ilertech

WP Vanilla Connect

Nickiler — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 17:51:51 +0000

WordPress users logon seamlessly via jsConnect and SSO into your Vanilla Forums. Just install jsConnect and WP Vanilla Connect, copy links and codes from WP to Vanilla and your linked up. Takes about 5 minutes to download and install.

jsConnect Vanilla Addon is required

“An SSO plugin that uses json(p) to connect to vanilla, allowing for cross-domain sso.” For more details on the nuts and bolts of the code behind the plugin and to download jsConnect - http://vanillaforums.org/addon/jsconnect-plugin

Plugin Features

Features:

Authenticate WordPress Users in Vanilla forums in a similar way Facebook handles website logins.
Seamless integration with WordPress login provided by a native WP plugins.
Generate URL’s for jsConnect Vanilla’s recommended method in place of ProxyConnect.
Send logged on users directly to Vanilla forums and they are automatically logged in.
Assign Gravatar’s for users instead of the default image if their email address is registered on Gravatar.com. Has an option to serve over SSL and Non-SSL
Uses cross-domain authentication so can be used on different servers allowing you to spread your eggs out, so to speak.
Easy to install and setup, takes less than two minutes.
Clean, does not rely on WordPress core updates.

What WP Vanilla Connect is Not:

Because WP Vanilla Connect just creates a json object on the WordPress side of things it cannot alter any parts of Vanilla without some sort of Vanilla add-on. So, with that in mind if your json object it being properly built and passed to jsConnect the plugin is doing its job, perfectly.

Depends on jsConnect which has been written by a programmer with Vanilla it appears by the name of Todd. I do not provide support for his plugin, so you should get comfortable with Todd if you need some features to be present inside of Vanilla.
You must theme Vanilla separately from WordPress.
Unfortunately, at the time of writing this there seems to be no easy way of disabling user links in Vanilla aside from editing CSS.
Users can only use the WordPress Signin link and cannot use the standard Vanilla login. No easy way to hide either.

Setup and Installation

Install the plugin and the add-on. Copy some URL’s from WP Vanilla Connect paste into the jsConnect settings page in Vanilla forums found under Dashboard -> Users. Once you update jsConnect with the proper settings you can run the test url from Vanilla to make sure it works. If you see a properly formed json response than you know your good.

Requirements: Vanilla – 2.0.18b1 or greater | jsConnect 1.0.3b

Steps

Download and install the jsConnect and WP Vanilla Connect.
Generate client_id and secret in either jsConnect or WP Vanilla Connect just make sure they are set to match in both plugin and add-on.
Paste the jsConnect URL and the Login Redirection URL into jsConnect. These are generated in my plugin WP Vanilla Connect.

Add Twitter Follow Button to WordPress 3.0 with a simple shortcode

Nickiler — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 11:17:41 +0000

You can call this lump of postings my WordPress Social shortcode series. Here is the current lineup from this post; Google +1 and Facebook Like and Send, Twitter Share button. You have come here for the Twitter Follow code and here you go. Guessing you will probably only have one of these the code is best suited for displaying one shortcode per page.

The code was built with Twitter Follow API documentation. To understand all the capabilities this shortcode supports you may what to head over and check out the types.

1) Open your Functions.php file – Create if does not exist in root of template

Assuming you have more than average knowledge and the ability to edit theme files directly in WordPress. This file serves as an entry point for your custom code in WordPress 3.0. So if you have custom classes or external code you need to run within the WordPress context you will add the hooks and init() code blocks there. The file location is ( site/wp-content/themes/YOUR-Theme/functions.php ).

2) Add the Twitter Follow Shortcode to WordPress

Double-click the code box below and copy / paste in the functions.php file.

function twitter_follow($atts, $content=null){
/* Author: Nicholas P. Iler
 * URL: http://www.ilertech.com
 */
	extract(shortcode_atts(array(
		'show_count' => false,
		'button' => 'blue', // blue, grey
		'text_color' => '',
		'link_color' => '',
		'lang' => '', // en, fr, de, it, es, ko, ja | ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ISO_639-1_codes
		'width' => '',
		'align' => ''
		), $atts));

		$twitter_follow_code = <<Follow @$content

HTML;

		return $twitter_follow_code;
}
add_shortcode('tf', 'twitter_follow');

