The MotoPress Content Editor is a drag and drop page editor plugin for WordPress. The plugin aims to replace the default WordPress editor and claims to work with any theme.

The WYSIWYG editor allows you to combine the features and functionality of the WordPress editor, while also allowing you to create multi-column and row layouts that can be populated with a wide-range of elements.  These elements can be dragged and dropped into place, and then configured via their individual settings and options.

With so many plugins of this type now available, this is becoming one of the most hotly contested areas in WordPress plugin development at the moment. With plenty of options to choose from when it comes to adding a page builder tool to your site, this MotoPress Content review will give you an overview of the features, and also show you how easy this page builder is to use to create custom page layouts for your WordPress site.

Features and Usage

This plugin is described as a content editor that transforms the WordPress editor into an intuitive and feature rich WYSIWYG composer for building page layouts.

The plugin includes a good selection of elements which can be dragged and dropped into your page layout, moved around, and customised to suit your preferences. By using a fluid row and column layout, items can be positioned almost anywhere on the page, giving you lots of options for how your pages are structured and what types of content they contain.

Available Elements

The MotoPress Content Editor gives you the ability to insert a number of elements into your post and page layouts, all via the drag and drop editor. These elements include:

• Text
• WordPress Text
• Image
• Slider
• Button
• Social Share Button
• Video
• Audio
• Posts Grid
• Accordion
• Table
• Tabs
• Chart
• Embed
• Space
• Google Maps

As you can see, lots of the popular elements found in other page builder tools are included, and some that aren’t, giving you plenty of options for creating a feature-rich WordPress post or page, with a custom layout.

As well as the above elements or modules, the default WordPress widgets, such as a list of recent posts, pages, or comment, can also be dragged into the content area. This allows you to display a good selection of dynamic content in your layout. You can also insert the entire sidebar into your layout, including the widgets it has been setup to contain.

By selecting an element from the appropriate menu of the editor, it can then be dragged and dropped onto the stage to insert it into your layout.

MotoPress Content Editor Options

Once the plugin has been installed and activated on your site, the options can be accessed from the top-level MotoPress menu item that is added to the WordPress admin dashboard area.

From here you can choose which post types the content editor is available for including pages, regular posts, and any other custom post types that might be active on your site, such as WooCommerce products, or those you’ve created yourself.

You can also select a language for the interface, and disable the content editor for specific user groups.  This is a nice touch, especially if you are designing a site for a client or managing a multi-author blog and you don’t want all your contributing users to have access to the editor.

The other part of the options page allows you to enable the browser spell checker for any written content that you enter. There is also the opportunity to add any custom CSS code to the theme, as well as a few other options.

Using the Content Editor

When it comes to actually using the plugin, a ‘MotoPress Content Editor’ button is added to the page editor on your site.

Once clicked the button launches the editor and takes you to a WYSIWYG builder for your page. Any content that has already been added to the page via the standard editor will continue be available once you’ve switched to the content editor view.

Once the content editor screen has loaded, by default, you get access to a blank canvas to work from. You can either begin by entering some text, or dragging one of the available elements onto the page area.

When entering text on the page, you get access to a good selection of basic formatting options.  However, if you need the full capabilities of the WordPress editor, including both the Visual and Text views, and any other advanced formatting options that you might have enabled for your site via a plugin like TinyMCE Advanced, you can drag the ‘WordPress Text’ element on to the page.

This element opens up the regular WordPress editor in a lightbox modal overlay window, allowing you to use all of its functionality to create content which is then inserted into your page layout. This effectively allows you to create a page within a page, and then surround that content with other page elements.

Creating the Layouts

The layout system for the plugin works on the familiar rows and columns grid concept, with each new element that is dragged into place added either to a new row or an existing row.

However, the interface for deciding where to place a new element works really well and lets you automatically create new rows or columns, depending on where you move the mouse cursor.

