Multiple excerpt lengths in wordpress - php

Question

As it says in the title, I'm looking for multiple excerpt lengths in WordPress.
I understand you can do this in functions.php:
function twentyten_excerpt_length( $length ) {
return 15;
}
add_filter( 'excerpt_length', 'twentyten_excerpt_length' );
What I want to know is how you can have multiple of these each returning different numerical values so I can get short excerpts for sidebar loops, longer excerpts for featured loops, and the longest excerpt for the main article.
Something like using these in the templates:
<?php the_excerpt('length-short') ?>
<?php the_excerpt('length-medium') ?>
<?php the_excerpt('length-long') ?>
Cheers,
Dave

Answer 1

How about...
function excerpt($limit) {
$excerpt = explode(' ', get_the_excerpt(), $limit);
if (count($excerpt) >= $limit) {
array_pop($excerpt);
$excerpt = implode(" ", $excerpt) . '...';
} else {
$excerpt = implode(" ", $excerpt);
}
$excerpt = preg_replace('`\[[^\]]*\]`', '', $excerpt);
return $excerpt;
}
function content($limit) {
$content = explode(' ', get_the_content(), $limit);
if (count($content) >= $limit) {
array_pop($content);
$content = implode(" ", $content) . '...';
} else {
$content = implode(" ", $content);
}
$content = preg_replace('/\[.+\]/','', $content);
$content = apply_filters('the_content', $content);
$content = str_replace(']]>', ']]>', $content);
return $content;
}
then in your template code you just use..
<?php echo excerpt(25); ?>
from: http://bavotasan.com/tutorials/limiting-the-number-of-words-in-your-excerpt-or-content-in-wordpress/

Answer 2

As for now, you can upgrade Marty's reply:
function excerpt($limit) {
return wp_trim_words(get_the_excerpt(), $limit);
}
You can also define custom 'read more' link this way:
function custom_read_more() {
return '... <a class="read-more" href="'.get_permalink(get_the_ID()).'">more »</a>';
}
function excerpt($limit) {
return wp_trim_words(get_the_excerpt(), $limit, custom_read_more());
}

Answer 3

This is what I came up with.
Add this to your functions.php
class Excerpt {
// Default length (by WordPress)
public static $length = 55;
// So you can call: my_excerpt('short');
public static $types = array(
'short' => 25,
'regular' => 55,
'long' => 100
);
/**
* Sets the length for the excerpt,
* then it adds the WP filter
* And automatically calls the_excerpt();
*
* #param string $new_length
* #return void
* #author Baylor Rae'
*/
public static function length($new_length = 55) {
Excerpt::$length = $new_length;
add_filter('excerpt_length', 'Excerpt::new_length');
Excerpt::output();
}
// Tells WP the new length
public static function new_length() {
if( isset(Excerpt::$types[Excerpt::$length]) )
return Excerpt::$types[Excerpt::$length];
else
return Excerpt::$length;
}
// Echoes out the excerpt
public static function output() {
the_excerpt();
}
}
// An alias to the class
function my_excerpt($length = 55) {
Excerpt::length($length);
}
It can be used like this.
my_excerpt('short'); // calls the defined short excerpt length
my_excerpt(40); // 40 chars
This is the easiest way that I know of to add filters, that are callable from one function.

Answer 4

I was looking for this feature as well and most of the functions here are good and flexible.
For my own case I was looking for a solution that shows a different excerpt length only on specific pages. I'm using this:
function custom_excerpt_length( $length ) {
return (is_front_page()) ? 15 : 25;
}
add_filter( 'excerpt_length', 'custom_excerpt_length', 999 );
Paste this code inside the themes functions.php file.