3) Add to Template Page with Shortcode

This is the most versatile way of adding the final piece of code. The shortcode.
Fastest – Use for Single Pages

Usage Examples
No Count:
Follow @Nickiler

[tf]Nickiler[/tf]

Show Count:
Follow @Nickiler

[tf show_count=true]Nickiler[/tf]

Show with Grey Button
Follow @Nickiler

[tf show_count=true button='grey']Nickiler[/tf]

Add Twitter Share Button to WordPress 3.0 with a simple shortcode

Nickiler — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 22:14:46 +0000

I recently created shortcodes for Google +1 and Facebook Like and Send button. Finally, to my favorite as I have taken to Twitter over the last year. I now have 500+ random tweets. If your theme doesn’t support Twitter this is a good way to extend its capability. Just remember that when you upgrade your theme you will need to re-add the code to your functions file.

The code was built with Twitter API documentation. To understand all the capabilities this shortcode supports you may what to head over and check out the types.

1) Open your Functions.php file – Create if does not exist in root of template

2) Add the Twitter Share Shortcode to WordPress

Highlight the code box below and copy / paste in the functions.php file.

function twitter( $atts, $content=null ){

/* Author: Nicholas P. Iler
 * URL: http://www.ilertech.com/2011/07/add-twitter-share-button-to-wordpress-3-0-with-a-simple-shortcode/
 */

	extract(shortcode_atts(array(
        'url' => null,
		'counturl' => null,
		'via' => '',
		'text' => '',
		'related' => '',
		'countbox' => 'none', // none, horizontal, vertical

	), $atts));

	// Check for count url and set to $url if not provided
	if($counturl == null) $counturl = $url;

	$twitter_code = <<

HTML;

	return $twitter_code;

}
add_shortcode('t', 'twitter');

3) Add to Template Page with Shortcode

This is the most versatile way of adding the final piece of code. The shortcode.

Example 1

Fastest – Use for Single Pages auto detects page title and URL. Note: If title is too long tweet box will not work. Goto example 3 for trim function.

Example 2

Slightly more overhead if you want to use in on the front page while inside the WordPress loop:

Example 3

This is a more solid function that will get the WordPress URL and trim the title to 115 characters. It also works on the front page.

I have some pretty long titles here at ilertech.com, so a few of my share boxes required people to remove some text in order to submit to Twitter. You can change that to whatever you like.

Put this into your functions.php, than call it with “twitter_share()” in your template files.

Call it from within the WordPress loop,

Shortcode Usage Examples

[t]

No settings.

[t related='nickiler: PHP Programmer and WordPress Hacker, ilertheme: Premium WordPress Themes']

This version displays @nickiler and @ilertheme as related accounts with description after the tweet to allow tweeters to follow your other accounts. Check screenshot:

Note: Adding a ‘via’ perimeter automatically displays the account and recommends the tweeter follow you.

[t countbox='horizontal']

[t countbox='vertical']

Add Facebook Like Button to WordPress 3.0 with a simple shortcode

Nickiler — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 11:40:23 +0000

Add a Facebook Like and Send button as a WordPress shortcode. You can choose between all the available types as well as selecting the darker templates. I recently wrote a post about Google +1, Add Google +1 to WordPress 3.0 with a simple shortcode, so checkout that shortcode if you haven’t already implemented Google +1 into your WordPress site.

The code below was put together using Facebook Like API documentation.

1) The WordPress Shortcode

You are going to paste this into your ( functions.php ) file or wrap it up into a plug-in file. If you do not have a functions.php file in your theme just create one at the root level of your template with this code pasted inside of it. That will add the code into the WordPress runtime. Really there is no wrong way to do it.

I went ahead and added all the options for completeness.

function fb_like( $atts, $content=null ){
/* Author: Nicholas P. Iler
 * URL: http://www.ilertech.com/2011/06/add-facebook-like-button-to-wordpress-3-0-with-a-simple-shortcode/
 */
	extract(shortcode_atts(array(
			'send' => 'false',
			'layout' => 'standard',
			'show_faces' => 'true',
			'width' => '400px',
			'action' => 'like',
			'font' => '',
			'colorscheme' => 'light',
			'ref' => '',
			'locale' => 'en_US',
			'appId' => '' // Put your AppId here is you have one
	), $atts));

	$fb_like_code = <<
		
HTML;

	return $fb_like_code;
}
add_shortcode('fb', 'fb_like');

Note: you can wrap a URL around our shortcode for explicit setting of the URL to be liked or Recommended like this [fb]http://www.google.com[/fb].

