While the “The Max Breadcrumb Length” setting has been deprecated since Breadcrumb 5.2 (back in 2015), to date, it has not been removed, nor has the underlying code that it controls. The official recommended replacement for this functionality is to use CSS styling to limit the displayed length of the breadcrumbs. This solution is more flexible, and does not have the numerous drawbacks of bcn_breadcrumb::title_trim(), the function behind “The Max Breadcrumb Length” setting.
Beginning with Breadcrumb NavXT 7.0, using CSS is the only supported way to limit the displayed length of the breadcrumbs in the breadcrumb trail. All internal calls to bcn_breadcrumb::title_trim() will be removed, leaving the function itself orphaned and slated for removal in the future. Below is the anticipated timeline of events for the feature’s deprecation through removal.
Timeline
- v5.2 (2015) through v6.6 (2020) Sunset Period: Upon deprecation, the setting was moved to the Deprecated section at the bottom of the Miscellaneous tab on the Breadcrumb NavXT settings page. Additionally, a warning message has displayed in the Breadcrumb NavXT settings page pointing to the deprecated setting in question, and linking to an article on the recommended alternate. Calls to
bcn_breadcrumb::title_trim()throw deprecated function PHP warnings. - v7.0 (2021) Lockout Period: The warning on the settings page will now be an error message. The “The Max Breadcrumb Length” setting will be disabled for all users that have not already set it. The value will not be allowed to be changed via the settings interface (except disabling the feature). Additionally, the setting will no longer impact the behavior of
bcn_display(). Thebcn_breadcrumb::title_trim()function will remain for the time being to remain compatible with any custom code that hasn’t been updated yet. - v7.5 (~2024) Removal: The “The Max Breadcrumb Length” setting and
bcn_breadcrumb::title_trim()will be removed completely from Breadcrumb NavXT.
This feature was originally scheduled for removal in Breadcrumb NavXT 7.0, and while its skeleton will remain, it effectively will no longer function. If you are still using this feature, please migrate to using CSS to limit the displayed length of breadcrumbs instead of using this feature before upgrading to Breadcrumb NavXT 7.0.
-John Havlik
HI John and thanks for making this plugin available to all of us. In my case I want the home page to be the ‘anchor’ for the breadcrumbs but I get the name of the web site instead. I have tried a number of things but no luck, what am i doing wrong here?
many thanks
Hi Bill,
In the Breadcrumb NavXT settings, under the General tab, look for the Home Template and Home Template (Unlinked) settings. In those settings, replace instances of `%title%` and `%htitle%` with Home (or whatever you want to display instead of the site’s title).
-John Havlik