Things change rapidly in the WordPress world. The content in this post is more than a year old and may no longer represent best practices.
Articles
- Chris Lema: Design without Coding: Comparing Drag & Drop WordPress Themes (Recommends Ultimatum (with reservations), Builder, and Headway.)
- Chris Lema: Picking the Right Drag and Drop WordPress Theme (Recommends either Builder or Headway.)
- WPMU.org: Free WordPress Drag and Drop Themes to Make Life a Little Easier (Doesn’t make specific recommendations.)
Free Options
- Page Layout Builder plugin
- CyberChimps framework (iFeature, Neuro, iRibbon, Eclipse)
- Snapshot from Site Origin (their page layout builder works on several of their themes)
- PageLines free
- PageLines DMS Basic
Premium Options
- Headway (Base $87, Developer $144, annual license)
- Ultimatum ($65 Starter, $144 Developer, one-time fee)
- Themify (Included with any theme. Single theme price is $39 standard/$59 developer. Annual club price is $69 standard/$89 developer.)
- Carrington Build ($299 single site; $999 unlimited sites)
- Elegant Themes Builder Plugin ($89 for all plugin/all theme club membership)
- iThemes Builder ($80 Foundation Pack, $197 Developer Pack, $387 All Access Pass, renewable annually)
- Dynamik Website Builder for Genesis (formerly Catalyst; $79.95)
The last two are not really drag and drop, but are “no-code” options for building site layouts.
Demo Videos
MiniMax: Drag and Drop Page Layout Builder for WordPress
The Elegant Themes Builder Plugin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7whjKLYAOeA
Getting Started with SiteOrigin Page Builder
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mL6iIV7JxLo
Getting Started with iThemes Builder
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puCICvvtgNI
How to Get Started with PageLines
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrqsYNqXpNA
Ultimatum Drag and Drop WordPress Layout Editor
PageLines DMS Walk-Through
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNYiWNLtk5A
I am really banging my head to go with Elegant Themes which has the “Elegant Page Builder” plugin or Themify which has the “Themify Builder” plugin. Both are drag & drop that can be used on any WP theme. I plan to purchase the Developer plan for either one. Any input would be helpful?!?
Elegant Themes don’t automatically come with the Elegant Page Builder plugin–that plugin is a separate purchase. All of the Themify themes come with the Themify Builder. I think Themify is probably better if you plan to customize the various page elements you’re inserting; Elegant Themes are best used out of the box. But YMMV.