Beaver Builder
If you’re looking for a way to create a custom WordPress website from scratch or upgrade the design of your existing site, this Beaver Builder review will be of interest to you.
Although there are many page builder plugins available for WordPress, one option is widely touted as the leader of the pack, and that is Beaver Builder.
In this Beaver Builder review, we’ll be testing out this popular WordPress plugin to find out if it really is the best WordPress page builder. By the end of this hands-on review, you’ll be able to decide whether Beaver Builder is the right tool to help you build the website you’ve always wanted.
What is a WordPress Page Builder Plugin?
If you’re not entirely sure what a WordPress page builder plugin is, let me quickly explain. In basic terms, a page builder is a tool that upgrades the default WordPress content editor. The best page builder plugins like Beaver Builder give you the ability to create advanced page layouts with relative ease.
You can then populate those custom layouts with a range of modules. This includes modules that will display images, text, buttons, sliders, and a whole lot more. The best page builders also include high-quality templates to kick-start your web design projects. They also feature intuitive drag-and-drop user interfaces and plenty of customization settings and controls.
A good page builder will give non-web designers the ability to create custom website designs through a visual user interface. These tools can also help experienced web designers speed up their workflow. If that sounds like something you could make use of, read on for the rest of our Beaver Builder review.
Beaver Builder Page Builder Interface
After installing and activating the Beaver Builder plugin on your WordPress website, a Page Builder tab is added to the WordPress Editor. Beaver Builder will work with WordPress posts, pages, and custom post types. You can configure which post types you’d like the builder to work with through the plugin settings.
The first time you launch the builder, you have the option of taking a quick tour. This is a great way to familiarize yourself with the user interface and learn how this page builder works. You can retake the tour at any point by clicking on the builder’s help icon.
Once you’re ready to start work on your custom page design, you have two main options. You can either load one of the Beaver Builder templates or create your own design from scratch.
We’ll look at the templates in more detail later on in this Beaver Builder review. However, to give you a quick overview, they’re divided into two main categories. One is Landing Pages, which also includes homepage designs. The other is Content Pages, which includes templates for your about, services, portfolio pages and more. You can also save your page designs as templates for reuse.
Editing a Beaver Builder Template
If you load one of the templates, you can customize it through the Beaver Builder user interface. As part of the recent update to Beaver Builder version 2, the user interface has had a major overhaul. Not only does it have a new and improved look, but the settings panel logic was ported from PHP to JavaScript resulting quicker loading and saving than before. As part of the update, a library of keyboard shortcuts has also been added to help power users create custom page designs faster.
As you move your mouse over an element on the page, the builder controls are displayed. Although icons are used, hovering over a button quickly displays a helpful tooltip explaining the purpose of each button. The controls for an element typically provide the ability to move, duplicate, remove, and edit the element settings.
Clicking on the Edit Settings button displays a pop-up window. This Settings window gives you a good amount of control over the content and appearance of the element.
Beaver Builder isn’t a true point-and-click page editor that allows you to edit text and other content inline. However, any changes you make to your page and its content through the pop-up windows are immediately applied to your design. This means you don’t have to waste time saving your settings and refreshing windows in order to see how your changes will look. If you’re not happy with your changes, you can simply hit the Cancel button.
Adding Content to a Page
Whether you’re editing one of the Beaver Builder templates or starting from a blank canvas, the process for adding new content to your page is the same.
After clicking on the + button, the control panel is displayed. Being able to quickly hide and reveal this panel is a nice feature that helps avoid your screen becoming cluttered with too many elements. Another new feature of Beaver Builder 2 is the ability to dock and resize the panels. This makes it easier to work with Beaver Builder on smaller screens while giving those using larger displays the option of keeping certain panels active at all times if necessary.
Once the content sidebar is displayed, you can start dragging and dropping items onto your page. As Beaver Builder uses a row and column based format, dragging a row layout allows you to start work on designing the layout.
Once you’ve made a selection, simply drag and drop the item onto your page. Another positive feature of the Beaver Builder user interface is the way the content panel is automatically hidden once you start dragging an item onto your page. Again, this works really well to reduce unnecessary clutter and give you an unobstructed view of your page.
After you’ve dropped the item into place, the content sidebar is instantly displayed again. This gives you the option of adding more elements to your page or customizing your existing content. The next steps for creating your custom WordPress page design could be adding more row layouts to your page, customizing your existing content, or adding modules to your layout.
Customizing the Row Settings
To help you create advanced page layouts, you can add as many rows to your designs as you need. Each row can have its own settings and layout, enabling you to present your content in the right way. Thanks to the true drag-and-drop user interface, it’s easy to rearrange and reorganize your page layout and design.
