Description
Introducing the Read More Without Refresh WordPress plugin v4.1.0 – your key to elevating user experience and SEO on your website. 🚀
Say goodbye to clunky page reloads that break content exploration. Your readers expand your valuable content instantly, with no interruption, while every hidden word stays 100% crawlable by search engines. A win for both visitors and Google.
🎉 Version 4.1.0 is our biggest release yet. On top of the classic toolkit, the PRO version now adds a full growth suite: content locker, teaser paywall, AI summaries, a real analytics dashboard, A/B testing, sitewide automation and reusable content blocks.
✨ Free Version Features:
- Instant Read More / Read Less – smooth expand and collapse with no page refresh
- 100% SEO-friendly – all hidden content stays in the initial HTML and is fully crawlable
- Smooth Scroll – automatically scrolls to the expanded content
- Print Optimization – all content auto-expands when a reader prints the page
- Customizable button – colors, borders, padding and font weight to match your brand
- Modern tabbed settings UI – clean, organized and fully responsive
- Gutenberg compatible – and works with any page builder that renders shortcodes
- Full accessibility – ARIA support, keyboard navigation (Enter and Space), screen-reader friendly
- Enterprise security – zero inline JavaScript and comprehensive sanitization
It works via a simple shortcode and can be placed everywhere. Try the frontend demo here, watch this YouTube videocast, or check its Gutenberg compatibility.
Simple Shortcode Usage: `[read more] Your long text [/read]`
🚀 PRO VERSION – the complete content-expansion and growth toolkit
Get the PRO version and turn a simple “Read More” into a lead-generation, monetization and analytics machine. 40+ premium features, one affordable price.
🔥 New in v4.1.0 (PRO) – ranked by impact:
- 🔒 Content Locker – readers unlock hidden content with an email or a social share. Built-in Mailchimp, Brevo, MailPoet and webhook integrations, with leads stored locally. Turn your best content into a list-building engine.
- 🤖 AI Summaries (TL;DR) – auto-generate a concise summary of any post using your own OpenAI, Claude or Gemini key. Generated once per post, never per visitor, so it never runs up your API bill.
- 💳 Teaser Paywall – fade out content for non-members with a “continue reading” prompt. Soft (SEO-safe) or hard mode.
- 📊 Real Analytics Dashboard – per-page and per-button clicks, unlocks, leads and CTA conversions, a daily trend, date ranges and CSV export. Cache-proof tracking that works with WP Rocket and Cloudflare.
- 🧪 A/B Testing – test up to 5 button texts and apply the winning one with a single click.
- ⚡ Auto-Apply – collapse long posts, pages, products and even WooCommerce category descriptions sitewide, with zero shortcodes.
- 📑 Auto-Collapse Sections + Table of Contents – turn every H2/H3 into an accordion with an automatic table of contents and deep links (Wikipedia mode).
- ♻️ Global Content Blocks – write shipping, size or returns info once and reuse it across hundreds of pages: `[read block=”shipping-info”]`.
- 🎯 Engaged-User CTA – show an offer the moment a reader expands content, with tracked conversions.
- 🧱 Gutenberg InnerBlocks Block – hide ANY blocks (images, galleries, embeds), not just text.
- 🧩 Native Elementor Widget – full live-preview controls, no shortcodes.
- ✂️ Truncate Mode – `[read limit=”80″]` shows the first 80 words and hides the rest, HTML-safe.
- 🔐 GDPR Mode – zero external font and CDN requests for privacy-first sites.
