I received a comment on the main AHP Sitewide Recent Posts hack about having an issue of just displaying the title for the post. The plugin uses a “option code” to determine which items will be displayed for each post. The idea is, you add the value for each option and that total value lets the plugin know which items to show.

	// DISPLAY OPTIONS BITMASK
	$grav_flag = 1;  // gravatar
	$date_flag = 2;  // date
	$auth_flag = 4;  // author name
	$com_flag  = 8;  // comment count
	$name_flag = 16; // blog name
	$post_flag = 32; // post name
	$exc_flag  = 64; // post excerpt
	$cap_flag  = 128; // excerpt capitalization</blockquote>

For example, if you only wanted to show the post name, then the option value would be 32.

<?php ahp_recent_posts(5, 90, 32); ?> 

If you wanted to show the post name and the blog name, then the option value would be 48 (32 + 16).

<?php ahp_recent_posts(5, 90, 48); ?> 

To show all items in the post, the option value is 225;

<?php ahp_recent_posts(5, 90, 225); ?> 

Unfortunately, the display part of the plugin was not set to only display those items, so I update the code to only show the post item if the flag is set to true.

					echo $begin_wrap;
					if($use_date) { echo '<div class="date">' . $thisdate . '</div>'; }
					if($use_grav) {	echo '<div id="avatar" style="margin-left:65px; margin-top:14px;">' . $thisgravatar . '</div>';	}
					if($use_post) { echo '<h3>' . $this_postname . '</h3>'; }
					if($use_date) { echo '<div class="postmetadata"> @ ' . $thistime;	}
					if($use_auth) { echo '<br /><div id="author">' . $thisauthor . '</div>'; }
					if($use_name) { echo '<br /><div id="blogname"> ' . $this_blogname . '</div>'; }
					if($use_com) { echo '<div id="comment"> | ' . $thiscomment . '</div></div>'; }
					if($use_exc) { echo '<div id="excerpt">' . $thisexcerpt . '</div>'; }
					echo $end_wrap  . "\n";

Thanks to Kit at http://kitmobley.com/ for pointing out the issue to me.

The complete code

<?php

/*
Plugin Name: AHP Sitewide Recent Posts for WordPress MU
Plugin URI: http://www.metablog.us/blogging/ahp-recent-posts-plugin-for-wordpress-mu/
Description: Retrieves a highly customizable list of the most recent sitewide posts in a WordPress MU installation. Automatically excludes blog ID 1 (main blog), and post ID 1 (first "Hello World" posts of new blogs).
Author: Aziz Poonawalla
Author URI: http://metablog.us

FUNCTION ARGUMENTS

$how_many: how many recent posts are being displayed
$how_long: time frame to choose recent posts from (in days)
$optmask: bitmask for various display options (default: 255)
	DISPLAY OPTIONS BITMASK
	1;  // gravatar
	2;  // date
	4;  // author name
	8;  // comment count
	16; // blog name
	32; // post name
	64; // post excerpt
	128; // excerpt capitalization
$exc_size: size of excerpt in words (default: 30)
$begin_wrap: start html code (default: <li class="ahp_recent-posts">)
$end_wrap: end html code to adapt to different themes (default: </li>)

SAMPLE FUNCTION CALL

to show 5 posts from recent 30 days: <?php ahp_recent_posts(5, 30);  ?>

SAMPLE CSS

gravatar styling:  img.avatar-24 { float: left; padding: 0px; border: none; margin: 4px; clear: left; }
LI styling: li.ahp-recent-posts { list-style-type: none ;}
excerpt styling: .ahp-excerpt { margin-top: 2px }

TODO:

- link gravatar icon to Extended Profile in buddypress, if installed
- widgetize
- show more than one post per blog

CHANGELOG
Version 0.8
Update Author: Dean Logan
Update Author URI: http://www.dean-logan.com
- Altered the post query to be a count
- added a "per site" limit for the number of posts per site
- modified closing call to include the "per site" limit

