Through page building tools (Visual Builders), you can make changes to your site without the need for programming knowledge, and thus save a lot of money by not contracting with a web developer. Instead, you can design your entire personal website yourself by relying on these additions, and this A quick shot to show you how these add-ons work.
Perhaps you would like to use these custom add-ons to shorten your time in the process of creating your website and building your pages in an easier way, but the question comes to your mind: What is the most suitable add-on for me?
In this article, we will present the criteria for choosing page builder plugins, also known as drag and drop plugins, and we will highlight the pros and cons of each plugin with a quick overview of how to work with the plugin to help you start creating and managing your site yourself.
Drag-and-drop add-on selection criteria
Before we list a list of the most popular of these add-ons, let me explain to you the most important considerations based on which you choose or the criteria that must be met in appropriate page creation add-ons, and we will review for you the most important criteria as follows:
- The presence of a variety of pre-made page templates that can be imported and used ready-made, as these ready-made templates were designed by professional website designers and you can use them ready-made, which will facilitate the process of building pages from scratch.
- There is a variety of elements available that can be used, in order to give greater freedom in customizing design elements, such as images, titles, icons, etc. The more elements are available, the easier it is for you to include all the required characteristics in the design of your site pages.
- Ease of moving any element simply by dragging and dropping it through an easy, user-friendly control panel. For example, you can drag component elements from texts, images, etc. and place them and customize them on the page easily without interruption in the addition process.
- The ability to modify the basic elements of the template, such as: Header & Footer, as well as the template for articles, pages, categories, archives, and other parts of the sites. It is not limited to basic modifications to the articles and pages of your site because these elements are also important to you.
- The ability to design WooCommerce pages for individual products (WooCommerce Builder), so that the add-on allows you with the page builder add-on. With the page builder add-on, you can design everything from the page header and footer all the way to the WooCommerce displayed products so that you can be sure to customize the add-on in case you need to build a WooCommerce online store
- Ensure that the design created using the add-on’s build editor is compatible with all devices, by ensuring that all elements appear well and that there are no problems in the page design on various devices, especially smartphone users.
- The ability to try out the add-on’s features through a free version or through a trial period so that you can ensure the quality and good performance of the add-on, as well as the extent to which you need the paid version, and the extent to which the features you get are consistent with the price you pay.
- The speed of the pages designed with the add-on so that it does not affect the speed of the site in general. Also, make sure that the add-on does not use many useless codes that create a burden on your site, so as not to lose some visitors who face a problem with the time it takes to reach your site.
- The ability to make advanced customizations in page design, such as: Margin and Padding, as well as placing shadows, text alignment, and other basic interface details of your site. There is no doubt that you will need to make some of these modifications through the plugin control panel. It will be easier for you than adding custom CSS code.
- The ability to preview changes in real time, so that you can see the modifications you make and how they will be reflected in the appearance of the site before activating these settings and launching them directly to users, as well as integrating design elements with other additions such as translation additions, sending emails, etc.
- The presence of professional technical support helps you overcome the problems you may encounter and answer all your questions that you need while using the add-on, as well as providing many written and video explanations that help you understand how to use the add-on well.
After knowing the basic criteria for choosing the appropriate add-on, we can now learn about the best drag-and-drop add-ons so that you can choose from them the add-on that is most suitable for you.
1 – SeedProd
The SeedProd add-on is one of the distinctive add-ons that contains many pre-made templates, as well as ready-made templates for landing pages that interact with users, as well as product pages, member registration pages, 404 error pages, and other pages that can be customized in addition.
The plugin is designed to optimize site page speed, as well as allowing you to define color schemes and save font combinations, page templates, and blocks for elements.
A quick overview of how to work with the extension
You can install and activate the plugin by searching for it in the WordPress Store, through your site’s control panel by going to: Add-ons << Add New , then install and activate the plugin
After that, you will find a new tab that appears in your site’s control panel bar called SeedProd , from which you can choose the appropriate templates by going to the Templates tab.
Then choose any of the ready-made templates that provide the plugin, or simply start from scratch by choosing Blank Template
A pop-up window will appear for you to write the name of the page, and a link to it will automatically be added when you write its title.
