Introduction to Post Excerpts
Post excerpts are a short summary of your blog post that appears on your blog’s homepage or archive pages. They are usually displayed along with the post title and a featured image. The length of the excerpt can vary depending on your WordPress theme settings or the length of the post.
Post excerpts are a great way to give your readers a preview of your content and entice them to click through to read the full post. They can also improve your website’s user experience by making it easier for your readers to find the content they are interested in.
What are Post Excerpts in WordPress Themes?
Post excerpts are a feature that is built into WordPress themes. They allow you to display a short summary of your post on your blog’s homepage, category pages, or archive pages. WordPress themes use the excerpt to display a preview of your post, along with the post title and a featured image.
Post excerpts can be created automatically by WordPress, or you can create them manually. The automatic excerpt is generated from the first few sentences of your post, while a manual excerpt is created by adding a custom excerpt to your post.
Why Display Post Excerpts?
There are several reasons why you should display post excerpts on your blog. Firstly, post excerpts can help you to improve your website’s user experience by making it easier for your readers to find the content they are interested in. Secondly, post excerpts can help you to increase your website’s page views by encouraging your readers to click through to read the full post. Finally, post excerpts can help you to improve your website’s search engine ranking by providing search engines with a summary of your content.
Different Ways to Display Post Excerpts
There are several different ways to display post excerpts in your WordPress theme. The most common ways include:
1. Displaying Full Posts
One way to display your blog posts is to display the full post on your homepage, category pages, or archive pages. This means that your readers can read the full post without having to click through to the individual post page.
While displaying full posts can be convenient for your readers, it can also slow down your website’s load time and decrease your page views.
2. Displaying Post Excerpts
Another way to display your blog posts is to display post excerpts on your homepage, category pages, or archive pages. This means that your readers will see a short summary of your post, along with the post title and a featured image.
Displaying post excerpts can help you to improve your website’s user experience by making it easier for your readers to find the content they are interested in. It can also help you to increase your website’s page views by encouraging your readers to click through to read the full post.
3. Displaying Post Titles Only
Finally, you can choose to display only the post titles on your homepage, category pages, or archive pages. This means that your readers will see a list of post titles, without any excerpt or featured image.
Displaying post titles only can be useful if you have a lot of content on your website, and you want to make it easy for your readers to find what they are looking for. However, it can also make it harder for your readers to decide whether or not they want to read your content.
How to Display Post Excerpts in WordPress Themes
Now that you know what post excerpts are, and why they are important, it’s time to learn how to display them like a pro in your WordPress theme. There are two main ways to display post excerpts in your WordPress theme: using code or using plugins.
Displaying Post Excerpts Using Code
If you’re comfortable with coding, you can customize your WordPress theme to display post excerpts. Here’s how:
- Open your theme’s functions.php file.
- Add the following code:
function custom_excerpt_length( $length ) {
return 20;
}
add_filter( 'excerpt_length', 'custom_excerpt_length', 999 );
function new_excerpt_more( $more ) {
return '...';
}
add_filter('excerpt_more', 'new_excerpt_more');
This code will display an excerpt of 20 words and add an ellipsis to the end of the excerpt.
- Save your changes and refresh your website to see the changes.
Displaying Post Excerpts Using Plugins
If you’re not comfortable with coding, you can use a plugin to display post excerpts on your website. There are several plugins available that can help you to customize your post excerpts, including:
1. Advanced Excerpt
Advanced Excerpt is a free plugin that allows you to customize your post excerpts. It allows you to choose the length of your excerpt, add a “read more” link, and customize the excerpt text.
2. WP Post Author
WP Post Author is a premium plugin that allows you to customize your post excerpts. It allows you to choose the length of your excerpt, add a “read more” link, and customize the excerpt text. It also allows you to display the author’s name and avatar in the excerpt.
3. WP Excerpt Generator
WP Excerpt Generator is a free plugin that allows you to generate post excerpts automatically. It uses natural language processing to create a summary of your content, which you can then customize.
Customizing Post Excerpts in WordPress Themes
Once you have displayed post excerpts in your WordPress theme, you may want to customize them to match your website’s design. Here are some tips for customizing post excerpts in WordPress themes:
- Use a custom CSS class to style your post excerpts.
- Add a featured image to your post excerpt.
- Use a custom “read more” link to encourage your readers to click through to read the full post.
- Use a plugin to customize your post excerpts.
Conclusion
Post excerpts are an important feature of WordPress themes. They allow you to give your readers a preview of your content, improve your website’s user experience, and increase your website’s page views. By following the tips in this article, you can display post excerpts like a pro in your WordPress theme. Whether you choose to display full posts, post excerpts, or post titles only, make sure to customize your post excerpts to match your website’s design and provide value to your readers.