How to Disable Auto Excerpt on WordPress

Ever wished to have more control over how your blog posts appear on your home pages?

Excerpts in WordPress can either be manually crafted by the author or automatically generated by the platform itself, pulling the first few lines of the article.

However, automated excerpts sometimes lack the finesse of a custom summary and can cut off abruptly mid-sentence.

In this guide, we’ll discuss four methods to disable auto excerpts in WordPress, some reasons you might want to consider disabling them, and more.

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What Are Excerpts in WordPress?

In WordPress, excerpts are small blocks of text that help preview your content for the reader. They are short summaries of your posts, automatically created by WordPress by copying the first few lines of a post and shown on archive pages, your homepage, and category pages.

~Source: WordPress

These snippets let developers and agency owners decide how much content to show in post listings. Instead of displaying the full article, excerpts provide a brief preview, keeping pages clean and easy to browse without overwhelming visitors.

However, sometimes, these automated snippets don’t quite hit the mark. That’s why many users opt to turn this feature off.

Why WordPress Uses Auto Excerpts by Default?

WordPress uses auto excerpts by default to create a cleaner, more streamlined look across pages with multiple posts. Without excerpts, these pages could display long content blocks, slowing down loading times.

Reasons to Disable Auto Excerpts

Disabling auto excerpts can provide more control over how content is displayed on your website,

Here are a few reasons why you should consider disabling Auto excerpts in WordPress.

Better Control Over Content Display

Disabling auto excerpts gives you more control over how content appears on your site. Automatic excerpts often cut off text randomly, which can disrupt the flow of your writing.

By disabling auto excerpts, you have the flexibility to write custom excerpts that accurately represent each post and highlight the points you feel are most relevant for readers

When you control your excerpts, you can also adjust them to fit the specific tone or messaging you want to convey, which is especially useful for blog posts or marketing content.

Better User Experience

Disabling auto excerpts can significantly improve user experience by ensuring that each snippet provides a clear, well-rounded summary of your content.

With customized excerpts, you can also cater the preview text to different types of readers. For instance, on a news site, you might choose an excerpt emphasizing breaking information, while a blog could highlight a catchy sentence or unique angle.

Better for SEO

Disabling auto excerpts can also give your site an SEO boost by allowing you to optimize each excerpt for specific keywords or phrases. With automated excerpts, WordPress only pulls the first few lines of your post, which might not contain your target keywords.

Creating your own excerpts allows you to strategically add keywords in a way that feels natural and goes with your SEO goals, ending up with better search engine results and ranking your content.

How to Disable Auto Excerpt in WordPress (4 Methods)

If you want to control how your content appears on WordPress, disabling auto excerpts can be a great option.

Here are four easy methods to turn off auto excerpts, so you can choose when and where your posts show summaries or full content.

Method 1. Adjust Settings in WordPress

• Open your WordPress dashboard and click on Settings > Reading.

• For each post in a feed, select Full text instead of Excerpt.
• Click Save Changes to apply the new settings.

Method 2. Use a Custom Excerpt Field

• Open your post editor, and find the Excerpt box. Depending on your editor’s setup, it is usually located in the right sidebar or under the post content area.

• Type your preferred text in the Excerpt field.

• This custom text will replace the auto-generated excerpt if it appears on your site.
• After writing the custom excerpt, publish or update the post.

Method 3. Use Plugins to Disable Auto Excerpt

• In your WordPress dashboard, click on Plugins > Add New, and search Advanced Excerpt plugins.

• Activate the plugin and navigate to its settings page.

• Depending on the plugin, you can choose where excerpts appear, set custom lengths, or disable them entirely.

Method 4. Customize Your WordPress Theme Files

• From your dashboard, go to Appearance > Theme Editor and locate the content.php or archive.php file.

• Look for the line of code the_excerpt() in these files. This is the function that generates excerpts.
• Replace the_excerpt() with the_content(). This modification will display the full post content instead of an excerpt.
• Save the file, then refresh your site’s blog or archive pages to check how the content is now being displayed.

Troubleshooting Common Issues

Even with these methods, you might encounter common issues when disabling auto excerpts on WordPress.

This section will cover a few troubleshooting tips to help resolve problems, such as still-appearing excerpts or conflicts with plugins and themes.

Check That Your WordPress Theme Supports Excerpts

To verify that your WordPress theme supports excerpts:

• Go to Appearance > Customize in your WordPress dashboard.
• Locate the settings related to your blog. If you’re using the Astra theme, for example, this section is labeled Blog.

• Choose either the Blog/Archive Settings or Single Post Settings and click on Blog / Archive.

• Scroll down to Posts Structure and make sure the Post Excerpt option is active.

• Click Publish to save your changes.

Now your blog posts will show an excerpt box instead of the full post content.

Potential Conflicts with Themes or Plugins

Plugin conflicts can also cause excerpts to behave unexpectedly.

• Temporarily deactivate all plugins in Plugins > Installed Plugins, and check if the auto-excerpt issue is resolved.
• Re-enable plugins one by one, refreshing the front end after each activation to identify which plugin, if any, is causing the issue.

Common plugins that modify post behavior include SEO plugins, content builders, and custom post-type plugins.

Conclusion

Having control over your WordPress excerpts can make a big difference in how your content appears and engages readers.

In this guide, we covered everything from understanding what excerpts are to four simple ways to disable auto excerpts, giving you more control over your site’s look and feel. We also explored common troubleshooting tips to help you address any issues you might encounter.

Managing excerpts helps you ensure that your content is displayed exactly as you want it, enhancing the reader’s experience while keeping your layout clean and professional.