Once you’ve dragged and dropped a module into your layout, the settings panel is displayed. This helps you customize the module straightaway, removing the need to try to find the right button to open the panel. Of course, you can go back and reopen the panel at a later date.
That wraps up our look at the interface and user experience of this WordPress drag-and-drop page builder plugin. Although the original Beaver Builder user interface worked well, the improvements added with the release of Beaver Builder 2 make it even easier to use. Now let’s explore the modules that you can add to your content in the next section of our Beaver Builder review.
Beaver Builder Modules
Another powerful feature of Beaver Builder is its selection of modules. This allows you to upgrade your content by inserting useful elements into your pages.
The Beaver Builder modules are divided into two groups: basic and advanced modules. Some highlights from the selection of modules include:
- Button
- Call to Action
- Call Out
- HTML Custom Content
- Map
- Posts Carousel and Posts Slider
- Pricing Table
- Testimonials
- WooCommerce online shop content
You can view the full list of modules as well as find out how they work on this page on the Beaver Builder website.
Customizing the Beaver Builder Modules
Once you drag and drop a module into your page design, the settings window is displayed. Through the controls, you can customize the content in the module as well as its appearance and other settings.
Beaver Builder can help ensure that the content you create with this plugin is highly responsive and mobile friendly. One way this is achieved is by giving each of the page items their own responsive settings. Through these settings, you can define whether to hide or display individual items based on the size of the device the pages is being viewed on.
Insert WordPress Widgets into Your Pages
To help you build even more creative and feature-rich pages designs, Beaver Builder also makes it possible to insert any of the widgets that are active on your WordPress site into your content. This not only includes the default WordPress widgets, but also any that have been added to your site via the plugins you’ve installed.
Depending on the widget, when you add it to your pages, you’ll get access to the same settings you would if you were adding it to your website’s sidebar area through the WordPress Dashboard.
Thanks to this feature, if you’re using a premium email list building plugin like Bloom or OptinMonster, you’ll be able to add high-quality optin forms to your website via the widgets those plugins provide.
Due to the thousands of third-party plugins available for WordPress, there’s no guarantee every widget will work on your site. However, this feature does open up a world of possiblities when it comes to adding modules and widgets to your pages.
Whether you’re creating custom page layouts with Beaver Builder or you just want a way to enhance your content, this page builder’s selection of modules is one of its highlights. Next up in our hands-on Beaver Builder review, we’ll be taking a look at its library of templates.
Beaver Builder Templates
Whether you’re planning to use Beaver Builder to create a new site from scratch or you’re looking for a tool to help improve your existing site, the quality of the templates will play a large part in helping you decide whether this is the best WordPress page builder plugin for you.
Homepage and Landing Page Templates
Thankfully, the team at Beaver Builder have designed their templates to a very high standard. There’s a good selection of homepage and landing page designs. These templates will help you create a stylish front page for your WordPress website or create a sales page to promote your offers and opportunities.
Content Page Templates
As well as the homepage and landing page templates, Beaver Builder includes templates for the inner pages most websites are likely to need. Among these content page templates you’ll find designs for creating about us, our services, portfolio, FAQ, pricing, and meet the team pages, among others.
As the Beaver Builder templates can be fully customized through the page builder interface, you should have no problem modifying them to suit your needs. Because you can easily duplicate and copy sections from one page to another, combining elements from multiple templates to create your own unique designs is an option, too. You can also apply multiple templates to the same page, giving you a quick way to mix and match your favorite elements from a number of templates.
Create Your Own Templates
Beaver Builder also gives you the option of saving your own pages as templates for later reuse. As you can import and export Beaver Builder layouts between WordPress websites that are using this plugin, you have an easy way to start client projects or share designs among the different sites you manage.
Overall, the Beaver Builder templates are all very useful and well designed. You might find other WordPress page builders with more templates. However, these larger libraries will often feature designs of varying quality. Some outdated or low-quality templates might even be included to make up the numbers.
Thankfully, as all of the Beaver Builder templates have been designed to a high standard, you can apply them to your website with confidence. There’s no need to worry about whether you’ve unknowingly chosen a filler template that was added simply to pad out the library.
Beaver Builder Settings
Beaver Builder is very much a plug-n-play WordPress page builder. Once the plugin is active on your site, you can start creating custom page designs for your WordPress website right away. However, this tool does have some useful settings to be aware of. Let’s take a look at them now in this part of our Beaver Builder review.
One particularly useful setting of Beaver Builder is the ability to control how different WordPress user roles can use the builder. These settings should come in handy if you’re creating sites for clients, or if you’re working with multiple users on the same site. For example, you can give your clients the ability to edit the content of a layout, but not the layout itself.
Other settings allow you to control which Beaver Builder modules are enabled, whether the Beaver Builder templates are available, and if so, who can edit them. You can also choose which post types the builder is available for.
