Shortlink System

URL shortener with analytics and custom domains

Shortlink System

A comprehensive URL shortening solution with analytics and custom domain support.

Features

• Create short URLs from long URLs
• Custom paths (e.g., yoursite.com/my-link)
• Preview images for social media
• Click analytics (countries, devices, referrers)
• Custom domain support
• Collision detection with existing routes

Admin URL

Page	URL
Shortlink Management	/admin/shortlinks
Domain Management	/admin/shortlinks/domains

Creating a Shortlink

1. Open Shortlinks

   Go to /admin/shortlinks

2. Click Create

   Click Create Shortlink

3. Enter URL

   Paste the long destination URL

4. Choose Path

   • Auto-generate: Random short path
   • Custom: Enter your own (e.g., winter-sale)
5. Optional: Preview Image

   Upload an image for social media previews

6. Create

   Click Create Shortlink

Analytics

Click the analytics icon on any shortlink to view:

Metric	Description
Total Clicks	Overall click count
Countries	Geographic distribution
Devices	Desktop, mobile, tablet breakdown
Referrers	Where clicks came from
Browsers	Browser usage stats

Export analytics to CSV for further analysis.

Custom Domains

Setup Steps

1. Add Domain

   Go to Domain Management → Add Domain Enter subdomain (e.g., link.yourdomain.com)

2. Configure DNS

   Add these records in your DNS provider:

   CNAME Record:

   Name: link
   Value: yourdomain.com
   

   TXT Record (for verification):

   Name: _shortlink-verify.link
   Value: [verification token shown in dashboard]
   
3. Verify

   Wait 5-10 minutes for DNS propagation, then click Verify DNS

4. Use

   Select the custom domain when creating new shortlinks

Database Schema

shortlinks Collection

{
  customPath: "winter-sale",
  destinationUrl: "https://example.com/products?utm_source=...",
  previewImageUrl: "https://...",
  title: "Winter Sale 2024",
  description: "50% off all items",
  isActive: true,
  clickCount: 150,
  createdAt: "2024-01-01T00:00:00Z"
}

shortlink_analytics Collection

{
  shortlinkId: "abc123",
  timestamp: "2024-01-15T10:30:00Z",
  country: "US",
  countryName: "United States",
  deviceType: "mobile",
  browser: "Chrome",
  referrer: "https://twitter.com"
}

Collision Detection

The system automatically checks if your custom path conflicts with:

• Existing blog posts
• Project pages
• Static routes
• Other shortlinks

A warning appears if a collision is detected.

Best Practices

Use descriptive paths like winter-sale instead of random strings for better memorability.

Add preview images to increase click-through rates by 30-50% on social media.

Shortlinks are case-insensitive. My-Link and my-link are the same.