Modify the Read More in WordPress

The Read More link appears on archive-style pages in WordPress: blog index pages, category archives, tag archives, and any page that uses The Loop to display multiple posts. It shows up at the bottom of each post preview, pointing to the full post. WordPress generates it either when you insert the <!--more--> quicktag inside a post, or when WordPress automatically trims post content to a set excerpt length.

These two scenarios are slightly different. When you use the <!--more--> quicktag, WordPress shows everything before the tag as the preview and everything after it as the full content. When using auto-excerpts (set in Settings > Reading or generated by the theme), WordPress pulls the first N words and adds a Read More link. In both cases, the output link text defaults to “Read More” but that is just a default value, not a hard requirement. Every part of it, including the text, the HTML markup, and the CSS class, can be changed.

If you are using the Gutenberg block editor, the easiest way to add a custom Read More tag to a post is with the More block. To insert it, open the block inserter (the + icon), search for “More”, and click it to add it at the current cursor position. This inserts the <!--more--> tag in the post content.

Once the More block is in place, you will see the placeholder text “Read more…” displayed in the editor. Click directly on that text and type your custom label. WordPress will write the custom text into the <!--more--> tag, so it saves as something like <!--more Continue Reading-->. This change only affects the individual post you are editing. Every other post on the site keeps the default Read More text unless you change them individually or use one of the sitewide methods below.

In the Classic Editor, adding a Read More tag works differently. Position your cursor in the post content at the point where you want the preview to end, then click the “Insert Read More Tag” button in the editor toolbar (it looks like a dashed line with a rectangle). This inserts <!--more--> at that point in the content.

To add custom text to the tag, switch to the Text tab in the Classic Editor (not the Visual tab). You will see the raw HTML of your post. Find the <!--more--> tag and edit it manually to include your custom label, like this: <!--more Read the Full Review-->. WordPress reads the text after “more” and uses it as the link text for that specific post. Just like the Gutenberg method, this only affects the single post you are editing.

For a sitewide change, the most reliable method is adding a PHP filter to your theme’s functions.php file. This overrides the default Read More link for every post on the site, all at once. Add the following code to your functions.php file:

function ScanWP_modify_read_more_link() {
    return 'Read More';
}
add_filter( 'the_content_more_link', 'ScanWP_modify_read_more_link' );

Change the text “Read More” inside the anchor tag to whatever you want: “Continue Reading”, “View Full Post”, “See the Full Recipe”, anything that fits your site. The get_permalink() function automatically pulls the correct URL for each post, so you do not need to hardcode any links. The read-more-link class on the anchor tag makes it easy to target with CSS later.

To edit functions.php, the safest approach is to use a child theme. If you are editing a parent theme directly, any theme update will overwrite your changes. You can also edit the file from within WordPress at Appearance > Theme File Editor > functions.php. Always back up the file before making changes. A PHP syntax error in functions.php can take down the front end of your site, so double-check the code before saving.

One note on function naming: the function above is called ScanWP_modify_read_more_link. If you are using this code on a different site, rename the function to something unique to your project. Function names must be unique across all loaded PHP files in WordPress, and a name collision will throw a fatal error.

If you would rather not touch PHP, there are plugins in the WordPress.org repository that let you customize the Read More link and excerpt settings from the WordPress admin. Search for plugins that deal with excerpt management or Read More customization. The best ones give you a settings field where you type in your preferred link text, and they handle the PHP filter behind the scenes.

This approach works well if you are managing a site for a client who is not comfortable with code, or if you want a quick change without the risk of editing theme files. The trade-off is adding another plugin to your site. For something as small as changing a text string, many developers prefer the functions.php method: it is two lines of code and has no ongoing maintenance overhead. But for non-technical users, a plugin is a perfectly valid option.

Once you have changed the Read More text using the PHP method, you can take it further and style it as a button. The PHP snippet from Method 3 adds a class called read-more-link to the anchor tag, which gives you a clean CSS target. Add the following CSS to your child theme’s style.css file, or paste it into Appearance > Customize > Additional CSS:

.read-more-link {
    display: inline-block;
    background-color: #0073aa;
    color: #fff;
    padding: 8px 18px;
    border-radius: 4px;
    text-decoration: none;
    font-size: 14px;
}

.read-more-link:hover {
    background-color: #005177;
    color: #fff;
}

Adjust the colors, padding, and font size to match your theme. The display: inline-block rule is important: it allows padding to apply correctly to an inline element like an anchor tag. The hover state gives a visual response when visitors mouse over the button, which improves the overall feel of the interaction. If your theme already styles .read-more-link or a similar class, check for conflicts and adjust specificity as needed.