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Posts list: show part of excerpt in Compact view if post has no title #11553

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Posts list: show part of excerpt in Compact view if post has no title #11553

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08f13aa
Add up to 15 words of excerpt if post has no title
sabernhardt Apr 10, 2026
855d1d2
optional styles for trimmed excerpt within link
sabernhardt Apr 10, 2026
ba5c3b5
Merge branch 'trunk' into posts-list-no-title
mcsf Apr 17, 2026
614d766
Remove space before ellipsis (suggested by @mcsf)
sabernhardt Jun 18, 2026
9c87e9e
Remove space before ellipsis in visible text
sabernhardt Jun 18, 2026
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5 changes: 5 additions & 0 deletions src/wp-admin/css/list-tables.css
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Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -363,6 +363,11 @@ td.plugin-title p {
margin: 6px 0;
}

.trimmed-post-excerpt {
font-weight: 400;
padding-left: 4px;
}
Comment on lines +366 to +369

@sabernhardt sabernhardt Apr 11, 2026

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I'm not sure I want the lighter font-weight when it is still part of the link, but I like having a small amount of padding to offset the excerpt.

Posts list with published and draft posts, in Compact view, with excerpts for titleless posts

And the title is not linked in Trash:

post without a title, showing trimmed excerpt in Trash


/* Media file column */
table.media .column-title .media-icon {
float: left;
Expand Down
26 changes: 24 additions & 2 deletions src/wp-admin/includes/class-wp-posts-list-table.php
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Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -1018,9 +1018,13 @@ private function _page_rows( &$children_pages, &$count, $parent_page, $level, $p
* @since 4.3.0
* @since 5.9.0 Renamed `$post` to `$item` to match parent class for PHP 8 named parameter support.
*

@ramonjd ramonjd Jun 18, 2026

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For both changed methods, I think it's worth a version annotation, e.g.,

* @since 7.1.0 Includes a trimmed excerpt for untitled posts in Compact view.

* @global string $mode List table view mode.
*
* @param WP_Post $item The current WP_Post object.
*/
public function column_cb( $item ) {

@sabernhardt sabernhardt Apr 11, 2026

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The checkbox label should include the same text as the link (with 'Select').

The locked icon text might not require the same, but I updated that anyway.

global $mode;

// Restores the more descriptive, specific name for use within this method.
$post = $item;

Expand All @@ -1037,13 +1041,23 @@ public function column_cb( $item ) {
* @param WP_Post $post The current WP_Post object.
*/
if ( apply_filters( 'wp_list_table_show_post_checkbox', $show, $post ) ) :

$post_title = _draft_or_post_title();

// If the post has no title, try adding part of the excerpt.
if ( 'excerpt' !== $mode && '' === get_the_title( $post ) && ! post_password_required( $post ) ) {
$excerpt = get_the_excerpt( $post );
if ( '' !== $excerpt && is_string( $excerpt ) ) {
$post_title .= ' ' . esc_html( wp_trim_words( $excerpt, 15, '…' ) );

@ramonjd ramonjd Jun 18, 2026

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Tests_Admin_wpPostsListTable already tests output in some way.

Worth adding a small test here?

Codex came up with this quick example, but worth testing whether it fails first 
/**
 * @ticket 65022
 *
 * @dataProvider data_should_show_trimmed_excerpt_for_untitled_posts_only_in_compact_view
 *
 * @covers WP_Posts_List_Table::column_cb
 * @covers WP_Posts_List_Table::column_title
 */
public function test_should_show_trimmed_excerpt_for_untitled_posts_only_in_compact_view( $list_mode, $should_show_excerpt ) {
	global $mode;

	wp_set_current_user( self::factory()->user->create( array( 'role' => 'administrator' ) ) );

	$mode = $list_mode;

	$post = self::factory()->post->create_and_get(
		array(
			'post_title'   => '',
			'post_excerpt' => 'One two three four five six seven eight nine ten eleven twelve thirteen fourteen fifteen sixteen.',
			'post_status'  => 'publish',
		)
	);

	$table = _get_list_table( 'WP_Posts_List_Table', array( 'screen' => 'edit-post' ) );

	ob_start();
	$table->single_row( $post );
	$output = ob_get_clean();