Version 0.7
Update Author: Dean Logan
Update Author URI: http://www.dean-logan.com
- altered loops add an array to store comments
- sort comment array and then display
- altered display layout

Version 0.6
Update Author: Aziz Poonawalla
Update Author URI: http://metablog.us
- added comment count display option
- added enable/disable excerpt capitalization
- consolidated title/name of post display options into bitmask
- reduced number of required arguments
- added class name ahp-recent-posts to default start html LI tags
- added class ahp-excerpt to excerpt block

Version 0.5
Update Author: Aziz Poonawalla
Update Author URI: http://metablog.us
- changed gravatar link to point to all posts by author on main blog (ID = 1).
- added date string, author output
- implemented bitmask to control gravatar, date, author output
- consolidated numwords argument with display argument

Version 0.4.1
Update Author: Aziz Poonawalla
Update Author URI: http://metablog.us
- added gravatar support, icon size 24px
- gravatar can be styled by img.avatar-24 in your css file
- gravatar image links to author's blog
- capitalization of first five words of the excerpt

Version 0.4.0
Update Author: Aziz Poonawalla
Update Author URI: http://metablog.us
- added exclusions for first blog, first post, enabled post excerpt

Version: 0.32
Update Author: G. Morehouse
Update Author URI: http://wiki.evernex.com/index.php?title=Wordpress_MU_sitewide_recent_posts_plugin

Version: 0.31
Update Author: Sven Laqua
Update Author URI: http://www.sl-works.de/

Version: 0.3
Author: Ron Rennick
Author URI: http://atypicalhomeschool.net/
*/

function ahp_recent_posts($how_many, $how_long, $optmask = 255, $exc_size = 30, $per_site = 5, $begin_wrap = '<li class="ahp_recent-posts">', $end_wrap = '</li>') {
	global $wpdb;
	$counter = 0;

	// EDIT THESE TO CUSTOMIZE THE OUTPUT
	$debug = 0;
	$blog_prefix = "Posted from ";
	$post_prefix = "";
	$auth_prefix = 'Posted by ';
	$com_prefix = '   currently ';
	$date_format = 'D M jS, Y';
	$grav_size = 60;

	// DISPLAY OPTIONS BITMASK
	$grav_flag = 1;  // gravatar
	$date_flag = 2;  // date
	$auth_flag = 4;  // author name
	$com_flag  = 8;  // comment count
	$name_flag = 16; // blog name
	$post_flag = 32; // post name
	$exc_flag  = 64; // post excerpt
	$cap_flag  = 128; // excerpt capitalization

	// set the various option flags
	if ($optmask & $grav_flag) { $use_grav = 1; } else { $use_grav = 0; }
	if ($optmask & $date_flag) { $use_date = 1; } else { $use_date = 0; }
	if ($optmask & $auth_flag) { $use_auth = 1; } else { $use_auth = 0; }
	if ($optmask & $com_flag)  { $use_com  = 1; } else { $use_com = 0;  }
	if ($optmask & $name_flag) { $use_name = 1; } else { $use_name = 0; }

	if ($optmask & $post_flag) { $use_post = 1; } else { $use_post = 0; }
	if ($optmask & $exc_flag)  { $use_exc  = 1; } else { $use_exc = 0;  }
	if ($optmask & $cap_flag)  { $use_cap  = 1; } else { $use_cap = 0;  }

	// debug block
	if ($debug) {
		echo '<hr>'.'opt = '.$optmask.': grav = '.$use_grav.', date = '.$use_date
		.', auth = '.$use_auth.', use_com = '.$use_com.', use_name = '.$use_name
		.', use_post = '.$use_post.', use_exc = '.$use_exc.', use_cap = '.$use_cap;
	}

	// get a list of blogs in order of most recent update. show only public and nonarchived/spam/mature/deleted
	$blogs = $wpdb->get_col("SELECT blog_id FROM $wpdb->blogs WHERE
		public = '1' AND archived = '0' AND mature = '0' AND spam = '0' AND deleted = '0' AND
		last_updated >= DATE_SUB(CURRENT_DATE(), INTERVAL $how_long DAY)
		ORDER BY last_updated DESC");

