create account
chop.at

FAQ


How does this work?
Simplest case: Enter a long URL on the front page and click "chop!".
On the next page, you'll find your new, chopped URL, a preview-link (you can use that if you want your visitors to see a preview of the original link, before being redirected to their final destination - it's a trust thing :) ) and a stats-link where you can see visitor-stats of the current month.
When you entered an "alias" on the front page, this will be used for your chopped URL, if you didn't, a random string of 6 characters will be used.
When you're a registered user, you can also check "private stats" on the front page so only you can see the stats for this link.


What is this stuff for anyway?
When sending long URLs via email, instant messenger or whatever you often face the problem that the link is to long, gets line-broken and isn't clickable anymore. With chop.at, you can sanitize those links.
It also saves you worthy characters at microblogging-sites like Twitter & Co, or even in a mobile text-message...


How long will my links be valid?
Easy thing: As long as there is at least one visitor every six months. When a link expires, you'll have to recreate it. (You can try to use the "alias-parameter" to obtain the same chopped URL as you had before - but there's no guarantee..!)


Is there an API for automated use?
Yes, there is! It's availibe at http://chop.at/api.php. All parameters can be provided via GET and POST.

Create a link: http://chop.at/api.php?link=<long url>[alias=<alias>] (API response: Chopped URL or error message)
If the alias already exists or you don't choose one, a random alias will be created.

Look up an alias: http://chop.at/api.php?lookup=<alias> (API response: Original URL or error message)
You can enter the plain alias or the complete chopped URL...


What does the "auto-preview" link in the upper left corner mean?
You can preview every link by prepending a "/p/" to the alias. e.g: http://chop.at/p/abcdef.
By enabling the auto-preview feature, you'll preview every link, you visit. No matter whether you prefixed the alias or not. (So you can't be RickRolled that easy.. ;) )


Why register?
We'll create stats for all the links submitted. When you're unregistered, everbody can view those stats. When you're registered, you can set them to "e;private", so only you can see them.
Registered users also have a list of all their submitted links, so they can be managed easily..