One long testimonial next to two short ones makes a carousel look lopsided, and a wall of text is rarely read anyway.
The Testimonial widget from The Plus Addons for Elementor can cut each quote to a set number of words or letters and add a link that expands it again.
To check the complete feature overview documentation of The Plus Addons for Elementor Testimonial widget, click here.
Requirement – This widget is a part of The Plus Addons for Elementor, make sure it’s installed & activated to enjoy all its powers.
Before You Start
- Edition: the Testimonial widget is in the free plugin. Style-3 and the extras listed below need The Plus Addons for Elementor Pro.
- Widget to enable: Testimonial, switched on under The Plus Addons > Widgets. Its card is badged FREEMIUM.
- If you use the Post Type source: the testimonial custom post type has to be switched on first, under The Plus Addons > Extra Options > Listing > Testimonial. Until then there are no testimonials to list.
Cut the testimonial text
- Edit the page with Elementor and select the Testimonial widget.
- In Layout (Content Layout in the free plugin) set Layout to Carousel.
- Set Select Source to Repeater. Text limiting does not work with the Post Type source.
- Open Extra Option and set Content Limit By to Text Limit.
- Set Excerpt Limit to By Words or By Letters, then type the cut-off in Maximum Letters/Words. The default is 30.
The quotes are cut and a Read More link is added to each one:
Rename the expand link
The link labels are the Read More and Read Less fields at the bottom of the same section. They only appear once Content Limit By is Text Limit and at least one of the two limits is not Default.
Clicking the link reveals the rest of that testimonial and the label changes to the Read Less text. Clicking again collapses it:
Cut the testimonial title too
Title Limit, just under Excerpt Limit, does the same for the testimonial title. It offers By Letters and By Words, with its own Maximum Letters/Words value, and adds the same expand link.
How It Behaves
- The cut is not destructive: the rest of the quote is in the page, hidden, and the link shows it. Nothing is loaded again when the visitor expands it.
- By Words counts words, By Letters counts characters, so the same number gives very different results.
- The toggle works in both editions – the script that drives it is the same in the free plugin and in Pro.
- Excerpt Limit is also available on the Masonry layout with the Repeater source, without Content Limit By.
- If the testimonial is already shorter than the limit, no link is added to that card.
Limitations
- Text limiting needs the Repeater source. With Select Source on Post Type the full text is always shown. In the Pro plugin you can still set Content Limit By to Text Limit with that source, but nothing happens – the Excerpt Limit control is not offered at all.
- On the Masonry layout the expand link has no label. Excerpt Limit works there, but the Read More and Read Less fields are tied to Content Limit By, which is only shown for Carousel – so the link renders empty.
- Title Limit is Carousel-only. On Masonry only the testimonial text can be cut.
- Cutting by letters can end mid-word, since the count is a plain character count.
Troubleshooting
There is no Excerpt Limit dropdown
Check three things: Select Source must be Repeater, Layout must be Carousel or Masonry, and on Carousel Content Limit By must be set to Text Limit.
There are no Read More and Read Less fields
They appear only when Content Limit By is Text Limit and either Excerpt Limit or Title Limit is set to By Words or By Letters. On the Masonry layout they cannot be reached at all.
The text is not being cut
Select Source is set to Post Type, or the testimonial is already shorter than the limit you set.
The link is there but has no text on it
You are on the Masonry layout. Switch to Carousel and set Content Limit By to Text Limit, which makes the two label fields available.
I want equal-height slides instead of equal-length text
Set Content Limit By to Height instead – see How to Set Elementor Testimonial Carousel Height?.
