ZipMyURL | The best URL shortening service there is!

somebody please help me, i've misplaced my pants!

free, that's right, there is no charge at all on this one!

just paste or type in the URL(s) you want to compress
(you can zip multiple URLs, simply separate them with spaces!)

zip options

need help? yeah me and you both!

No seriously, I love to help people, so I will try be best to outline some the problems that crop up the most. If you are still stuck then why not email me personally and I will help you out.

Here are some questions you might be pondering, if you don't find what you need, just email me and I will try to help out where I can.

How do I preview a Zipped URL before I jump to it?

If you are unsure if the URL is something you want to actually look at (you might be at work and your boss is looking at your screen!) then you can preview a zipped URL by simply adding '/preview' to the end of the URL. An example of this would be http://zipmyurl.com/u7ayG1/preview. You can even put the '/preview/' before the actual zip intentifier e.g. http://zipmyurl.com/preview/8Hc2Gd. When you preview there will be a little magnifying glass so you can look at a screen shot of the site before you jump, just to make sure someone hasn't sent you to the 'poo button' or something ghastly!

You can also preview the public zips's on the homepage.

How do I add a password to a zip?

Just click the 'advanced options' underneath the area where you paste in your URL(s). There is a password box, just type in your password and your zipped URL(s) will be password protected. Because they are protected they are automatically marked as 'private' as well and will not appear on the publicly viewable recent zip's. However if you have an account, you can view the zip from your account management center.

I don't want my zip listed on the main site?

Can people choose which URL to load from a zip? or can it be randomly selected?

This only applies if you are adding multiple URL's to a zip. If you want the user to be able to choose which URL contained within the zip, or if you want a random URL to be chosen automatically. Just click the 'advanced options' underneath the area where you paste in your URL(s). You will notice there is checkbox titled 'allow users to choose which URL to load'. If you tick this, then the user will be able to choose, if you un-tick it then the user will automatically be sent to one of the URL's at random.

I don't want to register, can I still use ZipMyURL?

Of course! anyone can use the service with or without an account. There is no need to register to use it (unless you want to post your zipped URL's to del.icio.us and twitter). I know you probably have a hundred thousand different accounts for various different sites all around the web, why need another? I am planning on integrating OpenID soon so you can sign in and go without re-registering yet another password, (but please do register if you like the service).

What is the point of creating an account?

If you are a web 2.0 junkie and love to spread the data, you can publish every URL (or multiple URL's) that you zip to your del.icio.us and/or twitter account (if you have them). You can also keep a record of all the URL's you have zipped in the past so you never lose your links.

How do I zip multiple URL's at the same time?

It's really simple, all you need to do is separate each URL you want to zip with a space. An example would be two URL's you wanted to zip, simply enter (or paste) something like http://www.somereallygreatlongurl.com/andmore/andmore/andsomemore.html?look=thereismore http://www.anothergreatbiglongurl.com/morestuff/andyet_evenmore/andoneforluck.html?more=longboringurl
and there you have it. ZipMyURL will create a single zip for you, each time you visit the zipped URL it will pick at random one of the URL's you added to the zip.

I don't use twitter or del.icio.us, can I still use this?

Of course you can! you don't need to create an account to use the site, however if you do create one every time you zip a URL it will be added to list of URL's you have personally created. This will enable you to keep track of everything you have zipped in the past. If you don't want to create one then you can still use the site as normal, however your URL will be added to a general 'pool'. Unless you write down the zipped URL and keep a record of it, you won't be able to find it again. If at any point in the future you do register an account wither del.icio.us or twitter, you can simply activate them from your ZipMyUrl account. The choice my friend, is indeed yours!

What's the point of adding tags?

Tags are words that are associated to the URL's you zip. Example tags for MySpace might be 'social' or 'networking'. You don't have to add tags. ZipMyUrl tries to look at the URL's you zip, it has a look at the site and tries to grab appropriate tags. Sometimes selfish developers decide that they won't add any tags to the sites they create which can cause problems. ZipMyUrl can try and add the proper tags to your del.icio.us account, howver any tags that you add yourself will over ride any that it finds on the sites you zip. You don't have to add any if you don't want to, but if you rely on your tags for del.icio.us then you might want to add your own, instead of letting ZipMyUrl decide for you!