Product Updates

We’ve Just Made Thrive Content Builder Even Faster & More Intuitive to Use…

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Shane Melaugh   462

Updated on September 30, 2021

The latest version of Thrive Content Builder comes with several usability improvements, as well as many technical "under the hood" upgrades.

Take a look at our quick video demo to see how drag-and-drop, column resizing and advanced layouts have just become even faster and easier with TCB.

More...

Here's a summary of the improvements you'll find in the new version of Thrive Content Builder:

Faster Drag & Drop

Previously, you'd see drop zones displayed in the content area while dragging an element. While this worked well enough, it could make a page look quite messy if you had an advanced layout going. You also had to make sure to hit one of the drop zones to add your element  to the page.

The new version is much more forgiving and has an uncluttered look - it only shows one indicator at a time. No matter where you are hovering, there is always one drop zone active. That means less precision is required for drag and drop, ultimately allowing you to work faster.

Simple Column Layouts

We didn't just make drag-and-drop faster, we added a whole new dimension to it. You can now drop elements next to each other and you can drop elements in between others to create column layouts.

At the same time, the good old pre-made column layouts are also still available, so you can work with whichever you prefer.

Easy Column Resizing

Hover over any column layout and you'll notice that you can simply click and drag on any of the column borders to resize them. That means getting your column layouts just right is now easier than ever.

You can also hold the Ctrl key while doing this to resize in increments of 5%.

Vertical Column Alignment

You can now choose how the content inside columns aligns vertically. When you have unequal amounts of content in columns, this gives you more options for making some interesting layouts.

And More...

The above are the visible changes we've made to Thrive Content Builder. Meanwhile, there have also been some changes to the technical foundation of the plugin. This is to help make the code leaner, but it's also a big part in laying the foundation for what's coming next.

Let us know your thoughts about the new changes by leaving a comment below!

Shane
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by Shane Melaugh  October 10, 2016

462

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Leave a Comment

  • Excellent work………….
    But seriously new theme is what we need…… name of company is specially theme… but focus is on plugins more… that is good… but themes options improvements… new options additions and also new themes much needed………

    Reply

    • Yes, i agree. One major Highlight would be a theme which sets a high standard in the mobility/responsive Design Area and fits perfectly to the thrive visual editor and the landing pages.

      Reply

      • I agree too. I LOVE the direction this is going, but you are sort of leaving behind the themes, which are much in need of lightweight customization options (for example: chossing the fonts in the menu; choosing the colors more freely).

    • I agree. While this update makes TCB even better and is surely a sign of greater things to come, the number and design of existing themes needs to be improved *cough (luxe theme) *cough …

      Anyways, not to take anything away from this update … It’s awesome. You guys sure know how to give value for money 🙂

      Keep rocking !!

      Reply

      • Patience, guys.

        I agree with everything you say and we’re aware of it. I know it has been a long wait (and unfortunately, it will be a longer wait still). All I can say at this time is that everything we’re building for TCB, we are also building for the themes.

        The work we are doing, which seems to be all focused on themes, will circle back into themes in ways which are not obvious yet. But I promise it will be worth the wait.

      • Actually from one year I seen this reply 2 times…. that it will be worth waiting…. :p

        anyway… your doing good… but again I want to say you that theme is the main thing… plugins comes after theme…

        May be you are doing wrong marketing than…….

        but….. but….. dont mind criticism…… output may come healthy…..

      • I LOVE these new changes, thanks so much! Now I really want to see what’s in the next video!

        I also agree with the other commenters and would like to see more themes added soon. But it’s exciting to imagine how these changes will affect theme customization in the future (I’m assuming that’s what you meant when you said these changes would circle back to themes). Looking forward to seeing what happens!

      • +1 on this. Would love to see a completely blank template too.

        As an agency license holder I actually have stopped using the themes as there are better themes out there more fit for purpose.

        However, would love to start using a thrive theme again – the fire of hope is alive 😉

        Love the TCB (tve) updates – this makes using it with other themes easier.

