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dansup

I bought a short domain for @pixelfed and built a link shortener that turns links like

pixelfed.social/i/web/post/602440349148636439

into

px.lfed.co/1/hcTE5BXeUX

It will be available soon 😉

9 comments
dansup

@pixelfed It's a very basic link shortener that will work with every pixelfed instance

Basically how it works is each instance is assigned an ID when the admin enables the feature, and then using a clever namespace syntax and base encoding, instances can generate links without having to send them to the px.lfed.co domain - and the px.lfed.co service simply decodes the syntax to the proper pixelfed url using the id of the instance!

dansup

@pixelfed And to be clear, this is only for shortening links to pixelfed posts, profiles, stories, collections, etc.

This is not used to shorten links inside captions or comments!

The only data this service stores is instance domains and ids, we do not generate urls, they are simply shortened patterns that are expanded and redirected using a simple php server!

Neven Falica

@dansup @pixelfed That's a great idea, let's hope more instances enable the feature!

prasoon

@dansup @pixelfed On the surface, it seems to me to be adding a central authority (certainly unintentionally) to the fabric of the interactions/interop. A simple fix, perhaps, could be to release the link shortening logic as a tiny spec that can outlive the service itself.

Viktor Nagornyy

@dansup @pixelfed I don't know if it will be possible, consider joining 301works.org to backup redirects and have them work in case you shut it down.

dansup

@viktor @pixelfed why would I shut it down? I've been planning this since 2019 when I added snowflake ids

Viktor Nagornyy

@dansup @pixelfed Hope for the best, prepare for the worst. Major link shortening providers participate just for the peace of mind.

Ben Carlsson

@dansup @viktor @pixelfed I believe you believe you won't shut it down, but I'm pretty sure ever service that has ever shut down, didn't originally plan to 😆

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