2) PHP Code – Manual placement in theme file

For the most control adding code to your theme files will be the best way to go. You can add it to any pages in or out of the WordPress loop.

3) Shortcode usages – Examples

There are a few variations you can play with for different look. Here are just a few examples.

Standard Types – Default

[fb]

[fb send='true']

[fb action='recommend']

Button Count Types

[fb layout='button_count']

[fb send='true' layout='button_count']

[fb action='recommend' layout='button_count']

Box Count Types

[fb layout='box_count']

Complete List of Facebook Like Options

These are the perimeters that our shortcode will accept:

Send – true, false
Layout – button_count, …
Show Faces – true, false
Width – Default is 400px
Action – like, recommendation
Font – Check FaceBook API for Details
Colorscheme – light, dark
Ref - Check FaceBook API for Details
Locale - Check FaceBook API for Details
AppId – Add FaceBook AppId for FaceBook tracking

Conclusion

Well, that’s all. I hope this provides an easy way of adding Facebook like buttons to your themes.

Escape WordPress shortcodes in content with a shortcode

Nickiler — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 00:28:22 +0000

Maybe not how you were expecting to solve this problem, was it? Maybe you thought about it and here I have one for you. I just wrote an article about integrating Google +1 and noticed that anywhere the shortcode [p1] is placed is executed. Not what we want when we are showing someone how to use them.

This is the escape shortcode:

[esc][p1][/esc]

This is how the shortcode appears after it has been escaped.

[p1]

The Escape Shortcode

There will be a time when you want to write about a cool shortcode you created like I just did and you will need your shortcodes to be un-executed.

// HTML Special Chars shortcode
function escapeHTML( $atts, $content=null ){
	/* Author: Nicholas P. Iler
	 * URL: http://www.ilertech.com/2011/06/escape-wordpress-shortcodes-in-content-with-a-shortcode/
	 */
		$plus1_code = htmlentities($content);
		return $plus1_code;
}

add_shortcode('esc', 'escapeHTML');

Conclusion

Now, you can escape anything you like. Not just shortcodes. I found a resource that suggest that merely entering double-brackets escapes them like this “[[ ]]” but I have not found this to work for me so I just threw this one together already knowing about the core PHP function htmlentities.

Add Google + 1 to WordPress 3.0 with a simple shortcode

Nickiler — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 22:35:21 +0000

This article has been updated to reflect improvements to Google +1 loading speeds talked about in a post from Google.

Add Google Plus 1 to your WordPress blog with this simple shortcode. There are plenty of sources for adding a Google Plus one button to your WordPress site, however, I would like to offer a consistent way of calling a plus one button as a shortcode that allows you to “+1″ any link, any time.

Explicit call by wrapping.

[p1]url[/p1]

Explicit call with shortcode parameters.

[p1 url='http://url']

WordPress Shortcode

I really like the WordPress shortcode framework, because its easy for clients to add complex functionality, simply. Note, the code was built using reference writing from Google +1 dev integration page.

This is the basic shortcode tag. It cannot be place in the directly into a template file without the “do_shortcode()” but we’ll get to that later.

Remember, you must have a link tag for this method to work.

[p1]

The simplest way of adding this code is explicit calling to your site by adding the following line of code anywhere in your template.

Google –

or a random site like Facebook –

[p1 size='small']http://www.google.com[/p1]

Or,

[p1 size='small' url='http://www.google.com']

I can even add them inline in text just by wrapping [p1]http://code.google.com/apis/+1button/[/p1] produces the button. Simple.

Just in case if your not already familiar with WordPress Shortcodes, they are simple ways of adding functionality directly into either your theme files or directly into a posting.

