Creating a read more link for blog.

Question

I am working on a site that has a main entry but as I post new entries, it pushes existing content down into summarized items the user can click on for more. I want to have a little summary so the user can read a quick outline of what is being discussed or viewed without having to click on it. I would like to have the typical "Read More" link, however I am not exactly sure how to set that up or code it.

I came across this article while I was searching for possible solutions.

http://colly.com/comments/more-more-more-links-in-expression-engine/

However, I see that it was posted in 2006 so I was curious if this was what I was looking for and secondly if this is still the method used today. I currently have my entries set up with a title, a vimeo link and also a text entry about what the video is going to cover. Thanks for any help, as always it is greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

You have two primary options here.

The first, which I'd recommend, is to have a dedicated "Summary" field in your channel. This way the summary can be specifically-crafted as a summary, which is far more useful to your readers, rather than just whatever the first X-number of words of your entry happens to be. Then, display it with a link to your full entry:

{exp:channel:entries channel="blog" limit="10"}
    <h2><a href="{title_permalink="blog/entry"}">{title}</a></h2>
    {blog_summary}
    <p><a href="{title_permalink="blog/entry"}">Read more ...</a></p>
{/exp:channel:entries}

(Where blog/entry is your single entry template, in which you display all your fields for a single entry.)

Your other, lazier option is to use a plugin on your content field, like Hacksaw, which truncates your content into a summary:

{exp:channel:entries channel="blog" limit="10"}
    <h2><a href="{title_permalink="blog/entry"}">{title}</a></h2>
    {exp:eehive_hacksaw words="50" append="..."}
        {blog_content}
    {/exp:eehive_hacksaw}
    <p><a href="{title_permalink="blog/entry"}">Read more ...</a></p>
{/exp:channel:entries}

Either one will get the job done for you.