How to Get the Excerpt of a Post in WordPress?

Have you ever wanted to display a short preview of your WordPress posts on the homepage or archive pages? That’s where post excerpts come into play. Excerpts provide a concise summary of your posts, giving readers a glimpse of what they can expect before they decide to read the entire article. In this guide, we’ll explore how to get the excerpt of a post in WordPress, complete with coding examples.

WordPress is a versatile platform often used to create blogs, business websites, and even e-commerce sites. When it comes to displaying content efficiently, excerpts play a crucial role in giving your audience a sneak peek into your articles.

Understanding Excerpts in WordPress

An excerpt is a brief summary of a post’s content. By default, WordPress generates excerpts automatically by taking the first few lines of the post. However, this method might not always give you the desired result, especially if your post contains various media elements or complex formatting.

Manual Excerpts

WordPress provides an option to create custom excerpts for your posts. While writing or editing a post, simply locate the excerpt box below the content editor. Here, you can input a concise and compelling summary that accurately represents your post’s essence.

Using the the_excerpt() Function

In WordPress, you can use the the_excerpt() function to display the excerpt on archive pages or within your post loop. This function ensures that the generated excerpt adheres to your chosen word limit and doesn’t exceed the predefined length.

Custom Excerpts in WordPress

Custom excerpts give you complete control over how your content appears on different parts of your website. By utilizing custom fields or post meta boxes, you can input unique excerpts that provide more context than the automatically generated ones.

Automating Excerpts with Plugins

If you’re not comfortable with coding or prefer a more automated approach, WordPress offers several plugins that enhance your control over excerpts. Plugins like “Advanced Excerpt” and “Auto Excerpt for Yoast SEO” empower you to customize how excerpts are displayed without diving into code.

#01: Displaying Excerpts on Homepage

To display post excerpts on your homepage, you can use a loop that fetches recent posts and outputs their respective excerpts. Here’s a simple code snippet to get you started:

<?php
  if (have_posts()) {
    while (have_posts()) {
      the_post();
      the_excerpt();
    }
  }
?>

#02: Limiting Excerpt Length

Long excerpts can disrupt the visual flow of your pages. To keep things tidy, you can limit the excerpt length using the following code:

<?php
  if (has_excerpt()) {
    echo wp_trim_words(get_the_excerpt(), 20); // Limits to 20 words
  }
?>

#03: Creating Read More Links

You can enhance user engagement by adding “Read More” links to your excerpts. This encourages readers to delve deeper into your content. Here’s a code snippet to implement “Read More” links:

<?php
  if (has_excerpt()) {
    echo get_the_excerpt();
    echo '<a href="' . get_permalink() . '">Read More</a>';
  }
?>

Styling Excerpts with CSS

Styling excerpts can help them blend seamlessly with your website’s design. You can target the .entry-summary class in your CSS to apply custom styles to your excerpts.

Common Issues with Excerpts

Sometimes, WordPress might not generate the expected excerpts due to formatting or theme-related issues. In such cases, manual excerpts or plugin solutions can be handy workarounds.

Best Practices for Using Excerpts

• Craft concise and engaging summaries.
• Use custom excerpts for better control.
• Test how excerpts appear on different devices.

FAQs

Conclusion

Excerpts are powerful tools that improve the user experience by providing a glimpse of your content’s essence. Whether you choose to go with automated or manual excerpts, you’re on your way to enhancing your WordPress website’s usability.