GitHub Pages URL Shortener

This is a minimal URL shortener that can be entirely hosted on GitHub pages.

Yay! We got to the top of HN!

Demo

1. nlsn.cf/1 should link to this repo.

2. To add a new short link, add an issue with the title being the link you want to shorten (including the http(s)://) to https://github.com/nelsontky/gh-pages-url-shortener-db/issues.

3. The newly created short url can be accessed via nlsn.cf/{issue_number}

Features

1. Unlike many URL shorteners, this one does not need a database uses a "database" in the form of GitHub issues and can be entirely hosted on GitHub pages.

2. There is no need for the pound symbol - short URLs look clean like this: nlsn.cf/1 instead of looking like this: nlsn.cf/#1.

How does this work

Thanks to @kidGodzilla for the pretty neat explanation here.

1. CNAME points URL to gh-pages branch
2. 404.html handles all requests
3. Small javascript snippet fetches a JSON representation of the GitHub issue via the JSON API, and redirects to the issue title, as a URL.
4. Profit?

This is so cool! How can I use this?!

Disclaimer: This method of creating a URL shortener is hacky and not meant to be reliable or used in production. Do proceed at your own risk!

1. Fork the repo before cloning your fork.

2. npm run install

   1. I know that for such a small project, the usage of node is a bit of an overkill. However, node is only involved in the deployment process, namely transpiling the .js files with babel and then using the gh-pages module to push the build folder to the gh-pages branch.

3. If you are using your own domain:

   1. Set your domain up for GitHub pages.
   2. Change the URL in src/CNAME to your domain.
   3. Change const HOST = "nlsn.cf"; in src/config.js to const HOST = "<your-domain>";.

4. If you are using GitHub page's default domain i.e. Something like https://<username>.github.io/<repo-name>/

   1. Remove the command cp CNAME build/ from line 8 of package.json.
   2. Change const HOST = "nlsn.cf"; in src/config.js to const HOST = "<username>.github.io".
   3. Change const PATH_SEGMENTS_TO_SKIP = 0; in src/config.js to const PATH_SEGMENTS_TO_SKIP = 1;.
      1. This is as GitHub domains have an additional path segment (the repo name) after the host name.

5. Create a new repo as a database. (Or you could use your forked repo)

   1. Update const GITHUB_ISSUES_LINK in src/config.js accordingly afterwards.

6. npm run deploy, and your low cost and cool as heck URL shortener will be ready for use!