What are these URL shortener all about?

URL shortener help users of different services like twitter.com, delicious or many others to create really short URLs from sometimes really long ones.
Let us look at a sample:

Let´s say your have a long URL like this one:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/URL_shortener#Purposes
which consist out of 51 characters and you do not want to spend that much space in a twitter update.

Then you could use <apu.sh> and come up with a much shorter URL like this one:
http://apu.sh/1
which only takes 15 characters or without the http:// prefix only 8 characters.

By navigating to http://apu.sh/1 you or your users and visitors will be redirected to the original URL.
Come on, just try it out!

What does this ' <apu.sh>' and your logo mean?

As an URL shortener service you are always on the search for very, very short domains to get a minimum length for your pushed URLs.

<apu.sh> and its logo are creative modifications of the HTML Tag '<a>' which stands for 'anchor' and is the core functionality of the Internet.

An anchor lets you link content and pages of different web sites and services together.

In other words, <apu.sh> is 'pushing' your long anchors and links to the right (and very small) size!

How do you push these long URLs to these little small ones?

Every link that is created by a user will be stored in the data backend and will get a unique ID.
This ID is then converted back to a readable version.
This 'converted ID' together with some 'pushing magic' makes up your pushed URL!

Do you always generate the same 'Short URL' for the same 'Long URL'?

The answer is 'Yes' and 'No'!

Yes, because if you are a anonymous user, who has no <apu.sh> account you will always get back the same pushed URL.

As an exmaple, if two anonymous user are pushing the long URL:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/URL_shortener#Purposes

they will both get back

http://apu.sh/1

as the pushed URL

But when you sign up for a <apu.sh> account, you will get your own personalized pushed URL.

In short terms, public, anonymous users get the same 'Short URL' from the same 'Long URL'. Signed in users are getting their own 'Short URL' for the 'Long URL'!

Note: Every unique 'Short URL' also has its own statistics and reports!

What type of redirect do you use?

We only use HTTP '301' Status redirects, which means permanent redirect!
'301' redirects seem to be the better choise when it comes to search engine optimization (SEO).

Can I get some kind of preview of the URL?

Absolutely! Just appand a '-' sign at the end of the URL and you will be taken to the 'Push Preview Page' where you will get basic information about the page you wil be redirected to!
If available you will also see some sort of Preview Thumb Image of the target website!

Here is a sample:

Let´s say your normal URL is: http://apu.sh/1.
So we just append a '-' at the end of the URL and come up with: http://apu.sh/1-
Come on, just try it out!

Can I get some kind of statistics on the URL?

Absolutely! Just add '/stats/' before your short URL and you will be taken to the 'Push Statistics Page' where you will get basic statistical information about the pushed URL.

If you want more detailled statistics and reports you should consider signing up for a free <apu.sh> account! Sign Me Up Now!

Here is a sample:

Let´s say your normal URL is: http://apu.sh/1.
So we just append a '/stats/' in front of the short URL and come up with: http://apu.sh/stats/1
Come on, just try it out!

Is there any API available to incooperate your service into other services?

Yes, absolutly, just follow this Link to our API section to read all about our interfaces for third party services!

How long do my pushed URLs last?

In one word: Forever!

The little bit longer answer is, it depends on what options you take when creating a new pushed URL.
There is also a feature which allows you to define a periode for which the pushed URL will be active.
As soon as this period is over, the link will stop working and all visitors of the pushed URL will be redirected to a standard info page telling them, that the URL is no longer active or has been deleted.

In all other cases all links will work as long as our service is up and running, which is hopefully very long!