How to change excerpt length in WordPress using PHP

WordPress limits excerpts lengths to 55 words. This article shows you how to change the excerpts word count limit using a PHP function.

Changing excerpt length in WordPress

 Always perform a backup before you make any changes to the theme files. If you break any codes, it will be easier to revert your site to its last good known state. Alternatively, you could also create a child theme.

Follow the steps below to edit your Theme setting file to change the excerpt length in WordPress:

1. Log in to your WordPress site with an administrator account.
2. On the Dashboard in the left sidebar, click Appearance, and then click Theme Editor:
    
3. On the Theme Editor , select the Theme you want to edit from the dropdown:
   
4. The files for this selected theme are listed on the right column under Theme Files. Click on the file named “functions.php”:
   
5. Insert the following code to the end of functions.php file and click Update File button to save the changes:
   function new_excerpt_length($length) { return 100; } add_filter(‘excerpt_length’, ‘new_excerpt_length’);
6.  The function changes the excerpt length to 100.