diff --git a/html/inc/forum.inc b/html/inc/forum.inc
index a5121a550f..8e1e35cb8d 100644
--- a/html/inc/forum.inc
+++ b/html/inc/forum.inc
@@ -220,17 +220,15 @@ function show_team_forum_title($forum, $thread=null, $link_thread=false) {
     echo "</span>";
 }
 
-// start a table containing messages, where the layout is fixed
-// (to accommodate long [pre] lines)
-// and the left column (author info) has fixed size
+// start a table of forum posts
 //
 function start_forum_table($headings) {
     $a = array();
     foreach ($headings as $h) {
         $a[] = null;
     }
-    $a[0] = 'style="width: 10em;"';
-    start_table('table-striped', 'table-layout:fixed');
+    $a[1] = 'style="width: 100%"';
+    start_table('table-striped');
     row_heading_array($headings, $a);
 }
 
@@ -588,7 +586,7 @@ function show_post(
         <a name=\"$post->id\"></a>
     ";
 
-    echo user_links($user, 0);
+    echo user_links($user, 0, 30);
     echo "<br>";
     if ($user->create_time > time()-ST_NEW_TIME) $fstatus.=ST_NEW."<br>";
     echo "<span class=\"small\">";
diff --git a/html/inc/user.inc b/html/inc/user.inc
index 72533aa65e..98829f4d0c 100644
--- a/html/inc/user.inc
+++ b/html/inc/user.inc
@@ -326,8 +326,9 @@ function friend_links($user) {
 
 // show user name, with links to profile if present.
 // if $badge_height is > 0, show badges
+// if $name_limit, limit name to N chars
 //
-function user_links($user, $badge_height=0) {
+function user_links($user, $badge_height=0, $name_limit=0) {
     BoincForumPrefs::lookup($user);
     if (is_banished($user)) {
         return "(banished: ID $user->id)";
@@ -337,7 +338,11 @@ function user_links($user, $badge_height=0) {
         $img_url = url_base()."img/head_20.png";
         $x .= ' <a href="'.url_base().'view_profile.php?userid='.$user->id.'"><img title="View the profile of '.$user->name.'" src="'.$img_url.'" alt="Profile"></a>';
     }
-    $x .= " <a href=\"".url_base()."show_user.php?userid=".$user->id."\">".$user->name."</a>";
+    $name = $user->name;
+    if ($name_limit && strlen($name) > $name_limit) {
+        $name = substr($name, 0, $name_limit)."...";
+    }
+    $x .= " <a href=\"".url_base()."show_user.php?userid=".$user->id."\">".$name."</a>";
     if (function_exists("project_user_links")){
         $x .= project_user_links($user);
     }