I have just released a new WordPress plugin called DualFeeds, which allows you to offer your readers both full post and summary feeds.

WordPress only allows you to offer your readers one format. The problem is that some people prefer to have the full post to read now, while others prefer to have summaries they can skim through now and follow up later.

DualFeeds allows your subscribers to choose the format that suits them.

If the full post feed is chosen, the <!–more–> tag will be stripped from the content, ensuring the subscriber gets the full post.

The summary feed uses the extract (if it exists) or the more tag (if it exists). If neither exist, it cuts the post after a user definable number of characters.

See it in action: try Entries RSS (Full Post) and Entries RSS (Summary) in the Meta section of my sidebar (near the bottom), or try the following links:

• Main Site Feed (Full Post)
• Main Site Feed (Summary)
• WordPress Category Feed (Full Post)
• WordPress Category Feed (Summary)

Note: If you use Firefox and you open the feeds in a new Tab, you will not see the full post (Firefox cuts it off). View the source of feed page to see what’s really in the feed.

By default, the normal feed is the full post, the ‘second feed’ is the summary, but you can switch this to minimise disruption to current subscribers.

DualFeeds works for all post feeds (category, author, etc), not just the main site feed, and does not affect comment feeds.

Full details on the plugin can be found at the DualFeeds home page.