Minimum Word Count Before A Post Can Be Made Pending Review

Question

I'm looking for a way to check that a post has a minimum word count before allowing it to be sent for review (added to the pending post status).

Below is the code I have:

if (current_user_can('contributor')) {
function minWord($content){
        global $post;
        $num = 150; //set this to the minimum number of words
        $content = $post->post_content;
        if (str_word_count($content) <  $num)
            wp_die( __('Error: your post is below the minimum word count.') );
}
add_action('draft_to_pending', 'minWord');
}

This appears to "work", in that it brings up an error message when the word count is indeed below 150. However, the post is still saved as a "pending". Is there any way to prevent the post from being made pending, but instead keep it saved as "draft".

Cheers

Peter

Answer 1

Those transition post hooks run after the post is saved. You will have to interrupt the process earlier. I would hook to wp_insert_post_data.

function minWord($data){
  if (current_user_can('contributor')) {
    $num = 150; //set this to the minimum number of words
    if (str_word_count($data['post_content']) <  $num) {
      $data['post_status'] = 'draft';
    }
  }
  return $data;
}
add_action('wp_insert_post_data','minWord');

Seems to work when I test it. Following your code, this only effects the "Contributor" role. It does not interrupt status changes for other roles.