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Which is the best URL shortening service for Twitterfeed?

by BBCMember
14 replies
I use Twitterfeed with my Twitter account, and I've had some problems with some URL shortening services that it supports. First I used bit.ly, but I had problems with it marking some of my legitimate tweets as spam (Bit.ly even marked an affiliate link of mine as spam when I only tweeted once, and I had manually tweeted it; that was not via Twitterfeed). All of my tweets are from blogs that are in the top 100 on Technorati and are blog posts that contain free, valuable, and helpful info.

I then switched to snipurl.com, but am having the same issue.

I tried cli.gs as well in the past, but for some reason, my cligs stopped getting archived in my executive summary, so I stopped getting the stats, which is the reason why I was using that service in the first place. I even tried creating a new API key, but that didn't fix it.

I then tried su.pr by putting the code in the custom field, but Twitterfeed does not support using your API key. So you can use that service, but it won't be attached to your account so you won't get the stats.

With all of that said, which URL shortening service would you recommend other than the ones that I mentioned? I want to make sure that it is reliable, supported by Twitterfeed, won't mark my tweets as spam, and the service won't go away anytime soon so that my shortened links remain live for years to come.

Also, am I able to use my own domain as a URL shortening service with Twitterfeed? If so, is there a plugin for Wordpress that would give me an API and tracking? I installed Pretty Link, but the free version does not give you an API. Does the paid version? Once I do find a plugin that gives you an API, what code do I put in the custom field of Twitterfeed so I get the stats?

TIA
#service #shortening #twitterfeed #url
  • Profile picture of the author trishworks4u
    jeez - I dunno. I just went through all of this last week. I was going to use budurl until I found out that they were ONLY ones that charged $. I couldn't get cli.gs to work AT ALL.

    It didn't seem that some of the others had good stats so I ended up with bit.ly. Not sure if my tweets are getting flagged or not.
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  • Profile picture of the author BBCMember
    Be careful using bit.ly. Check this out:

    http://www.warriorforum.com/warrior-...g-service.html
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  • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
    Banned
    Originally Posted by BBCMember View Post

    am I able to use my own domain as a URL shortening service with Twitterfeed?
    This strikes me as the key question (and I'm sorry I don't know the answer, but I'm not a twitterer, or tweeter, or twitfeeder, or whatever it's called. ).

    But the best URL-shortener is surely any one that you own and control yourself.

    To put it mildly, it's not wise at all to rely on the continued availability, goodwill, reliability and changeable terms of service of any third-party URL-shortening service. There were a few hundred Warriors here last year who would have said the same (and in fact did) when all their Tinyurl links suddenly disappeared overnight.

    And if anyone tells you that "bit.ly's not going anywhere", and "has good customer service", just invite them to read this recent post on Ben Metcalfe's blog: The .ly domain space to be considered unsafe | :Ben Metcalfe Blog.
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    • Profile picture of the author Shannon Herod
      And if anyone tells you that "bit.ly's not going anywhere", and "has good customer service", just invite them to read this recent post on Ben Metcalfe's blog: The .ly domain space to be considered unsafe | :Ben Metcalfe Blog.
      Wow, thanks for pointing that out. I was actually debating on buying a.LY domain name.
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      • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
        Banned
        Originally Posted by Shannon Herod View Post

        I was actually debating on buying a.LY domain name.
        I know exactly what you mean.

        That adverbial-looking extension lends itself so well to "interesting" domain-names!
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  • Profile picture of the author BBCMember
    Hey Alexa. I've come across similar posts of yours when reading other threads on this topic. I completely agree with you. Too many URL shortening services have let me down, so I would love to have my own domain shortening service on my own domain. I actually do via the Pretty Link plugin for Wordpress, but I have to find out how to get it to work with Twitterfeed. It's only today that I discovered that snipurl was flagging some of my posts as spam. I've already emailed Twitterfeed asking them if it's possible. Hopefully they will get back to me soon.

