Title: ZenRead – Reading Progress Bar & Estimated Time
Author: Tusher Ikbal
Published: <strong>Januari 25, 2026</strong>
Last modified: Januari 26, 2026

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![](https://ps.w.org/zenread/assets/icon-256x256.png?rev=3446630)

# ZenRead – Reading Progress Bar & Estimated Time

 By [Tusher Ikbal](https://profiles.wordpress.org/tusherikbal/)

[Download](https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/zenread.zip)

 * [Details](https://su.wordpress.org/plugins/zenread/#description)
 * [Reviews](https://su.wordpress.org/plugins/zenread/#reviews)
 *  [Installation](https://su.wordpress.org/plugins/zenread/#installation)
 * [Development](https://su.wordpress.org/plugins/zenread/#developers)

 [Support](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/zenread/)

## Description

ZenRead is a lightweight and secure plugin that adds a sleek reading progress bar
and an estimated reading time indicator to your WordPress posts. It helps in reducing
bounce rates and improving engagement by giving readers a clear visual of their 
progress.

By showing how long a post will take to read and providing a smooth scrolling experience,
ZenRead enhances the overall readability of your site.

### Key Features

 * **Reading Progress Bar:** A smooth, customizable bar at the top of the page that
   tracks reading progress.
 * **Estimated Reading Time:** Automatically calculates and displays the reading
   time based on word count.
 * **Scroll to Top Button:** A customizable button with Dashicons support to help
   users navigate back to the top.
 * **Fully Customizable:** Easily change colors, bar height, padding, and margins
   from the settings page.
 * **Performance Focused:** Built with vanilla JavaScript and clean PHP, ensuring
   zero impact on site speed.
 * **Secure:** Fully follows WordPress.org security standards with data sanitization
   and escaping.

## Installation

 1. Upload the `zenread` folder to the `/wp-content/plugins/` directory.
 2. Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu in WordPress.
 3. Access the settings via the ‘Reading Tool’ menu in your WordPress dashboard.

## FAQ

### Does it work on pages?

ZenRead is currently optimized for single posts to provide the most accurate reading
metrics.

### Can I customize the colors?

Yes, you can fully customize the progress bar color, reading time background, and
text colors from the settings panel.

## Reviews

There are no reviews for this plugin.

## Contributors & Developers

“ZenRead – Reading Progress Bar & Estimated Time” is open source software. The following
people have contributed to this plugin.

Contributors

 *   [ Tusher Ikbal ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/tusherikbal/)

[Translate “ZenRead – Reading Progress Bar & Estimated Time” into your language.](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/zenread)

### Interested in development?

[Browse the code](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/zenread/), check out
the [SVN repository](https://plugins.svn.wordpress.org/zenread/), or subscribe to
the [development log](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/zenread/) by [RSS](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/zenread/?limit=100&mode=stop_on_copy&format=rss).

## Changelog

#### 1.1

 * Rebranded to ZenRead for better identity and uniqueness.
 * Added full data sanitization and security escaping.
 * Improved CSS for full-width reading time container.
 * Fixed scroll-to-top icon visibility issues.

#### 1.0

 * Initial release.

#### 1.2

 * Fix a simple issue

#### 1.3

 * Banner change

## Meta

 *  Version **1.3**
 *  Last updated **2 months ago**
 *  Active installations **Fewer than 10**
 *  WordPress version ** 5.0 or higher **
 *  Tested up to **6.9.4**
 *  Language
 * [English (US)](https://wordpress.org/plugins/zenread/)
 * Tags
 * [progress bar](https://su.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/progress-bar/)[Readability](https://su.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/readability/)
   [reading time](https://su.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/reading-time/)[scroll to top](https://su.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/scroll-to-top/)
 *  [Advanced View](https://su.wordpress.org/plugins/zenread/advanced/)

## Ratings

No reviews have been submitted yet.

[Add my review](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/zenread/reviews/#new-post)

[See all reviews](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/zenread/reviews/)

## Contributors

 *   [ Tusher Ikbal ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/tusherikbal/)

## Support

Got something to say? Need help?

 [View support forum](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/zenread/)