Create the shortcode

Let’s start off by opening our functions.php in the root of your theme. If you don’t have one just create one and place the code below into the file and save it.


function plus1( $atts, $content=null ){
/* Author: Nicholas P. Iler
 * URL: http://www.ilertech.com/2011/06/add-google-1-to-wordpress-3-0-with-a-simple-shortcode/
 */
	extract(shortcode_atts(array(
		'lang' => 'en-US',
		'parsetags' => 'onload',
        'count' => 'true',
        'size' => 'medium',
        'callback' => '',

	), $atts));

	// Check for count url and set to URL if not provided
	if($content != null) $url = "href='$content'";

	$plus1_code = <<
HTML;

	return $plus1_code;
}

// Add meta tag for front page
function addPlus1Meta(){
	if(is_home()){
		echo "";
	}

echo <<
		  (function() {
		    var po = document.createElement('script'); po.type = 'text/javascript'; po.async = true;
		    po.src = 'https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js';
		    var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(po, s);
		  })();
		
HTML;
}

add_shortcode('p1', 'plus1');
add_action('wp_footer', 'addPlus1Meta');

That’s a good way if you only need to include one Google +1 button. But what you you want more than one? Its better to not load the script file for every button and instead create a flag to check for and load only once per page if there is a shortcode. Here is the code to get you started.

Better shortcode example with selective loading ONLY if shortcode is present on page and loads only once.

There are plenty of ways of adding this and making it work but there are in my opinion only a few ways of doing it well. This I think is the best way to do it.

// Global namespace in functions.php
$plus1flag = false;

function plus1( $atts, $content=null ){
/* Author: Nicholas P. Iler
 * URL: http://www.ilertech.com/2011/06/add-google-1-to-wordpress-3-0-with-a-simple-shortcode/
 */

extract(shortcode_atts(array(
		'url' => '',
		'lang' => 'en-US',
		'parsetags' => 'onload',
		'count' => 'false',
		'size' => 'medium',
		'callback' => '',

		), $atts));

	// Set global flag
	global $plus1flag;
	$plus1flag = true;

		// Check for $content and set to URL if not provided
		if($content != null) $url = $content;

	$plus1_code = <<
HTML;

	return $plus1_code;
}

// Add meta for front page ONLY and add scripts to any page with a shortcode
function addPlus1Meta(){
/* Author: Nicholas P. Iler
 * URL: http://www.ilertech.com/2011/06/add-google-1-to-wordpress-3-0-with-a-simple-shortcode/
 */
	global $plus1flag;
	if($plus1flag){
		if(is_home()){ // check for front page
			echo "";
		}

		echo <<
		  (function() {
		    var po = document.createElement('script'); po.type = 'text/javascript'; po.async = true;
		    po.src = 'https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js';
		    var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(po, s);
		  })();
		
HTML;
	}
}

add_shortcode('p1', 'plus1');
add_action('wp_footer', 'addPlus1Meta');

WordPress Filters – Automatic

You can add this filter and have your Google Plus 1 button added just before the content display. There are a slew of filters –

. To use this just paste it under the code you just pasted and that’s it.

// Add shortcode to content after title display
function addPlusOne($content){
/* Author: Nicholas P. Iler
 * URL: http://www.ilertech.com/2011/06/add-google-1-to-wordpress-3-0-with-a-simple-shortcode/
 */
	if(is_single()){ // Displays in single page only
		echo do_shortcode("[p1]");
	}
	return $content;
}
add_filter('the_content', 'addPlusOne');

Here’s another filter that appends the Google Plus One button after the title on all pages. Mileage may vary as you could get unexpected results if your title has multiple placement within the WordPress loop.

// Add shortcode inline after title
function addPlus1Title($title){
/* Author: Nicholas P. Iler
 * URL: http://www.ilertech.com/2011/06/add-google-1-to-wordpress-3-0-with-a-simple-shortcode/
 */
	if(in_the_loop()){ // Only attach to articles
		// Get the title link
		$url =  get_permalink();
		return $title .= do_shortcode("[p1 size='medium' url='$url']"); // options: small, medium, standard, tall
	}else return $title;
}
add_filter('the_title', 'addPlus1Title');

PHP Code – Manual placement in theme file

For the most control adding code to your theme files will be the best way to go. You can add it to any pages in or out of the WordPress loop.

Shortcode usages

Here is a demonstration of the possible uses other than those shown above.

Simplest use is just adding [p1] directly into your content pages and the defaults are used along with detection of URL. You can override these by adding the specs to the shortcode and by wrapping a URL around the [p1]http://url[/p1], as shown above.

