37 Read More/Post Summaries Now Available in Blogger!!
Thursday, September 10, 2009 /


One of Blogger's most requested features has been the ability to summarize our posts on home and non-item pages using some sort of "Read More" function.

I'm thrilled to announce today that the Blogger Team have now enabled this for us to summarize our posts! No more laborious editing of the post HTML or template codes is required to display only summaries on our home pages :)









The easiest way to test this new function is to use Blogger's new post editor, either by creating your blog posts through Blogger in Draft or by enabling this through the Settings>Basic tab of your dashboard.



Once enabled, you should see a new button on the toolbar to insert a "Jump Break". Place your cursor where you would like the jump break to start in your blog post.








If you prefer not to use the new post editor, you can simply insert <!--more--> in the place where you would like the jump break to appear.



On non-item pages, a link to the full post will appear using the text "Read more >". If you prefer to change this to something more suited to your style, you can change this wording on the Layout>Page Elements section of your dashboard by clicking the "Edit" link for your Blog Posts gadget:






Those of us who have customized our Blogger templates will probably need to edit the Blog Posts section of the template in order to add the code required for this new Read More function.



The Blogger Team have added some instructions for adding this function to our templates on this page. Note: this currently refers to Classic Templates, though the actual code presented is for use with Blogger Layouts (gadgetized) templates.



I'll update this post with further instructions and more information about this great new feature as soon as I've had more time to test and experiment myself ;)



In the meantime, check out the announcement post on Blogger Buzz or Blogger in Draft to learn more about Blogger's implementation of Read More.

37 comments:

September 10, 2009 at 3:28 AM Roseli A. Bakar said...

Great... Blogger should have done this much earlier.

September 10, 2009 at 3:30 AM Jessica@Safe Payday Loans said...

Having no opportunity to look at a summary of a particular post was very frustrating to me as a user, I am glad this issue has been sorted out.

September 10, 2009 at 3:39 AM Shubham NeO ©® said...

Awesome new feature. Thanx blogger.

Would like to know if I can tweak the code somehow and automated this process ? Like can I build automated post summarized terminated after say 300 words ? This would allow me , not to edit each post manually, as i have 550+ posts on my blog.

I'm using a client side java script @ techquark.com to do so. It would be good it I can so the same using this new feature.

September 10, 2009 at 4:21 AM Amanda said...

@Shubham - to make the "read more" automatic, you could check out this post instead: http://www.bloggerbuster.com/2009/06/blogger-read-morepost-summaries-best.html

It does require JavaScript though! As far as I'm aware, the Blogger version requires us to add the tags manually. I'll be experimenting though, so if I discover something different I'll be sure to let you all know :)

September 10, 2009 at 4:27 AM e l d y said...

I dislike to use blogger default posting page to write blog .. I more refer to windoe live writer, so the read more function is sad to me.

September 10, 2009 at 5:04 AM N@k$h@tr@! said...

Hi,
I have tried using it.
But the 'read more' text will not be displayed on the post when you view blog..Also,the text after the 'read more' will not be displayed.
I had started a topic regarding this on blogger forum and many people replied back saying,they too experience this issue.
Can google fix this?
For more details,see this thread of discussion..
http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/blogger/thread?fid=3100c4cb823fc9ef0004732ccd479b8a&hl=en

September 10, 2009 at 5:25 AM Earn Money At Home said...

Wow! Good to know that... Google really helps their users.

September 10, 2009 at 5:40 AM ODARA said...

Hey Amanda! I tried this and the function work great! But it moved my sidebars to the bottom of the page. Any ideas on how to fix this?

Here's my site. http://www.gimmethatglow.com/

September 10, 2009 at 5:51 AM
Anonymous said...

When I utilize the jump-breaks function (great!) the side-bar gadgets all shifted to the bottom of the blog display and are no longer displayed on the side-bar (not great!)...
But when I click the "Read More" link everything looks fine on the post. What's happening? How can I fix this?

September 10, 2009 at 7:14 AM Robin said...