	$expected_excerpt = 'One two three four five six seven eight nine ten eleven twelve thirteen fourteen fifteen…';

	if ( $should_show_excerpt ) {
		$this->assertStringContainsString(
			'<span class="trimmed-post-excerpt">' . $expected_excerpt . '</span>',
			$output
		);

		$this->assertStringContainsString(
			'Select (no title) ' . $expected_excerpt,
			$output
		);
	} else {
		$this->assertStringNotContainsString( 'class="trimmed-post-excerpt"', $output );
		$this->assertStringNotContainsString( 'Select (no title) ' . $expected_excerpt, $output );
	}
}

/**
 * Data provider.
 *
 * @return array
 */
public function data_should_show_trimmed_excerpt_for_untitled_posts_only_in_compact_view() {
	return array(
		'compact view' => array( 'list', true ),
		'extended view' => array( 'excerpt', false ),
	);
}

}
}
?>
<input id="cb-select-<?php the_ID(); ?>" type="checkbox" name="post[]" value="<?php the_ID(); ?>" />
<label for="cb-select-<?php the_ID(); ?>">
<span class="screen-reader-text">
<?php
/* translators: %s: Post title. */
printf( __( 'Select %s' ), _draft_or_post_title() );
printf( __( 'Select %s' ), $post_title );

@mcsf mcsf Apr 14, 2026

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I wonder if this might make it more confusing for users with screen readers or not. Visual users have the luxury of styling to differentiate "(no title)" (bold) from the trimmed excerpt (regular weight).

Should we rearrange the output for screen readers? Otherwise it'll look like this:

<span class="screen-reader-text">Select (no title) Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet</span>

@annezazu annezazu Jun 18, 2026

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@joedolson mind taking a look here?

@sabernhardt sabernhardt Jun 18, 2026

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The value of changing the font-weight is debatable.

However, I do not agree about rearranging the order of "(no title)" and the excerpt.

  • I thought I had seen a similar discussion, either on Trac or Slack, about matching invisible label text to the visible text. The closest I found was Trac 63620, where both the invisible label and visible text are exactly the same. In the posts list table, the invisible label includes "Select", and most languages have that before the title.
  • When the link's accessible name and visible text are "(no title) Lorem ipsum", the label can include the same text in the same order. Technique G211 mentions matching label text to adjacent visible text that "serves as its label". The link technically does not serve as the checkbox's label, but it can serve a similar purpose in addition to being a link on its own.

Ultimately, I do not think these new links and labels can be as accessible as having real, unique titles for every post.

@ramonjd ramonjd Jun 18, 2026

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Select (no title) some excerpt... is strange 🤔

I'm no expert, but a couple of options come to mind:

  1. Visible separator Select (no title): some excerpt...
  2. Word cue: Select (no title), excerpt: some excerpt...
  3. Add aria-describedby="post-excerpt-123" ?

I'm not sure!

?>
</span>
</label>
Expand All @@ -1054,7 +1068,7 @@ public function column_cb( $item ) {
printf(
/* translators: Hidden accessibility text. %s: Post title. */
__( '&#8220;%s&#8221; is locked' ),
_draft_or_post_title()
$post_title
);
?>
</span>
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -1142,6 +1156,14 @@ public function column_title( $post ) {

$title = _draft_or_post_title();

// If the post has no title, try adding part of the excerpt.
if ( 'excerpt' !== $mode && '' === get_the_title( $post ) && ! post_password_required( $post ) ) {

@ramonjd ramonjd Jun 18, 2026

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Should this have a read_post guard similar to the one below. Both expose excerpt/content-derived text.

E.g.,

if ( 'excerpt' !== $mode
	&& '' === get_the_title( $post )
	&& ! post_password_required( $post )
	&& current_user_can( 'read_post', $post->ID )
) {
	$excerpt = get_the_excerpt( $post );
	// ...
}

This applies to both instances I think.

$excerpt = get_the_excerpt( $post );
if ( '' !== $excerpt && is_string( $excerpt ) ) {
$title .= ' <span class="trimmed-post-excerpt">' . esc_html( wp_trim_words( $excerpt, 15, '&hellip;' ) ) . '</span>';
}
}

if ( $can_edit_post && 'trash' !== $post->post_status ) {
printf(
'<a class="row-title" href="%s">%s%s</a>',
Expand Down
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