how does tinyurl work?

[Gregg Bell]

Is it you do the conversion, then when somebody clicks on the shortened url it takes them to the tiny url site where they can click on 'proceed to the website' and then it takes them to the url you wanted them to go in the first place?

And what does the "preview" feature do?

Thanks.

[HarryT]

No, when someone clicks on the shortened URL it takes them directly to where the original URL points to. But wouldn't it be just as easy for you to just try it as to ask here?

Please note, by the way, that the use of URL shortening services is not permitted at MR.

[samy2]

If you use a special Plugin Firefox will ask you before redirecting. Without Plugin it's redirecting without asking you for.

Originally Posted by HarryT

Please note, by the way, that the use of URL shortening services is not permitted at MR.

Very good :thumbup:

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by HarryT

No, when someone clicks on the shortened URL it takes them directly to where the original URL points to. But wouldn't it be just as easy for you to just try it as to ask here?

Please note, by the way, that the use of URL shortening services is not permitted at MR.

I did try it, Harry. I just must've been taking stupid pills or something. Thanks for the heads-up about MR's not using them.

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by samy2

If you use a special Plugin Firefox will ask you before redirecting. Without Plugin it's redirecting without asking you for.


Very good :thumbup:

Thanks samy. I'll keep that in mind.

[JSWolf]

I won't click such a link as I don't like links that do not show me where they go.

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I won't click such a link as I don't like links that do not show me where they go.

...tiny url has the preview feature, which takes you to tinyurl to see the full link. I don't know, JS. I'm just exploring this as an option. People say tinyurl is great for a lot stuff, like Twitter.

[HarryT]

Yes, Twitter is what it's really meant for, where your message length is restricted.

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Yes, Twitter is what it's really meant for, where your message length is restricted.

Thanks Harry

[Angst]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I won't click such a link as I don't like links that do not show me where they go.

There is an Explode plugin for Chrome that lets you view the expanded URL before clicking on it. I suspect there may be one for Firefox as well.

Explode: Expand shortened URLs (e.g. TinyURL) with LongURL

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Angst

There is an Explode plugin for Chrome. I suspect there may be one for Firefox as well.

Explode: Expand shortened URLs (e.g. TinyURL) with LongURL

But, I don't want to install a plugin for something that someone else doesn't have to use. On MR, full URLs work fine. No need for hidden URLs here. In fact, hidden URLs are not actually allowed here.

[AlexBell]

This is probably going to be off-topic, but it does have some relevance.

I did an ebook recently which was packed with references as end notes. Many of those references were URLs, and many of them would take up two or three lines on an ebook screen if I hadn't broken them - or they would have extended a long way off the right edge of the screen. I thought of using tiny urls to get them to fit on the screen. Would this be good practice? Or is there a better way?

[Turtle91]

Originally Posted by AlexBell

This is probably going to be off-topic, but it does have some relevance.

I did an ebook recently which was packed with references as end notes. Many of those references were URLs, and many of them would take up two or three lines on an ebook screen if I hadn't broken them - or they would have extended a long way off the right edge of the screen. I thought of using tiny urls to get them to fit on the screen. Would this be good practice? Or is there a better way?

There is absolutely no need for tiny URLS in an ebook.

You don't have to show the full address in a link - you can have links that show some, all, or none of the address - or something completely different - depending on what words you put between the <a href="..."> and </a> tags.

e.g. All of these links go to the same (imaginary) location.

Full:

<a href="http://www.asuperreallylongwebsitename.com/goingon/andon/andon/andon/andon/index.html">
     http://www.asuperreallylongwebsitename.com/goingon/andon/andon/andon/andon/index.html
</a>

How it will look: http://www.asuperreallylongwebsitena...don/index.html

{note some websites and MR will generally shorten a really long address by replacing letters with "..." as seen above. This may, or may not happen within an ebook reader. My personal experience is that it will show the entire string of characters that you place between the <a> tags.}


Medium:

<a href="http://www.asuperreallylongwebsitename.com/goingon/andon/andon/andon/andon/index.html">
     http://www.asuperreallylongwebsitename.com
</a>

How it will look: http://www.asuperreallylongwebsitename.com


Short:

<a href="http://www.asuperreallylongwebsitename.com/goingon/andon/andon/andon/andon/index.html">
     asuperreallylongwebsitename.com
</a>

How it will look: asuperreallylongwebsitename.com


Other:

<a href="http://www.asuperreallylongwebsitename.com/goingon/andon/andon/andon/andon/index.html">
     Here
</a>

How it will look: Here

[AlexBell]

Thanks, but I think that you are assuming that everyone reading the ebook will
- have wifi activated
- want to open the link on his or her reader

I would like to be able to allow people who don't have wifi activated and don't want to use the ereader as a browser to be able to easily copy the link so she or he can use it on a computer.

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by AlexBell

Thanks, but I think that you are assuming that everyone reading the ebook will
- have wifi activated
- want to open the link on his or her reader

I would like to be able to allow people who don't have wifi activated and don't want to use the ereader as a browser to be able to easily copy the link so she or he can use it on a computer.

That's a good point.