Does Webflow support built-in read more/less expanding div functionality for use with the CMS? Specifically, I want to have Events with a limited description of 50 characters, and a read more link that reveals the rest of the text without the need for coding. Is this possible in Webflow?
TL;DR
- Webflow lacks native support for expandable "Read more / less" functionality on CMS text and can only display truncated text using character limits.
- A dynamic toggle between truncated and full text requires minimal custom JavaScript for a scalable solution.
Webflow does not have a built-in "Read more / Read less" expand/collapse functionality that works directly with CMS content—without any custom code.
However, here’s how Webflow currently handles this use case and your options:
1. Webflow CMS Character Limit Capabilities
- Webflow CMS does not support truncating CMS text fields dynamically with a "read more" toggle out of the box.
- You can limit the number of visible characters using the plain text character limit option in the CMS text field binding (e.g., set to 50 characters), but this does not include a built-in “Read more” action to expand the rest.
2. What's Possible Without Code
- You can show only up to 50 characters by:
- In the CMS Collection List, bind a Plain Text Field and set a character limit in the text field settings.
- This will display a shortened description, but there’s no built-in way to reveal the rest of the content using just Webflow Designer tools.
- You could try this workaround:
- Duplicate the full description field and show the truncated one by default.
- Add a “Read more” link and attempt to simulate the expansion using Webflow’s Interactions (hide/show elements), but without code, it’s not dynamic based on content length and becomes very rigid and manual.
3. Solution With Minor Custom Code (Recommended)
- Use small, CMS-safe JavaScript that:
- Reads the CMS description text.
- Truncates it to the first 50 characters.
- Toggles between truncated and full text with a “Read more / less” toggle.
- This solution can be styled and customized within Webflow, and the code can reside in the Page Settings > Footer Code or an Embed element.
Summary
Webflow does not support native expandable "Read more / less" functionality for CMS text. You can show a truncated version with the character limit, but showing the rest on click requires custom code. For a fully dynamic and scalable solution, adding minimal JavaScript is the most efficient approach.