Page builders can be such huge time savers, and contribute so much to the overall quality of the end product, it is a wonder how web designers don’t use them for their clients’ websites. The page building tools have in fact become an essential part of a designer’s toolkit.
Not all page builders are the same however. User friendliness is a key attribute, as is the ability to make rapid changes. If you don’t like the way your design is progressing, making changes should be quick and easy rather than time-consuming and cumbersome. Take the time to find a complete page builder that has the 5 essentials described below and you will be money ahead.
Look for a User-Friendly, Intuitive Page Builder
User-friendly and intuitiveness go hand in hand. The learning curve should be gentle or nonexistent. A truly valuable page builder should practically lead you the way, as if it were aware of your ideas, and even had some better ones.
There should never be a need to constantly have to refer to a user’s manual. If you can master the art of drag, drop, and edit, you are more than halfway there. After a trial run or two, you should find yourself in a rhythm. That’s where an intuitive page builder shines.
Theme Independence Adds to Versatility
Look for a page builder that can be used with any WordPress theme, responsive or not; premium or not. There is really no need to settle for a plugin that is loaded down with constraints where usability is concerned.
Some themes feature their own page builders, which is fine, unless your work necessitates your using a number of different themes, some of which may feature page builders that leave something to be desired. Make selecting a single page builder that works on every theme an objective.
Look for Features that Offer Flexibility
Your page builder should have a capability of setting borders, margins, and element placement with a few simple clicks. Features like multiple header formats, product page and social media buttons, special page templates like order or FAQ pages, widgetized sidebars and the like, give you greater flexibility in your design.
More doesn’t necessarily mean better, but a page builder that has a multiplicity of features is more apt to have those that add flexibility, while at the same time contributing to your ability to be creative and contribute to your overall productivity.
Your Page Builder should make Building Complex Websites Easy
Adaptability is the essential item here. A very basic tool that does not do much more than Word, insofar as text and image placement is concerned, does not easily lend itself to creating webpages that will command attention.
A good example would be an eCommerce website displaying multiple products with special viewing options, ordering and payment pages, shopping carts, and product reviews. Complex websites are action-oriented websites, often replete with portfolios, galleries, and viewer commentaries, and they must never be allowed to become boring.
Having both Page and Post Building Capabilities is a Plus
Having the ability to build attractive post pages is important, especially in the eCommerce world, where the presence of posts often makes the difference between an attention getting, quality site and an also-ran.
This essential feature enables you to use virtually any theme for either page or post building, and is a valuable thing to have in your developer’s toolkit. Look for a page builder that has few if any constraints or limitations, is easy to use, offers flexibility and adaptability, and is theme independent, and you have a winner.
Case Study: Visual Composer – the Most Popular WordPress Page Builder
By far the most popular of the WordPress page builder plugins, and one that is by any standard an intuitive, adaptable, and flexible tool that can be used with any theme, is Virtual Composer (VC). This plugin is the most popular and widely used drag and drop page builder on the market today if you are willing to accept the fact that it has played a key role in the development of over 500,000 websites.
Standalone or Bundled with a Theme? – A number of WordPress themes, in fact a majority of them, come with VC as a part of their package. This can be good news, but you need to bear in mind the fact that when this is the case, some themes disable certain VC features, plus the copy they use is not supported, nor will you receive free updates. For full support, you need to purchase a VC license. Since VC is theme-independent, and can be used as a standalone page builder, having your own copy can work to your advantage.
Ultra User-Friendly
Choose your layout, customize it as you wish, and start clicking. VC goes about page building so quickly and efficiently that you may being to wonder who is in control, you or the plugin. No need to worry; VC’s frontend and backend editors ensure you are in control at all times. You don’t have to pause every few minutes to introduce code either, although coding is always an option. It’s mostly a matter of drag and drop.
WYSIWYG
Admin panels are sometimes nice for keeping things under control, so what you end up with is exactly what you expected to end up with. With VC, there is no need for this feature. You always know just where you are during your page design and development. You can also see, at any step in the process, how your page will display on different platforms.
Premium Themes are Great, but not Mandatory
VC, when used in conjunction with a premium WordPress theme loaded with features, can be a powerful development tool; but this plugin, as noted before, will work with any theme, and it also serves as an excellent standalone tool for building a website. You don’t need to purchase a theme unless you feel it is in your best interest to do so.
Flexibility and Adaptability
VC offers 45 content elements (and counting), and more than 40 different grid styles. This combination gives you all the flexibility and adaptability you are apt to need, even if you aren’t hooked into a premium theme. The content elements feature a variety of sliders, buttons, tabs, collapsible content panels, widgets, and more.
Virtual Composer is simply the most versatile page builder on the market today. It is complete in every sense of the word. As mentioned previously, more than half-a-million websites were built using this popular plugin. This, together with the fact that a majority of WordPress themes have not only included it in their packages, but take pains to advertise the fact they have done so, speaks for itself.
The learning curve is about as close to a flat line as you can get, and because of its ease of use, flexibility, and versatility, Virtual Composer is highly regarded, and recommended as the page builder of choice.
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