Silva: Short URLs in Silva

Short URLs in Silva

In this age of social media it’s necessary to have short links to website content. Sending URLs with long paths uses up precious characters in a tweet that can be better used for communication. To facilitate this various services have sprung up like tinyurl.com, bit.ly, is.gd, goo.gl and many others. Silva should also offer this facility natively so content authors can make and manage short URLs within the CMS itself.

Instead of sending a URL such as:
http://www.yoursite.com/department/news/articlename (51 characters)
It’s much better to send a URL like:
http://yoursite.com/jUe8emg (27 characters)

This uses the domain name of the current site and appends a code that gets converted to the full path upon request. Thus a site visitor ends up at the ‘long’ URL.

Functionality and usage

When an Author wants to make a Short URL she must be in the SMI. The URL shortening tool is a subscreen of the Contents screen, reachable via the optioned button (listed after Import and Export). The screen contains three forms:
1. Create a Short URL
2. Create a Custom URL
3. Manage an existing short URL

1. Create a Short URL

In order to create a short URL the Author must select a content item. After the “Lookup” button is pressed a Reference Dialog opens (same as when making a link to Silva content) and the Author selects the item she’d like to link to. This can be any Silva object that is ‘referenceable’. You can link to documents, containers, images, files, news viewers, etc.

After the item is selected the Reference Dialog closes, and the screen presents a string field containing the short URL with the absolute path including ‘http://‘. The text in the field is pre-selected and, depending on the OS, placed on the Author’s clipboard [ref: js code on is.gd].

Form elements

Title: Create a Short URL
Description: Lorem ipsum
Button: Lookup
String field
Button: Create

Authors can make multiple short URLs in the subscreen. If the “Lookup” button is pressed again and the Author selects a different content item, the short URL creation iterates.

2. Custom Short URLs

One can also create custom short URLs by suggesting a link name. Instead of a code like ‘jUe8emg’ one can create short URLs like:

http://yoursite.com/HappyNewYear (32 characters)

This provides a memorable URL that’s better for communication since the path contains meaning as opposed to gibberish. It’s especially effective for usage in other mediums like email and print.

This form has the title “Create a Custom URL”. A string field for the suggested name is followed by a Create button. When the Author presses “Create” the system validates the field against invalid characters and then checks if the name already exists:

0. If the name already exists the form returns with a feedback message at the top of the form explaining that the short URL already exists and it links to: [linked path to the destination item]. The Author can either suggest a new name, or manage the existing short URL. The name gets automatically filled in below in the “Manage an existing short URL” form.
1. If the name doesn’t exist, the string field gets filled with the absolute short URL. The text is pre-selected and, depending on the OS, placed on the Author’s clipboard [ref js code on is.gd]. A feedback message appears and explains this.

The Author can fill in a new value and create another custom short URL.

Form elements

Title: Create a Custom URL
Description: Lorem ipsum
[Feedback]
Button: Lookup (same as Lookup button above, shows same content)
String field
Button: Create

The #1 and #2 forms should not be merged into one form with disclosure triangles or such. Just like is.gd does it, we want to have one form for each process. However we’ll have the three forms on one page, and they can interact. When a content item is chosen in #1, it should also be chosen in #2. Then the Author can decide to make a Custom URL and doesn’t have to lookup the item again. Likewise when a custom URL turns out to already exist, it should be filled in in the text field in form #3.

3. Managing Short URLs

Existing short URLs can be managed. They can’t be deleted, but they can be modified. Thus a name like ‘HappyNewYear’ can be edited the next year to have a different destination.

When an Author knows a name already exists she can fill in the name and press the “Modify” button:

0. If the system doesn’t find the name it presents a feedback message as such and the Author can try again. Could be a typo so the field is sticky.
1. If the name does exist a “Lookup” button appears with the current destination item noted. The Author must press the button and lookup the new content she would like to link to. This updates the existing short URL, which is displayed in the string field, and a feedback message appears to that effect.

Form elements

Title: Manage an existing URL
Description: Lorem ipsum
[Feedback]
Button: Lookup (may contain a reference already if a custom URL exists)
String field
Button: Modify

Future features

Stats for the short URLs (number of times accessed)
Management overview of all URLs in the system
Shortening external URLs

More info

Try out http://is.gd/silvashorturl

See stats: http://is.gd/silvashorturl-

The difference between Short URLs and Marketing Links

When an Author creates a Short URL the link gets expanded to the full path when somebody visits it. Thus:
http://yoursite.com/jUe8emg
becomes:
http://www.yoursite.com/department/news/articlename

With Marketing Links the URL stays short. A URL such as:
http://www.yoursite.com/department/institutes/institutename
can be made into a Marketing Link such as:
http://yoursite.com/institutename

With a Marketing Link, when a web visitor goes to the URL it won’t expand and it functions as the root of a subsite. The visitor can navigate, say, to a news page, and the URL stays short:
http://yoursite.com/institutename/news

Read the related blueprint that explains the Marketing Links concept and takes it further, allowing Site Editors to create entire alternate Public Trees of content.