How to Limit the Number of Words in RSS Feed?

RSS feeds are an essential component of many websites, providing a convenient way for users to subscribe to and receive updates from your content. 

While the default WordPress RSS feed includes the full content of your posts, you can control the amount of text displayed to maintain a concise and engaging feed. 

In this knowledgebase article, we’ll guide you through limiting the number of words in your RSS feed in WordPress.

Limiting Words in WordPress RSS Feed

In WordPress, you can limit the number of words in your RSS feed by using filters and functions. 

To achieve this, simply incorporate a custom function into your theme’s functions.php file. This function filters your RSS feed content, enabling you to tailor it to your preferred word count.

Here’s a guide to help you through the process:

Access the ‘functions.php’ File

Log in to your WordPress dashboard and go to Appearance → Theme File Editor. Here, click functions.php file, as illustrated below.

Insert Custom Code

In the functions.php file, you’ll need to insert custom code to restrict the word count in your RSS feed.

Note: Exercise caution when editing the functions.php file and create a site backup before making any changes.

Now, scroll down to the bottom of the file and paste the following code:

function custom_rss_word_limit($content) {
    $limit = 100; // Change this value to set the desired word limit
    $content = explode(' ', $content, $limit + 1);
    if (count($content) > $limit) {
        array_pop($content);
        $content = implode(' ', $content) . '...';
    } else {
        $content = implode(' ', $content);
    }
    return $content;
}
add_filter('the_excerpt_rss', 'custom_rss_word_limit');
add_filter('the_content_feed', 'custom_rss_word_limit');

After adding the code, click the Update File button to save your changes, as shown below.

The custom_rss_word_limit function within the code takes the content of the RSS feed as input and limits it to a specified number of words. 

So, in the example above, the word limit is set to 100, but feel free to adjust this value to meet your requirements.

Following this guide, you can effectively limit the number of words in your RSS feed and maintain a more streamlined and reader-friendly content delivery.

Remember to conduct thorough testing of any modifications made to your website to ensure their expected performance. To achieve this, you can append /feed/ to your website’s URL, for instance, https://yourwebsite.com/feed/.

If you have any questions, you can always reach out to our dedicated support team. They are available 24/7 to help.