Buttons w/Count Using tag to set URL
Give one of them a click, to try them out.

[p1 size='small']

[p1 size='medium']

[p1 size='standard']

[p1 size='tall']

Disable the count by adding ‘count=false’

[p1 count=false]

Other options are: callback, lang, load. Ref – http://code.google.com/apis/+1button/

Conclusion

I have on this page alone nine Google +1 buttons. I’m taking a performance hit having so many +1′s, while most will have only one. Its worth it to show you live click-able code instead of screenshots. Using the shortcodes.

Anyone may use this shortcode example for their websites and projects. All I ask is that you give me the author credit, Nicholas P. Iler and link back to this article. Thanks.

The ultimate Windows computer hardware system auditor

Nickiler — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 13:00:00 +0000

Get a comprehensive computer hardware report in a printable format for virus protection status, software updates, unlicensed software, CIS benchmark score (Win7), hardware, and system specifications on Windows automatically with Belarc Adviser the ultimate Windows auditor.

Who is this tool for?

People that like challenges A.K.A. do-it-yourselfers
People who like fixing computers for their friends
People who don’t like fixing computers for their friends but do it anyway
People who want all the details on their computer hardware
Anyone that manages a personal Windows PC

Computer Hardware

The audit queries the Operating system, Processor, Drives, System Model and Manufacturer with Service Tag Details, Motherboard Model, RAM & Memory slots (used and unused) and Network settings.

I ran these test on a Dell OptiPlex running Windows 2008 R2 Workstation with two monitors and multiple external drives. Belarc Adviser works very well as you can see with server systems. Also works for XP, Vista, Windows 7.

Once I had to know my clients motherboard and processor type for a replacement. Having the client scan their system with Belarc Adviser would have saved me a trip to their house before I went to the neighborhood parts store.

Computer Software

The screen-shot shows all software installed on my computer. Nice! There is also a screen for licensed software but I can’t show you that one !-) It reveals all the serial numbers to ensure you are properly licensed.

License information

I am not affiliated with Belarc I just like the tool and thought I would post it. Be aware of the licensing agreement before you go crazy scanning systems.

The license is limited to personal use but does offer a charitable license at no cost “under certain conditions” as written in their FAQ section.

“The license associated with the Belarc Adviser product allows for free personal use only. Use on multiple computers in a corporate, educational, military or government installation is prohibited.”

Belarc has a network version you can use commercially called BelManage. It offers the same capabilities with a Configuration Management Database for centralized management and more and is intended for large IT departments.

Sharing files and folders in Windows 7

Nickiler — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 10:24:59 +0000

Sharing movies and media files between computers and a very common request so I am posting an article about this simple process. There are a few ways to get the job done I will go over one method and may add more later.

One of the very first articles I wrote for iLERTECH was one on creating a 1.5TB network attached storage for less than $150 bucks. This is the similar process I used for the drive on my network as a storage device. I also use this device to store my Exchange 2010 database folders. It has come in handy and has saved me a few thousand dollars.

Share a folder with another Windows 7 Computer

Right-click folder to share and share with –> specific people –> Add everyone with full rights (read/write)

If you do not want everyone on you LAN to access the folder then set a user and then you will be required to enter the username and password before being allowed to connect.

Another way to share a folder

Click Permissions

Select Full Control

Setup file sharing with security

Create a username and then select it using the method below.

Go back to your Share Permissions and add the newly created user

You should be able to type the username you created into this box and hit Check Names

If you have trouble finding the user this way then use the Advanced search

Try the method below for search of all objects. If you don’t find it you may be in a domain so change the Locations to that of your computer name (hostname)

Now give that user Full Control

Getting the computer name

Start –> Run –> Cmd –> hostname command

Displaying all shared folders

Open Explorer and type the computer name

Connecting to the shared folder

You can mount the network share as a drive or you can just type the address directly into a run dialog or Explorer. The address to the folder will be \\computername\sharename or \\xx.xx.xx.xx\sharename. If you share a whole drive then you would access the drive like \\computername\driveletter$

If you are using a group or user name instead of everyone then you will be prompted for the username a password computername\username or username@computername

Mounting the share as a drive letter

from the my computer screen there is a Map Network Drive option which will take the parameters I wrote about earlier and will allow you to save the connection and reference it with a drive letter every time you boot the computer.

