// strip tags to avoid breaking any html
$string = strip_tags($string);
if (strlen($string) > 500) {
// truncate string
$stringCut = substr($string, 0, 500);
// make sure it ends in a word so assassinate doesn't become ass...
$string = substr($stringCut, 0, strrpos($stringCut, ' ')).'... <a href="/this/story">Read More</a>';
}
echo $string;