trimming teaser title and linking to node

hi,

i created a front page with panels module. also used extra layouts for 4 columns.
i want to trim teaser title and also it should be linked to node.
there is "Link the node title to the node" option but can not trim title if i select that.
after chancing panels-pane.tpl.php, i managed to trim title but if i select "Link the node title to the node" it doesn t work at all.

  <?php if ($title): ?>
<?php $s=strlen($title);
  if($s>15): ?>
<?php print substr($title,0,15)."...";?>
  <?php else:?>
    
 <?php print $title; ?>  
 <?php endif; ?>
 <?php endif;?> 

how can i link title to node ? help me please.

thank you.