WordPress

Add a “Lead” Class to a Post’s Opening Paragraph

Wraps the first paragraph of post content in a lead class, handy for styling an intro paragraph larger or bolder than the rest.

php

/**
 * Add lead class to first paragraph
 */
function first_paragraph( $content ) {
    return preg_replace( '/<p([^>]+)?>/', '<p$1 class="lead">', $content, 1 );
}

add_filter( 'the_content', 'first_paragraph' );

Only targets the_content, so it won’t affect excerpts or widget text.

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