Create Better Post Excerpts with AI

With Jetpack, you now have the power of AI at your fingertips, making it effortless to craft engaging post excerpts.

Understanding Excerpts and Their Display Locations

Think of an excerpt as a teaser for your post. A typical excerpt is a one to three-sentence summary of your post that you can craft yourself or take advantage of Jetpack’s AI assistance. Specifically designed for posts, excerpts show a short summary instead of the full content on pages like your recent posts page, archives, or search results.

If you’ve enabled the Jetpack Newsletter, you can configure it so that your subscribers only receive an excerpt, coupled with a link to the full story, keeping them engaged and curious.

Let AI Craft Your Excerpts

AI assistance is only available with the block editor; the Classic Editor does not support AI-powered excerpts. AI assistance is activated by default if Jetpack Blocks are active on your site. For guidance on activating Jetpack Blocks, refer to this support guide.

Here is how to use AI to generate a post excerpt:

1. Start by drafting your post. Once you’ve put in your full content, the AI will review and create an excerpt based on it.
2. Open your Settings sidebar and select the Post tab.
3. Find and expand the Excerpt section.
4. Spot the Generate button at the bottom of the Excerpt section. If you do not see the Generate button, make sure that:
   1. The latest version of Jetpack is installed, activated, and connected.
   2. Jetpack Blocks are activated; this support guide has the details if you need help.
5. Choose your preferred settings. For a detailed walkthrough of the available settings, refer to the Tailor Your AI Excerpt to Your Needs section. 
6. Click Generate.
7. After a brief pause, the AI will have your excerpt ready. You’ll notice the Generate button greyed out (disabled). You can discard or accept the generated excerpt by clicking the Discard of Accept button. Discard will revert your excerpt to its previous version. Once you discard, accept, or modify the settings, the Generate button will be available again, allowing for a fresh generation. You can continue this process until a post excerpt you like is generated.
8. You are all set! You can use the AI-generated excerpt as-is or adjust it manually.

Tailor Your AI Excerpt to Your Needs

You can fine-tune your excerpt’s characteristics to resonate best with your audience. You can configure its length, select a language, and set a tone. You can also choose which AI model you want to use.

Length

You can choose the desired length (number of words) of the excerpt. Please note that the final word count may differ slightly because of how sentences form. If you need an exact count, you may need to tweak the outcome manually.

How to set the length:

• Slide along the Desired Length scale. You have a range between 10 to 100 words, with a default set at 50.

Language

The default language for excerpt generation is English, but we cater to a wider audience. You can choose from one of the supported languages: French, Spanish, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, Hindi, and Korean.

How to change the language:

1. Find the Settings just below the Excerpt field.
2. Click the Sparkles icon to expand the settings view.
3. Click the Language tab and make your selection.

Click Generate.

Tone

While the default tone of excerpts is formal, you have a rich palette of tones to capture the right mood: informal, optimistic, humorous, serious, skeptical, empathetic, confident, passionate, or provocative.

How to set the tone:

1. Find the Settings just below the Excerpt field.
2. Click the Sparkles icon to expand the settings.
3. Click the Tone tab and pick the one you want to use.

Click Generate.

Model

When generating excerpts, you can choose between GPT-3.5 Turbo or GPT-4 models. 

• GPT-3.5 Turbo is faster and works, great for most everyday tasks.
• GPT-4 is a slower but the most capable model. It’s great for tasks that require creativity and advanced reasoning. AI Excerpts user GPT-4 by default.

How to switch between models:

1. Locate the Settings just below the Excerpt field.
2. Click the Sparkles icon to expand the settings.
3. Click the Model you want to use.

Click Generate.

Solving Excerpt Issues

Theme Compatibility with Excerpts

Not all themes support post excerpts. If the excerpts do not appear as expected on your front end:

1. Temporarily switch to the “Twenty Twenty-One” theme.
2. Check again your recent posts page.
3. If the excerpts display as they should, the issue likely lies with your original theme.
   Next Step: Consider reaching out to the theme’s developer to inquire about adding support for post excerpts.

Theme-Imposed Word Limits

Certain themes, notably “Twenty Twenty-Two” and “Twenty Twenty-Three” block themes, cap the excerpt word count. By default, they’re set to a 55-word limit. If you feel comfortable with editing page templates and wish for a different word count, you can make adjustments directly in the theme templates.