def shorten_author_string(authors_string, maxlength):
    """
    Parse a list of authors concatenated as a text string (comma
    separated) and smartly adjust them to maxlength.

    1) If the complete list of sender names does not fit in maxlength, it
    tries to shorten names by using only the first part of each.

    2) If the list is still too long, hide authors according to the
    following priority:

      - First author is always shown (if too long is shorten with ellipsis)

      - If possible, last author is also shown (if too long, uses ellipsis)

      - If there are more than 2 authors in the thread, show the
        maximum of them. More recent senders have higher priority.

      - If it is finally necessary to hide any author, an ellipsis
        between first and next authors is added.
    """

    # I will create a list of authors by parsing author_string. I use
    # deque to do popleft without performance penalties
    authors = deque()

    # If author list is too long, it uses only the first part of each
    # name (gmail style)
    short_names = len(authors_string) > maxlength
    for au in authors_string.split(", "):
        if short_names:
            author_as_list = au.split()
            if len(author_as_list) > 0:
                authors.append(author_as_list[0])
        else:
            authors.append(au)

    # Author chain will contain the list of author strings to be
    # concatenated using commas for the final formatted author_string.
    authors_chain = deque()

    if len(authors) == 0:
        return u''

    # reserve space for first author
    first_au = shorten(authors.popleft(), maxlength)
    remaining_length = maxlength - len(first_au)

    # Tries to add an ellipsis if no space to show more than 1 author
    if authors and maxlength > 3 and remaining_length < 3:
        first_au = shorten(first_au, maxlength - 3)
        remaining_length += 3

    # Tries to add as more authors as possible. It takes into account
    # that if any author will be hidden, and ellipsis should be added
    while authors and remaining_length >= 3:
        au = authors.pop()
        if len(au) > 1 and (remaining_length == 3 or (authors and
                                                      remaining_length < 7)):
            authors_chain.appendleft(u'\u2026')
            break
        else:
            if authors:
                # 5= ellipsis + 2 x comma and space used as separators
                au_string = shorten(au, remaining_length - 5)
            else:
                # 2 = comma and space used as separator
                au_string = shorten(au, remaining_length - 2)
            remaining_length -= len(au_string) + 2
            authors_chain.appendleft(au_string)

    # Add the first author to the list and concatenate list
    authors_chain.appendleft(first_au)
    authorsstring = ', '.join(authors_chain)
    return authorsstring