[Resolved] Add excerpt to Archives page

[Chad Biggs]

I created some custom fields using ACF Pro and placed the code in my child theme’s single.php page. I need to display excerpts of the custom fields from the single.php to the archives page. I think the normal way to do this is to change php the_content to php the_excerpt on the archives page and add some code to the functions page but the_content is not on the GP archives page. How can I add excerpts to the archives page from ACF single.php? Thank you.

[Fernando]

Hi Chad,

To clarify, is the excerpt you want to add to the archive pages a custom field from ACF?

If so, might I suggest using a Block Element – Content Template for the archive page, and then adding this custom field through a GB Headline Block’s dynamic setting if possible? Reference: https://docs.generatepress.com/article/block-element-content-template/

In this way, you wouldn’t need to alter template files.

Another way is to simply hook the field to articles on the archive page.

I would personally use a Content Template because it’s much easier to control.

[Chad Biggs]

With the blocks, I can pull in the Post title, author and date but I cant get the excerpt text to populate. Is there a way to target a specific class using the blocks? Or is there a line I can add to my single.php page?

[David]

Hi there,

in the Headline Blocks Dynamic Data options you can set the Content Source to Post Meta and add the ACF Fieldname in the field provided.
NOTE: it won’t work with repeater fields.

But …. does the ACF fields content need trimming to an excerpt ?

Documentation: http://docs.generatepress.com/
Adding CSS: http://docs.generatepress.com/article/adding-css/

[Chad Biggs]

I have dynamic data set to post meta and the field name is entered. It all looks right to me compared to what I read from you but it’s still not working. The field I am trying to get is a text field, not a repeater.

[Fernando]

Hi Chad,

From your screenshot, I can see that you’re not using a GB Headline Block.

Here’s an example of how to do it: https://share.getcloudapp.com/WnuZpJGr

Reference: https://docs.generateblocks.com/article/headline-overview/#dynamic-data

With that said, can you try retrieving it through a GB Headline Block?

[Chad Biggs]

Thank you. Is there a way to limit the characters to 55-60 in the excerpt?

[David]

If you’re display the post Excerpt in the Headlines Dynamic data, then there is an option to change its length.
Check the front end if you don’t see a change in the editor

If you want to trim the length of the custom field, then you would need to do that using a shortcode. See here:

https://support.advancedcustomfields.com/forums/topic/trimming-words-from-a-field/#post-149508

Then the shortcode can be added inside a Headline Block

Documentation: http://docs.generatepress.com/
Adding CSS: http://docs.generatepress.com/article/adding-css/

[Chad Biggs]

I do not see an option to change the excerpt length under the dynamic headline in the elements. I have attached a snapshot of my list view group layout in case I am doing something wrong.

By “Check the front end if you don’t see a change in the editor”, I guess you mean I can set the excerpt length in customizing/layout/blog/ content type. But changing any settings under content type does not make any changes.

[Fernando]

Hi Chad,

Try adding trim-custom-description to the class list of the Headline Block.

Adding Custom Classes: https://wordpress.com/support/wordpress-editor/adding-additional-css-classes-to-blocks/

Then, add this snippet:

add_filter('generateblocks_dynamic_content_output', function($content, $attributes, $block){
	if ( ! is_admin() && ! empty( $attributes['className'] ) && strpos( $attributes['className'], 'trim-custom-description' ) !== false ) {
		$content = wp_trim_words( $content, 2, '...' );
	}
	return $content;
}, 10, 3);

Adding PHP: https://docs.generatepress.com/article/adding-php/#code-snippets

Change 2 in wp_trim_words( $excerpt, 2, '...' ) to the preferred excerpt length.

[Chad Biggs]

Thank you for your help!

[Fernando]

You’re welcome, Chad!

[Chad Biggs]

Do you know if there is a way to change that code to limit characters instead of words?

[David]

Hi there,

try changing this:

$content = wp_trim_words( $content, 2, '...' );

to:

$stripHTML = strip_tags($content);
$content = substr($stripHTML, 0, 15);

Documentation: http://docs.generatepress.com/
Adding CSS: http://docs.generatepress.com/article/adding-css/

[Chad Biggs]

That works great but I have tried every scenario I can think of to get the ‘…’ behind the last word like the other code had. It is possible?

[Author]

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