This means that with the MotoPress Content Editor there is no need to define your grid layouts before starting. With this page builder you can simply add elements to the page and let the structure be defined as you work.  You never have to click an ‘add row’ or ‘add column’ button, as dragging an element on to the page creates the appropriate cell in your chosen position.

This flexibility makes it very easy to get started and lets your designs develop organically as you start adding content to the page – with Content Editor it never feels like you are constrained by the column and row layout.

Customizing the Elements

Whether you are inserting an element, such as a button, or entering text, you always get access to a handy set of options for the element. In the case of images, you can add a URL to link the image to, set an alignment, or style the image in terms of its margin.

When it comes to inserting widgets into the page, you can choose from the default WordPress widgets, such as a list of recent posts, a list of pages, or recent comments. You can also drag the widgets area onto your page, which will display the current widget area that you have configured for your sidebar area, and all the individual widgets it contains.

At any point in the editing process, you can switch the background colour to a dark grey as opposed to the default white setting; however there aren’t any other colour choices available.

As you are working on your page you can preview it at any point and see how it will look to the visitors to your site. Depending on the page template from your theme you have chosen, your new page will either be displayed in a full-width layout without a sidebar, or surrounded by the default WordPress page elements, such as the header, menu, sidebar, and comments section. However, by using an appropriate page template, or creating one yourself, your new page could fill the entire screen if desired.

Once you are happy with how your page looks, you can click on the publish button to set it live for all to see.

If at any point you need to make any changes, you can open the page for editing in WordPress, and then click on the ‘MotoPress Content Editor’ button to activate the plugin.

Pricing

The MotoPress Content Editor plugin is available on three different pricing plans:

• Personal: $29 for use on 1 website
• Business: $79 for use on up to 5 websites
• Developer: $139 for use on unlimited number of websites

Each of the pricing options include one year of upgrades and support. After the first year is up you can go on using the plugin without access to support or upgrades and new features, or renew for another year at a 50% discount off the original plan price. There is also a 30 day period where you can apply for a refund should you not be happy with the product.

Support and Documentation

The documentation for the plugin is published on the MotoPress website and is free for all to view. The documentation is on the brief side, however as the plugin is very easy to use this can be forgiven. The helpdesk section does provide more information for users of the plugin. There is also a YouTube channel with some short videos demonstrating how the different features of the tool work.

Support is handled through the My Account area of the website, which is only accessible to owners of the plugin.

News and updates are published on the MotoPress blog so you can see which new features have been added to the tool, and also get some tips on extending the plugin.

Final Conclusion and Recommendations

I was really impressed with this page builder plugin. The drag and drop interface is really well implemented. Removing the need to create rows and columns before getting started, and being able to just drag items into place and let the editor create the layout, makes using the MotoPress Content Editor a much more fluid and intuitive process than many other page builders available for WordPress.

Another really nice feature was the ability to insert content created with the WordPress post/page editor into the page you are building. This gives you all the power of the WordPress editor, but also allows you to add any of the available elements to the page, alongside this formatted text.

There are a few areas where the MotoPress Content Editor could be improved. Although you can drag the default WordPress widgets into your pages, it would be great if you could add any of the widgets that are active on your site into the layout. This is possible with some other page builder plugins, so it would be nice to see this added to help this tool compete better with the other options out there.

Another area where the plugin could be improved to help it compete with its rivals would be the inclusion of more elements or modules that can be added to your pages. While there is a good amount here already, some other plugins do appear to include more. Again this would help MotoPress Content Editor compete with some more feature packed tools. Including a few starter page layouts or pre-built templates would help here too.

Overall though, the MotoPress Content Editor comes highly recommended. It’s very easy to use and has a really well designed interface and drag and drop system. With a few more modules and some attractive pre-built layouts, this could really be a contender for best drag and drop page builder plugin for WordPress.  When you take into consideration the comparatively low price of the single license version of this plugin, then you have got a very attractive offer.

Get MotoPress Content Editor

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