Plugin
Utilities
ReadTime
Displays reading time and progress bar for Joomla articles.
30-day money-back guarantee
Works with
Joomla 4
Joomla 5
Joomla 6
What can ReadTime do for you?
Built for real Joomla sites
The ReadTime plugin enhances Joomla articles with estimated reading time and a customizable progress bar for improved user engagement.
Accurate by Design
A Better Reading Estimate
Audience-aware speed
Set minimum and maximum WPM values and ReadTime uses their average for a balanced estimate.
More than words
Add a configurable allowance for every image and hide the indicator below a minimum word threshold.
Minutes or seconds
Use minutes for long-form articles or seconds for announcements and micro-content.
Before, After, or Shortcode
Place It Exactly
Automatic placement
Show ReadTime before or after every eligible article.
Shortcode placement
Insert {readtime} exactly where the reading cue should appear.
Safe fallback
If Shortcode mode has no token, the indicator falls back to the beginning of the article.
Per-Shortcode Overrides
Multiple Variants, One Article
Use more than one
Add several ReadTime shortcodes to the same article.
Override only what matters
Change layout, style, icon, metrics, label, WPM, alignment, or progress behaviour per instance.
Backend stays in control
Plugin settings remain the defaults whenever an attribute is omitted.
From Quiet to Prominent
Three Presentation Styles
Plain
A minimal reading line for editorial, documentation, and knowledge-base pages.
Rounded Badge
A compact pill suited to blogs, cards, and metadata rows.
Information Card
A richer full-width summary for word count and finish-time details.
Time, Words, and Finish
More Useful Metrics
Estimated reading time
The essential time-to-read cue in customizable language.
Optional word count
Show readers the size of the article before they begin.
Estimated finish time
Tell visitors approximately when they will complete the article using the Joomla site timezone.
Measure What Readers Read
Article-Aware Progress
Article scope
Track the article body without counting unrelated headers, footers, and modules.
Page scope
Switch to full-page progress when the complete page journey matters.
Fully styled
Choose top or bottom placement, thickness, completed and track colours, plus an optional percentage label.
Unicode and CJK Ready
Global Reading Support
Unicode-aware matching
Counts letters, numbers, apostrophes, and hyphenated words across writing systems.
CJK and Thai fallback
Character-based estimation handles languages that do not separate every word with spaces.
Custom time-unit text
Configure singular and plural minute and second labels for the site language.
Fine-Grained Exclusions
Display Only Where Needed
Content control
Exclude categories, individual articles, or menu items.
View control
Disable ReadTime on featured, blog, or category views.
Module-safe processing
Context checks prevent indicators from appearing in unrelated article modules and previews.
Native Joomla Performance
Accessible and Lightweight
No jQuery
ReadTime uses native JavaScript and Joomla Web Asset Manager.
Accessible progress
Progressbar semantics, readable labels, live numeric values, and decorative SVG icons support assistive technology.
Motion and print aware
Honours reduced-motion preferences and provides clean print output.
35 Backend Parameters
Everything Managed in Joomla
Organized settings
General, Text, Styling, Progress Bar, and Exclusion fieldsets keep configuration clear.
Five presets plus Custom
Apply Default, Subtle, Bold, Minimal, or Highlighted styles, or control colour, size, weight, and alignment yourself.
Joomla 4, 5, and 6
One package supports current Joomla sites with versioned native assets.
Audience-aware speed
Set minimum and maximum WPM values and ReadTime uses their average for a balanced estimate.
More than words
Add a configurable allowance for every image and hide the indicator below a minimum word threshold.
Minutes or seconds
Use minutes for long-form articles or seconds for announcements and micro-content.
Automatic placement
Show ReadTime before or after every eligible article.
Shortcode placement
Insert {readtime} exactly where the reading cue should appear.
Safe fallback
If Shortcode mode has no token, the indicator falls back to the beginning of the article.
Use more than one
Add several ReadTime shortcodes to the same article.
Override only what matters
Change layout, style, icon, metrics, label, WPM, alignment, or progress behaviour per instance.
Backend stays in control
Plugin settings remain the defaults whenever an attribute is omitted.
Plain
A minimal reading line for editorial, documentation, and knowledge-base pages.
Rounded Badge
A compact pill suited to blogs, cards, and metadata rows.
Information Card
A richer full-width summary for word count and finish-time details.
Estimated reading time
The essential time-to-read cue in customizable language.
Optional word count
Show readers the size of the article before they begin.
Estimated finish time
Tell visitors approximately when they will complete the article using the Joomla site timezone.
Article scope
Track the article body without counting unrelated headers, footers, and modules.
Page scope
Switch to full-page progress when the complete page journey matters.
Fully styled
Choose top or bottom placement, thickness, completed and track colours, plus an optional percentage label.
Unicode-aware matching
Counts letters, numbers, apostrophes, and hyphenated words across writing systems.
CJK and Thai fallback
Character-based estimation handles languages that do not separate every word with spaces.
Custom time-unit text
Configure singular and plural minute and second labels for the site language.