    Btw, do you know anything about Pretty Link? Have you used that Wordpress plugin? I've used with great success other than getting it to work with Twitterfeed.

    And you're right about the .ly domains. I posted a link to a post that referred to that same blog post right above your post.

    Btw, when is your site going back up?
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    • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
      Banned
      Originally Posted by BBCMember View Post

      Hey Alexa.

      Btw, do you know anything about Pretty Link? Have you used that Wordpress plugin? I've used with great success other than getting it to work with Twitterfeed.
      Nooooooo, I don't use Pretty Link. Or Wordpress. Or Twitter. But apart from that, I'm with you all the way (apart from your weekend program scheduling, which sometimes leaves a little to be desired!).

      Originally Posted by BBCMember View Post

      Btw, when is your site going back up?
      "Soon" ... possibly. But not with an "article writing service", because I found out I do a lot better writing for myself, and am really not wanting to take on article-writing clients again.
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      • Profile picture of the author BBCMember
        Twitterfeed did the research for me and said Pretty Link's current API would not work with their service. I've emailed the developer of Pretty Link, but have not heard back from him yet.

        Twitterfeed also gave me new code to use in their custom field that was supposed to work with my Stumbleupon API key, but no such luck. It just produced a broken tinyurl.com link. Weird.

        Unfortunately, ihid.us does not work with Twitterfeed, but thanks.

        I've decided to go with su.pr and no stats. Right now I prefer the possibility of getting a lot of traffic from a blog post that strikes a chord with the stumblers on Stumbleupon over tracking the stats of my tweets.

        If anyone finds either a code or Wordpress plugin that gives you the ability to have your own URL shortening service on your own domain that also works with Twitterfeed, I'd appreciate it if you posted it on this thread. Here is the kind of API that Twitterfeed says it needs to work with their service:

        We need an API that can be called with a simple GET request, and returns the shortened link as plain text.
        Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

        Nooooooo, I don't use Pretty Link. Or Wordpress. Or Twitter. But apart from that, I'm with you all the way (apart from your weekend program scheduling, which sometimes leaves a little to be desired!).
        Glad to hear you're on my side. I would suggest you start using Wordpress. Google loves Wordpress blogs. Btw, where did I mention that I scheduled things on the weekend, party girl? ;p


        Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

        "Soon" ... possibly. But not with an "article writing service", because I found out I do a lot better writing for myself, and am really not wanting to take on article-writing clients again.
        Soon? Possibly? Get on it, girl! Why put off your passion? Bravo for finding what works for you in your business. Now you just need to take that talent of yours and use it to make lots of moola so you can enjoy your precious weekends even more.
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  • Profile picture of the author YoichiSpeaks
    Go use stumbleupons url shortener at Su.pr
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  • Profile picture of the author BBCMember
    Thanks. I use that service already. It only allows you to feed up to 5 RSS feeds to your twitter account. I need more than that.

    I tried using the code that Twitterfeed gave to use su.pr with their service, and it does work if you don't mind not getting the stats. But unfortunately, I do mind. Apparently, you can't use su.pr with your own API key on Twitterfeed.

    Here was the code they gave to put in their custom field:

    http://su.pr/api/simpleshorten?url=%@

    I first tried putting my API key where it says "api" in the code above, but that just produced crazy characters in my tweets. So I entered it exactly like it is above, and it worked fine. But again, no stats.
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  • Profile picture of the author InfinetADs
    Research "Pretty Link" and find out the features it offers for both the free and paid version. This can be done by using the Internet, but calling the product's manufacturer would give you the clearest answer.

    Like most all "free" downloads, there is always a catch...
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    InfinetADs

    www.InfinetADs.com

    The Affiliate Network With Infinet Possibilities!
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  • Profile picture of the author SingerRinging
    Have you tried ihid.us? I use it with no problem.
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  • Profile picture of the author jushuaburnham
    Who among you using socialoomph?
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