Do you want to add WordPress reading progress bar to posts?
As a content creator or owner, your main goal is to share valuable information with your users and keep them on your website longer. But the problem is that keeping them hooked is a challenge. So you need to make your website more user-centric so that they will interested in reading and the WordPress reading progress bar is a part of it.
In this article, I will show you the complete process of how you can add WordPress reading progress bar to posts easily. You do not need any coding knowledge to set up the plugin.
So let’s add WordPress Progress bar to enhench user engagement.
Also read: How to add a WordPress table of contents to posts?
Why Use WordPress Reading Progress Bar in Posts?
A common question about the reading progress bar is: Audience come to read articles to get their essential information, so why do we need to add a reading progress bar? Does it have any benefit? The answer is yes. A progress bar can help to keep your users on your site for more time.
As a website owner, capturing your readers’ attention is more important. Most of the user come to the website and look for their desired information. If any users read your post from the start and when they reach the middle of the article, they scroll to the end to see the article’s length. That’s why most of the users leave your site. If you add a reading progress bar, users can easily see the current reading position and also get an idea about the content length.
On the other hand, the progress bar dynamically fills up, offering a tangible representation of their journey. This progress bar encourages readers to continue scrolling and they read the article till the end. Besides, visitors can quickly gauge the article’s scope and decide whether they want to commit their time to reading it entirely. This transparency establishes trust and transparency between the content creator and the audience.
Also read: How to add social icons to WordPress website?
How to add WordPress Reading Progress bar to posts?
Adding a reading progress bar to the WordPress website is easy. There are lots of plugins available that allow you to add WordPress Reading Progress bar without any hassle. Now let’s introduce you to some popular plugins to add a reading progress bar:
| Plugin | Ratings | Active Installation | Download Link |
| Read Meter | 4.5 | 10,000+ | Download |
| Reading progress bar | 5.0 | 8,000+ | Download |
| Worth The Read | 4.5 | 6,000+ | Download |
| Reading Position Indicator | 5.0 | 1,000+ | Download |
| WP Reading Progress | 5.0 | 2,000+ | Download |
In this tutorial, I use the “Reading Position Indicator” plugin but you can use any of them above. All the plugins functionality are similar. Now let’s start adding the reading progress bar.
To add a reading progress bar, fast of all we need to log in to WordPress dashboard and need to add a plugin. After logging in to your site, Go to Plugins >> Add New and search the plugin on the search field at the top right. Now install the plugin that you searched for and activate the plugin
Now go back to the WordPress dashboard and you will see a new tab added called “Progress” under Appearance. To customize the progress bar, click on the “Progress” tab. You will be redirected to a new page with some progress bar customization options. Now select the post type where you want to display the progress bar and set the progress bar position.
You can also change the progress bar color style, thickness, background, color opacity, border radius, etc. So change the option and add the color that is suited to your brand. Once done, click on the “Save Changes” Button.
Now visit any post, and you will see a nice reading progress bar appear on the top. You can also edit or customize the progress bar anytime.
Also read: How to duplicate a page in WordPress?
Conclusion
Implementing a reading progress bar in your WordPress posts can significantly enhance the user experience and engagement on your website. A well-designed reading progress bar enhances the aesthetics of your website and keeps visitors longer.
WordPress offers a lots of plugins that make it easy to integrate reading progress bar into your posts without the need for extensive coding knowledge. However, if you’re comfortable with coding, you can also make a customizable progress bar for your website with or without using the plugin.
So I hope you can easily add WordPress reading progress bar now. If you face any problem or issue with adding a progress bar, let us know by leaving a comment. You can also get more helpful articles in our blog.