Content control
Exclude categories, individual articles, or menu items.
View control
Disable ReadTime on featured, blog, or category views.
Module-safe processing
Context checks prevent indicators from appearing in unrelated article modules and previews.
No jQuery
ReadTime uses native JavaScript and Joomla Web Asset Manager.
Accessible progress
Progressbar semantics, readable labels, live numeric values, and decorative SVG icons support assistive technology.
Motion and print aware
Honours reduced-motion preferences and provides clean print output.
Organized settings
General, Text, Styling, Progress Bar, and Exclusion fieldsets keep configuration clear.
Five presets plus Custom
Apply Default, Subtle, Bold, Minimal, or Highlighted styles, or control colour, size, weight, and alignment yourself.
Joomla 4, 5, and 6
One package supports current Joomla sites with versioned native assets.
Docs & setup
Get up and running fast
Written guides for installing and configuring ReadTime — from first setup to the options that matter.
- Installation steps
- Configuration options
- Practical usage tips
Pricing
Choose the plan that fits
Save more as you scale — longer access means a bigger discount.
Compatible with
Joomla 4
Joomla 5
Joomla 6
Tester plan
30 Days
Basic testing plan. 30 days access only. No priority support. Access expires after 30 days - no future updates.
$19
$19
You save zero
Download
30-day money-back guarantee
Download Access -
30 Days
Support -
30 Days Email Support
1 Website License
Unlimited
Downloads
No Priority Support
No Future Updates After 30 Days
Limited to Testing Only
30-Day Money Back Guarantee
Commercial Use License
6 Months
6 months access with priority support & bug fixes. Perfect for short-term projects and growing businesses.
$114
$29
You save $85
Download
30-day money-back guarantee
Download Access -
6 Months
Support -
6 Months + Priority Updates
2 Websites License
Unlimited
Downloads
Priority Email Support
Priority Bug Fixes
6 Months Free Updates
30-Day Money Back Guarantee
Commercial Use License
1 Year
Full year access with VIP support channel. Fastest response time & priority feature requests. Best value!
$228
$49
Get 1 Year
30-day money-back guarantee
Download Access -
1 Year
Support -
1 Year + VIP Support Channel
3 Websites License
Unlimited
Downloads
VIP Support Channel
Priority Feature Requests
Fastest Response Time
1 Year Free Updates
30-Day Money Back Guarantee
Commercial Use License
Pay once
Lifetime
Lifetime access with dedicated support agent. Never pay again - unlimited updates & custom development support included.
$1,980
$99
You save 95%
Download
30-day money-back guarantee
Download Access -
Lifetime
Support -
Lifetime + Dedicated Support
Unlimited Websites License
Unlimited
Downloads
Dedicated Support Agent
Lifetime Free Updates
Feature Request Priority
Custom Development Support
30-Day Money Back Guarantee
Commercial Use License
Have questions about ReadTime?
Frequently asked questions
ReadTime 1.6 supports Joomla 4, Joomla 5, and Joomla 6. PHP 8.1 or later is recommended.
No. ReadTime uses native JavaScript and registers its versioned CSS and JavaScript through Joomla Web Asset Manager.
Yes. The plugin provides 35 backend parameters covering reading speed, metrics, text, placement, layouts, icons, style presets, custom typography, progress behaviour, and exclusions. Shortcode attributes are optional per-instance overrides.
Choose Before Article, After Article, or Shortcode {readtime}. Shortcode mode places the indicator exactly where the token appears and falls back to the beginning when no token is present.
Yes. Version 1.6 supports multiple {readtime} shortcodes in the same article. Each shortcode can use its own display attributes while inheriting every omitted value from the backend settings.
You can override layout, style, icon, words, finish, seconds, percentage, label, wpm, alignment, scope, and image_seconds.
Plain provides a minimal reading line, Rounded Badge provides a compact pill, and Information Card provides a full-width summary. Each layout works with the five presets or custom styling.
ReadTime averages the configured Minimum and Maximum WPM values, divides the article word count by that speed, then adds the configured seconds-per-image allowance. It can display the result in minutes or seconds.
Yes. It uses Unicode-aware word matching and applies a character-based estimate for CJK and Thai scripts that do not separate every word with spaces.
Article Content measures only the article body and ignores unrelated headers, footers, and modules. Entire Page measures the full document scroll length.
Yes. Set Minimum Word Count to the shortest content length that should display an estimate. A value of 0 allows every non-empty eligible article.
Yes. Exclude categories, menu items, individual articles, Featured Articles, blog layouts, or category views from the plugin settings.
Yes. It exposes progressbar semantics, an accessible label, and a numeric value from 0 to 100. ReadTime also honours reduced-motion preferences, hides decorative SVG icons from assistive technology, and includes print styles.
Confirm that Content - ReadTime is enabled and Display Position is set to Shortcode {readtime}. Check the attribute quotes and verify that the current article, category, menu item, or view is not excluded.
Visit support.joomlax.com. Include the Joomla and PHP versions, page URL, plugin settings, and any browser-console errors.
Still have questions?
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ReadTime
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