diff --git a/core/src/main/java/hudson/FeedAdapter.java b/core/src/main/java/hudson/FeedAdapter.java
index 7de32a2517..3e5ac67c5e 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/hudson/FeedAdapter.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/hudson/FeedAdapter.java
@@ -26,6 +26,12 @@ public interface FeedAdapter<E> {
      */
     String getEntryID(E entry);
 
+    /**
+     * (Potentially lengthy) plain text to be attached to the feed.
+     * Can be null.
+     */
+    String getEntryDescription(E entry);
+
     /**
      * Timestamp of the last change in this entry.
      */
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/hudson/model/AbstractProject.java b/core/src/main/java/hudson/model/AbstractProject.java
index abbb150943..70a8f35449 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/hudson/model/AbstractProject.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/hudson/model/AbstractProject.java
@@ -589,6 +589,13 @@ public abstract class AbstractProject<P extends AbstractProject<P,R>,R extends A
                     return getEntryUrl(item);
                 }
 
+                public String getEntryDescription(FeedItem item) {
+                    StringBuilder buf = new StringBuilder();
+                    for(String path : item.e.getAffectedPaths())
+                        buf.append(path).append('\n');
+                    return buf.toString();
+                }
+
                 public Calendar getEntryTimestamp(FeedItem item) {
                     return item.getBuild().getTimestamp();
                 }
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/hudson/model/Hudson.java b/core/src/main/java/hudson/model/Hudson.java
index 2725615ec8..1e67a796e6 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/hudson/model/Hudson.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/hudson/model/Hudson.java
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import hudson.TcpSlaveAgentListener;
 import hudson.Util;
 import static hudson.Util.fixEmpty;
 import hudson.XmlFile;
+import hudson.Functions;
 import hudson.model.Descriptor.FormException;
 import hudson.model.listeners.ItemListener;
 import hudson.model.listeners.JobListener;
@@ -1180,6 +1181,10 @@ public final class Hudson extends View implements ItemGroup<TopLevelItem>, Node
                 return String.valueOf(entry.getSequenceNumber());
             }
 
+            public String getEntryDescription(LogRecord entry) {
+                return Functions.printLogRecord(entry);
+            }
+
             public Calendar getEntryTimestamp(LogRecord entry) {
                 GregorianCalendar cal = new GregorianCalendar();
                 cal.setTimeInMillis(entry.getMillis());
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/hudson/model/Run.java b/core/src/main/java/hudson/model/Run.java
index 288e201093..a4fb2ce97e 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/hudson/model/Run.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/hudson/model/Run.java
@@ -871,6 +871,11 @@ public abstract class Run <JobT extends Job<JobT,RunT>,RunT extends Run<JobT,Run
                 + entry.getParent().getName()+':'+entry.getId();
         }
 
+        public String getEntryDescription(Run entry) {
+            // TODO: this could provide some useful details
+            return null;
+        }
+
         public Calendar getEntryTimestamp(Run entry) {
             return entry.getTimestamp();
         }
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/hudson/model/User.java b/core/src/main/java/hudson/model/User.java
index 7ff80f278a..55bcce97a9 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/hudson/model/User.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/hudson/model/User.java
@@ -283,6 +283,11 @@ public class User extends AbstractModelObject {
             return "tag:"+entry.getParent().getName()+':'+entry.getId();
         }
 
+        public String getEntryDescription(Run entry) {
+            // TODO: provide useful details
+            return null;
+        }
+
         public Calendar getEntryTimestamp(Run entry) {
             return entry.getTimestamp();
         }
diff --git a/core/src/main/resources/hudson/atom.jelly b/core/src/main/resources/hudson/atom.jelly
index 0bfb9c76f0..c9481c529d 100644
--- a/core/src/main/resources/hudson/atom.jelly
+++ b/core/src/main/resources/hudson/atom.jelly
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
   <j:set var="rootURL"
          value="${request.scheme}://${request.serverName}:${request.serverPort}${request.contextPath}" />
 
+  <!-- ATOM. See http://atompub.org/rfc4287.html for the format -->
   <feed xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom">
     <title>${title}</title>
     <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="${rootURL}/${url}"/>
diff --git a/core/src/main/resources/hudson/rss20.jelly b/core/src/main/resources/hudson/rss20.jelly
index 6536c673aa..20fa69c82f 100644
--- a/core/src/main/resources/hudson/rss20.jelly
+++ b/core/src/main/resources/hudson/rss20.jelly
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
   <j:set var="rootURL"
          value="${request.scheme}://${request.serverName}:${request.serverPort}${request.contextPath}" />
 
+  <!-- RSS 2.0 feed. See http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/rss/rss.html for the format -->  
   <rss version="2.0">
     <channel>
       <title>${title}</title>
@@ -17,6 +18,9 @@
           <guid isPermaLink="false">${adapter.getEntryID(e)}</guid>
           <pubDate>${h.rfc822Date(adapter.getEntryTimestamp(e))}</pubDate>
           <author>users@hudson.dev.java.net (Hudson Server)</author>
+          <description>
+            
+          </description>
         </item>
       </j:forEach>
     </channel>