ashaman999 / link-shortner

A customized link shortener, where u can have custom shorten links with your name in it so as to make the link more personalized and appealing

URL Shortener Application

A simple URL shortener application built using Node.js, Express, and MongoDB.

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Features
• Prerequisites
• Installation
• Usage
• API Endpoints
• License

Overview

This URL shortener application allows you to create short and easy-to-share versions of long URLs. It uses Node.js and Express for the backend server and MongoDB as the database to store URL mappings.

Features

• Shorten long URLs into easy-to-share short URLs.
• Record and display the total number of clicks for each shortened URL.
• Track the timestamp of each click.
• Store URL mappings in a MongoDB database.
• Validate URLs to ensure they are in the correct format.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have met the following requirements:

• Node.js and npm installed on your machine.
• MongoDB installed and running locally or on a remote server.
• Git (optional, for cloning the repository).

Installation

1. Clone the repository (if you haven't already):

   git clone <repository_url>
   cd url-shortener-app

2. Install the application dependencies:

   npm install

3. Configure your MongoDB connection in the .env file:

   Create a .env file in the project root directory and add the following:

   PORT=4000
   MONGODB_URI=your_mongodb_connection_string
   BASE_URL=http://localhost:3000  # Update with your base URL

Usage

1. Start the application:

   npm start

2. Access the application in your web browser at http://localhost:3000 (or your specified base URL).

3. Shorten a URL by entering it in the provided form and clicking "Shorten."

4. Click on the shortened URL to redirect to the original URL.

API Endpoints

Shorten a URL

• Endpoint: /api/shorten

• Method: POST

• Request Body: JSON object with origUrl

Example:

curl -X POST http://localhost:4000/api/shorten -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d "{\"originalUrl\": \"https://google.com/\"}"

Redirect to Original URL

• Endpoint: /:urlId
• Method: GET

Get the Click Counts and History

• Endpoint: /stats/:urlId
• Method: GET

More features and endpoints to be added