jekyll-smart-reading-time

jekyll-smart-reading-time calculates reading time for Jekyll posts the right way. The existing abandoned gem counts every character on the page — including code blocks, HTML tags, and Liquid template syntax. That makes a post heavy on code examples appear to take 20 minutes to read when the actual prose is 3 minutes. This plugin strips all of that noise before counting.

What Gets Stripped

Before counting words, the plugin removes:

• Fenced code blocks ( ` ... ` )
• Indented code blocks (4+ space lines)
• HTML tags
• Liquid tags ({% %} and {{ }})
• YAML frontmatter

Then it counts remaining words at 238 WPM (research-backed average for adult reading speed) and injects the result — minimum 1 minute — into page.reading_time automatically.

Installation

Add to your Gemfile:

gem "jekyll-smart-reading-time"

Add to plugins: in _config.yml:

plugins:
  - jekyll-smart-reading-time

Template Usage

The reading time is available as page.reading_time (an integer) on every post and page automatically:

<span>{{ page.reading_time }} min read</span>

Or use the optional Liquid tag anywhere in content:

{% reading_time %}

Which renders: 3 min read

Configuration

Override the default reading speed:

reading_time:
  wpm: 200  # default: 238

Source

Available on GitHub and RubyGems.

gem install jekyll-smart-reading-time