Page Builder
Review and updates by Ron Dorsey
A Drag-n-drop page layout plugin for WordPress
Website / Forum (WordPress.org)
See Aug 2016 Update: http://wpskyway.com/pagebuilder/
Update: February 03, 2014
This built, v3.44 (beta) is the most significant of all the prior versions. Speed has great improved - tested using 40 PageBuilder content blocks on a page. The version possibly holds the speed record of page saving than any other competitive plugin.
Update: January 11, 2014
Version 1.4.3 is still slow especially when working with many articles. I had to revert back to version 1.3.10 which is fast.
Version 1.4.1 present heavier page loads and significantly longer page saves. I suggest rolling back to version 1.3
Update: August 22, 2013
Version 1.3
- Added option to select row styles. Requires theme integration.
- Added open in new window options to bundled widgets.
- Moved caching of bundled widget CSS into database instead of file based caching.
- Various bug fixes and performance enhancements.
Version 1.211
This page you are reading was built using Page Builder v1.211. There exist other page layout plugins and I will be reviewing them later. Page Builder is set a part from others I've tested for several reasons, they are:
- The product is very useful and is aggressively being developed
- The author is helpful and responds back to support questions in a timely manner
- Unlike many page layout plugins, Page Builder works great with all SEO plugins
- Page Builder is free - although I would support it by donating
Page Builder uses the Visual Editor as a container so that any SEO plugin may easily access content presents a great and creative feature. Unlike other similar page layout plugins,
Problem with the page layout schema: These plugins creates DIV tags for each block. With many blocks on a page, the problem is getting a SEO to properly access and optimize the entire page content. Ether Content Builder, another page layout plugin, does not so far, have a solution for a SEO. The author has stated he would have to customize a SEO in order so that Ether Content Builder is SEO friendly.
Solution: Page Builder utilizing the Visual Editor solves this problem by having the total content plus images inside of the Visual Editor. This guarantees SEO friendliness.
Summary: This is a great "must-have" plugin for site developers to the content publisher. Page Builder is managed by a helpful and creative coder. I encourage all who are using this plugin to pay something, for a show of appreciation which will allow the author to focus more resources to improve this product.
July 16, 2013 / Ron Dorsey I am in the process of reviewing Page Builder I've been looking for a replacement for Ether Content Builder and finally found it, Page Builder.
- Timely support responses from the author
- Drag-n-drop interface to construct columns and to ad modules
- Widgets can be placed anywhere on the page body
- WordPress widgets are no longer restricted to live in the sidebars, they can reside anywhere in the page body
- Free