Renders a helpful message with numbers of displayed vs. total entries. Drop into config/init folder and restart the server.

will_paginate.rb

#
# WillPaginate::ViewHelpers
#
module WillPaginate 
  module ViewHelpers 
    
    #
    # Renders a helpful message with numbers of displayed vs. total entries.
    #
    # + Only displayed if the collection.size is within the range of
    # + 0 to collection.per_page variable. This makes for a very relevant
    # + and concise output stream.
    #
    #   <%= page_entries_info @posts %>
    #   #-> Viewing [a]-[b] of [n] [model name]
    #
    def page_entries_info(collection, options = {})
      entry_name = options[:entry_name] || 
                   (collection.empty?? 'entry' : collection.first.class.name.underscore.sub('_', ' '))    
      if collection.total_pages < 2
        case collection.size
          when 0..collection.per_page; nil
          else; "<p><i>Viewing <b>#{collection.size}</b> #{entry_name.pluralize.capitalize}</i></p>"
        end
      else        
        # Should really use an en dash here (8211). Crap looking tho.
        %{<p><i>Viewing <b>%d&#45;%d</b> of <b>%d</b> #{entry_name.pluralize}</i></p>} % [
          collection.offset + 1,
          collection.offset + collection.length,
          collection.total_entries
        ]
      end
    end
    
  end # module
end # class

#
# Override some default view helpers
#
WillPaginate::ViewHelpers.pagination_options[:inner_window] = 2
WillPaginate::ViewHelpers.pagination_options[:outer_window] = 1
WillPaginate::ViewHelpers.pagination_options[:previous_label] = '&laquo; Prev'
WillPaginate::ViewHelpers.pagination_options[:next_label] = 'Next &raquo;'