Multiple Themes: Continue Reading Removed from posts When Excerpt is Set in Post Editor

[ash1eygrace]

Quick summary

If you set a custom excerpt in a post, the "Continue Reading..." link is not shown in the Post page.

Steps to reproduce

1. Install Penscratch 2, Hever, or Exford
2. Navigate to the Customizer > Content Options > In Blog Display, choose Post excerpt and Save Changes
3. Publish a few posts with at least 400 words.
4. In the Editor of one post, add a custom Excerpt and make sure it's updated and published.
5. View the Blog Posts page.

A clear and concise description of what you expected to happen.

I expect all the posts, even those with custom set excepts Experts, to show the "Continue reading..." for consistency.

What actually happened

The posts with an excerpt set in the editor is not showing the "Continue reading..." link.

Impact

Some (< 50%)

Available workarounds?

No but the platform is usable

If the above answer is "Yes...", outline the workaround.

No response

Platform (Simple and/or Atomic)

No response

Logs or notes

context here: p1728153046044999-slack-C03TY6J1A

[jartes]

📌 REPRODUCTION RESULTS

• Tested on Simple – Replicated
• Tested on Atomic – Replicated

📌 ACTIONS

• Triaged
• Lowered priority from Blocker to Normal.

[rinazrina]

Encountered this issue on 9202252-zd-a8c with Hever theme.

Also reproducible in Exford theme.

I provided the workaround by adding a HTML link to the Excerpt, e.g. <a href="URL">Continue Reading</a>