shorten user descriptions - WordPress

short_user_descr.php

<?php 

// filter user description to return something shorter
add_filter ( 'pre_user_description', 's25_short_description' );
function s25_short_description($description) {
	$max_characters = 50;
	if ( strlen( $description ) > $max_characters ) {
		$description = substr( $description, 0, $max_characters + 1 );
		$description = trim( substr( $description, 0, strrpos( $description, ' ' ) ) );
	}
	return $description;
}
?>