count_characters
     This is used to count the number of characters in a variable.
  
Example 5-4. count_characters 
<?php
  $smarty->assign('articleTitle', 'Cold Wave Linked to Temperatures.');
  ?>
 |  
 
    Where template is:
    {$articleTitle}
{$articleTitle|count_characters}
{$articleTitle|count_characters:true} |  
 
    This will output:
    Cold Wave Linked to Temperatures.
29
33  |  
  | 
   See also
   count_words,
   count_sentences and
   count_paragraphs.