Online books with paginated chapters and saved reading progress

The challenge

A European web agency asked us to add a reading feature to a client's sales-coaching website. The client publishes long-form training material and wanted it presented as books divided into chapters, rather than as single, very long posts that are hard to navigate.

Two things mattered. First, editors needed a simple way to manage books and their chapters in the admin area without touching code. Second, readers who return to a book should not have to hunt for their place. For logged-in users, the site had to remember the last chapter they read and take them back to it. The site ran on an existing setup, so the feature had to fit alongside its current content and theme.

What we did

• Admin structure. We added dedicated Books and Chapters sections to the WordPress admin, so editors can create a book and attach chapters to it.
• Front-end book pages. We built a books listing where each book shows its chapters, with chapters presented as paginated pages so readers move through the content step by step.
• Saved reading progress. For logged-in users, the site records the last chapter they read and returns readers to it on their next visit.
• Development copy first. We built and tested the feature on the agency's development copy of the site, so the agency could review it before release.

Tech stack

PHP, WordPress (custom admin sections and templates)