diff --git a/blocks/rss_client/block_rss_client.php b/blocks/rss_client/block_rss_client.php
index 665c86699be..718e0d288df 100644
--- a/blocks/rss_client/block_rss_client.php
+++ b/blocks/rss_client/block_rss_client.php
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ define('BLOCK_RSS_SECONDARY_CACHE_ENABLED', true);
 
     function init() {
         $this->title = get_string('feedstitle', 'block_rss_client');
-        $this->version = 2004112000;
+        $this->version = 2004112001;
     }
 
     function preferred_width() {
@@ -194,9 +194,9 @@ define('BLOCK_RSS_SECONDARY_CACHE_ENABLED', true);
             }
 
             if (empty($rss_record->preferredtitle)) {
-                $feedtitle = stripslashes_safe(rss_unhtmlentities($rss->channel['title']));
+                $feedtitle = $this->format_title(stripslashes_safe(rss_unhtmlentities($rss->channel['title'])));
             } else {
-                $feedtitle = stripslashes_safe($rss_record->preferredtitle);
+                $feedtitle = $this->format_title(stripslashes_safe($rss_record->preferredtitle));
             }
 //            print_object($rss);
             if (isset($this->config) && 
@@ -269,5 +269,15 @@ define('BLOCK_RSS_SECONDARY_CACHE_ENABLED', true);
         $this->instance_config_save($this->config);
         return $returnstring;
     }
+
+     // just strips the title down and adds ... for excessively long titles.
+     function format_title($title,$max=64) {
+         if (strlen($title) <= $max) {
+             return $title;
+         }
+         else {
+             return substr($title,0,$max-3).'...';
+         }
+     }
 }
 ?>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/blocks/rss_client/block_rss_client_action.php b/blocks/rss_client/block_rss_client_action.php
index 895178c8e7c..55b8e231378 100644
--- a/blocks/rss_client/block_rss_client_action.php
+++ b/blocks/rss_client/block_rss_client_action.php
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ if ( isset($rssid) ) {
 //assign categories to other uses than personal
 if (isset($rss_record) && !( isadmin() || $submitters == SUBMITTERS_ALL_ACCOUNT_HOLDERS || 
         ($submitters == SUBMITTERS_ADMIN_AND_TEACHER && $isteacher) || 
-            ( ($act == 'rss_edit' || $act == 'delfeed' || $act == 'updfeed') && $USER->id == $rss_record->userid)  ) ) {
+            ( ($act == 'rssedit' || $act == 'delfeed' || $act == 'updfeed') && $USER->id == $rss_record->userid)  ) ) {
         error(get_string('noguestpost', 'forum').' You are not allowed to make modifications to this RSS feed at this time.', $referrer);
 }
 
@@ -121,6 +121,14 @@ if ($act == 'updfeed') {
     $dataobject->userid = $USER->id;
     $dataobject->description = '';
     $dataobject->title = '';
+
+    // attempting to replace feed and rss url types with http
+    // it appears that the rss feed validator will validate these url types but magpie will not load them
+    $url = str_replace ("feed://", "http://", "$url");
+    $url = str_replace ("FEED://", "http://", "$url");
+    $url = str_replace ("rss://", "http://", "$url");
+    $url = str_replace ("RSS://", "http://", "$url");
+
     $dataobject->url = addslashes($url);
     $dataobject->preferredtitle = addslashes($preferredtitle);
 
@@ -161,7 +169,7 @@ if ($act == 'updfeed') {
         rss_display_feeds($id);
         rss_print_form($act, $dataobject->url, $dataobject->id, $dataobject->preferredtitle, $id);
 */
-} else if ( isset($rss_record) && $act == 'rss_edit' ) {
+} else if ( isset($rss_record) && $act == 'rssedit' ) {
 
     $preferredtitle = stripslashes_safe($rss_record->preferredtitle);
     if (empty($preferredtitle)) {
diff --git a/blocks/rss_client/db/mysql.php b/blocks/rss_client/db/mysql.php
index 2f9b98f8a9b..dd11ffca44d 100644
--- a/blocks/rss_client/db/mysql.php
+++ b/blocks/rss_client/db/mysql.php
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 <?php //$Id$
 
-function block_rss_client_upgrade($oldversion) {
+function rss_client_upgrade($oldversion) {
 /// This function does anything necessary to upgrade 
 /// older versions to match current functionality 
 
@@ -10,6 +10,12 @@ function block_rss_client_upgrade($oldversion) {
        # Do something ...
     }
 
