This is a function which shortens a text. For instance, this is useful when you want to display in a page excerpts from your articles (with the link to the full article).

<?php
function shorten_string($string, $chars, $end = '...', $strip_tags = true)
{
$string = ($strip_tags) ? strip_tags($string) : $string;
$str = substr($string, 0, $chars).$end;

return $str;
}

$text = 'Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit.
Maecenas ac nulla at neque consectetuer semper.
Pellentesque et quam at justo rhoncus accumsan.
Nullam posuere, nisl eu porta dignissim, massa dolor porttitor mi,
at consequat mi ante in tortor.';

/*
1st argument: your text
2nd argument: how many chars to show from the string's beginning
3rd argument: the ending string (i.e. ... [more] [continue])
4th argument: Strip Tags (true or false)
*/

$excerpt = shorten_string($text, 100, '...[More]', true);

echo $excerpt;
?>

NOTE: The 3rd argument can be used as a link to your full article like: …<a href=”http://www.mydomain.com/article_page”>[More]</a>

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