WordPress

Make WordPress Post Titles More Attractive with Character Limit

 

In the world of web development, paying attention to detail is crucial for optimizing user experience. Particularly for content-heavy platforms such as blogs and news sites, it is essential to implement strategies to catch visitors’ attention. This article explains how to style the display of recent posts in WordPress by implementing a character limit on post titles.

Contents
  1. Why Is Limiting Title Characters Important?
  2. How to Implement Title Character Limits in WordPress
  3. Example and Effects: Fixed Page with Limited Post Title Characters
  4. Conclusion

Why Is Limiting Title Characters Important?

It is common practice to display post titles as recent updates on the top page or sidebar of a website. However, overly long titles can disrupt the design and reduce the consistency of information. By limiting the number of characters in titles, you can create an appealing and consistent layout.

How to Implement Title Character Limits in WordPress

To limit the number of characters in WordPress post titles, PHP coding skills are required. Follow these steps to implement the feature easily:

Creating a Template for Fixed Pages

First, create a template file (e.g., page-ttlmozi.php) to limit title characters on specific fixed pages. Include the following PHP code in the file:

<ul>
<?php
query_posts('post_type=post&order=DESC&orderby=date&showposts=10');
if(have_posts()) : while(have_posts()) : the_post();
?>
<li><a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>">
<?php
if(mb_strlen($post->post_title,'UTF-8')>25) {
$title= mb_substr($post->post_title,0,25,'UTF-8');
echo $title."…";
} else {
echo $post->post_title;
}
?>
</a></li>
<?php
endwhile; endif;
?>
<?php wp_reset_query(); ?>
</ul>

This code retrieves the latest 10 posts and shortens the title to 25 characters if it exceeds that length, appending “…” to the end. This ensures that even long titles maintain a consistent length, preserving design uniformity.

Understanding the Processing Flow

Understanding the flow of this code helps with customization and troubleshooting. The process is as follows:

  1. Use query_posts to retrieve the latest 10 posts.
  2. Loop through the retrieved posts.
  3. Fetch each post’s link and title.
  4. If the title exceeds 25 characters, display the first 25 characters followed by “…”.
  5. If the title is 25 characters or fewer, display it as is.

Example and Effects: Fixed Page with Limited Post Title Characters

You can check the results of applying this method on our website via the link below:

Title Character Limit (Exceeding 25 Characters Shows “…”)

This change significantly improved the site’s appearance and increased user retention time. Additionally, it made organizing information easier, allowing users to access desired content more quickly.

Conclusion

While a small change, limiting title characters in WordPress can have a major impact on user experience. Use this method to make your site even more attractive!

Note: Use at your own discretion.

Character Limit
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