I’ve just read on TechCrunch the announcement about awe.sm, a service that sells custom URL shorteners (a la TinyURL) for your own domain.
That’s funny: I’ve been using my own private URL shortener for about a week now (notice the “shorter link” mention at the top of this post). The script I’m using is based on something created by Lester ‘GamerZ’ Chan who has been running his own URL shortener on lc.sg for a while, and that I’ve improved (re-using some code from my work on scr.im) and hooked with WordPress (so, for instance, right when I’ll press “Publish”, my URL shortener will create a tiny link for this post, WP will store it in a custom field and broadcast it on my Twitter account)
The point of running your own URL shortener is obvious: it’s leet and fun :) Moreover, it sorts of certifies that the shortened link won’t be some crappy spam, as this is not a public tool. Our tool provides basic stats (number of clicks), my domain is short (ozh.in), my wife is amazed, I don’t need more to be a happy man.
Lester and I have been discussing about GPL’ing our URL shortener and plugin, but I was just dubious that this would interest people. Now, seeing the announcement about awe.sm, I’m changing my mind. Would this actually interest some of you?
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pingback on 21/Jul/09 at 9:07 am # :
[...] site. May be I will do it using yourls.org, a GPL’d URL shortener, and its WordPress plugin developed by [...]
thought, on 17/Jul/09 at 5:00 pm # :
if it’s easy for noobs like me to use, I’m all in.
said, on 14/Jun/09 at 7:10 pm # :
Hey Ozh, I’d LOVE to play with it, have a domain lying around for the exact purpose (yoa.st) :)
Best,
Joost
thought, on 03/Jun/09 at 12:53 am # :
Hi,
Would love to have your plugin for WordPress. I don’t want so spend the money on awe.sm. I think your plugin rocks.
I just need to think of a domain now
thought, on 02/Jun/09 at 10:53 am # :
Oh, an emphatic ‘Yes Please’.
One thing. Could it is possible to add/import the short codes for pages you’d already shortened? I’m thinking for those of us who have been URL shortening with a ham-fisted combination of scripts and our own short domains.
wrote, on 31/May/09 at 10:22 pm # :
I have been thinking about setting up my own URL shortener for the same reasons you do (fun and leet). Thought I was going to have to write it myself, but maybe not :)
replied, on 15/May/09 at 10:58 am # :
if it’s easy for noobs like me to use, I’m all in.