Now you can know what a tinyurl corresponds to

[jgpaiva]

I thought some of you would like this. I know i do

Preview a TinyURL

Don't want to be instantly redirected to a TinyURL and instead want to see where it's going before going to the site? Not a problem with our preview feature.

http://tinyurl.com/preview.php

[lanux128]

this feature can also be enabled by prefixing the url with "preview".. e.g from http://tinyurl.com/des32 to http://preview.tinyurl.com/des32

[jgpaiva]

Oh, thanks lanux, that's really useful!
I'll keep that in mind, next time i make a tinyurl

[hamradio]

So who thinks they should of kept with the tinyurl scheme and make it be just p.tinyurl.com instead of preview.tinyurl.com?

[Veign]

I always hated TinyUrl since it meant there had to be trust.  I had to trust the source posting the TinyUrl as I had no insight into where it was going.  In fact I never click a TinyUrl link.

If needed a url shortener I like URL(x) better as it, at least, provides the domain in the shortened URL.  This helps me make a better informed decision on whether to click or not.

This post is shortened to (with Url(x)):
http://urlx.org/donationcoder.com/baec4

Just my .02

[Mark0]

Nice to know about url(x)! Thanks!

[hamradio]

It should be noted that in the more options of url(x) that the user can turn off including the domain in the short URL.

[lanux128]

So who thinks they should of kept with the tinyurl scheme and make it be just p.tinyurl.com instead of preview.tinyurl.com?

i think this is one for the devs of tinyurl.. on the other hand, a bookmarklet or a greasemonkey script could be scripted to show the actual link in the status bar whenever the cursor hovers over a tinyurl link. maybe by background-caching the actual link using the "preview" method..

[Veign]

It should be noted that in the more options of url(x) that the user can turn off including the domain in the short URL.

Then I wouldn't click it.  The point being I would never click a link where I don't know where its going.

[hamradio]

That is why if you turn on the tinyurl thing it will show you the exact url of where it goes to not just the domain name.  The person doesnt even have to link to the preview thing if you goto tinyurl and turn on the preview from what I read.

[Veign]

Except that I have to click the preview url, goto a preview page, see the URL, then make a decision if I want to go.  Seems like a lot to go through for a link.  I would rather have the long URL.

[lanux128]

i found a web-tool called Embiggen that expands tinyurls on-the-fly. it "uses a Dapper service to expand any mysterious TinyURLs into their full version". the page also has a bookmarklet, which is just nice to use other websites.. check out the before-after screenshots..

Before
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After
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• http://ghill.customer.netspace.net.au/embiggen/