WP – Change excerpt length in WordPress

There is more than one way to change the excerpt length in a WordPress Post.
I collected all the working methods to change the default excerpt (55) to whatever you need.

Solution 1 – Excerpt length in “wp-includes”

PROS: Fast and easy.
CONS: This will be applied to every category and archive, including the blog homepage.
Source: It’s Called Web Design

Go into “wp-includes/formatting.php”, line 1333 (line 853 for version prior to 2.7).
Change “55″ according to your needs.

Solution 2 – Excerpt length using Filters in “functions.php”

PROS: You can freely change the excerpt length in each category, archive or on your blog homepage.
CONS: A basic skill in WP and PHP is required.
Source: WordPress Codex

STEP 1. You can change the excerpt length using excerpt_length filter. Just add the following code into the “wp-content/themes/THEME_NAME/functions.php” file:

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<?php
function new_excerpt_length($length) {
return 20;
}
add_filter('excerpt_length', 'new_excerpt_length');
?>

You are done! Step 2 is no longer needed.

STEP 2. Add the following code into the entry/post div (“index.php“, “archive.php“)

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<?php the_content_limit(200, "Read more →") ?>

instead of

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<?php the_content(); ?>

You can write whatever you want insted of “200” and “Read more →”. Eg. (120, “Want to know more about it?”).

Solution 3 – Excerpt length using the “Excerpt Plugin”

PROS: Easy to use.
CONS: A basic skill in WP and PHP is required.
Source: Download from guff.szub.net

Set the excerpt length using the Excerpt Reloaded plugin. Simple theme editing is required.

Parameters:

• excerpt_length (integer) – Number of words to display. Default is 120.
• allowedtags (string) – Defines HTML tags. Default is ‘<a>’.
• filter_type (string) – Defines how WP should filter the content. Options are based on tags: ‘content’, ‘content_rss’, ‘excerpt’, ‘excerpt_rss’. Set to ‘none’ to display raw content. Default is ‘excerpt’.
• use_more_link (boolean) – Display the “more” link (TRUE) or (FALSE). Defaults to TRUE.
• more_link_text (string) – Define the text used for the link. Default is ‘(more…)’.
• Other functions: force_more_link (boolean) – fakeit (integer) – fix_tags (boolean).

Happy coding! 🙂