Of course! The dede:arclist tag is one of the most powerful and frequently used tags in DedeCMS. The "continue" functionality you're asking about is typically handled by two related but distinct concepts:

infolen: This limits the length of the article's summary (introtext).infosummary: This is a more advanced version ofinfolenthat can also strip HTML tags.
Let's break down how to use them and other related parameters for achieving a "continue reading" effect.
The infolen Parameter (The Standard Method)
This is the most common way to control the length of the text displayed for each item in the list. It specifies the number of single-byte characters to show from the article's summary field (description).
Basic Syntax:
{dede:arclist row='10' titlelen='50' infolen='200'}
<li>
<a href="[field:arcurl/]">[field:title/]</a>
<p>[field:info/]</p>
</li>
{/dede:arclist}
Explanation:

inflen='200': This is the key. It tells DedeCMS to take the first 200 characters from the article's summary (descriptionfield) and display it.[field:info/]: This special field variable is automatically modified by theinfolenparameter. You don't need to do anything else.
Important Consideration:
The infolen parameter counts single-byte characters (like English letters, numbers, and symbols). A double-byte character (like a Chinese character, , , or ) typically counts as two characters.
- If you set
infolen='100'and your article summary is in Chinese, you will get approximately 50 Chinese characters.
The infosummary Parameter (The Advanced Method)
This is a more robust version of infolen. It not only limits the length of the text but also strips any HTML tags (like <p>, <strong>, <a>) from the summary before displaying it. This is very useful for ensuring clean, consistent formatting in your list.
Syntax:
{dede:arclist row='10' titlelen='50' infosummary='200'}
<li>
<a href="[field:arcurl/]">[field:title/]</a>
<p>[field:info/]</p>
</li>
{/dede:arclist}
Explanation:

infosummary='200': This will take the first 200 characters from the summary and remove all HTML tags.- When to use
infosummaryvs.infolen:- Use
infolenif your article summaries are plain text or if you want to preserve simple HTML formatting (like<strong>or<em>). - Use
infosummaryif your summaries might contain complex HTML (like<p>tags, lists, or images) that you don't want to appear in your short list view.
- Use
Creating a "Read More" Link
Simply limiting the text is only half the battle. A complete "continue reading" feature needs a link to the full article.
Here is a complete, practical example:
<h2>Latest Articles</h2>
<ul class="article-list">
{dede:arclist row='5' titlelen='40' infolen='150'}
<li>
<!-- Display the title, linked to the full article -->
<a href="[field:arcurl/]" class="article-title">[field:title/]</a>
<!-- Display a short summary of the article -->
<p class="article-summary">[field:info/]</p>
<!-- Add a "Read More" link -->
<a href="[field:arcurl/]" class="read-more">Continue Reading »</a>
</li>
{/dede:arclist}
</ul>
How it works:
[field:arcurl/]: This variable holds the full URL to the individual article page. We use it in two places:- To make the article title clickable.
- For the "Continue Reading" link itself.
»: This is an HTML entity for the right-pointing double angle quotation mark (»), a common stylistic choice for "read more" links.
Other Useful Related Parameters
Here are a few other parameters that work well with arclist for fine-tuning your content display:
subday='N': Only display articles from the lastNdays.- Example:
subday='7'shows articles from the last week.
- Example:
typeid='N': Only display articles from a specific category ID.- Example:
typeid='5,8,12'shows articles from categories with IDs 5, 8, and 12.
- Example:
channelid='N': Only display articles from a specific model channel (e.g., Articles, Downloads, Products).- Example:
channelid='1'is usually for articles.
- Example:
flag='c': Only display articles marked as "recommended" or "special" (thecflag). You can combine flags, likeflag='ch'for recommended and headlines.
Summary Table
| Parameter | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
infolen |
Limits the summary to a number of single-byte characters. Preserves basic HTML. | infolen='100' |
infosummary |
Limits the summary and strips all HTML tags. Good for clean text. | infosummary='100' |
subday |
Filters articles by how many days old they are. | subday='30' (last 30 days) |
typeid |
Filters articles by specific category IDs. | typeid='5,10' |
[field:arcurl/] |
The essential variable for creating links to the full article. | <a href="[field:arcurl/]"> |
By combining infolen or infosummary with a [field:arcurl/] link, you can easily create the "continue reading" effect you're looking for in DedeCMS.