      • Thank you, Steve! I hope we will be able to win you back with our first “2.0” theme. 🙂

      • These updates are wonderful as always! I also agree that there’s a need for a “blank” or highly customizable theme option as well. That way we can fully customize the headers and footers of entire sites just like we can completely customize landing pages using Thrive Content Builder. Thanks for all you do guys!

      • I can’t say much about the theme plans yet, but that sounds good, yes. 🙂

      • I’m hoping that the changes coming will give full customization to the whole site – headers, footers and sidebars – I hate that I can’t change my headers at will – different for each cat, and even down to the individual page or post. Please blow us away! Love what you all are doing though – sorry about always wanting more!

  • Okay… what’s coming next???? You can’t tease us like this 🙂
    It is backwards compatible isn’t it? I’m sure you’ve said before that it is, I’m just double checking…

    Reply

    • Yes, it’s fully backwards compatible.

      And about the tease: you’ll just have to be a little bit patient… 🙂

      Reply

  • Wow! You guys are unbelieveble! Just when I thought it cannot get any better, you manage to prove me wrong! It just gets better and better!

    Reply

  • Superb job Shane! ThriveThemes has never stop getting better ever since i signed up last year! Best early bird investment ever!!

    Reply

  • Very cool Shane! I love that you guys keep improving on everything. Thrive plugins are some of my favourite internet marketing products that I own.

    Can’t wait to see what is coming next 🙂

    Reply

  • How you take the best and make it better … WOW. I love the new column feature. Being able to adjust the column sizes is now so simple and much more flexible than the previous fixed column %’s. Also, the ability to add content, images, whatever to the left, right or even within existing paragraphs is such a time saver. Making interesting content layouts with fewer restrictions is brilliant. Well done and can’t even imagine what you have in the works.

    Reply

  • Excited to see these changes! So happy to see Thrive themes and plugins constantly improved upon. Excellent job, not only to you Shane, but to your entire staff.

    Reply

    • Thank you for acknowledging the team, Jason! As the team keeps growing and everyone’s improving their skills, I can really not take much credit anymore. I’m just the guy in the videos. 😀

      Reply

  • Great work Thrive Themes Team. I hope the future TCB release will include the ability to add vertical line dividers between column layouts. That would be a nice touch!

    Reply

  • You Guys Freekin’ ROCK! – I remember when there were only a few templates and faaaar fewer user functionality ‘by comparison’ to now… Daaang You Guys Are The BEST! – The Best & ONLY way to build killer websites on the planet! – LOVE The Upgrades! (Duh! ~ Of Course!)

    Reply

    • Thank you very much! Appreciate that you’ve been with us since the days of few templates and few options. 🙂

      Reply

  • Wow.. I was going to ask if this will be applied to the content builder in Thrive Leads and thought I would take a quick look before I posted this comment, and it does. Great work!

    Reply

  • Absolutely FANTASTIC!

    What you had before was great but this is even better! I see where this is going and I applaud your innovation.

    I teach clients how to get started online and Thrive is gradually becoming a central one stop tool for anyone starting out in online marketing.

    Thanks!

    Reply

    • Thank you Onuora! Very happy to hear that. We strive to become a better and better tool suite as time goes on.

      Reply

  • I spend more time using the themes and “lurking” when updates come out – and very seldom let you know how much I appreciate the products from Thrive Themes.

    Anyway, I just had to thank you for how you have actually continued to improve your products.

    Many of the other product developers that I’ve purchased from over the last 10+ years will start out with a lot of enthusiasm and promises – but usually the services slow to a trickle – and then just stop.

    You folks haven’t done that.

    So – Thanks!!!

    Reply

    • Thank you very much, John! I appreciate your “unlurking” to leave this comment. For my part, I can say that if anything, I’m more enthusiastic about what we’re working on now that in the beginning. And no one on the team is showing any signs of slowing down, either. 🙂

      Reply

  • Bloody AWESOME!

    Once again Thrive Themes has hit the ball firmly out of the ballpark.
    I’m so excited to see the next video of what else is on the horizon.

