Shrinking Very Long Website Links

[trystan]

Shrinking Very Long Website Links

We've put together a little tool to shrink down very long website links. You can use the tool at:

www.rootschat.com/links

Example
For example the rather long cryptic link:
http://www.streetmap.co.uk/streetmap.dll?G2M?X=635500&Y=260500&A=Y&Z=3

Can be shrunken down to:
www.rootschat.com/links/02n/

Why bother?
You may wonder why bother shrinking down links? An advantage is that sometimes a very long link will make topics on RootsChat go very "wide". By shrinking it, the link will fit in your postings.
You can also use this utility for posting links to others in emails. Sometimes some email programs can break a very long website link in two.

Some people may have other sites/utilites that shrink links in a similar way. The difficulty is though is that when the links "break" we have no means of correcting them. We also don't know how long these site/utilities will work for. With the RootsChat Links tool, when a link does break, we can go in and try and fix them or work out why they no longer work.

Where can I use them?
You can use the RootsChat Links tool not just for links to post on RootsChat, but on other sites, in your emails, personal messages, or even in writing.

How do I use it?
To shrink a long link, go to:
www.rootschat.com/links

Put the long website link in the box and click "Shrink Link" - that's it.
A page will appear and tell you the shrunken link for the long one you put in.


Shrink Button: You can also add a handy button to your "Links Toolbar" to automatically shrink links down whenever you are on a site. Details on how to set this up are on the www.rootschat.com/links page. Once you have set this up, just click the "RootsChat.com Links" button on your browser, and it will shrink it for you.

www.rootschat.com/links



Hope you find it useful.

[MarieC]

That's great Trystan - it will be really useful!!   

Could you sticky it in the Common Room - please, pretty please??  Then we can all get to it if we need it, and newbies will see it too. 

Hopefully

MarieC

[liverpool annie]

Thanks Trystan!

I got rid of "Tiny" and changed to "Small" already!! 

Annie 

[Arranroots]

This is a great idea!

I can't get the button onto my toolbar however - HELP!!

Using IE v6

Get stuck at the bit where it says "hit OK" - does this mean ENTER or ??  Nothing happens.  Can't have Tiny on toolbar either.

The weakest link is the operator!!

Arranroots 

[trystan]

Arranroots,

I think it's "Yes" you need to press, not "OK" that it says in the instructions. What step have you got up to?

Trystan 
Internet Explorer: Users who use Internet Explorer may find that, clicking and dragging of the 'javascript' link above does not work. Adding a button to Internet Explorer can be done by:
1) Right-Click the link (with your right mouse button) and select "Add to Favorites..." from the menu.
2) Click "OK" if a security warning appears (this shows up because the link uses javscript).
3) Now select the folder called "Links" and then click OK. You should now see the "RootsChat Links" on your links toolbar as a buttton, if not, see the last paragraph above.
PS If he folder called "Links" is not there, then click the "Create in >>>" button) and create one called "Links"

[Arranroots]

Hi Trystan

Step (3)  - I highlight the folder to select it and then...

sorry to be dense, but couldn't get it to work!! 

p.s. have just been using it successfully though!

Arranroots 

[trystan]

Do you see something like below at all?

A "Links" thing to the right hand side of Internet Explorer?  You should be able to drag or move it it to reveal the buttons.

[Lloydy]

Very useful Trystan, thanks very much .....and I have successfully added it to my toolbar (amazing really ).

Jan

[Arranroots]

Hurray!

After a bit of jiggling I got the LINKS toolbar to appear as shown above.

I could then drag the icon to that Toolbar as suggested.

Thanks for making it simple for me!!

A