1M+ Websites
30+ Templates
20+ Content Modules
3 Active Support Communities
Are you planning to build your first website from scratch? Gone are the days when programming and coding knowledge are necessary, as Beaver Builder is here to save you from intricate website work.
The question is, how does it stand against other page builders in the market? Does it offer anything new? Should you consider it above other more popular page builders? That’s what I’m here to find out!
What Is Beaver Builder?
Before getting into real action, let’s discover first what Beaver Builder has to offer.
Beaver Builder is an exceedingly functional website builder that’s well-known for its drag-and-drop design configuration. It allows efficient designing and building of your website without touching any code.
Best of Builder Beaver: What I Like
After giving Beaver Builder a try, here are the best selling points of Beaver Builder I liked:
Integrate interactive elements with advanced module customization.
Whenever a website builder features website creation without coding, most aspiring creators immediately assume the use of editable templates. Beaver Builder offers more thanks to their wide selection of modules or highly modifiable website design elements. Their module options consist of basic and advanced modules.
Their advanced modules consist of useful and interactive elements that can be tailor-fit according to your content needs. Some of them include:
- Call-to-actions (CTAs)
- Maps
- Pricing tables
- Post sliders and carousels
- HTML custom content
- Testimonials and reviews
- ECommerce online shop content like WooCommerce
Access content from the WP native editor from the front-end Beaver Builder interface
When you click on any content module on the page you're editing, you can click on the window icon above the editing panel that appears. This shows you the content as it is inside the WordPress native editor.
You can edit it right from the front-end builder interface, and it will change the content in real time, so you don't have to switch back and forth between the WordPress editor and Beaver Builder when editing.
Lose layout, but not content.
In other website builders, your database content is inserted with a bunch of shortcodes to make it functional on the website. However, if you decide to remove that particular website builder plugin, it’ll leave you with these shortcodes without access to content.
Setting up your website and realized that Beaver Builder isn’t your cup of tea? Thankfully, Beaver Builder allows users to remove their WordPress plugin whenever they want without risking content inaccessibility. Essentially, you may lose your layout, but never your content. It still saves all text and images on your database despite removing the plugin.
If you notice on the gif above, everything on the WordPress editor will be saved and only the design and layout made using Beaver Builder will be lost if you choose to uninstall the plugin.
Access and edit content without going to the WP Dashboard.
The Assistant plugin is a publishing tool that enables some basic WordPress editing features right from the front-end website. Its UI is a clean and neat panel on the right side of your webpage. You can do almost everything that you usually go to the WordPress Dashboard for, without actually loading the dashboard.
It’s the latest from Beaver Builder creators, and honestly so impressive for productivity and client management. This would be extremely convenient for people or developers who manage client websites.
You know how it can be painful to have clients tinkering with the website, even if they only access content from the dashboard. With the Assistant plugin, they really don’t have to touch the Builder AND the dashboard at all, while still having access to the same editing capabilities.
The Assistant allows a user to:
- Create a new post
- Edit post title, slug, URL, publish date, featured image, labels
- View images
- Approve or delete comments
- Label posts and other content to collaborate with other users
Join amazing communities on Facebook, Slack, and their very own community forum.
Using website services is always better with a supportive community where you can share knowledge and experiences using the website builder. The last thing that I liked in Beaver Builder is that they have not only one or two communities for users, but three—in Slack, Facebook, and community forum platforms.
If your concerns aren’t too specific, you can also navigate their rich knowledge base. Have concerns that remain unanswered by the knowledge base and communities? Beaver Builder’s outstanding customer support is one email away.
What You Can Do With Beaver Builder
You don’t need to pay much for a website builder to create an awesome website. Here are some of the best things you can do to your website with Beaver Builder’s basic features:
Achieve multilingual support with translation plugin.
Beaver Builder offers a hand to make your website translation-friendly. You can add an intuitive translation plugin into your WordPress site using Beaver Builder and your plugin choice, say TranslatePress, for example.
To pick your top website languages, focus on which languages are popular with your niche. When users visit your website, they can click the language switcher button to translate the page into their preferred language through automatic language detection.
Import and export flawlessly.
Designers and developers alike will love this feature, as Beaver Builder also facilitates seamless importation and exportation of custom layout templates. If you don’t plan to incorporate the web design into your website, but submit and sell it to clients, it’s easy to export the entire layout set and import it into another blank canvas.
