MY_text_helper - very quick & dirty version of the character_limiter() that allows you to set a hard limit on the length and it will roll back the last word

gistfile1.txt

<?php

/**
 * Character Limiter
 *
 * Limits the string based on the character count.  Preserves complete words
 * so the character count may not be exactly as specified.
 *
 * @access  public
 * @param	string
 * @param	integer
 * @param	string	the end character. Usually an ellipsis
 * @return	string
 */
if ( ! function_exists('character_limiter'))
{
	function character_limiter($str, $n = 500, $end_char = '&#8230;', $hard_limit=false)
	{
		if (strlen($str) < $n)
		{
			return $str;
		}

		$str = preg_replace("/\s+/", ' ', str_replace(array("\r\n", "\r", "\n"), ' ', $str));

		if (strlen($str) <= $n)
		{
			return $str;
		}

		$out = "";
		foreach (explode(' ', trim($str)) as $val)
		{
			if ($hard_limit && strlen($out.$val) >= $n)
			{
				return (strlen($out) == strlen($str)) ? $out : $out.$end_char;
			}	

			$out .= $val.' ';

			if (strlen($out) >= $n)
			{
				$out = trim($out);
				return (strlen($out) == strlen($str)) ? $out : $out.$end_char;
			}
		}
	}
}