Don’t auto-truncate text to create snippets – part 2

The other day I advised not truncating text automatically when describing pages on your navigation pages, after the Express reported public sector borrowing at £16.1.

Owen: nail biting man?

They’ve done it again with the report of Man U’s victory over Man City, which is described thus: “Manchester United have brought home victory after a nail-biting Man“.

Presumably Michael Owen is the nail-biting man in question – he did have to wait until the 99th minute or something ridiculous to score the winner.

If you’re going to have navigation pages that have a sentence or two to describe featured stories, then make the content authors write them. Don’t just take the first X characters, or it will often look stupid.

(And I’m not even going to mention the article in the ‘More breaking news’ list that says ‘Andy must access the wrist …’.)

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1. Don’t automatically truncate text like the Express does
2. Truncating text: more weird Express descriptions
3. 90 minutes later, some newspaper sites haven’t published the football score
4. Proof the Express doesn’t update its website on a Sunday

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