I guess the demand for this feature very much depends on the type of the blog - I mean whether it is important for the blogger to have an overview of entries displayed. I do not feel the need for that right now, but I welcome any new features for the Blogger - it seemed like a no man's land when I was just starting to use it.

September 10, 2009 at 7:32 AM Remba said...

Wow Blogger Now very Awesome..!!!

………………….._,,-~’’’¯¯¯’’~-,,
………………..,-‘’ ; ; ;_,,---,,_ ; ;’’-,…………………………….._,,,---,,_
……………….,’ ; ; ;,-‘ , , , , , ‘-, ; ;’-,,,,---~~’’’’’’~--,,,_…..,,-~’’ ; ; ; ;__;’-,
……………….| ; ; ;,’ , , , _,,-~’’ ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ¯’’~’-,,_ ,,-~’’ , , ‘, ;’,
……………….’, ; ; ‘-, ,-~’’ ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;’’-, , , , , ,’ ; |
…………………’, ; ;,’’ ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;’-, , ,-‘ ;,-‘
………………….,’-‘ ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;’’-‘ ;,,-‘
………………..,’ ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;__ ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ‘-,’
………………,-‘ ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;,-‘’¯: : ’’-, ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; _ ; ; ; ; ;’,
……………..,’ ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;| : : : : : ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ,-‘’¯: ¯’’-, ; ; ;’,
…………….,’ ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ‘-,_: : _,-‘ ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; | : : : : : ; ; ; .|
……………,’ ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ¯¯ ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;’-,,_ : :,-‘ ; ; ;|
…………..,-‘ ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ,,-~’’ , , , , ,,,-~~-, , , , _ ; ; ;¯; ; ; ; ; ;|
..…………,-‘ ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;,’ , , , , , , ,( : : : : , , , ,’’-, ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;|
……….,-‘ ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;’, , , , , , , , ,’~---~’’ , , , , , ,’ ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;’,
…….,-‘’ ; _, ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ‘’~-,,,,--~~’’’¯’’’~-,,_ , ,_,-‘ ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ‘,
….,-‘’-~’’,-‘ ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; | ; ; | . . . . . . ,’; ,’’¯ ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ,_ ; ‘-,
……….,’ ; ;,-, ; ;, ; ; ;, ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ‘, ; ;’, . . . . THAT'S JUST WRONG---‘’’
………,’-~’ ,-‘-~’’ ‘, ,-‘ ‘, ,,- ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ‘, ; ; ‘~-,,,-‘’ ; ,’ ; ; ; ; ‘, ;,-‘’ ; ‘, ,-‘,
……….,-‘’ ; ; ; ; ; ‘’ ; ; ;’’ ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ‘’-,,_ ; ; ; _,-‘ ; ; ; ; ; ;’-‘’ ; ; ; ‘’ ; ;’-,
……..,-‘ ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;¯¯’’¯ ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; , ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;’’-,
……,-‘ ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ,, ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; |, ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ‘-,
…..,’ ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;,’ ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;|..’-,_ ; ; ; , ; ; ; ; ; ‘,

September 10, 2009 at 8:11 AM Soufiane LeBlogger said...

What would be the next gift from the Blogger Team ????

May be, they will let us create "Static Pages" more easily. Like "About", "Contact Me" pages...

This will be Fantastic for the community.

September 10, 2009 at 9:01 AM Anand Jage said...

Sounds Great, but my apprehensions are that I have already edited the template code... so will enabling this feature require disabling the previous change in code??

September 10, 2009 at 9:01 AM Earl said...

Thank you Blogger! Now for the static pages! (Twiddling my thumbs!)

September 10, 2009 at 10:03 AM Amanda said...

@Soufiane LeBlogger - I think this may well be happening soon. I don't have insider info, but am pretty sure after seeing various new elements in the template code ;)

Those of you experiencing issues with sidebar widgets after adding "Read more" to posts - which browser are you using? I've had no trouble in Firefox and IE8 so far.

