Implemented Article Description Min Message Length

OK, so this is what I came up with (and is the ONLY workable solution).

I've added a new option that lets you set the Article Description Min Message Length. Leaving set to 0 disables this option for those of you that don't want to use it.



When a Description is REQUIRED, the Article Preview/Description MUST be set (regardless if the Article Description Min Message Length is set to 0).

When a Description is OPTIONAL, it can be left EMPTY/BLANK (hence it being optional) regardless if the Article Description Min Message Length is set. However, IF they choose to set it (meaning they type anything into the editor), the Article Description Min Message Length requirement will kick in.


Here we have the Description Required as well as a 180 characters required.



If we try to set an empty/blank description, we get an error telling us that a description is required.




So lets try and make alfa1 mad by setting a short description... As you can see, the description is too short, so an error is thrown telling the user that they must enter a description with at least 180 characters and how much they are under by.



OK, so lets make the Description Optional, but leave the min required characters in play. As you can see in the screen shot, I am trying to set the description with 1 character (t). The min is 180, so its going to throw an error. If I remove the (t) and leave it blank, it will submit just fine (since its optional).




When the Article Description Min Message Length is disabled (set to 0), the NOTE explaining the min characters is hidden.