Turn Long URLs in to Short Ones with ShortURL

Mon, 10 Dec 2007 13:02:00 GMT

I have just released a new project on RIAForge called ShortURL that utilizes the onMissingTemplate function of ColdFusion 8. The full project description:

Short URL takes any URL then creates a random 6 character string and adds .cfm to it. When the link is clicked on onMissingTemplate receieves the URL, looks up the full URL and forwards the user to the full URL. Very similar to tinyURL and other services except this is hosted on your domain.

Jason Delmore suggested a while back that more ColdFusion open-source projects should have an install file. I have taken an attempt at this so install.cfm creates a database table and alters a setting in the Application.cfc file. After downloading the project, unzip it and run install.cfm.

This is a first release so if you find any problems let me know (we have been using this at Interfolio for 6 weeks with no problems).

The First Post

Sun, 01 Apr 2007 18:59:53 GMT

The first post. I've decided to start a blog primarily because I like writing. And having been a programmer for the last 10 years I haven't written much during that time. I also realize I like writing about technical issues and have a fair amount on my mind at the moment so it seems like a good time to start a blog. Note, I did not say I was a grammatically correct writer. So, expect the odd typo and grammatically incorrect sentence from time to time. This is a blog and I'm not going to use the grammar corrector in Word before posting.

I am also intrigued by social networking so InstantSpot seemed a good spot (pun intended) to start my blog.

I aim to cover a bunch of topics, some tutorials and explanations of basic ColdFusion functionality, thoughts on the future of the web and ColdFusion, conferences, and anything else that comes up. I will mostly be focusing on ColdFusion (and will probably start using cf as an abbreviation real soon) though I do hope to post on other non-cf topics like JavaScript, MySQL and databases in general and who knows what else in the future.

I am not going to aim to publish on a regular basis and have pledged to keep this blog a purely non-work time activity. I'm busy enough there anyway. Good busy. I also don't believe blogs die. So if I have nothing good or interesting to say I will say nothing. I also don't think this will turn into a news blog with short entries and links to the latest news. There are enough of those, and, I rely on them for my tech-news as much as anywhere else. In short, if you like what you are reading I suggest using the RSS feeds or subscribing over email.

More to come...

RSS feed for InstantSpot site Sam Farmer's Blog

Turn Long URLs in to Short Ones with ShortURL

The First Post