The design elements will appear, now you have to choose the element you want from them
For example: The following figure shows how to add a title to the page
Likewise, in the following figure, we create a button or icon by selecting it from the list of items as in the following image:
Addition properties
- The add-on contains a large library of ready-made templates and elements for easy design of any page through easy drag-and-drop tools, and it is one of the most popular add-ons for building custom landing pages.
- The ability to customize every little detail, such as colors, shades, dimensions, icon colors and dimensions, and other details.
- It is compatible with most popular WordPress templates and plugins, as well as with email marketing tools, such as MailChimp , as well as with the wpforms plugin, which gives you contact forms for visitors that they can fill out, and is directly linked to email and e-marketing services and previous plugins. The visitor only has to fill in the contact fields, such as his name and e-mail, and the data will be delivered and saved in the mail and e-marketing service, where samples of your new products will later be sent to him.
- The add-on provides you with a long list of free images that bear Creative Commons rights, so you can rely on them to design your website pages.
- The add-on also provides excellent support and a simplified usage guide, as there is a support team that helps you solve any problem you face with the add-on, with an easy and detailed user guide.
- Easy to set up and use. Downloading, activating and setting it up does not require any significant experience. It is easy for novice users.
- Good price for a Pro add-on.
- A live, visual editor in real time. The elements that you will add to your site will appear to you in their true form on the front end at the same time you add them, and there will be no difference from what the visitor sees.
- The ability to save and reuse pages and elements. When you create an icon, for example, with specific colors, shades, and other features, you can save the characteristics you have made to benefit from them later on any other new page.
- The disadvantage of the add-on is that the available items are limited when compared to competing add-ons, and add-ons and auxiliary features are only available with the higher-priced versions.
2. Beaver Builder
The Beaver Builder add-on has received a rating of 4.8 and is used by more than 300,000 active users. The add-on comes with an easy built-in drag-and-drop interface and contains modules that allow you to add sliders, backgrounds, icons, etc., with carefully designed templates for landing pages.
A quick overview of using the extension
To access the page builder directly, start by creating a new page via the “Add New” option.
The Beaver Builder box will appear to start working on it. Click on the “Launch Beaver Builder” option.
The following figure shows an example of adding a new button and controlling its properties
Addition properties
- A simple user interface for beginners. All you have to do is drag and drop, with the ability to easily add and modify properties for each element, such as text, its dimensions, icons, their colors, etc.
- A large library of page templates, which gives you pre-designed pages that facilitate the design process.
- The ability to save templates and content sections for later reuse. You can also add an element, change dimensions, colors, etc., and then save what you have designed for later use on any other page you will publish in the future.
- There are over 50 ready-to-use landing page templates, and over 30 elements to choose from such as images, text, titles, icons, contact form and more.
- Great compatibility with various screens, compatible with the WooCommerce add-on, and provides the feature of importing and exporting designs, meaning you can reuse your designs or the designs of others, so the design can be transferred from one site to another.
- The disadvantage of the extension is that it does not provide the ability to add custom CSS code for programmers and developers.
3 – Two
Divi is a premium visual drag-and-drop page builder plugin, and it’s a premium editor. You can click directly on your page and start editing with a real-time preview of all the changes. This plugin comes with many content elements that can be dragged and dropped anywhere you want within your site. You can also save the designs you have worked on for later use, but There is no free version available.
A quick overview of how to work with the extension
You can create any type of text, as in the following figure:
To insert an image, choose the “Image” icon.
To create a button, add it, and control its properties, choose Button
Add-on features
- Ease of use for novice users and a simple interactive interface
- The plugin is intended for building any type of website, and also contains many ready-made templates
- 30-day money back guarantee if the add-on is not what you want
- Additional utilities are available for web designers if they want to design by writing CSS codes
- Customizability and ease of control of many effects, such as text styling, shape separators, border options, transformation effects, filters, advanced code editing, drop shadows, text, and even animation.
- A huge library of elements, providing you with great freedom and scope while designing
- Easily import and export designs from one page to another or from one website to another.
- It is distinguished by providing many pictorial explanations that help you use the add-on to design the site in its best form
- Around the clock support by a specialized support team, seven days a week and via many means of communication.