If you are connecting to a share while logged as a different user you can select Connect using different credentials

This is very handy if you will be storing frequently accessed data. I have multiple network drives on my laptop for different locations. When I am at the office I have a drive that brings up my desktop so I can move files from my laptop to my desktop. When I am at home I have a drive for my personal folders on my home servers.

Check your firewall

If you cannot access the folder through windows explorer then you should check for firewalls on either side and try a ping test to see if you can get through to the other side.

Once your ping succeeds you should be able to connect.

Check your share settings

Now there are a few ways to go from here:

If your connecting to another Windows 7 Computer you might keep the settings set as they are.

Sharing with Windows XP or 2000 system

Sharing Videos and Pictures from Windows 7

You need to turn it on and if you have a client like PS3 or XBOX you can watch your PC movies on TV. The streaming is one of the best features on Windows 7.

You can block people from seeing your media server here.

Troubleshooting internet problems caused by your router

Nickiler — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 09:10:14 +0000

There are a few basic tools to use when troubleshooting your internet.

ipconfig, nslookup, and ping

There are two services that you need to be aware of with your router and that is DNS and DHCP. DNS stands for Domain Naming System and DHCP is Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol. Basically the router assigns a LAN local area network address using DHCP from your router and uses the global DNS systems to resolved IP addresses that look like xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx. You don’t need to know that but it helps.

Renew your IP address

If your internet does not work then you can try to run the Start –> Search cmd –> then ipconfig /renew

This will try to negotiate an IP address from the DHCP service on the router. If it fails you can try to set a static IP address.

Try setting a static IP address

Go into the network adaptor that is having problems with the internet and try to setup the connection statically. To do this you open the network connections page from the control panel. Right-click the adaptor to get to the properties and select the IPv4 settings.

You will need to know the IP’s the router is assigning otherwise this will not work. The most common set of IP’s by default on most routers is either 192.168.1.1-255 or 192.168.0.1-255 and the subnet is always 255.255.255.0 by default. This allows for 254 addresses at the most. You would need to change the subnet in the router before you could handle more than 254 clients. Most homes don’t have that many devices. Yet !-)

I changed my router to use the 10.0.0.1 range it does not matter what it is. You just need to know what they are. Now you can try to connect to the router using the gateway address or you can try to ping it from the command using ping 10.0.0.1

Check to see if you are connected to the router and get the current IP configuration

To do this just go Start –> Search cmd –> ipconfig /all

This will tell you all about your current network setting for all network adaptors on your computer.

From this you can tell:

Assigned IP 10.0.0.10
Subnet mask 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway 10.0.0.1 ( Normally 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1 )
DNS Servers 10.0.0.1 ( Primary )

Check to see if your DNS is working correctly

The last command you can use to test your DNS server. Type the nslookup google.com and if your DNS is working it will return the IP address. If you did ping test ping google.com and failed but tried with IP instead of domain name then yo have a DNS problem.

Try to override the DNS with the best DNS servers your ISP has. Do a google search for IPS + location + DNS and you should find some info. You can always use a DNS service as well.

Google has a free public DNS Service you can use in place of your ISP’s DNS settings to resolve internet web sites

8.8.8.8 (pri)
8.8.4.4 (sec)

xxdd

Nice article on WordPress Feeds

Nickiler — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 20:16:25 +0000

A detailed posting on WordPress article feeds I am posting for our upcoming WordPress section.

Feeds are one of the most powerful features you can add to your blog.

WordPress and WordPress.com blogs come with feeds built-in. You don’t have to do anything except control how those feeds are viewed by your readers.

You have two options with outgoing feeds in WordPress: full feed and excerpt. There has been a lot of debate over which is better. In general, it boils down to personal preference and the feed reader you use. Many people are setting their feed readers to show only excerpts, while others are taking advantage of their feed reader’s ability to only show titles, making the scanning process even faster if they are covering a lot of incoming feeds.

Feed length is controlled first by the blog owner. In WordPress, your feed settings are found in Options > Reading > Syndication Feeds. Then the user can set their feed reader to read your blog’s feeds as titles, excerpts, or full posts, if full post feeds are available.

http://lorelle.wordpress.com/2007/01/24/understanding-using-and-customizing-wordpress-blog-feeds/