Pogwatch

Ditto Summary extender

The Summary extender (&extenders=`summary`) creates an abbreviated version of document content to act as a "summary" or "teaser" in the Ditto output list, with a "Read more" link to the full stories. The extender works together with the [+summary+] and [+link+] placeholders in your template.

If possible, use the introtext field to create intros to your items, rather than the summary extender, for better editorial quality, more flexibility in the main content and less processing burden. But if you must...

The summary text is set by one of several methods (listed in order of precedence):

• A manual split is marked by an HTML comment containing a specific string. The default is <!-- splitter -->. Other markers can be set using the &truncAt parameter.
• The introtext field, if not empty, will be used if no split marker has been found. This is the preferred method of summarizing, as it reduces processing and encourages you to look at your item from the reader's point of view. It does mean you have to think, though.
• The first N characters of the becomes the summary when you set &truncLen=`N`. This text is expanded or reduced by up to &truncOffset characters to match the nearest closing tag. Default values are &truncLen=`300` and &truncOffset=`30`.
• The full content is used if it is shorter than &truncLen characters.

You can switch truncation off with &trunc=`0` (default value is `1`), and switch truncation at the splitter off with &truncSplit=`0`. The text for the [+link+] placeholder is set by &truncText, default being `Read more...` (or equivalent in the relevant language file). You can set the code for the link using &tplTrunc to point to a chunk, file or code string of your own.

(view template)

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