🎨 Classic PRO features (all still included):
- 20 Button Templates – one-click professional styles (Modern Blue, Glassmorphism, Neon Glow and more), no CSS needed
- 9 Animation Types – fade, slide, flip, zoom, bounce, rotate, scale and elastic, with customizable duration (0-2000ms)
- Accordion / FAQ Mode – with valid FAQPage schema for rich results in Google: `[read mode=”accordion” accordion_id=”faq1″]`
- Conditional Display Rules – time-based, scroll-triggered, device-filter and role-based content
- Font Awesome Icons (6,000+) and Google Fonts integration
- Advanced Styling – gradients, typography controls (size, line height, letter spacing, transform) and border radius
- Lazy Loading – load heavy hidden content only when it is expanded, for faster initial page loads
- GA4 and Custom Events – fires a GA4 event automatically when gtag is present, and dispatches `rmwr:expand` JavaScript events you can hook into GTM or your own scripts
- Deep Linking, Remember State and an Expand/Collapse All button (`[read_all]`)
- Settings Import/Export – perfect for agencies rolling out to many sites
📋 Free vs PRO:
Included in both versions:
- Basic Show/Hide – ✅ Free | ✅ Pro
- Custom Colors and Styling – ✅ Free (basic) | ✅ Pro (advanced)
- Smooth Scroll – ✅ Free | ✅ Pro (configurable offset)
- Print Optimization – ✅ Free | ✅ Pro
- Fade Animation – ✅ Free | ✅ Pro (9 animation types)
PRO-only:
- Content Locker (email / social unlock) – 👁️ Free (preview) | ✅ Pro
- Teaser Paywall – 👁️ Free (preview) | ✅ Pro
- AI Summaries (OpenAI / Claude / Gemini) – 👁️ Free (preview) | ✅ Pro
- Real Analytics Dashboard + CSV export – 👁️ Free (teaser) | ✅ Pro
- A/B Testing – 👁️ Free (preview) | ✅ Pro
- Auto-Apply (sitewide + WooCommerce categories) – 👁️ Free (preview) | ✅ Pro
- Auto-Collapse Sections + Table of Contents – 👁️ Free (preview) | ✅ Pro
- Global reusable Content Blocks – 👁️ Free (preview) | ✅ Pro
- 20 Button Templates – 👁️ Free (preview) | ✅ Pro
- 9 Animation Types – 👁️ Free (preview) | ✅ Pro
- Accordion/FAQ Mode with Schema – 👁️ Free (preview) | ✅ Pro
- Conditional Display Rules – 👁️ Free (preview) | ✅ Pro
- Font Awesome + Google Fonts – 👁️ Free (preview) | ✅ Pro
- Gutenberg InnerBlocks Block + Elementor Widget – 👁️ Free (preview) | ✅ Pro
- Truncate Mode + GDPR Mode – 👁️ Free (preview) | ✅ Pro
- Deep Linking, Remember State, Import/Export – ❌ Free | ✅ Pro
👁️ = shown in the free settings (disabled) so you can see exactly what PRO unlocks.
Why Upgrade to PRO?
- Capture leads – the content locker builds your email list from the content people already want to read
- Monetize – the teaser paywall gates premium content for members without hurting SEO
- Save hours – Auto-Apply collapses long content and WooCommerce category text sitewide with zero shortcodes
- Make data-driven decisions – a real analytics dashboard and A/B testing show what actually engages readers
- Rank better – accordion FAQ schema and a fully crawlable table of contents boost SEO
- Scale across sites – reusable global blocks and settings import/export are built for agencies and stores
- Priority Support – a dedicated team for PRO users
Enhance your WordPress site today with Read More Without Refresh, and take it to the next level with the PRO version. Elevate user satisfaction, capture leads, improve SEO, and make your content shine!
Screenshots
Blocks
This plugin provides 2 blocks.
- Read More Without Refresh
- Read More (legacy)
Installation
All you have to do is upload the plugin within your WordPress Plugins menu and activate it.
Then, add the shortcode anywhere you want (pages, posts, widgets, and more):
[read more] Your hidden text here [/read]
You can, of course, change the “Read more” and “Read less” texts, along with every other setting, in the ‘Read More Without Refresh’ wp-admin menu page.
If you have any support inquiries, feel free to contact us.
FAQ
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Is it compatible with every WordPress version?
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Yes. Tested up to WordPress 6.9 and compatible with WordPress 5.8+ (PHP 7.4+).
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Yes. All hidden content renders in the initial HTML, so it is 100% crawlable by search engines. Only human visitors see it collapsed.
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What about Gutenberg and page builders?
