Title: WordPress not generating excerpt.
Last modified: August 18, 2016

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# WordPress not generating excerpt.

 *  Resolved [vryce](https://wordpress.org/support/users/vryce/)
 * (@vryce)
 * [20 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wordpress-not-generating-excerpt/)
 * I apologize. I did try to do a search first and didn’t find what I was looking
   for.
 * What is happening is that when I make a post, if I leave the Excerpt field blank,
   one is not automatically generated by WordPress. I was of the understanding that
   is what is supposed to happen.
 * Any ideas what is causing the issue? I’m using the latest version of WordPress,
   though I do have a number of plugins. However, I did try it on a fresh install
   of WordPress and it didn’t generate an excerpt either.
 * Thanks in advance.

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)

 *  [TechGnome](https://wordpress.org/support/users/techgnome/)
 * (@techgnome)
 * [20 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wordpress-not-generating-excerpt/#post-259387)
 * Excerpts aren’t generated. Here’s what does happen:
    When the_excerpt() is used
   in the template, it checkes to see if something was entered into the excerpt 
   field. If something was, that is returned. If it was left blank, then the function
   returns the first part of the post itself. Since I always fill it in, I’m not
   100% sure on how it works, but I think this is right: It will return up to the
   first work break after the 200th character; up to the first paragraph mark; up
   to the <!–more–> tag…. this ever comes first.
 * But it’s dynamic. The excerpt isn’t generated and saved.
 * -tg
 *  Thread Starter [vryce](https://wordpress.org/support/users/vryce/)
 * (@vryce)
 * [20 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wordpress-not-generating-excerpt/#post-259389)
 * Ahh.. thank you for the reply.
 * I was under the impression that WordPress generated one.
 * Now that I’m clear on that, I’ll set it so that I type one in myself. THough 
   I think there are some plugins that create an excerpt automatically.
 * Thanks again.
 *  [moshu](https://wordpress.org/support/users/moshu/)
 * (@moshu)
 * [20 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wordpress-not-generating-excerpt/#post-259414)
 * Also good to know: regardless whether it’s automatic (?) or you type something
   the excerpts will be displayed _only_ in template files (like archives view, 
   category listing etc.) where in the Loop [the_excerpt](http://codex.wordpress.org/Template_Tags/the_excerpt)
   template tag is used and not [the_content](http://codex.wordpress.org/Template_Tags/the_content).

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)

The topic ‘WordPress not generating excerpt.’ is closed to new replies.

 * In: [Fixing WordPress](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/how-to-and-troubleshooting/)
 * 3 replies
 * 3 participants
 * Last reply from: [moshu](https://wordpress.org/support/users/moshu/)
 * Last activity: [20 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wordpress-not-generating-excerpt/#post-259414)
 * Status: resolved

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