The Site

Ever wanted to share a link to your own page or another interesting page, but found that the link is simply too long? Or have a subpage of a subpage of a subpage and need a short easy to memorize the link to it? That is where ToURL@ can help. Register your link and either have ToURL@ generate a short unique code (ShortLink) or choose your own individual code. Then just use the shortcode to link to the page.

Here is an example for this page:

I know there are quite a few of these around, but this project serves several purposes for me. I wanted to familiarize myself with Bootstrap, and I finally wanted to rework my user administration scripts to work with MeekroDB and sessions. Besides I wanted to build a redirection service that would give me, the user, the choice, how I am redirected to another site. So I tried to build this with three principles in mind.

Simplicity

My first goal was to keep it simple! Redirection with ShortLinks can be quite a powerful thing, esp. if you want it with all the bells and whistles, like I do. That is why I chose to create a rather simplistic design, with clearly structured menus and forms.

Transparency

Ever wondered where a link would take you, but you did not want to click the ShortLink to find out? ToURL@ lets you check every ShortLink and shows you exactly the link it leads to, who created it when, and with which options. Found a broken ShortLink or one that violates our Terms of Service? Report the ShortLink and it will be checked.

Flexibility

The way currently available ShortLink services work is that they either send you blindly to the link they point to, or they force you to always click a second time. Hey, I am an adult! I want to decide if I get redirected one way or another. So when you click on a ToURL@ link you will be given the choice:

• Have the redirector display the link the shortcode points to and explicitly wait for you to click.
• Or have the redirector display the link and and go there automagically after a short delay.
• Since I do not care where it will take me there, just redirect me directly without some annoying page.
• Or finally leave the choice up to the creator of the ShortLink.

So whatever method you choose, it is YOUR choice. And if you change your mind, well then you change your mind and choose another option! You do not even have to be registered to choose!