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Fully supported. The shortcode works with any builder that renders shortcodes (Elementor, Divi, WPBakery and more). The PRO version adds a dedicated Gutenberg InnerBlocks block and a native Elementor widget.
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Can I use multiple instances on the same page?
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Yes. Use unlimited instances of the shortcode on any page, post or custom post type.
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Does the analytics work with page caching (WP Rocket, Cloudflare)?
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Yes. PRO analytics use a public REST endpoint with no nonces, so clicks are tracked correctly even on fully cached pages.
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Do the AI summaries cost money per visitor?
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No. A summary is generated once per post using your own API key. Visitors never trigger an API call.
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Can I capture emails or lock content?
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Yes, in PRO. The Content Locker asks for an email or a social share before revealing hidden content, and syncs leads to Mailchimp, Brevo, MailPoet or a webhook.
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Does it work with WooCommerce?
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Yes. PRO can auto-collapse long product descriptions and WooCommerce category (taxonomy) descriptions sitewide, and reusable global blocks let you show the same shipping, size or returns info across your whole catalog.
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Yes. The free version customizes colors, borders, padding and font weight. PRO adds 20 button templates, Google Fonts, 6,000+ Font Awesome icons, gradients and advanced typography.
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Does it work on mobile devices?
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Yes. The plugin is fully responsive and works on all devices and screen sizes.
Reviews
Contributors & Developers
“Read More Without Refresh” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.
Contributors
Translate “Read More Without Refresh” into your language.
Interested in development?
Browse the code, check out the SVN repository, or subscribe to the development log by RSS.
Changelog
4.1.0
- NEW (PRO): Content Locker – unlock content with an email or a social share, with Mailchimp / Brevo / MailPoet / webhook integrations and local leads storage.
- NEW (PRO): Teaser Paywall for members, in soft (SEO-safe) and hard modes.
- NEW (PRO): AI Summaries (TL;DR) generated once per post with your own OpenAI, Claude or Gemini key.
- NEW (PRO): Real Analytics Dashboard – per-page and per-button clicks, unlocks, leads and CTA conversions, daily trend, date ranges and CSV export, with cache-proof REST tracking.
- NEW (PRO): A/B testing of button texts with one-click winner apply.
- NEW (PRO): Auto-Apply – collapse long content and WooCommerce category descriptions sitewide with zero shortcodes.
- NEW (PRO): Auto-Collapse Sections with an automatic Table of Contents (Wikipedia mode).
- NEW (PRO): Global reusable Content Blocks – [read block=”slug”].
- NEW (PRO): Engaged-user CTA with tracked conversions.
- NEW (PRO): Gutenberg InnerBlocks block (hide any blocks) and a native Elementor widget.
- NEW (PRO): Truncate mode ([read limit=”80″]) and GDPR mode (no external fonts/CDN).
- IMPROVED: fully redesigned, modern settings UI; assets load only on pages that use the plugin; no jQuery on the frontend.
- FIXED: valid single FAQPage schema per page; role restriction is no longer bypassed for logged-out visitors; iframes and embeds are no longer stripped from hidden content.
4.0.0
- Major release – complete feature overhaul and modern tabbed UI.
- Smooth scroll and print optimization added to the free version.
- Security improvements – zero inline JS, comprehensive sanitization.
- Full ARIA support and keyboard navigation.
- All PRO features previewed (disabled) in the free settings.
3.4.0
- Major code refactoring and security improvements.
- Separated JavaScript from PHP (no more inline scripts).
- Proper sanitization and validation for all settings.
- Accessibility features (ARIA labels, keyboard navigation).
- Basic fade animation support and nonce verification for AJAX requests.
3.3.3
- Code cleanup.
3.3.1
- Code cleanup.
3.3
- Code cleanup.
3.2
- Fixed potential security issues.
3.1
- Fixed reported warnings.
3.0
- Dynamic settings integrated.
2.3
- Warning fixes.
2.2
- Bug fixes.
2.0
- Compatibility fixes.
1.0
- Bug fixes.
0.1
- Initial release.