Studio Hyperset

UPDATE: This post refers to v.1 and v.1.1 of the plugin. Re-titled “Page-Links Plus,” v.2 is available for download from the WordPress plugin directory. Additional modules are available for purchase from the Page-Links Plus homepage.

Major content providers such as Slate, The New York Times, The Huffington Post, and The Daily Beast routinely break long articles into individual pages. Since reading on a computer screen has never been as comfortable as reading a paginated paper publication, publishers do this partly out of consideration for the reader and partly, since increased page hits translate into increased ad revenue, for pecuniary reasons.

Tempering the latter’s cynicism and the former’s potential to annoy, most of these web publishers also offer readers the option of viewing long articles as a single page. And while WordPress makes integrating page links rather effortless — via the <!--nextpage--> Page-Link tag and the wp_link_pages() and (depreciated) link_pages() template tags — it does so without a native “single page” option.

Considering how many important content providers use WordPress to publish their sites — CNN, Forbes, Reuters, &c. — (a) makes this absence all the more remarkable and (b) highlights the need for a “single page” plugin even more prominently.

Addressing this WordPress limitation, once again working with its partner Ryan Jarrett, Studio Hyperset has developed the Page-Links Single Page Option plugin, which adds a “single page” option to Page-Link-tag-generated page lists (<!--nextpage-->, wp_link_pages(), and link_pages() [depreciated]). As usual, it’s available in the WordPress Plugins Directory and on SH‘s Google code project site, and it can be seen in action in the paginated articles of SH‘s Witness magazine site. (See, for example, “Krupov’s Gym” by Laura Hulthen Thomas.)

Usage
After installing and activating the Page-Links Single Page Option plugin, WordPress publishers can leverage it in three ways.

First, one can add the showsinglepage=1 parameter to any wp_link_pages() template tag, e.g., < ? php wp_link_pages('pagelink=Page %&showsinglepage=1'); ? >. (Entering a "0" will, of course, [temporarily] disable the plugin.)

Second, publishers can edit the show_globally variable in the plugin file (see line 15). Changing the default variable from 0 to 1 will add the single page option to every Page-Link-tag-generated page list site-wide.

Finally, once the plugin is activated, appending ?singlepage=1 to end of the URL of any post or page that includes the Page-Link tag will force WordPress to display that page/post as a single page (e.g., http://example.com/page-or-post-title-here?singlepage=1).

Developer Notes
SH is quite interested in the ways in which publishers use the Page-Links Single Page Option plugin. Please share ideas and usage notes in the comments below.

Future Builds
At present, the plugin’s aimed at WordPress developers. As demand warrants, future builds may add an admin metabox to increase ease-of-use by non-developer WordPress users.

Discussion & Support
For plugin support, feedback, and troubleshooting, visit this link or click the “Feedback” tab on the left-hand side of your browser window. To learn about other Studio Hyperset WordPress plugins, click here. To learn about other Studio Hyperset code projects, click here.