Reading Time Script | VibeScriptz

This lightweight PHP script estimates how long a page or article will take to read. It strips HTML, counts the visible words, and converts that total into a simple reading time label.

It is useful for blogs, tutorials, documentation pages, and long-form posts where visitors may want a quick idea of the time commitment before they start reading.

A small reading time label can make content feel easier to scan. Visitors can quickly see whether a post is a short tip, a medium guide, or a longer read. It also gives article pages a cleaner editorial feel without needing a plugin, database change, or heavy JavaScript.

Paste this helper function into your PHP page, then pass your article content into it.

<?php
declare(strict_types=1);

function reading_time(string $content, int $wordsPerMinute = 200): string
{
    $plainText = trim(strip_tags($content));

    if ($plainText === '') {
        return 'Less than 1 min read';
    }

    $wordCount = str_word_count($plainText);
    $minutes = (int)ceil($wordCount / max(1, $wordsPerMinute));

    if ($minutes <= 1) {
        return '1 min read';
    }

    return $minutes . ' min read';
}

// Example content:
$articleBody = '
  <p>This is a sample article paragraph. Add your real post content here.</p>
  <p>The script strips HTML and counts the readable words.</p>
';

echo reading_time($articleBody);
?>

You can show the reading time near the title, date, author name, or intro paragraph.

<p class="muted">
  Estimated reading time: <strong><?= h(reading_time($articleBody)); ?></strong>
</p>

Use it on blog posts, script writeups, tutorials, documentation pages, resource pages, and any page where the main content is longer than a few short paragraphs. It works best when you already have the article body stored as a string, database value, markdown-rendered HTML, or included content block.

Use this script when you want a small quality-of-life improvement for content pages without installing a full CMS plugin. It is especially helpful for sites with tutorials, guides, blog posts, or script pages where users skim before deciding what to read.

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