| · | Why use Excerpts? |
| · | Using automatically created Excerpts |
| · | Using manually created Excerpts |
| · | Not using Excerpts |
Why use Excerpts?
If you tend to write long articles, you may find that they make your main page difficult to navigate. Your readers will have to do a lot of scrolling to see all the articles on your main page. One solution to this problem is the use of excerpts. Excerpts are short pieces of text posted to the main page in lieu of the full text of the articles. They're followed by a more link, which will take the reader to the article page for that article, where they can read the full text.
For any blog entry, there are three options for excerpts:
| · | Let the system generate an excerpt automatically. |
| If you choose this option, the system will create an excerpt out of the first n words of your body text. For details on setting the value of n, see Excerpts, in the Settings & Security chapter. For an explanation of how to use system-generated excerpts, see Using automatically created Excerpts, in this section. |
| · | Create an excerpt manually. |
| If you choose this option, you must provide the text for the excerpt. This gives you the freedom to use anything as an excerpt, even something that is completely different from the body of your entry. For an explanation of how to do this, see Using manually created Excerpts, in this section. |
| · | No excerpt. |
| If you choose this option, the article will appear in its entirety on the main page. For an explanation of how to do this, see Not using Excerpts, later in this section. |
Using automatically created Excerpts
To have an excerpt automatically generated, click the Automatically generate excerpt checkbox in the Excerpt section of the Post Article page.
If you select this option, the excerpt will appear on the Main page and will be made up of the first few words of the body text followed by the more link. Clicking this link (or any of the article's permanent links) will take the reader to the article page, where the full text of the article can be read.
Using manually created Excerpts
If you want to write your own excerpt for your article, clear the Automatically generate excerpt checkbox in the Excerpt section of the Post Article page, and enter your excerpt into the text area below it. You can use HTML in your excerpt.
The excerpt will appear on the main page and will be made up of the text you entered followed by the more link. Clicking this link (or any of the article's permanent links) will take the reader to the article page, where the full text of the article can be read.
Not using Excerpts
If you want to your article to appear in its entirety on the main page, clear the Automatically generate excerpt checkbox in the Excerpt section of the Post Article page and ensure that the text area below it is empty.
