diff --git a/zinnia/admin/entry.py b/zinnia/admin/entry.py
index 81c392b0c..c501aef8d 100644
--- a/zinnia/admin/entry.py
+++ b/zinnia/admin/entry.py
@@ -193,7 +193,7 @@ def get_actions(self, request):
             del actions['make_mine']
         if not settings.PING_DIRECTORIES:
             del actions['ping_directories']
-        if not settings.USE_TWITTER or not settings.USE_BITLY:
+        if not settings.USE_TWITTER:
             del actions['make_tweet']
 
         return actions
diff --git a/zinnia/models.py b/zinnia/models.py
index f3a3d96b3..5a7608e02 100644
--- a/zinnia/models.py
+++ b/zinnia/models.py
@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@
 import mptt
 from tagging.fields import TagField
 
-from zinnia.settings import USE_BITLY
 from zinnia.settings import UPLOAD_TO
 from zinnia.settings import MARKUP_LANGUAGE
 from zinnia.settings import ENTRY_TEMPLATES
@@ -34,6 +33,7 @@
 from zinnia.managers import AuthorPublishedManager
 from zinnia.managers import DRAFT, HIDDEN, PUBLISHED
 from zinnia.moderator import EntryCommentModerator
+from zinnia.url_shortener import get_url_shortener
 from zinnia.signals import ping_directories_handler
 from zinnia.signals import ping_external_urls_handler
 
@@ -235,14 +235,7 @@ def comments_are_open(self):
     @property
     def short_url(self):
         """Return the entry's short url"""
-        if not USE_BITLY:
-            return False
-
-        from django_bitly.models import Bittle
-
-        bittle = Bittle.objects.bitlify(self)
-        url = bittle and bittle.shortUrl or self.get_absolute_url()
-        return url
+        return get_url_shortener()(self)
 
     def __unicode__(self):
         return '%s: %s' % (self.title, self.get_status_display())
diff --git a/zinnia/settings.py b/zinnia/settings.py
index a8f3f726b..776f4c815 100644
--- a/zinnia/settings.py
+++ b/zinnia/settings.py
@@ -59,8 +59,8 @@
 F_MIN = getattr(settings, 'ZINNIA_F_MIN', 0.1)
 F_MAX = getattr(settings, 'ZINNIA_F_MAX', 1.0)
 
-USE_BITLY = getattr(settings, 'ZINNIA_USE_BITLY',
-                    'django_bitly' in settings.INSTALLED_APPS)
+URL_SHORTENER_BACKEND = getattr(settings, 'ZINNIA_URL_SHORTENER_BACKEND',
+                                'zinnia.url_shortener.backends.default')
 
 STOP_WORDS = getattr(settings, 'ZINNIA_STOP_WORDS',
                      ('able', 'about', 'across', 'after', 'all', 'almost',
diff --git a/zinnia/url_shortener/__init__.py b/zinnia/url_shortener/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b1c3efe95
--- /dev/null
+++ b/zinnia/url_shortener/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+"""Url shortener for Zinnia"""
+import warnings
+
+from django.utils.importlib import import_module
+from django.core.exceptions import ImproperlyConfigured
+
+from zinnia.settings import URL_SHORTENER_BACKEND
+from zinnia.url_shortener.backends.default import backend as default_backend
+
+
+def get_url_shortener():
+    """Return the selected url shortener backend"""
+    try:
+        backend_module = import_module(URL_SHORTENER_BACKEND)
+        backend = getattr(backend_module, 'backend')
+    except (ImportError, AttributeError):
+        warnings.warn('%s backend cannot be imported' % URL_SHORTENER_BACKEND,
+                      RuntimeWarning)
+        backend = default_backend
+    except ImproperlyConfigured, e:
+        warnings.warn(str(e), RuntimeWarning)
+        backend = default_backend
+
+    return backend
diff --git a/zinnia/url_shortener/backends/__init__.py b/zinnia/url_shortener/backends/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c2164b602
--- /dev/null
+++ b/zinnia/url_shortener/backends/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+"""Shortlink backends for Zinnia"""
diff --git a/zinnia/url_shortener/backends/bitly.py b/zinnia/url_shortener/backends/bitly.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0e42e4ee0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/zinnia/url_shortener/backends/bitly.py
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+"""Bit.ly url shortener backend for Zinnia"""
+from django.conf import settings
+from django.core.exceptions import ImproperlyConfigured
+
+try:
+    from django_bitly.models import Bittle
+except ImportError:
+    raise ImproperlyConfigured('django_bitly is not available')
+
+if not getattr(settings, 'BITLY_LOGIN', ''):
+    raise ImproperlyConfigured('You have to set a BITLY_LOGIN setting')
+
+if not getattr(settings, 'BITLY_API_KEY', ''):
+    raise ImproperlyConfigured('You have to set a BITLY_API_KEY setting')
+
+
+def backend(entry):
+    """Bit.ly url shortener backend for Zinnia"""
+    bittle = Bittle.objects.bitlify(entry)
+    return bittle.shortUrl
diff --git a/zinnia/url_shortener/backends/default.py b/zinnia/url_shortener/backends/default.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4727d5c14
--- /dev/null
+++ b/zinnia/url_shortener/backends/default.py
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+"""Default url shortener backend for Zinnia"""
+from django.contrib.sites.models import Site
+from django.core.urlresolvers import reverse
+
+from zinnia.settings import PROTOCOL
+
+
+def backend(entry):
+    """Default url shortener backend for Zinnia"""
+    return '%s://%s%s' % (PROTOCOL, Site.objects.get_current().domain,
+                       reverse('zinnia_entry_shortlink', args=[entry.pk]))