Answer 5

You can add to your functions.php file this function
function custom_length_excerpt($word_count_limit) {
$content = wp_strip_all_tags(get_the_content() , true );
echo wp_trim_words($content, $word_count_limit);
}
Then call it in your template like this
<p><?php custom_length_excerpt(50); ?>
The wp_strip_all_tags should prevent stray html tags from breaking the page.
Documentation on functions
get_the_content
wp_trim_words
wp_strip_all_tags

Answer 6

Going back to Marty's reply:
I know it's been well over a year since this reply got published, but it's better late than never. For this to work with limits of over the WordPress default of 55, you need to replace this line:
$excerpt = explode(' ', get_the_excerpt(), $limit);
with this line:
$excerpt = explode(' ', get_the_content(), $limit);
Otherwise, the function only works with an already trimmed-down piece of text.

Answer 7

I think we can now use wp_trim_words see here.
Not sure what extra data escaping and sanitization needed to use this function, but it looks interesting.

Answer 8

Here an easy way to limit the content or the excerpt
$content = get_the_excerpt();
$content = strip_tags($content);
echo substr($content, 0, 255);
change get_the_excerpt() by get_the_content() if you want the contents.
Regards

Answer 9

I would do like this :
function _get_excerpt($limit = 100) {
return has_excerpt() ? get_the_excerpt() : wp_trim_words(strip_shortcodes(get_the_content()),$limit);
}
Usage :
echo _get_excerpt(30); // Inside the loop / query
Why ?
If has_excerpt should return given excerpt
It not, So trim words / strip shortcodes from the_content

Answer 10

I thing it is possible to create a short code , i did not try it but i wrote for you the main idea about its structure
function twentyten_excerpt_length($atts,$length=null){
shortcode_atts(array('exlength'=>'short'),$atts);
if(!isset($atts['exlength']) || $atts['exlength'] == 'short') {
return 15;
}elseif( $atts['exlength'] == 'medium' ){
return 30; // or any value you like
}elseif( $atts['exlength'] == 'long' ){
return 45; // or any value you like
}else{
// return nothing
}
}
add_shortcode('the_excerpt_sc','twentyten_excerpt_length');
so you can use it like so
[the_excerpt_sc exlength="medium"]

Answer 11

I know this is a really old thread, but I just struggled with this problem and none of the solutions I found online worked properly for me. For one thing my own "excerpt_more"-filter was always cut off.
The way I solved it is ugly as hell, but it's the only working solution I could find. The ugliness involves modifying 4 lines of WP core(!!) + the use of yet another global variable (although WP already does this so much I don't feel too bad).
I changed wp_trim_excerpt in wp-includes/formatting.php to this:
<?php
function wp_trim_excerpt($text = '') {
global $excerpt_length;
$len = $excerpt_length > 0 ? $excerpt_length : 55;
$raw_excerpt = $text;
if ( '' == $text ) {
$text = get_the_content('');
$text = strip_shortcodes( $text );
$text = apply_filters('the_content', $text);
$text = str_replace(']]>', ']]>', $text);
$excerpt_length = apply_filters('excerpt_length', $len);
$excerpt_more = apply_filters('excerpt_more', ' ' . '[…]');
$text = wp_trim_words( $text, $excerpt_length, $excerpt_more );
}
$excerpt_length = null;
return apply_filters('wp_trim_excerpt', $text, $raw_excerpt);
}
The only new stuff is the $excerpt_length and $len bits.
Now if I want to change the default length I do this in my template:
<?php $excerpt_length = 10; the_excerpt() ?>
Changing core is a horrible solution so I'd love to know if someone comes up with something better.

Answer 12

Be careful using some of these methods. Not all of them strip the html tags out, meaning if someone inserts a link to a video (or url) in the first sentence of their post, the video (or link) will show up in the excerpt, possibly blowing up your page.

Answer 13

I wrote an article about using custom excerpt length in WordPress.
There area a number of ways to limit & control post excerpt length.
Limit post excerpt length or post content length using number of words.
Limiting excerpt length to a number of characters.
Limit post summary by adding ‘read more’ tag.
Enabling custom excerpt to write your own summary for each post.
Control Excerpt Length using Filters
I hope this will help you a lot.