+    if ($oldversion < 2004112001) {
+        // title and description should be TEXT as we don't have control over their length.
+        table_column('block_rss_client','title','title','text',10,'unsigned','');
+        table_column('block_rss_client','description','description','text',10,'unsigned','');
+    }
+
     return true;
 }
 
diff --git a/blocks/rss_client/db/mysql.sql b/blocks/rss_client/db/mysql.sql
index 78da808b09d..b6550bf04ce 100644
--- a/blocks/rss_client/db/mysql.sql
+++ b/blocks/rss_client/db/mysql.sql
@@ -13,9 +13,9 @@
 CREATE TABLE prefix_block_rss_client (
  `id` int(11) NOT NULL auto_increment,
  `userid` int(11) NOT NULL default '0',
- `title` varchar(64) NOT NULL default '',
+ `title` text NOT NULL default '',
  `preferredtitle` varchar(64) NOT NULL default '',
- `description` varchar(128) NOT NULL default '',
+ `description` text NOT NULL default '',
  `url` varchar(255) NOT NULL default '',
 PRIMARY KEY  (`id`)
 ) TYPE=MyISAM  COMMENT='Remote news feed information. Contains the news feed id, the userid of the user who added the feed, the title of the feed itself and a description of the feed contents along with the url used to access the remote feed. Preferredtitle is a field for future use - intended to allow for custom titles rather than those found in the feed.';
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/blocks/rss_client/db/postgres7.php b/blocks/rss_client/db/postgres7.php
index 1f4e886b818..1cf1b6894cb 100644
--- a/blocks/rss_client/db/postgres7.php
+++ b/blocks/rss_client/db/postgres7.php
@@ -1,11 +1,16 @@
 <?php
 
-function block_rss_client_upgrade($oldversion) {
+function rss_client_upgrade($oldversion) {
 /// This function does anything necessary to upgrade 
 /// older versions to match current functionality 
 
     global $CFG;
 
+    if ($oldversion < 2004112001) {
+        // title and description should be TEXT as we don't have control over their length.
+        table_column('block_rss_client','title','title','text');
+        table_column('block_rss_client','description','description','text');
+    }
 
     return true;
 }
diff --git a/blocks/rss_client/db/postgres7.sql b/blocks/rss_client/db/postgres7.sql
index c5adadf1e66..90185a783d9 100644
--- a/blocks/rss_client/db/postgres7.sql
+++ b/blocks/rss_client/db/postgres7.sql
@@ -11,8 +11,8 @@
 CREATE TABLE prefix_block_rss_client (
  id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY,
  userid INTEGER NOT NULL default '0',
- title varchar(64) NOT NULL default '',
+ title text NOT NULL default '',
  preferredtitle varchar(64) NOT NULL default '',
- description varchar(128) NOT NULL default '',
+ description text NOT NULL default '',
  url varchar(255) NOT NULL default ''
 );
diff --git a/lib/rsslib.php b/lib/rsslib.php
index f7274d8bfec..a0a03789a1a 100644
--- a/lib/rsslib.php
+++ b/lib/rsslib.php
@@ -333,9 +333,9 @@ define('MAGPIE_CACHE_ON', true); //might want to expose as an admin config optio
 define('MAGPIE_CACHE_FRESH_ONLY', false); //should be exposed as an admin config option
 define('MAGPIE_CACHE_AGE', $CFG->block_rss_timeout);
 if ($CFG->debug) {
-    define('MAGPIE_DEBUG', true);
+    define('MAGPIE_DEBUG', $CFG->debug); // magpie, like moodle, takes an integer debug
 } else {
-    define('MAGPIE_DEBUG', false);
+    define('MAGPIE_DEBUG', 0); // 0 is DEBUG off for magpie
 }
 
 // defines for config var block_rss_client_submitters
@@ -357,12 +357,12 @@ function rss_display_feeds($courseid='', $userid='', $rssid='') {
     $select = '';
 
     if (!isadmin()) {
-     	$userid = $USER->id;
+        $userid = $USER->id;
     }
 
     if ($userid != '' && is_numeric($userid)) {
-	    // if a user is specified and not an admin then only show their own feeds
-	    $select = 'userid='. $userid;
+        // if a user is specified and not an admin then only show their own feeds
+        $select = 'userid='. $userid;
     } else if ($rssid != ''){
         $select = 'id='. $rssid;
     }
@@ -393,19 +393,18 @@ function rss_display_feeds($courseid='', $userid='', $rssid='') {
 
             if ($feed->userid == $USER->id || isadmin()) {
                 
-                $feedicons = '<a href="'. $CFG->wwwroot .'/blocks/rss_client/block_rss_client_action.php?id='. $courseid .'&amp;act=rss_edit&amp;rssid='. $feed->id .'&blogid='. $blogid .'">'.
+                $feedicons = '<a href="'. $CFG->wwwroot .'/blocks/rss_client/block_rss_client_action.php?id='. $courseid .'&amp;act=rssedit&amp;rssid='. $feed->id .'&blogid='. $blogid .'">'.
                              '<img src="'. $CFG->pixpath .'/t/edit.gif" alt="'. get_string('edit').'" title="'. get_string('edit') .'" /></a>&nbsp;'.
                              
