YJL

1   Shortened URL

Now you don’t need to share a link of your blog post like:

http://<name>.blogspot.com/YYYY/MM/really-long-url-like-this-here.html

Not any more!

It’s like YouTube’s shortened URL (http://youtu.be/), now Blogger gives you the same thing. You don’t need third-party URL shortening service and don’t need to worry one day the services would be gone, and those shortened URLs would become a graveyard of 404s or “Server not found”. And best of all is this new shortened URL clearly says where the link would lead to.

At this moment, all template code has been automatically updated for your copying convenience. A new clipboard icon is added to Share Buttons.

Also an HTML tag is added for clients which support it:

<link href="http://blogg.er/abcdefghijk" rel="shortlink">

If you are a template designer, be first to use new Layout Data tags:

<!-- Global if URL is a post -->
<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == "item"'>
  <data:pageShortLink/>
</b>

<!-- In posts loop -->
<b:loop var='post' values='data:posts'>
  <data:post.shortLink/>
</b:loop>

2   Interview

I have an interview with Blogger Lead Developer Mr. Loof Lirpa about the shortened URL feature:

YJL

What made Blogger decide to implement this feature?

LL

The community. We receive hundreds of ideas every month. Some are good, and shortened URL definitely is one of the greatest ideas and that was the reason motiving us to implement it as soon as possible. As a matter of fact, we started around 3/24, the last week of March, a week before the release. So you see how much we like this idea.

YJL

Wow, that’s quite a rush move, wasn’t it? How could you be sure it would work normally once released to the public?

LL

Oh, I should have mentioned there are actually more infrastructure building before that date, the preparation actually took a lot of time before real coding. We may touch that during this interview.

YJL

Okay. That’s move on for now. Why are there three different host names, you know blogname.blogspot.com, blogger.com, and my favorite blogg.er? Why the variations?

LL

Actually, there is more than just the three. Remember our ccTLD feature? You can use blogger.CC or <blogname>.blogspot.CC if you like. The reason behind it is because we want the bloggers—especially bloggers who maintain their own brand with the domain—can share with their own custom domains or <blogname>.blogspot.CC.

If they don’t mind, they can use blogg.er.

YJL

So it’s just for branding?

LL

No, there is more to that. The blogg.er and blogger.CC are globally accessible with the shortened ID. That is said, you can use same shortened ID. But you can’t use shortened ID which is from different blog on other’s custom domains or <blogname>.blogspot.CC.

YJL

Are you saying the shortened ID is unique across all blogs?

LL

Yes.

YJL

How is that generated?

LL

It’s based on the post ID with a hash function. At this moment, it would generate 11 characters, Base 62 like most shortening URL services.

YJL

Wouldn’t that be problematic if a blogger decides to change <blogname>? What would happen to those <blogname>.blogspot.com shortened URLs?

LL

Basically, they return 404 as they should.

YJL

So, the situation is the same? When service is gone, URL is gone?

LL

Well, that’s a way to look into it. We develop it, so hopefully bloggers wouldn’t suffer from that. When a blogger takes very serious of its own name, it’s less likely a blogname change would ever occur.

And we also provide a safe option, that’s our global hostnames, blogg.er and blogger.CC. We encourage bloggers using that rather than <blogname>.blogspot.CC. As long as the blog post isn’t deleted, the shortened URL will always redirect visitors to the posts.

YJL

How did Blogger acquired a .er domain? Isn’t it inactive?

LL

Not anymore. Google is now taking over the role of .er domain registrar, they have signed a contract with the Eritrean government. Luckily for us, we are the first user to benefit. There should be an official post soon on official Google blog.

YJL

I see, that sounds great. What happens if the Custom Redirect conflicts with shortened URL? That would happen, right?

LL

Yes and we have taken that into account. For any possible conflict, the shortened ID would be prefixed with a dash.

YJL

What about private blogs? Would shortened URL work for them?

LL

Yes. When a shortened ID is of a private blog. The visitor would have to be logged in beforehand, in order to be redirected. The long URL would not be leaked if the visitor has no permission to read. We take user’s privacy very serious.

YJL

I see. I think I can’t wait for this new feature to be used by every blogger. Thanks for your time and please do implement more of our ideas.

LL

Neither can I and we will continue to make our users happy with their ideas. Thanks for the interview.

3   Summary

• Shortened URL can be accessible via <blogname>.blogspot.CC or custom domain, blogger.CC, or blogg.er.
• A copying-to-clipboard button has been added to Share Buttons.
• <link href="http://blogg.er/abcdefghijk" rel="shortlink"> is added to <head/>.
• For savvy users or developers, you can use <data:pageShortLink/> or <data:post.shortLink/> in template.