Maybe we could add some css (width:XXpx; overflow: hidden;) to our templates to prevent the breaking templates. I'll need to locate the class of the read-more text and will update soon.

September 10, 2009 at 10:09 AM ODARA said...

Hey Amanda, I'm using firefox & IE and I experience the same sidebar error in both. The sidebars look fine on the post pages but they move to the bottom on the main page. Thx!

September 10, 2009 at 11:36 AM Harry Seenthings said...

wow is nice information, thanks for sharing amanda

September 10, 2009 at 12:10 PM E said...

Wow, at last but I still prefer the expandable version of jquery! Looking good though.

September 10, 2009 at 2:14 PM Snowball said...

Hi Amanda, very nice blog, i 've been reading you for a while!!!

How can you insert a video file with the new post editor?

There is no "Add Video" button like in the old editor...

September 10, 2009 at 2:55 PM TC said...

I actually made money with blogger and adsense, got cocky and made two self hosted blogs. Pray with me or come visit! Links are on my animals page in post.

September 10, 2009 at 4:24 PM Ocim said...

I like Blogspot better than WP

September 10, 2009 at 5:30 PM Fabrizio said...

When I uses the "Jump Break" my template also is wrong, sidebar go to the bottom =(

September 10, 2009 at 10:08 PM Shinrue Ainsofroi said...

@Odara & Fabrizio:
The same error happened with me.

(1)
It seems if we put "jump break" in our most-bottom post in the main page, will make the sidebar goes wrong (Moved to the bottom of our post)

(2)..but if we click the title/read more link... the error was not happened (the error just happened in the main page, not post page)

I wonder if Blogger Team realized this error soon and give us solution so we can implement this new feature without worry and hesitation? :(

September 10, 2009 at 10:26 PM Tanvir said...

Great update, Amanda. Its always great to find these breaking updates from your blog, and then rushing off to my blog for application!

September 11, 2009 at 5:01 AM mytheory said...

hahaha
i never expect this from blogger team
but this is really great!

now i don't need to hack my template just to display readmore menu.
hope i can try this soon
thx 4 the info

September 11, 2009 at 5:02 AM ODARA said...

@Shinrue Ainsofroi Blogger said that they are investigating the problem you can stay updated with their progress @ the link below

http://bloggerindraft.blogspot.com/2009/09/you-might-as-well-jump.html

I might remove the code until they are able to fix it :-(

September 11, 2009 at 6:09 AM N@k$h@tr@! said...

Hi,
I was able to fix this issue now its working fine for me
If your widgets on the right sidebar are shifted to the bottom of your page after insertion of Jump Breaks,this is because your jump break is between opening and closing of "div" tags
So,do this..
1>Open your post in Edit Mode.Of the options a>Compose b>Edit HTML,
choose Edit HTML.
2>Remove ALL the "div" tags
3>Now choose compose mode.
4>Insert the Jump break ->Save and view your blog

You will see that ALL you widgets are INTACT!
You can see an example on my blog
http://swathipradeep-odyssey.blogspot.com

September 11, 2009 at 6:29 AM Aneesh said...

@Amanda
there is a space before and after the more
i mean it is <!-- more --> instead of <!--more-->

Don't know why blogger used that space to make it a little complicated..

September 11, 2009 at 7:34 AM N@k$h@tr@! said...

Check my blog entry on how to fix issues with 'Jump Breaks'
http://swathi-pradeep.blogspot.com/2009/09/problem-with-jump-breaks.html

September 12, 2009 at 12:35 AM
Anonymous said...

Nice post,Useful content
How to hack

September 13, 2009 at 2:11 AM film izle said...

Pray with me or come visit! Links are on my animals page in post.

September 14, 2009 at 9:15 AM
Anonymous said...

i can not see Read More toolbar in my blogger editor..so any one can help me out from them?

September 17, 2009 at 11:26 AM P@tengBook said...

Good article, useful information, and great improvement from Blogger / Blogspot.

September 24, 2009 at 5:38 AM honey said...

nice, thanks for the information. http://honeytechie.blogspot.com

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