django-urlbrevity 0.1.0

Why a reduced alphabet?

Because if you’re going to bother with a short URL, it needs to be readable and easily audible, without constantly double-checking you’ve not misread or misheard.

Why Hashids

Because assuming your model primary keys are integers, it’s a dirt simple way of encoding a tuple in a reasonably small space. One could also just use django.utils.http.int_to_base36 of course.

Usage

in your settings module:

INSTALLED_APPS = (
    # ...
    'urlbrevity',
    # ...
)

in your root urlconf:

from django.conf.urls import patterns, url, include
import urlbrevity

urlpatterns = patterns("",
    # ...
    url(r'redirect/', include(urlbrevity.redirects)),
    # Or if you don't want to redirect ...
    url(r'no_redirect/', include(urlbrevity.no_redirects)),
    # ...
)

in your templates:

{% load urlbrevity %}
<a href="{% url 'urlbrevity:short' my_model_instance|hashid %}">...</a>
or ...
<a href="{{ my_model_instance|short_url }}">

in your python:

import urlbrevity
obj = MyModel.objects.get(pk='...')
encoded = urlbrevity.encode_model_instance(obj=obj)
value = encoded.hash
url = reverse('urlbrevity:short', kwargs={'encoded_value': value})
# or ...
url2 = urlbrevity.short_url(obj)

# to re-inflate ...
obj_again = urlbrevity.decode_model_instance(value)

Why internal redirects?

Because mobile is an important space, and even on 3G+ connections, redirects are another round-trip that may fail or be slow. Easier to just render the intended output if possible.

License

django-urlbrevity is available under the terms of the Simplified BSD License (alternatively known as the FreeBSD License, or the 2-clause License):

Copyright (c) 2014, Keryn Knight
All rights reserved.

Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:

1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this
   list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice,
   this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation
   and/or other materials provided with the distribution.

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