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1M+ installs 4.9★ (2,036)
WP Reading Progress
Light weight fully customizable reading progress bar. Sticks to top, bottom or sticky menu, with fallback for small screens. Includes ert (beta).
The facts
- Rating
- 5★ from 19
- Active installs
- 3k+
- Price
- Free
- Last updated
- 15 Aug 2026
- Added
- Jun 2019
- Requires WP
- 4.9
- Tested up to
- WP 7.1
- Requires PHP
- 5.6
- Downloads
- 51,983
Our analysis
AI-assistedWP Reading Progress is a WordPress plugin designed to enhance user experience on long articles by displaying a reading progress bar. It shows the reader's progress through the article and can be customised in terms of location, appearance, and behaviour. The plugin is particularly useful for bloggers and website owners who want to improve engagement on lengthy content.
The progress bar can be positioned at the top or bottom of the screen and can be set to appear on specific post types or individual posts. It also includes a rudimentary estimated reading time feature, which can be turned off if it does not function correctly with your theme.
Best for: This plugin suits bloggers and website owners who publish long-form content.
What it does well
- ✓Customisable location and colour of the reading progress bar
- ✓Supports multiple post types and individual post selection
- ✓Smooth initialisation and quick updates while scrolling
- ✓Includes estimated reading time functionality
Where it falls short
- •Limited to long articles for optimal use
- •Potential issues with estimated reading time functionality
Verdict
WP Reading Progress offers a straightforward way to enhance user engagement on lengthy articles. Its customisation options make it adaptable for various site needs.
From the developer
Joeri van Veen's own description of WP Reading Progress, lightly tidied.
The reading progress bar is a great user experience on longreads. Especially if it accurately depicts the reading progress in the article text, and nothing else. This is standard on single blog posts and enabled by default.
Customization:
-
Location top of screen, bottom of screen or below sticky elements.
-
Select post types you wish the bar to appear, or individual posts.
-
Choose color of the reading progress bar.
-
Have the bar start at 0% even when part of the article is visible.
Behaviour:
-
The reading progress bar has smooth initializing since part of the text may already be visible, after that a lightweight update-function ensures quick response while scrolling.
-
The bar can attach itself to multiple (sticky) elements that you define as an admin, the first visible element will be used.
-
When there is no (longer a) visible element to attach to, the bar displays at the top.
-
Use
dir=rtlon your html tag to have the bar display correctly for right-to-left languages.
Estimated reading time (beta)
Since 1.6.0 this plugin has rudimentary estimated reading time functionality, for when your theme does not support it out of the box.
There are some potential issues, some of which cannot be fixed in a plugin. If it does not work for you, switch it off. It will have no effect on the plugin then.
This is my 6th WordPress plugin but my first one freely available to everybody. I hope you enjoy using it as much as I enjoy building it!
Regards,
Joeri
Tagged as
purpose
Menus & Navigation
quality
Customisation
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