Title here
Summary here
Reading Time
Display estimated reading time for your posts and pages, helping readers gauge the time commitment before starting an article.
Use Cases
- Display “7 min read” on blog posts so readers know time commitment
- Help busy executives decide when to read vs. bookmark for later
- Improve user experience and reduce bounces on long-form content
How It Works
- Scans post content when the page loads
- Counts total words excluding HTML tags
- Divides word count by your WPM setting (default: 200)
- Displays the result in your chosen position
Settings
| Setting | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Auto Display | Toggle | Enabled | Automatically display reading time on posts |
| Display Position | Select | Before Content | Show before or after post content |
| Words Per Minute | Number | 200 | Average reading speed (200 WPM is average) |
Shortcodes
Use shortcodes to manually place reading time anywhere, or customize the output format.
Basic Usage
[reading_time]Output: 5 mins read
Formats
| Shortcode | Output |
|---|---|
[reading_time] | 5 mins read |
[reading_time format="short"] | 5 mins |
[reading_time format="number"] | 5 |
[reading_time wpm="150"] | 7 mins read (slower speed) |
Styling
The reading time is wrapped in a div with class switchboard-reading-time. Add custom CSS to your theme:
.switchboard-reading-time {
font-size: 14px;
color: #666;
margin-bottom: 20px;
}FAQ
How is reading time calculated?
We count all words in your post content (excluding HTML tags) and divide by your configured words-per-minute setting. The default is 200 WPM, which is the average adult reading speed.Can I show reading time on pages too?
The auto-display feature works on posts by default. For pages, use the[reading_time] shortcode anywhere in your page content.Does it count words in shortcodes?
The module counts rendered content, so shortcode output is included in the word count after shortcodes are processed.For technical content like code tutorials, consider setting WPM to 150 for more accurate estimates.
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