Hey all, I see that get_the_excerpt() echoes the post excerpt if it is manually set, but not if it is automatically generated (with just the 55 words, for example). [and its use is deprecated]
the_excerpt() on the other hand, echoes directly without giving me a string in return.
Is there a function to return the excerpt of a post in WordPress, including automatic excerpt if not manually defined, without echoing it?
Sure thing my friend, you see, the function “the_excerpt” (located at “WORDPRESSINSTALLDIR/wp-includes/post-template.php”) is the one that makes the echo:
so, what you want is to use the same function “apply_filters” without the echo:
…and there you have your excerpt.
There’s also the function
wp_trim_excerpt(), which will generate and return an excerpt for the current post.