diff --git a/packages/common/src/StringUtils.test.ts b/packages/common/src/StringUtils.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6d065c5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/common/src/StringUtils.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+import * as StringUtils from './StringUtils'
+
+describe('StringUtils', () => {
+
+  describe('ellipsis', () => {
+    it('return "" when maxLength <= 0 or string is undefined', () => {
+      expect(StringUtils.ellipsis('test', 0)).toBe('')
+      expect(StringUtils.ellipsis(undefined, 100)).toBe('')
+    })
+
+    it('defaults maxLength to 255 characters', () => {
+      let c = ''
+      for (let i = 0; i < 300; i++) {
+        c += 'a'
+      }
+      expect(StringUtils.ellipsis(c)).toBe(c.substring(0, 252))
+    })
+
+    it('does nothing when text is not too long', () => {
+      expect(StringUtils.ellipsis('test', 4)).toBe('test')
+      expect(StringUtils.ellipsis('test', 5)).toBe('test')
+      expect(StringUtils.ellipsis('test', 10)).toBe('test')
+    })
+
+    it('only shortens strings without spaces', () => {
+      expect(StringUtils.ellipsis('test', 3)).toBe('tes')
+      expect(StringUtils.ellipsis('test', 2)).toBe('te')
+      expect(StringUtils.ellipsis('test', 1)).toBe('t')
+      expect(StringUtils.ellipsis('test', 0)).toBe('')
+      expect(StringUtils.ellipsis('test', -1)).toBe('')
+    })
+
+    it('adds end ellipsis to text with spaces', () => {
+      const str = 'this is a test'
+      expect(StringUtils.ellipsis(str, 14)).toEqual('this is a test')
+      expect(StringUtils.ellipsis(str, 13)).toEqual('this is a...')
+      expect(StringUtils.ellipsis(str, 12)).toEqual('this is a...')
+      expect(StringUtils.ellipsis(str, 11)).toEqual('this is...')
+      expect(StringUtils.ellipsis(str, 10)).toEqual('this is...')
+      expect(StringUtils.ellipsis(str, 9)).toEqual('this...')
+      expect(StringUtils.ellipsis(str, 8)).toEqual('this...')
+      expect(StringUtils.ellipsis(str, 7)).toEqual('this...')
+      expect(StringUtils.ellipsis(str, 6)).toEqual('thi...')
+      expect(StringUtils.ellipsis(str, 5)).toEqual('th...')
+      expect(StringUtils.ellipsis(str, 4)).toEqual('t...')
+      expect(StringUtils.ellipsis(str, 3)).toEqual('thi')
+      expect(StringUtils.ellipsis(str, 2)).toEqual('th')
+      expect(StringUtils.ellipsis(str, 1)).toEqual('t')
+    })
+  })
+
+  describe('trim', () => {
+    it('trims string', () => {
+      expect(StringUtils.trim('test')).toEqual('test')
+      expect(StringUtils.trim(' test ')).toEqual('test')
+      expect(StringUtils.trim(undefined)).toEqual('')
+    })
+  })
+
+})
diff --git a/packages/common/src/StringUtils.ts b/packages/common/src/StringUtils.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8bfdaff
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/common/src/StringUtils.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+export function ellipsis(text: string | undefined, maxLength = 255): string {
+  if (maxLength <= 0 || text === undefined) {
+    return ''
+  }
+  if (text.length <= maxLength) {
+    return text
+  }
+  let str = text.trim().substring(0, maxLength)
+  const index = str.lastIndexOf(' ')
+  if (index === -1) {
+    return str.length > 3 ? str.substring(0, str.length - 3) + '...' : str
+  }
+  str = str.substring(0, index) + '...'
+  return ellipsis(str, maxLength)
+}
+
+export function trim(str?: string) {
+  if (!str) {
+    return ''
+  }
+  return str.trim()
+}
diff --git a/packages/common/src/index.ts b/packages/common/src/index.ts
index 23219da..79af98e 100644
--- a/packages/common/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/common/src/index.ts
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ export * from './IUser'
 export * from './IUser'
 export * from './IUserInTeam'
 export * from './IUserTeam'
+export * from './StringUtils'
 export * from './URLFormatter'
 export * from './filterProps'
 export * from './indexBy'
diff --git a/packages/server/src/services/UserService.ts b/packages/server/src/services/UserService.ts
index e75d829..3b574c6 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/services/UserService.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/services/UserService.ts
@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
 import createError from 'http-errors'
 import {BaseService} from './BaseService'
-import {ICredentials, INewUser, IUser} from '@rondo/common'
+import {ICredentials, INewUser, IUser, trim} from '@rondo/common'
 import {IUserService} from './IUserService'
 import {UserEmail} from '../entities/UserEmail'
 import {User} from '../entities/User'
 import {compare, hash} from 'bcrypt'
 import {validate as validateEmail} from 'email-validator'
-import {Validator, trim} from '../validator'
+import {Validator} from '../validator'
 
 const SALT_ROUNDS = 10
 const MIN_PASSWORD_LENGTH = 10
diff --git a/packages/server/src/team/TeamService.ts b/packages/server/src/team/TeamService.ts
index 1b8b64e..6f86f01 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/team/TeamService.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/team/TeamService.ts
@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
 import {BaseService} from '../services/BaseService'
 import {ITeamService} from './ITeamService'
-import {IUserInTeam} from '@rondo/common'
+import {IUserInTeam, trim} from '@rondo/common'
 import {IUserTeamParams} from './IUserTeamParams'
 import {Team} from '../entities/Team'
 import {UserTeam} from '../entities/UserTeam'
-import {Validator, trim} from '../validator'
+import {Validator} from '../validator'
 
 export class TeamService extends BaseService implements ITeamService {
 
diff --git a/packages/server/src/validator/index.ts b/packages/server/src/validator/index.ts
index e66861d..31baf0f 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/validator/index.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/validator/index.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
 export * from './IValidationMessage'
 export * from './ValidationError'
 export * from './Validator'
-export * from './trim'
diff --git a/packages/server/src/validator/trim.test.ts b/packages/server/src/validator/trim.test.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index dfdcd99..0000000
--- a/packages/server/src/validator/trim.test.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,9 +0,0 @@
-import {trim} from './trim'
-
-describe('trim', () => {
-  it('trims string', () => {
-    expect(trim('test')).toEqual('test')
-    expect(trim(' test ')).toEqual('test')
-    expect(trim(undefined)).toEqual('')
-  })
-})
diff --git a/packages/server/src/validator/trim.ts b/packages/server/src/validator/trim.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index fe46baa..0000000
--- a/packages/server/src/validator/trim.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,6 +0,0 @@
-export function trim(str?: string) {
-  if (!str) {
-    return ''
-  }
-  return str.trim()
-}