All elements, including the modules, rows, columns, and individual templates, can be moved around, making web layout resale, migration, or distribution more efficient. Make sure to update the images, graphics, links, and icon sets after importation.
Edit fields directly with inline editing.
Inline editing is an emerging website design feature today that sets the bar even higher for website building. Beaver Builder also accommodates the use of inline editing, allowing you to edit text without opening a popup window, but inline or in the editing window.
In this way, editing your content is as easy as 1-2-3. You simply have to click the module you want to edit and make changes to it. Editing icons will appear, according to the type of module, to assist your inline editing effectively.
See user’s perspective through full front-end editing.
Being unable to see your website’s actual layout is one of the usual headaches of website creation. With Beaver Builder, you can edit and design webpages inside your website in real-time, saving the worry of displaying design elements different from what you intended.
Full front-end editing in Beaver Builder allows you to view your website in the eyes of a visitor. Front-end editing is also associated with the modularity of Beaver Builder, where users can edit, type, reposition, and delete every design module however they like without sacrificing visual components.
What You Get With Beaver Builder Pro Version
If you’re looking into purchasing the Pro version priced at USD$199, here are exclusive features you should expect:
The Beaver Builder Theme
As mentioned briefly earlier, the Beaver Builder Theme, or Beaver Themer, is only available upon purchasing the Pro and Agency versions. While they seem pricey for some, their capabilities are worth it. Along with playing with post and page designs, the Beaver Themer enables creators to tweak the layout for pages not covered by the content area.
In the Beaver Builder Theme menu, you have various options, including:
- Themer Layouts
- Templates
- Saved Rows, Columns, and Modules
- Categories
- Add New
Take note that Beaver Themer isn’t a WordPress theme, so it’s still required to install the WordPress theme along with the Beaver Themer plugin. As WordPress themes let you control design aspects and elements in your page, Beaver Themer levels up the game by filling out gaps in your theme and content.
Multisite Capability
WordPress designers and developers with a consistent stream of clients can efficiently use Beaver Builder’s multisite capability. Since managing different client projects can slow down and make your work less efficient, Beaver Builder’s multisite support is an excellent solution to website management and centralization.
Simply put, the multisite capability of Beaver Themer and WordPress allows developers to accomplish a single WordPress installation containing a network of several WordPress websites.
Pricing
Your needs and preferences significantly contribute to your choice of a website builder. Which website builder can present your content best?
Because of this, Beaver Builder created three paid package services that every type of website creator will appreciate:
- Standard (USD$99): The free, lite version offers limited features if you want to take your website building to the next level. Single website builders can accomplish the most with their money with the Standard package.
- Pro (USD$199): If you’re into eCommerce and online retail, the Pro version is the best pick as it boasts the Beaver Builder Theme for designing personalized store and product pages with WooCommerce plugin integration.
- Agency (USD$399): In the Agency plan, your entire organization can benefit from its multinetwork settings, Beaver Builder Theme availability, and white-labeling services. Developers knowledgeable with coding can use the Agency version to speed up project design and development.
FAQs
The Beaver Builder Theme is a stripped down theme builder that other page builders have. It’s extremely beginner-friendly because you can edit your website appearance from WordPress Customizer. The theme will dictate the appearance of your header and footer, but you can make everything follow your branding style.
This is great if you’re new to page builders, have zero coding and design knowledge for building websites. However, if you have any prior knowledge or a knack for learning new tools, the Beaver Builder Theme isn’t necessary.
The child theme is a blank theme that you can test new codes for. You can find code from Beaver Builder’s knowledge base, and try it out in the child theme. It doesn’t update, so everything on your website that you don’t want to lose can be stored here. Installing it beforehand will be easier than trying to install a child theme when everything’s set up.
The only difference of the Agency plan with the Pro plan is white labeling, which allows you to edit core templates and change the Beaver Builder labels on the WP dashboard. This is great if you’re a developer who wants to remain in control of client websites you handle. However, if this isn’t necessary for you, the Pro version already includes a lot of great features.
Recommended or Not?
Beaver Builder may seem like just another page builder in the market, but its interface is actually cleaner than other page builders. It’s very easy to get around the builder, and familiarize yourself with arranging modules around the page.
If for the Assistant plugin alone, which works well with Beaver Builder websites, I think getting Beaver Builder could be an advantage over other page builders. It also works with almost any WordPress theme, so you can start right away without having the builder take over everything, which is more convenient especially if you already have an existing website.