5

I have code in functions.php:

function string_limit_words($string, $word_limit)
{
  $words = explode(' ', $string, ($word_limit + 1));
  if(count($words) > $word_limit)
  array_pop($words);
  return implode(' ', $words);
}

but i need to limit excerpt in number of characters, could you help me with that?

Improve this question
4

I used this code in one of my last projects:

function ng_get_excerpt( $count ){
  $permalink = get_permalink( $post->ID );
  $excerpt = get_the_content();
  $excerpt = strip_tags( $excerpt );
  $excerpt = mb_substr( $excerpt, 0, $count );
  $excerpt = mb_substr( $excerpt, 0, strripos( $excerpt, " " ) );
  $excerpt = rtrim( $excerpt, ",.;:- _!$&#" );
  $excerpt = $excerpt . '<a href="'.$permalink.'" style="text-decoration: none;">&nbsp;(...)</a>';
  return $excerpt;
}

I got it from here:

http://wordpress.org/support/topic/limit-excerpt-length-by-characters

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/10923955/make-function-that-limits-text-not-show-last-punctuation-mark

It has the advantage of not allowing punctuation on the end and ending with the last complete word

Using the filters as suggested by @medhamza7 or @bainternet or @fuxia is preferable.

Improve this answer
2
  • Very thanks for this advice, efficient one for me is just simple: "echo substr(get_the_excerpt(), 0,30);" taken from Your links. – Marcin Oct 16 '12 at 21:46
  • @Marcin substr() will break. Never use it on UTF-8 encoded data. – fuxia♦ Oct 16 '12 at 22:51
2

Use the function utf8_truncate() from this answer and fight your way through wp_trim_excerpt().

Sample code, not tested:

add_filter( 'excerpt_more', 'wpse_69436_excerpt_more' );

function wpse_69436_excerpt_more( $more )
{
    add_filter( 'wp_trim_excerpt', 'wpse_69436_trim_excerpt' );
    // we remove the more text here
    return '';
}

function wpse_69436_trim_excerpt( $excerpt )
{
    return utf8_truncate( $excerpt, 300 );
}
Improve this answer
1

WordPress has a filter for that which is conveniently named excerpt_length and it accepts a number of chars so:

function custom_excerpt_length( $length ) {
    return 50;
}
add_filter( 'excerpt_length', 'custom_excerpt_length', 999 );

change 50 to whatever limit you want.

Update per @toscho comment:

that is the solution above is for words as well and not for chars so here is a quick one:

add_filter('the_excerpt','excerpt_char_limit');
function excerpt_char_limit($e){
    return substr($e,0,50);
}
Improve this answer
5
  • 1
    That’s not for characters, it is for words. – fuxia♦ Oct 16 '12 at 19:02
  • @toscho My bad! updated with a simple solution – Bainternet Oct 16 '12 at 19:12
  • How does it works? i put it as "echo custom_excerpt_length(); " but it doesn't work. – Marcin Oct 16 '12 at 19:12
  • Thanks, now it works, but how to give some excerpts lengths for front page? – Marcin Oct 16 '12 at 19:16
  • @Bainternet - I gave: "add_filter('the_excerpt2','excerpt_char_limit2'); function excerpt_char_limit2($e){ return substr($e,0,10); }" but it doesn't work. – Marcin Oct 16 '12 at 19:23
1

For a better way, you can use the get_the_excerpt filter:

function get_excerpt($excerpt="",$limit=140){

    $excerpt = preg_replace(" (\[.*?\])",'',$excerpt);
    $excerpt = strip_shortcodes($excerpt);
    $excerpt = strip_tags($excerpt);
    $excerpt = mb_substr($excerpt, 0, $limit);
    $excerpt = mb_substr($excerpt, 0, strripos($excerpt, " "));
    $excerpt = trim(preg_replace( '/\s+/', ' ', $excerpt));
    $excerpt = $excerpt.'...';
    return $excerpt;
}   
add_filter('get_the_excerpt',"get_excerpt");

Change the $limit=140 to the number of characters you want. Also if you want in different way:

add_filter('get_the_excerpt',function ($excerpt="",$limit=140){

    $excerpt = preg_replace(" (\[.*?\])",'',$excerpt);
    $excerpt = strip_shortcodes($excerpt);
    $excerpt = strip_tags($excerpt);
    $excerpt = mb_substr($excerpt, 0, $limit);
    $excerpt = mb_substr($excerpt, 0, strripos($excerpt, " "));
    $excerpt = trim(preg_replace( '/\s+/', ' ', $excerpt));
    $excerpt = $excerpt.'...';
    return $excerpt;
});

That will make avoid any conflict like existing name of function get_excerpt.

Improve this answer
2
  • @Nicolai i think we should avoid using mb_substr cause some php config by default doesn't activated mb functions :/ – mohamed amine hamza Feb 26 '18 at 13:32
  • As read here, WP has a fallback for it. – Nicolai Feb 26 '18 at 15:29

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.