Builder Beaver won’t slow you down with countless settings. However, you do get a good amount of control over how this WordPress drag-and-drop page builder works and more importantly, who can use which aspects of the plugin.
Beaver Builder WordPress Theme
Although Beaver Builder is a WordPress plugin that will work with any theme, there’s also a Beaver Builder WordPress theme. The Beaver Builder theme isn’t much to look at compared to some of the high-end WordPress themes available today.
However, if you’re starting a new website then using the Beaver Builder theme is a good option. The two products work well together, and if you’ve not yet chosen a theme for your site, you can save yourself the trouble by using the Beaver Builder theme.
Another advantage of using the Beaver Builder theme is that it includes two templates that enable you to publish content without the WordPress header, footer, and sidebars areas on display. This gives you a quick way to publish full-screen pages that you’ve created with the Beaver Builder editor.
If your chosen theme doesn’t include these templates, then you’ll have to find a way to add them to your site if you want to use Beaver Builder to create a homepage or other custom page designs that takes up the whole browser window.
Beaver Builder Theme Customization Options
The Beaver Builder theme fully supports the WordPress Customizer, giving you lots of control over how your website looks.
The Beaver Builder theme is highly recommended if you’re starting from scratch and building a custom WordPress website. Alternatively, if you just want a way to create custom content designs for your existing WordPress website, then the Beaver Builder plugin should provide you with everything you need.
The Beaver Builder theme is included on the top two pricing plans, but not the entry-level standard option.
What Happens if You Disable Beaver Builder?
It’s worth covering what happens if you do decide to disable or remove the Beaver Builder plugin in the future.
After deactivating Beaver Builder, the content you’ve added through the builder is still accessible – albeit without the custom formatting and page layout.
Your content and pages won’t look as nice. However, you’ll still be able to access most of the content you’ve added through the default WordPress Editor.
This isn’t the case with many other WordPress page builders. Often your content will disappear after the plugin is disabled or it will be surrounded by countless shortcodes, making it all but impossible to retrieve any text you’ve added through the builder. The fact that you will have access to your content if you decide to deactivate Beaver Builder is another powerful selling point for this plugin.
Beaver Builder Pricing Options
As mentioned, there are three Beaver Builder pricing options:
- Standard: $99
- Pro: $199
- Agency: $399
All pricing options allow you to use Beaver Builder on an unlimited number of sites. Upgrading to the mid-tier Pro option gives you access to the Beaver Builder WordPress theme – an upgrade that’s recommended if you’re starting a new website from scratch. The Pro license also unlocks the ability to use Beaver Builder on WordPress Multisite installations.
Upgrading to the top-tier $399 Agency license gives you the ability to white label the plugin and replace the Beaver Builder branding with your own. If you’re creating websites for clients, you might appreciate this feature.
Beaver Builder Review Conclusion
Is Beaver Builder the best WordPress page builder plugin? I’ve used many of these tools, and Beaver Builder has the most user-friendly interface. The design and appearance of the Beaver Builder interface isn’t very stylized and flashy. However, this works in Beaver Builder’s favor as there aren’t any unnecessary distractions. Due to this, Beaver Builder looks and feels like a part of WordPress rather than a tacked on extra.
However, the simplicity of the user experience isn’t reflected in the capacities and feature list of Beaver Builder. Creating advanced page layouts with multiple rows and columns isn’t a problem with this drag-and-drop page builder. Almost every aspect of your designs can be customized to help you get the appearance just right.
The selection of templates and modules makes it easy to enhance and upgrade your designs. As the templates and modules can all be customized, you’ll definitely have the creative freedom to design your own unique website with Beaver Builder.
Compared to the competition, the only downsides of Beaver Builder are the lack of an inline text editor and the relatively high price. You can now find more affordable WordPress page builders that also include inline text editing. In addition, you can find other page builders with more advanced tools, including the ability to run split testing experiments on your designs. However, these other options aren’t perfect, and for most scenarios, Beaver Builder is my preferred option.
Whether you want to create a custom WordPress website or upgrade your existing website with some creative page designs, Beaver Builder comes highly recommended.
Has this Beaver Builder review answered all your questions about this page builder? Is it the right choice for your project? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.
Pros
Intuitive and user-friendly page builder interface
High-quality and useful page templates
Good selection of useful modules
Impressive customization options
Useful plugin configuration settings
Highly mobile responsive
Optional Beaver Builder theme
Relatively smooth exit strategy
Cons
No inline text editing
Fewer tools than some other WordPress page builders
More expensive than some of the competition
Summary
A highly user-friendly drag-and-drop page builder plugin for WordPress that works with any theme.
A highly user-friendly drag-and-drop page builder plugin for WordPress that works with any theme.
