Alternative URL shortener

[Chris Hogg]

I usually use TinyURL, but IME it can't handle links to PDF's. Can anyone recommend an alternative that does?

[Richard]

TinyURL seems to handle pdfs... This one goes straight to the pdf:

This to the link for downloading:

[Chris Hogg]

Hmm...curious. Here's a web site URL that I want to make tiny:

If I copy that URL and go into the TinyURL web site, paste into the box, make TinyURL, copy it to clipboard, gives me which I've just discovered works fine.

However, if I click on that Ashdown Forest URL, up comes a blank FF page and the PDF loads as it should, but if I then click on the Firefox extension symbol for TinyURL, it comes up with this URL that _doesn't_ work.

(not sure if I'm using the correct terms there, but I hope YSWIM).

I suppose the moral of this tale is not to use the TinyURL extension for PDF's, although it does seem to work for URL's to ordinary web sites.

Thanks for your input.

[Andy Burns]

That's too short to be a valid tingyURL, maybe the FF extension is b0rked?

[Richard]

Seems to be the case.

[Chris Hogg]

Quite. But it works for normal url's, just not PDF's. For example, this URL

happily gets shortened to this using the FF extension which works perfectly OK.

I'll se if I can work out how to delete and reload the FF extension, to see if it makes a difference.

[Ian Jackson]

In message [e-mail], Chris Hogg [e-mail] writes

I haven't observed TinyURL not working for PDFs,

I had TinyURL as a Firefox addon. [It was right-click on the web page, then select 'Make TinyURL' from the drop-down menu.] A few weeks ago it disappeared, and I can't re-install it. The one I'm using at the moment is another Firefox addon - '1-Click Shorten URL' - which sits as an icon on the toolbar.

There are several URL shorteners, but I think TinyURL is the only one that offers a preview. Because of this, some say they're unwilling to trust the link you offer them.

[Mike Clarke]

No need for an extension. Just create a bookmark with this as the location (without the line break):

javascript:void(location.href='

'+location.href) Then just click the bookmark to generate the tinyurl for the current page,

[Maurice]

Handy! Regards,

[Chris Hogg]

Oh _thank_you_! Very easy and no problems with PDF's.

[Terry Casey]

And TinyURL is, as far as I know, the only one which allows you to customise the result.

This can be particularly useful for including links in text that will be printed, such as a magazine.

It is much easier for the reader to type in something like tinyurl.ukd-i-ylink than a random collection of characters.