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ShortURLs

Questions answered by this recipe

• How can I automatically shorten long urls using online resources like http://bit.ly(approve links)?
• Is there a PHP function I can use to create and feed shortened urls to other functions?

Description

shorten URLs using bit.ly

Notes

"URL Shortening" is a way of converting long, perhaps even multiline, URLs into much, much shorter, more readable ones. It's often used on sites like Twitter where there is a character-limit to messages sent. For example, this cookbook page can also be reached by via the shortened URL, http://bit.ly/VaBzD(approve links).

There are many URL shortening services available, and so far this page only deals with those generated by http://bit.ly(approve links). Feel free to add code for other URL shortening services as well.

The attached code provides two options for URL shortening:

• (:BitLyUrl ... :) - a markup expression that converts any single enclosed URL into a bit.ly url
  (:BitLyUrl http://pmwiki.org/wiki/Cookbook/ShortURLs :)

  will output http://bit.ly/VaBzD on the current page
• bitly_shortened_url($bitLy_login, $bitLy_apiKey, $url) - a function that can be used in other recipes that would enjoy a shortened URL. for example: in a recipe that automatically sends posts to Twitter, or anywhere really where space is tight, one might desire using this function...

To use this code:

Download bit.ly.urlShortening.phpΔ.
in config.php, add the following:

    ## BIT.LY URL SHORTENING
    $bitLy_login = 'yourLogin';
    $bitLy_apiKey = 'yourApiKey';
    include_once("$FarmD/cookbook/bit.ly.urlShortening.php");

Note that you must first register for a login and apikey from the http://bit.ly(approve links) site - the registration is free.

Brief Explanation:

This code uses bit.ly's very basic API, which involves sending a call to the bit.ly URL, with arguments attached, like so:

http://api.bit.ly/shorten?version=2.0.1&longUrl=http://cnn.com&login=bitlyapidemo&apiKey=R_0da49e0a9118ff35f52f629d2d71bf07(approve links)

For more information on the API, visit http://code.google.com/p/bitly-api/wiki/ApiDocumentation.
This code was derived from an example on James Cridland's website, http://james.cridland.net/code/bitly.html(approve links)

Release notes

• 2009-07-22: Added to PmWiki Cookbook...

See also

Contributors

• overtones99 (feel free to edit this recipe. i'm not always available to maintain this sort of thing, so feel free to dive in and amend this...)

Comments