Limit character in content and title in wordpress

function break_text($text, $length = 500){
    if(strlen($text)<$length+10) return $text;//don't cut if too short

    $break_pos = strpos($text, ' ', $length);//find next space after desired length
    $visible = substr($text, 0, $break_pos);
    return balanceTags($visible) . " […]";
}

or with readmore

function limit_text($text){

  if(is_front_page())
  {
    $length = 250;
    if(strlen($text)<$length+10) return $text; //don't cut if too short
    $break_pos = strpos($text, ' ', $length); //find next space after desired length
    $visible = substr($text, 0, $break_pos);
    return balanceTags($visible) . "... <a href='".get_permalink()."'>read more</a>";
  }else{
    return $text;
  }

}