: Not having to deal with technical stuff for the page to load frees up your attention and allows you to be more focused while you build or edit your content or click through multiple steps to get what you need done.
(Add, edit and customize web page elements like testimonials, pricing tables, feature grids, page section dividers, HTML code insert boxes, etc.)
Features
Thrive Content Builder offers a number of powerful features to WordPress users. Below we have listed just some:
- Regular Content Editor Functionality Is Still Available: You have all of the built-in text editing options that you are used to (e.g. bold formatting, paragraph formatting, heading styles, etc.),
- Drag And Drop Elements Menu: The plugin makes a “drag and drop” table of elements available on your post or page screen when editing content.
- Conversion-Boosting Elements: The plugin comes with a range of eye-catching and customizable elements that will help increase the effectiveness of your sales pages, 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 Design: Add responsive elements like column layouts, text boxes, content section dividers, e.g. which will display great on different screens.
- Add Animation To Pages: Thrive Content Builder’s Event Manager feature lets you create animated content elements, trigger lightboxes and more!
(Add Animated Elements To Your Web Pages)
Thrive Landing Pages Plugin – Landing Page Template Sets
Landing page template sets are web templates that work together logically and use the same conversion-optimized design language to take your visitors all the way from initial signup to purchase, product download and more.
(Thrive Landing Pages lets you easily add conversion-optimized web pages to your web site)
Thrive Landing Pages Plugin – Benefits
- Hosted on your own WordPress site
- Save time and money designing and customizing pages
- 100% conversion-optimized web page templates
- No web coding skills required
- Works with all themes
Thrive Content Builder and Landing Pages not only lets you create beautiful-looking content in your WordPress posts and pages, but you can also choose from dozens of professionally designed, page templates that are conversion-optimized 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 30 templates available, with more templates scheduled for release. In addition to the templates that are currently available, the developers plan to release new 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, in order to fully customize landing page templates, you would need to either hire a web site 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 mess around with 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 attractive pre-designed web page templates that are fully optimized and ready to go, and complete design freedom that lets you change or customize any element of your page templates …
With the landing page template sets included with this plugin, you can do the following:
- Edit text in all bullet points, buttons, headlines, etc.
- Remove text, images or any other part of your landing page
- Replace the background image and background colours
- Change the color of buttons, links, text, etc.
- Choose your own fonts
- Use your own images and graphics
- Change content area size
- Rearrange the order of elements on the 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 and customize anything on the page)
Thrive Lightbox – Transform Your Site Into A Powerful Marketing Machine
The Thrive package also includes the Thrive Lightbox plugin, which lets you add fully customizable 2-step opt-in forms and events to your web site …
(Add opt-in forms and events to your pages with the Thrive Lightbox plugin)
Thrive Lighbox 2-Step Opt-in Forms
A 2-step opt-in process can help increase your conversion rates. Visitors click on a button or image, and then they are presented with your opt-in form …
(two-step opt-in forms can improve 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 animation effects (e.g. zoom out, slide in from right to left, roll in, 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 your events, triggers and design.
Testimonials
Below are some of the testimonials and comments that plugin customers have submitted for 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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”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 – 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 shortcodes inside the Content Builder or Landing Pages plugin and they will display correctly on on your web site.
Thrive Lightbox works with any content you build using Thrive Content Builder.
Thrive Content Builder Plugin Support
Thrive Landing Pages and Content Builder Plugin provides 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 really well-supported, and users get unlimited software updates, plus 1 year unlimited support with their purchase, backed by a risk-free, 30 day, full money-back guarantee.
This is an exciting product 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 enables you to use the plugin on a single domain. Cost includes full feature set, unlimited updates and 1 year of unlimited support. Cost = $59.00.
- Unlimited Sites Licensing – This license option enables you to set up the plugin on unlimited web sites that you personally own. Pricing includes full feature set, unlimited updates and 1 year of unlimited support. Cost = $87.00.
- Agency Licensing – This enables you to configure the plugin on all of your own websites and your client sites. Price includes access to Thrive Content Builder, plus all Thrive Themes & Thrive Plugins. Price = $247.00 per year.
Please Note: Pricing for this product depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. When we last checked, the product retails for the amounts shown above. This may or may not be the actual price set by the software developer when you visit the plugin site and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after you’ve purchased.
Check the plugin’s website for the latest price:
Additional Info
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 template sets that help to speed up content creation, and on the other hand, you also have complete control over your design process and the freedom to edit anything and everything on your web page, using the plugin’s visual content editor, that allows you to work unhindered by overly complicated options.
For a demo video showing how the plugin works, including help documentation and tutorials, FAQs, customer help desk, contact details and more, visit the plugin website.
Install The Plugin …
If you want to edit something, you just click on the element and start editing. If you want to change something, you’ll see the change happen instantly. 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 site and create amazing marketing pages and engaging content, Thrive Content Builder and Landing Pages delivers an incredible conversion-boosting package with a single, inexpensive plugin.
For full details, visit the plugin website here:
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