--short URLs done right.

about urlborg.xml

urlborg.xml is an XML file that lets domain owners enable special handling for short URLs pointing to their pages.

urlborg.xml is placed at the top level directory of your web server, for example http://vrypan.net/urlborg.xml. If possible, it should be accessible at a URL without www, in wich case it will be effective for all subdomains (ex. www.vrypan.net, monitor.vrypan.net, etc.)

Once your urlborg.xml file is ready and uploaded, you should visit urlborg.com/a/urlborg_xml/ to let urlBorg know of it.

functionality

Currently, you will use urlborg.xml to control only one function: enable or disable your own short domain.

Have a look at the example bellow for details.

example

A minimal urlborg.xml file looks like this:

<urlborg version="1.0">
	<shortdomain>
		<domain>pv0.info</domain>
		<enabled>1</enabled>
	</shortdomain>
</urlborg>

This is actually, my own file, located at http://vrypan.net/urlborg.xml. It lets urlBorg know that whenever a user creates a short URL pointing to a page in vrypan.net or any of it's subdomains, the resulting short URL will not be in the form http://ub0.cc/xx/xxx (the default) but http://pv0.info/xx/xxx.

custom short domain setup

So here are a couple of things you should take care before trying to enable a custom short domain:

1. upload your urlborg.xml to your "main" (or "long") domain
2. make sure your short domain is no longer than 8 characters, including any dots.
3. make sure your short domain points (set up a CNAME using your DNS) to virtual.urlborg.com
4. Go to http://www.urlborg.com/a/urlborg_xml/, enter your ("long") domain (ex. "vrypan.net") and enable the service.

If you want to disable the service in the future, just replace <enable>1</enable> with <enable>0/enable> in urlborg.xml and go through the process again.

but why?

The whole idea started when I read Dave Winer's post. Dave is worried that using services like tinyurl.com creates a single point of failure for the entire web; what happens if the service goes down?

Enabling your own short domain through urlBorg is a nice workarround. urlBorg lets you export (not implemented yet, you will have to write your own app using the api) all short URLs that use your own short domain. If urlBorg goes down, or I decide to shut it down, you can use the export to recreate all short URLs going to your domain. Sounds complicated, but it isn't! (I will soon have better tools, like a PHP script that could make all this a matter of uploading a couple of files).

spread the word!

If you think this is good for the web, here is a small banner you can use at your website:

Just copy-paste the follownig HTML code:
<a href="http://www.urlborg.com/a/urlborg_xml/about/"><img src="http://static.urlborg.com/urlborg_is_good_for_your_website_234x60.jpg" width="234" height="60" border="0"/></a>