	$postArray = array();
	$i = 0;
	if ($blogs) {
		echo '<ul class="ahp_recent-posts">' . "\n";
		foreach ($blogs as $blog) {

			// we need _posts, _comments, and _options tables for this to work
		    $blogPostsTable = "wp_".$blog."_posts";

			// debug block
			if ($debug) {
				echo '<hr>processing blog '.$blog.' = <a href="'.
				$options[0]->option_value.'">'.$options[1]->option_value.'</a> <br>';
			}

			// fetch the ID, post title, post content, post date, and user's email for the latest post
			$sqlCount = "SELECT count($blogPostsTable.ID) ";
			$sqlSelect = "SELECT $blogPostsTable.post_date, $blog AS this_blog, $blogPostsTable.ID, $blogPostsTable.post_title,
				$blogPostsTable.post_content, wp_users.display_name,
				wp_users.user_email, wp_users.user_login ";
			$sqlFrom = "	FROM $blogPostsTable, wp_users
				WHERE wp_users.ID = $blogPostsTable.post_author
				AND post_status = 'publish' AND post_type = 'post'
				AND post_date >= DATE_SUB(CURRENT_DATE(), INTERVAL $how_long DAY)
				AND $blogPostsTable.id > 1 ";
			// build the count query
			$sql = $sqlCount . '' .  $sqlFrom;
			$postcount = $wpdb->get_var($sql);
			// if posts are found, cycle through the count and get the correct number of posts
			if($postcount > 0) {
				if ($postcount > $per_site) {
					$site_limit = $per_site;
				} else {
					$site_limit = $postcount;
				}
				for($x = 0; $x < $site_limit; $x++){
					$sqlOrder = "	ORDER BY $blogPostsTable.post_date DESC limit $x,1";
					$sql = $sqlSelect . '' .  $sqlFrom .''. $sqlOrder;
					$postArray[$i] = $wpdb->get_row($sql, ARRAY_A);
					$i++;
				}
			}
		}

		if(count($postArray) > 0){
			array_multisort($postArray, SORT_DESC);
			while ($counter < count($postArray)){

				// debug block
				if ($debugflag) {
					echo 'processing thispost ID = ' . $postArray[$counter]['ID'] . '<br>';
					echo 'post_title = ' . $postArray[$counter]['post_title'] . '<br>';
					echo 'post_content = ' . $postArray[$counter]['post_content'] . '<br>';
					echo 'post_date = ' . $postArray[$counter]['post_date'] . '<br>';
					echo 'display_name = ' . $postArray[$counter]['display_name'] . '<br>';
					echo 'user_email = ' . $postArray[$counter]['user_email'] . '<br>';
					echo 'user_login = ' . $postArray[$counter]['user_login'] . '<br>';
					echo 'site_url = ' . $postArray[$counter]['option_value'] . '<br>';
				}

				// get post ID
				$thispostID = $postArray[$counter]['ID'];

				// get permalink by ID.  check wp-includes/wpmu-functions.php
				$thispermalink = get_blog_permalink( $postArray[$counter]['this_blog'], $thispostID);

				// set blog tables
				$blogOptionsTable = "wp_" . $postArray[$counter]['this_blog'] . "_options";
				$blogCommentsTable = "wp_" . $postArray[$counter]['this_blog'] . "_comments";

				// get blog name,  URL
				if ($use_name) {

					$options = $wpdb->get_results("SELECT option_value FROM
					$blogOptionsTable WHERE option_name IN ('siteurl','blogname')
					ORDER BY option_name DESC");

					$blog_link = $options[0]->option_value;
					$blog_name = $options[1]->option_value;
					$this_blogname = $blog_prefix.'<a href="' . $blog_link . '">' . $blog_name . '</a>';

				} else { $this_blogname = ''; }

				// get comments
				if ($use_com) {

					// sql query for all comments on the current post
					$thesecomments = $wpdb->get_results("SELECT comment_ID
					FROM $blogCommentsTable
					WHERE comment_post_ID = $thispostID");

