diff --git a/docs/changelog/7.x.x.txt b/docs/changelog/7.x.x.txt
index 2e5126a0a..dfce0d8e1 100644
--- a/docs/changelog/7.x.x.txt
+++ b/docs/changelog/7.x.x.txt
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@
  - add: Calendar events now allow setting view permissions
  - add: WebGUI::Paginator now capable of more efficient SQL paginations using
    LIMIT clauses.
+ - add: SyndicatedContent wobject now has more ways of representing the long
+   description from the RSS feed.
 
 
 
diff --git a/lib/WebGUI/Asset/Wobject/SyndicatedContent.pm b/lib/WebGUI/Asset/Wobject/SyndicatedContent.pm
index e2c85f96a..3813333f7 100644
--- a/lib/WebGUI/Asset/Wobject/SyndicatedContent.pm
+++ b/lib/WebGUI/Asset/Wobject/SyndicatedContent.pm
@@ -100,6 +100,42 @@ sub _getValidatedUrls {
 
 #-------------------------------------------------------------------
 
+=head2 appendChoppedTemplateDescriptionVars ( var ) 
+
+Appends shorter versions of the feeds description field to template vars returned.
+
+=cut
+
+sub appendChoppedDescriptionTemplateVars {
+	my $item = shift;
+
+        $item->{"descriptionFull"} = $item->{description};
+        $item->{"descriptionFirst100words"} = $item->{"descriptionFull"};
+        $item->{"descriptionFirst100words"} =~ s/(((\S+)\s+){100}).*/$1/s;
+        $item->{"descriptionFirst75words"} = $item->{"descriptionFirst100words"};
+        $item->{"descriptionFirst75words"} =~ s/(((\S+)\s+){75}).*/$1/s;
+        $item->{"descriptionFirst50words"} = $item->{"descriptionFirst75words"};
+        $item->{"descriptionFirst50words"} =~ s/(((\S+)\s+){50}).*/$1/s;
+        $item->{"descriptionFirst25words"} = $item->{"descriptionFirst50words"};
+        $item->{"descriptionFirst25words"} =~ s/(((\S+)\s+){25}).*/$1/s;
+        $item->{"descriptionFirst10words"} = $item->{"descriptionFirst25words"};
+        $item->{"descriptionFirst10words"} =~ s/(((\S+)\s+){10}).*/$1/s;
+        $item->{"descriptionFirst2paragraphs"} = $item->{"descriptionFull"};
+        $item->{"descriptionFirst2paragraphs"} =~ s/^((.*?\n){2}).*/$1/s;
+        $item->{"descriptionFirstParagraph"} = $item->{"descriptionFirst2paragraphs"};
+        $item->{"descriptionFirstParagraph"} =~ s/^(.*?\n).*/$1/s;
+        $item->{"descriptionFirst4sentences"} = $item->{"descriptionFull"};
+        $item->{"descriptionFirst4sentences"} =~ s/^((.*?\.){4}).*/$1/s;
+        $item->{"descriptionFirst3sentences"} = $item->{"descriptionFirst4sentences"};
+        $item->{"descriptionFirst3sentences"} =~ s/^((.*?\.){3}).*/$1/s;
+        $item->{"descriptionFirst2sentences"} = $item->{"descriptionFirst3sentences"};
+        $item->{"descriptionFirst2sentences"} =~ s/^((.*?\.){2}).*/$1/s;
+        $item->{"descriptionFirstSentence"} = $item->{"descriptionFirst2sentences"};
+        $item->{"descriptionFirstSentence"} =~ s/^(.*?\.).*/$1/s;
+}
+
+#-------------------------------------------------------------------
+
 =head2 definition ( definition )
 
 Defines the properties of this asset.
@@ -290,6 +326,7 @@ sub _normalize_items {
                 # IE doesn't recognize '
                 $item->{title} =~ s/'/\'/g;
                 $item->{description} =~ s/'/\'/g;
+		appendChoppedDescriptionTemplateVars($item);
         }
 }
 
@@ -364,7 +401,6 @@ sub _get_rss_data {
                  $rss->{items} = [ $rss->{items} ] unless (ref $rss->{items} eq 'ARRAY');
 