    Reply

  • You guys ROCK! I love how you’re always improving, adding functionality & making things easier. Thrive Content Builder just keeps getting better! Thank you! But you’re such a tease! 😉 Tell us about what’s coming!

    Reply

    • Thanks, Nancy!

      You’ll have to be a bit patient for more on what’s coming. Only a little bit, though. 😉

      Reply

  • This may be the most significant upgrade to TCB yet. Thank you! I can’t wait to see what you have hinted at is coming next!

    Reply

  • OMG! This is fantastic!! More proof that Thrive Themes is the most advanced yet simple to use WordPress suite of website tools. Thank you Shane, et al 🙂

    Reply

  • Wow, I am really impressed with this! This is the update I have been looking for and wanting! I thought the old layout of TCB was a bit messy and confusing at times but this looks much better!

    Thanks Shane!

    Reply

  • Wow! I was just working on a page that has two columns. 1/2 was too big on one side and 1/3 was too small. This is exactly what I needed.

    Thanks for this great update!

    Reply

  • Those look like great additions to the builder.

    Shane, how far are the developers away from removing content lock-in from the plugin?

    Reply

    • Hey Dan,

      I can’t say for sure how far we are from that, at the moment. However, I can tell you that it’s pretty close to the top of our list of priorities.

      Reply

  • Looks good! I appreciate your consistent Updates and Improvements! That is how Strong Businesses are built! I am in the process of Revising my websites these next couple of weeks! So this new Feature came “Just in Time!” Thank you!

    Reply

  • At this rate, Thrive 1.8 will be a neopagan cult with Landing Page Templates as deities and Thrive 2.0 will be AI and take over the world. Or at least WordPress itself. You were awesome a year ago, and you are a couple notches above awesome today. The Thrivites await the splendour of things to come. And this Thrivite in particular wants you to equip the future Skynet with a content protection software so very much, he will spill the blood of a 3TB new generation external drive for you on an altar on the summer solstice.

    Reply

    • Haha! Looks like I don’t have to start a cult after all… since you’re starting one for me. 😛

      Reply

  • Super awesome Thrive team! This is why I’m staying with you instead of going to Clickfunnels. You actually have more options along with tremendous support. Wait, I must mention price! Much cheaper! One last mention is Shane is a very advanced marketer. He often shares things people pay thousands to learn. And guess what? He shares them for free with his Thrive Themes members. What a blessing.

    Reply

  • Wow, that is really impressive! Being able to change columns the way you want exactly is huge. Unfortunately, the new plugin is not working for me at the moment though. Keeps being stuck at the load page, so had to revert to the old plugin. Hope it will be fixed soon!

    Reply

    • Just a FYI, Michiel. I had exactly the same issue!!!
      After testing with a different browser (IE) – just for fun – I could load the TCB.
      So I completely cleared all browser caching in my default Chrome (until beginning of time), then did another cache cleaning with my Cache plugin, restarted Chrome and it worked!!
      Maybe this helps.

      Reply

      • Good point, yeah. Hard refresh (Ctrl + F5) might be all it needs to fix the problem.

  • SHANE! You open loop MONSTER!

    “I’ll tell you more about that in our next video…”

    Haha! I love the new interface. MUCH better.

    Though, it was already very good. But sometimes when you have a content box in a column inside a content container, it felt like surgery to put things in the right place.

    I can’t wait to play.

    Thanks again!

    Reply

    • Closing of the loop won’t take too long, I promise.

      Glad you like the changes we’ve made to the UX, Michael.

      Reply

  • Loving these updates. I was a bit frustrated by the drag and drop ability previously. Also, love the re-size ability.

    Reply

  • Great job on the new feature! Thanks again for constantly setting the bar higher and higher. As a TT member for nearly a year, I’m very much excited and looking forward to the new features you mentioned are coming soon.

    Reply

    • We’re happy to have you on board, Michelle! And I can’t wait to show more of the things we’ve been working on for our members and customers.

      Reply