<?php
 
function get_string_between($string, $start, $end){
    $string = ' ' . $string;
    $ini = strpos($string, $start);
    if ($ini == 0) return '';
    $ini += strlen($start);
    $len = strpos($string, $end, $ini) - $ini;
    return substr($string, $ini, $len);
}
 
$fullstring = '<div class="quotecontent">This is the message with a lot of text</div>';
 
$parsed = get_string_between($fullstring, 'content">', '</div>');
 
$parsed_clean = strip_tags($parsed);
 
echo str_word_count($parsed_clean);
 
?>

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