                              '<a href="'. $CFG->wwwroot .'/blocks/rss_client/block_rss_client_action.php?id='. $courseid .'&amp;act=delfeed&amp;rssid='. $feed->id.'&amp;blogid='. $blogid .'" 
-				onclick="return confirm(\''. get_string('deletefeedconfirm', 'block_rss_client') .'\');">'.
+                onclick="return confirm(\''. get_string('deletefeedconfirm', 'block_rss_client') .'\');">'.
                              '<img src="'. $CFG->pixpath .'/t/delete.gif" alt="'. get_string('delete').'" title="'. get_string('delete') .'" /></a>';
             }
             else {
                 $feedicons = '';
             }
 
-            $feedinfo = '<div class="title"><a href="'. $CFG->wwwroot .'/blocks/rss_client/block_rss_client_action.php?id='. $courseid .'&amp;act=view&rssid='.$feed->id .'&blogid='. $blogid .'">'
-                        .$feedtitle .'</a></div><div class="url"><a href="'. $feed->url .'">'. $feed->url .'</a></div><div class="description">'.$feed->description.'</div>';
+            $feedinfo = '<div class="title"><a href="'. $CFG->wwwroot .'/blocks/rss_client/block_rss_client_action.php?id='. $courseid .'&amp;act=view&rssid='.$feed->id .'&blogid='. $blogid .'">'. $feedtitle .'</a></div><div class="url"><a href="'. $feed->url .'">'. $feed->url .'</a></div><div class="description">'.$feed->description.'</div>';
             
             $table->add_data(array($feedinfo, $feedicons));
         }
@@ -434,7 +433,7 @@ function rss_print_form($act='none', $url='', $rssid='', $preferredtitle='', $co
 }
 /**
  * Prints or returns a form for managing rss feed entries.
- * @param string $act The current action. If "rss_edit" then and "update" button is used, otherwise "add" is used.
+ * @param string $act The current action. If "rssedit" then and "update" button is used, otherwise "add" is used.
  * @param string $url The url of the feed that is being updated or NULL
  * @param int $rssid The dataabse id of the feed that is being updated or NULL
  * @param int $id The id of the course that is currently being viewed if applicable
@@ -451,36 +450,37 @@ function rss_get_form($act='none', $url='', $rssid='', $preferredtitle='', $cour
     $returnstring = '<table align="center"><tbody><tr><td>'."\n";    
     $returnstring .= '<form action="'. $CFG->wwwroot .'/blocks/rss_client/block_rss_client_action.php" method="POST" name="block_rss">'."\n";
 
-    if ($act == 'rss_edit') {
+    if ($act == 'rssedit') {
         $returnstring .= $strupdatefeed; 
     } else { 
         $returnstring .= $straddfeed; 
     }
 
     $returnstring .= "\n".'<br /><input type="text" size="60" maxlength="256" name="url" value="';
-    if ($act == 'rss_edit') { 
+    if ($act == 'rssedit') { 
         $returnstring .= $url; 
     }
 
     $returnstring .= '" />'."\n";
     $returnstring .= '<br />'. get_string('customtitlelabel', 'block_rss_client');
-    $returnstring .= '<br /><input type="text" size="60" maxlength="64" name="preferredtitle" value="';
+//    $returnstring .= '<br /><input type="text" size="60" maxlength="64" name="preferredtitle" value="';
+    $returnstring .= '<br /><input type="text" size="60" maxlength="128" name="preferredtitle" value="';
 
-    if ($act == 'rss_edit') { 
+    if ($act == 'rssedit') { 
         $returnstring .= $preferredtitle; 
     }
 
     $returnstring .= '" />'."\n";
     $returnstring .= '<input type="hidden" name="act" value="';
 
-    if ($act == 'rss_edit') {
+    if ($act == 'rssedit') {
         $returnstring .= 'updfeed';
     } else {
         $returnstring .= 'addfeed';
     }
 
     $returnstring .= '" />'."\n";
-    if ($act == 'rss_edit') { 
+    if ($act == 'rssedit') { 
         $returnstring .= '<input type="hidden" name="rssid" value="'. $rssid .'" />'. "\n"; 
     }
 
@@ -491,7 +491,7 @@ function rss_get_form($act='none', $url='', $rssid='', $preferredtitle='', $cour
     $validatestring = "<a href=\"#\" 
 onClick=\"window.open('http://feedvalidator.org/check.cgi?url='+document.block_rss.elements['url'].value,'validate','width=640,height=480,scrollbars=yes,status=yes,resizable=yes');return true;\">". get_string('validatefeed', 'block_rss_client')."</a>";
 
-    if ($act == 'rss_edit') {
+    if ($act == 'rssedit') {
         $returnstring .= $stredit;
     } else {
         $returnstring .= $stradd;