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Overview:
The {excerpt} macro defines a block of text as being the excerpt (or summary) for a page...
You will have noticed that every single page in this user guide begins with a short paragraph (in bold text) which summarises the page - those are excerpts.
They don't actually change the way the text looks (we've made each excerpt in this user guide bold ourselves), but they do mark the text as being the "official" summary for the page. Once marked, other Macros are then able to use the text more easily.
Parameters:
Add the macro to your page as follows:
{excerpt:hidden=true/false}summary text{excerpt}
| Parameter | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| hidden |  |
Set to true to hide the excerpt text or false (default) to display the text. |
Examples:
Hints and Tips:
Use excerpts whether you need them or not. You might get half way through developing a site (as we did!) and then suddenly realise you want to take advantage of excerpts! It's a lot easier to put the excerpts in while you are creating pages, etc., than it is to have to go back and add them in at a later date.
Keep excerpts fairly short and concise. You should never have more than one paragraph of text within an excerpt.
When writing an excerpt, imagine it appearing anywhere on your site without the page title - it should still make sense! If you do this, you'll be able to use things like the include-random macro.
Frequently Asked Questions:
| Q | You mention that other macros can use excerpts - which ones? |
|---|---|
| A | children macro, excerpt-include macro, blog-posts macro, incoming-links macro, include-random. There are possibly more... |
| Q | Can I use CSS to change the way excerpts look? |
|---|---|
| A | Not currently. |
| Q | Can I use macros inside the excerpt? |
|---|---|
| A | No. |
| Q | Is there any other way to add an excerpt? |
|---|---|
| A | Yes. Use the excerpt-data macro. |
