MaxLength Words

MaxLength Words lets editors limit a text field by number of words instead of number of characters. It extends the MaxLength module with a live word counter and an optional hard word limit.

Features

• Adds a "MaxLength: count" option (Characters / Words) next to the existing MaxLength widget settings.
• A live word counter replaces MaxLength's character counter, with the same markup and styles (warning and error states).
• Reuses the MaxLength limit and counter message, so there is nothing new to learn.
• Milestones (5 words left, 0 left, limit exceeded) are announced to screen reader users.
• With "Hard limit" enabled, plain text inputs are trimmed while typing, and the limit is also enforced on form submit, including CKEditor 5 fields.
• HTML tags are not counted, and stand-alone punctuation such as & or - is not a word.
• Works with text (plain and formatted), text with summary, string and link widgets.

Typical use cases: summaries, teasers, abstracts, bios or captions where editorial guidelines are written in words ("max 50 words") rather than characters.

Post-Installation

There is no separate configuration page. Everything is set per field widget:

1. Go to "Manage form display" of an entity bundle, for example Structure » Content types » Article » Manage form display.
2. Open the settings of a supported widget.
3. Set a MaxLength limit as usual, then set "MaxLength: count" to "Words".
4. Save the widget settings and the form display.

Fields left on "Characters" (or "- None -") keep working exactly as with MaxLength alone.

Additional Requirements

• MaxLength 3.x
• Drupal 10.3 or 11

Recommended modules/libraries

None.

Similar projects

MaxLength counts characters only. This module does not replace it; it adds word counting on top of it, so existing MaxLength settings, styles and messages are reused.