URL Shortener PHP Application

A clean, fast, and fully functional URL shortening service built with PHP, Bootstrap, and vanilla JavaScript.

🚀 Quick Overview

This project provides the frontend interface (index.php) and backend logic (shorten.php, redirect.php) for a basic URL shortener.

⚠️ IMPORTANT NOTE ON DEPLOYMENT: This application is not a static site. It relies on PHP to execute server-side logic (database connection, link generation, and redirection). Therefore, it cannot be hosted on platforms like GitHub Pages, Netlify, or Vercel.

To run this application, you must use a hosting service that supports PHP and provides a MySQL or MariaDB database (e.g., shared hosting, VPS, or a local server like XAMPP/WAMP/MAMP).

---

✨ Features

• URL Shortening: Converts long URLs into concise, unique short codes.
• Redirection: Handles short code lookups and redirects users to the original long URL.
• Responsive UI: Modern, fully responsive interface using Bootstrap 5.
• Creative Error Handling: Custom, engaging error messages for invalid or missing links.
• Copy Functionality: One-click copy for the generated short URL.

---

🛠️ Prerequisites

Before deploying, ensure your environment meets these requirements:

1. PHP (version 7.4 or higher recommended)
2. MySQL or MariaDB database.
3. A Web Server (Apache or Nginx).

---

⚙️ Setup and Configuration

Follow these steps to get your URL shortener running on a PHP-enabled web server.

Step 1: Database Setup

You will need a database named, for example, url_shortener. Inside this database, create a table named urls.

This table is essential as it stores the relationship between the short codes and the long URLs.

CREATE TABLE urls (
    id INT(11) AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY,
    short_code VARCHAR(10) NOT NULL UNIQUE,
    long_url TEXT NOT NULL,
    created_at TIMESTAMP DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP
);

Step 2: Configure config.php (CRITICAL)

The application relies on the config.php file to connect to your database and define the base URL for the shortened links. You MUST edit the following placeholders in your local config.php file with your actual credentials and domain information.

Constant	Description	Line to Edit	Example Value
DB_HOST	The host address for your database server (e.g., localhost).	Line 11	'localhost'
DB_NAME	The database name you created in Step 1.	Line 12	'DatabaseName'
DB_USER	The username used to access your database.	Line 13	'root'
DB_PASS	The password for the database user.	Line 14	'Password'
BASE_URL	The public, root URL where the application will be accessed (e.g., http://localhost/LinkShortner). This is crucial for generating working short links.	Line 22	'http://localhost/LinkShortener'

Step 3: Deployment

1. Upload all PHP files (index.php, shorten.php, redirect.php, config.php) and your .htaccess files to the URL-Shortener folder on your web server (e.g., inside public_html/URL-Shortener/).
2. Ensure that the PHP code can connect to the database using the credentials you provided in Step 2.
3. Navigate to your public URL (BASE_URL) in a web browser to test the shortener.

---

🤝 Contribution & Credit

This project was developed and maintained by Vihanga Nethmaka https://github.com/VihangaNethmaka

---

License MIT