apply_filters( 'excerpt_length', int $number )

Filters the maximum number of words in a post excerpt.

Contents

Parameters

$number int
The maximum number of words. Default 55.

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More Information

Use this filter if you want to change the default excerpt length.

To change excerpt length, add the following code to functions.php file in your theme adjusting the “20” to match the number of words you wish to display in the excerpt:

function mytheme_custom_excerpt_length( $length ) {
    return 20;
}
add_filter( 'excerpt_length', 'mytheme_custom_excerpt_length', 999 );

Make sure to set the priority correctly, such as 999, otherwise the default WordPress filter on this function will run last and override what you set here.

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Source

File: wp-includes/formatting.php. View all references 

$excerpt_length = (int) apply_filters( 'excerpt_length', $excerpt_length );

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Changelog

Changelog
Version Description
2.7.0 Introduced.

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User Contributed Notes

  1. Skip to note 1 content
    You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this noteVote results for this note: 4You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this note
    Contributed by acosmin —

    Set the excerpt length based on a theme mod, through the Customizer.

    function prefix_custom_excerpt_length( $length ) {
	$custom = get_theme_mod( 'custom_excerpt_length' );

	if ( '' !== $custom ) {
		return absint( $custom );
	} else {
		return $length;
	}
}
add_filter( 'excerpt_length', 'prefix_custom_excerpt_length', 999 );
  2. Skip to note 2 content
    You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this noteVote results for this note: 4You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this note
    Contributed by Karmegaraja Subramaniam — 
    /**
 * Filter the excerpt length to 50 words.
 *
 * @param int $length Excerpt length.
 * @return int (Maybe) modified excerpt length.
 */
function theme_slug_excerpt_length( $length ) {
        if ( is_admin() ) {
                return $length;
        }
        return 50;
}
add_filter( 'excerpt_length', 'theme_slug_excerpt_length', 999 );

    This will help to apply the excerpt_length on front end only.

  3. Skip to note 3 content
    You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this noteVote results for this note: 2You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this note
    Contributed by Metallicarosetail — 
    /**
 * Filter the excerpt length to 30 words.
 *
 * @param int $length Excerpt length.
 * @return int (Maybe) modified excerpt length.
 */
function wp_example_excerpt_length( $length ) {
    return 30;
}
add_filter( 'excerpt_length', 'wp_example_excerpt_length');

    Notes: This will display your excerpt text up to 30 words using excerpt_length filter. By default the number of words is 55.

    Example:- 

    <?php the_excerpt(); ?>

    This will display your post excerpt up to 30 words.

  4. Skip to note 4 content
    You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this noteVote results for this note: 2You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this note
    Contributed by prashaddey — 
    /**
 * Filter the excerpt length to 20 words.
 *
 * @param int $length Excerpt length.
 * @return int (Maybe) modified excerpt length.
 */
add_filter( 'excerpt_length', function( $length ) { return 20; } );
  5. Skip to note 5 content
    You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this noteVote results for this note: 0You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this note
    Contributed by Deepak Rajpal — 
    /**
 * Filter the excerpt length to 80 words on homepage and 50 words on page template
 *
 * @param int $length Excerpt length.
 * @return int modified excerpt length.
 */
function wpdocs_custom_excerpt_length( $length ) {
    if ( is_page_template( 'page-templates/services-page.php' ) ) {
        return 50;
    } else if ( is_front_page() && is_home() ) {
        return 80;
    } else {
        return $length;
    }
}

add_filter( 'excerpt_length', 'wpdocs_custom_excerpt_length', 999 );

    This is useful to display different excerpt length on homepage, custom page template (where listing some custom post types).

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