					// count total number of comments
					$num_comments = sizeof($thesecomments);

					// pretty text
					if ($num_comments == 0) { $thiscomment = $com_prefix.'no comments'; }
					elseif ($num_comments == 1) { $thiscomment = $com_prefix.'one comment'; }
					else { $thiscomment = $com_prefix.$num_comments.' comments'; }

				} else { $thiscomment = ''; }

				// get author
				if ($use_auth) {
					$thisauthor = $auth_prefix.$postArray[$counter]['display_name'];
				} else { $thisauthor = ''; }

				// get author's posts link
				$thisuser = $thispost[0]->user_login;
				$thisuser_url = $thisbloglink."author/".$thisuser;

				// get gravatar
				if ($use_grav) {
					$grav_img = get_avatar( $postArray[$counter]['user_email'] , $grav_size );
					$thisgravatar = '<a href="'.$thisuser_url.'">'.$grav_img.'</a>';
				} else { $thisgravatar = ''; }

				// get post date (nicely formatted)
				if ($use_date) {
					//$thisdate = date($date_format, strtotime( $thispost[0]->post_date )) ;
					$thisdate = '<span class="dateMonth">' . date('M', strtotime( $postArray[$counter]['post_date'] )) . '</span>';
					$thisdate .= '<span class="dateDay">' . date('d', strtotime( $postArray[$counter]['post_date'] )) . '</span>';
					$thisdate .= '<span class="dateYear">' . date('Y', strtotime( $postArray[$counter]['post_date'] )) . '</span>';
					$thistime = date('g:i a', strtotime( $postArray[$counter]['post_date'] ));
				} else { $thisdate = ''; }

				// get post name
				if ($use_post) {
					$this_postname = $post_prefix . '<a href="' . $thispermalink . '">'  .$postArray[$counter]['post_title'] . '</a><br>';
				} else {
					$this_postname = ''; }

				if ($use_exc) {
					if ($exc_size == 0) {
						$thisexcerpt = '';
					} else {
						// get post content and truncate to (numwords) words
						$thiscontent = strip_tags( $postArray[$counter]['post_content'] );
						preg_match("/([\S]+\s*){0,$exc_size}/", $thiscontent, $regs);

						if ($use_cap) {
							// build the excerpt html block, capitalize first five words
							$trunc_content = explode( ' ', trim($regs[0]) , 6 );
							$exc_str = strtoupper($trunc_content[0]).' '
							.strtoupper($trunc_content[1]).' '
							.strtoupper($trunc_content[2]).' '
							.strtoupper($trunc_content[3]).' '
							.strtoupper($trunc_content[4]).' '
							.$trunc_content[5].'... ';
						} else { $exc_str = trim($regs[0]); }

						$thisexcerpt = '<span style="ahp-excerpt">'.$exc_str
						.'<a href="'.$thispermalink.'">'
						.'»»MORE'.'</a></span>';
					}
				} else { $thisexcerpt = ''; }

					echo $begin_wrap;
					if($use_date) { echo '<div class="date">' . $thisdate . '</div>'; }
					if($use_grav) {	echo '<div id="avatar" style="margin-left:65px; margin-top:14px;">' . $thisgravatar . '</div>';	}
					if($use_post) { echo '<h3>' . $this_postname . '</h3>'; }
					if($use_date) { echo '<div class="postmetadata"> @ ' . $thistime;	}
					if($use_auth) { echo '<br /><div id="author">' . $thisauthor . '</div>'; }
					if($use_name) { echo '<br /><div id="blogname"> ' . $this_blogname . '</div>'; }
					if($use_com) { echo '<div id="comment"> | ' . $thiscomment . '</div></div>'; }
					if($use_exc) { echo '<div id="excerpt">' . $thisexcerpt . '</div>'; }
					echo $end_wrap  . "\n";

					$counter++;

				// don't go over the limit
				if($counter >= ($how_many)) {
					break;
				}
			}
		}
	}
	else {
		//echo "no recent posts meet the criteria...<br>";
	}
}
?>