- The ability to use on an unlimited number of sites, and provides a paid lifetime subscription for $240
- The disadvantage of the addition is that it slows down the site if you use too many tools and features on the site pages
4 – Elementor
The Elementor add- on received a rating of 4.8 and is used by more than five million active users. The add-on helps you drag and drop or drop widgets to any section on the page, and also provides you with many basic elements such as images, text, sliders, icons, social media, tabs, etc., and it has many Ready-made templates that you can easily insert into your pages by pointing and clicking to edit.
Quick look to use
To get Elementor services, add a new page as follows
The following will appear. Click on “Edit with Elementor”
The following figure shows adding a title through a header module or element
Add-on features
- There are more than 90 elements such as images, titles, buttons, etc
- Easy drag and drop
- What you see is what you get meaning that what you will design is exactly what your visitors will see.
- It is used for all types and sizes of screens and is search engine friendly.
- A large library of pre-made page templates and the ability to save your own templates.
- The Pro version enables you to use the Theme Builder feature to modify basic elements such as the header or footer
- There is a WooCommerce Builder module which is similar to the Theme Builder but specific to products
- The disadvantage of the add-on is that it does not contain many ready-made templates compared to previous add-ons, and the add-on price is also high
5 – Themify Builder
The Themify Builder add-on has received a rating of 4.2 and is used by more than 10,000 active users with many ready-to-use templates and settings, which you can add directly to your pages. This includes more than 40 pre-designs of various types, including online stores.
You can import any layout with one click, change the content, and create a landing page. The plugin also allows you to edit your pages directly, and you can easily see how your changes appear.
A quick overview of using the extension
To access the page builder, click on the “ Add New ” option from the “ Pages ” submenu.
The window shown in the following image will appear, and in order to see the changes, you must click on the “ Preview ” option to manipulate and add elements to the front end.
The following figure shows how to add images and icons to your page.
Add-on features
- Support for drag and drop on the front end, and the ability to import and export designs and save them in whole or parts of them
- It supports custom CSS (for developers and designers), as well as many animations
- The price of the advanced version is $39, and there are various versions and payment plans with good prices for the paid version
- Pre-designed for ease of work, suitable for search engine optimization and translation
- Many free features are available, and more options can be obtained through paid versions
- Good design templates, supports multiple languages, and lets you undo and redo any changes while editing your pages
- The add-on’s Maps Pro extension allows you to create maps of four different types
- Compatibility with more than 25 popular plugins, the most important of which is WooCommerce
- The disadvantage of the addition is that it does not contain many controls and the control interface is somewhat difficult
6 – Visual Composer
The Visual Composer plugin has a rating of 4.4 and is used by more than 80,000 active users. The drag-and-drop Visual Composer plugin comes with ready-made professional templates and a good set of features. You can edit on the front end for a simple and easy design. It is one of the plugins that allows you to edit various landing page elements, such as the logo, menus, headers, footers, sidebars, etc.
This plugin features powerful design options and premium background plugins. It also comes with flexible rows and columns for creating page layouts. It also includes support for the new Gutenberg editor, Google Fonts, and Yoast SEO.
A quick overview of how to work with the extension
To start working on the addition, you must click on the “Add New with Visual Composer” option from the Pages submenu
To add an image, follow the steps shown in the image.
You can add the title as in the following illustrations:
You can also add a button and control its properties as follows:
Addition properties
- The add-on contains many professional templates, and comes with an easy-to-use interface with the ability to drag and drop.
- Ability to save design settings and use them on other pages later.
- More than 200 extensions to use, and a reasonable price for the paid version
- The ability to plan the back-end and front-end of your site.
- Many options for developers and programmers, and great compatibility with many WordPress plugins.
- Simple to use for beginners, and compatible with many plugins, the most important of which is WooCommerce.
- Responsive design, compatible with all devices and screens.
- It provides features like image filters, support for custom post types, and more
- The disadvantage of the add-on is that it slows down the site when dealing with a lot of add-ons and is difficult to customize for beginners
In the end, there are many add-ons, each of which has its advantages and disadvantages, and you can choose from them what you deem appropriate. Choosing between drag-and-drop plugins can be difficult, and there is no single “perfect” plugin that suits all users. However, if you want to choose the best drag-and-drop plugins that are easy to use and allow you to create landing pages easily, then both the SeedProd and Visual Composer plugins that we detailed in Our two articles are the best.
