Update: WordPress staff have since added a word count at the end of the sample in the Reader. If you click on the word count at the end of the sample, it will take you directly to the blogger’s website, rather than opening the post in the Reader.

What’s the advantage of doing this? That way, you won’t have to click twice to read one post. Some bloggers allow you to read the full post in the Reader, others set it so that you can only read part of the post in the Reader. In the latter case, if you click once to open the post in the Reader, you’ll need to click a second time to visit the blog and read the rest of the post.

So just clicking the word count to visit the post on the blog, rather than in the Reader, saves a click. If you have hundreds of posts in your Reader, this can save a lot of extra clicking.

(This post originally had a suggestion for allowing readers to go straight to the post on your blog from the Reader, but now that WordPress has added the word count link at the end of the sample in the Reader, that work-around is no longer necessary.)

Perhaps the changes to the WordPress Reader are oriented towards the trend of more people accessing websites and reading blogs on mobile devices, as suggested in the following post:

http://onecoolsitebloggingtips.com/2013/11/05/wordpress-com-reader-update/

That may explain, for example, why the post opens in a new window—but not the actual website—when you first click on it, and allows you to like or comment without visiting the actual website. Unless, of course, the website restricts the Reader from showing the entire post, in which case you must click a second time to access the post. Then you have to close two separate windows when you’re done, so we’re clicking twice as often. That’s in addition to scrolling several times more because of the larger images and text.

It’s a shame that you can read some posts entirely in the new Reader window that pops up, completely missing the blogger’s header, background images, social media links, products for sale, and all the other content that blogger prepared on his or her website, hoping to draw a little traffic with the blog post.

On a positive note, the images seem to be displaying on all of the posts now.

I’m getting used to the font size and picture display now, but my wrist is sore from all the extra clicking and scrolling.

There are some threads about this in the WordPress forum. The following thread is now up to three pages. You can find a comment from one of the Happiness Engineers on page 3 of the thread (I strongly urge you to read this if you’re curious about why WordPress did this and what they think about the reactions that have been posted). It also provides informative clarification on whether or not the new Reader window will affect your stats.

http://en.forums.wordpress.com/topic/reader-changed/page/3?replies=4

If you would like to share your feedback, please click on the above thread. Perhaps you can help them “engineer more happiness.”

Here are links to my two previous posts on the status of the new WordPress Reader, in case you missed them:

• https://chrismcmullen.wordpress.com/2013/11/01/new-wordpress-reader-what-do-you-think/
• https://chrismcmullen.wordpress.com/2013/11/01/share-your-opinion-about-the-new-wordpress-reader/

Chris McMullen, author of A Detailed Guide to Self-Publishing with Amazon and Other Online Booksellers, Vol. 1 (formatting/publishing) and Vol. 2 (packaging/marketing)