                 _normalize_items($rss->{items});
-
 		#Assign dates "globally" rather than when seen in a viewed feed.
 		#This is important because we can "filter" now and want to ensure we keep order
 		#correctly as new items appear.
@@ -633,6 +669,7 @@ sub view {
 	    $var{'channel.link'} = $rss_feeds->[0]->{channel}->{link};
 	    $var{'channel.description'} = $rss_feeds->[0]->{channel}->{description};
 	}
+
 	$self->_createRSSURLs(\%var);
         $var{item_loop} = $item_loop;
 
diff --git a/lib/WebGUI/Help/Asset_SyndicatedContent.pm b/lib/WebGUI/Help/Asset_SyndicatedContent.pm
index 69b2d166c..22e9049ac 100644
--- a/lib/WebGUI/Help/Asset_SyndicatedContent.pm
+++ b/lib/WebGUI/Help/Asset_SyndicatedContent.pm
@@ -114,12 +114,45 @@ our $HELP = {
 		                             {
 		                               'name' => 'title'
 		                             },
+		                             {
+		                               'name' => 'link'
+		                             },
 		                             {
 		                               'name' => 'description'
 		                             },
 		                             {
-		                               'name' => 'link'
-		                             }
+		                               'name' => 'descriptionFirst100words'
+		                             },
+		                             {
+		                               'name' => 'descriptionFirst75words'
+		                             },
+		                             {
+		                               'name' => 'descriptionFirst50words'
+		                             },
+		                             {
+		                               'name' => 'descriptionFirst25words'
+		                             },
+		                             {
+		                               'name' => 'descriptionFirst10words'
+		                             },
+		                             {
+		                               'name' => 'descriptionFirst2paragraphs'
+		                             },
+		                             {
+		                               'name' => 'descriptionFirstParagraph'
+		                             },
+		                             {
+		                               'name' => 'descriptionFirst4sentences'
+		                             },
+		                             {
+		                               'name' => 'descriptionFirst3sentences'
+		                             },
+		                             {
+		                               'name' => 'descriptionFirst2sentences'
+		                             },
+		                             {
+		                               'name' => 'descriptionFirstSentence'
+		                             },
 		                           ]
 		          }
 		],
diff --git a/lib/WebGUI/i18n/English/Asset_SyndicatedContent.pm b/lib/WebGUI/i18n/English/Asset_SyndicatedContent.pm
index 7a700c413..eb45a7f1b 100644
--- a/lib/WebGUI/i18n/English/Asset_SyndicatedContent.pm
+++ b/lib/WebGUI/i18n/English/Asset_SyndicatedContent.pm
@@ -276,6 +276,51 @@ be useful, others may not.|,
 		lastUpdated => 1164841201
 	},
 
+    'descriptionFirst100words' => {
+        message => q{The first 100 words of the description.},
+        lastUpdated => 0,
+    },
+    'descriptionFirst75words' => {
+        message => q{The first 75 words of the description.},
+        lastUpdated => 0,
+    },
+    'descriptionFirst50words' => {
+        message => q{The first 50 words of the description.},
+        lastUpdated => 0,
+    },
+    'descriptionFirst25words' => {
+        message => q{The first 25 words of the description.},
+        lastUpdated => 0,
+    },
+    'descriptionFirst10words' => {
+        message => q{The first 10 words of the description.},
+        lastUpdated => 0,
+    },
+    'descriptionFirst2paragraphs' => {
+        message => q{The first 2 paragraphs of the description.},
+        lastUpdated => 0,
+    },
+    'descriptionFirstParagraph' => {
+        message => q{The first paragraph of the description.},
+        lastUpdated => 0,
+    },
+    'descriptionFirst4sentences' => {
+        message => q{The first 4 sentences of the description.},
+        lastUpdated => 0,
+    },
+    'descriptionFirst3sentences' => {
+        message => q{The first 3 sentences of the description.},
+        lastUpdated => 0,
+    },
+    'descriptionFirst2sentences' => {
+        message => q{The first 2 sentences of the description.},
+        lastUpdated => 0,
+    },
+    'descriptionFirstSentence' => {
+        message => q{The first sentence of the description.},
+        lastUpdated => 0,
+    },
+
 };
 
 1;