Laravel URL Shortener

A professional, feature-rich URL shortener package for Laravel with password protection, QR codes, advanced analytics, hidden UTM tracking, and much more.

Features

• 🔒 Password Protection - Protect your links with passwords
• 📊 Advanced Analytics - Track clicks, locations, devices, browsers, and more
• 🎯 Hidden UTM Tracking - Track UTM parameters without showing them in URLs
• 📱 QR Code Generation - Automatic QR code generation for all links
• ⏰ Link Expiry - Set expiration dates for links
• 🔢 Click Limits - Limit the number of clicks per link
• 🌍 Geographic Tracking - Track visitor locations (country, city)
• 📱 Device Tracking - Track devices, browsers, platforms
• 🔗 Custom Domains - Use custom domains for shortened URLs
• 🚀 High Performance - Optimized with caching
• 🔌 API Support - Full REST API included
• 📈 Real-time Analytics - Real-time visit tracking
• 🎨 Professional UI - Beautiful password protection page
• 🔗 Model Integration - Automatic short links for Eloquent models

Installation

composer require shammaa/laravel-url-shortener

Publish configuration and migrations:

php artisan vendor:publish --tag=url-shortener-config
php artisan vendor:publish --tag=url-shortener-migrations
php artisan migrate

Quick Start

Basic Usage

use Shammaa\LaravelUrlShortener\Facades\UrlShortener;

// Create a simple short link
$link = UrlShortener::create([
    'destination_url' => 'https://example.com/very-long-url',
]);

echo $link->short_url; // https://yoursite.com/s/abc123

Using Helper Function

// Simple
$link = short_url('https://example.com');

// With options
$link = short_url('https://example.com', [
    'title' => 'My Link',
    'password' => 'secret123',
    'expires_in_days' => 7,
    'click_limit' => 50,
]);

Features in Detail

Password Protection

$link = UrlShortener::create([
    'destination_url' => 'https://example.com/secret',
    'password' => 'my-password',
]);

Users will be prompted for a password when accessing the link. The password is verified in session, so they don't need to enter it again.

QR Code Generation

QR codes are automatically generated for all links:

$link = UrlShortener::create([
    'destination_url' => 'https://example.com',
]);

// Access QR code
$qrCodeUrl = $link->qr_code_path; // Storage path

// Or via API
GET /api/url-shortener/links/{key}/qr-code

Hidden UTM Tracking

Track UTM parameters without showing them in the URL:

$link = UrlShortener::create([
    'destination_url' => 'https://example.com',
    'utm_parameters' => [
        'utm_source' => 'newsletter',
        'utm_medium' => 'email',
        'utm_campaign' => 'promo2024',
    ],
    'utm_hidden' => true, // Hide in URL but track internally
]);

The UTM parameters will be tracked in analytics but won't appear in the destination URL.

Link Expiry

// Expires in 30 days
$link = UrlShortener::create([
    'destination_url' => 'https://example.com',
    'expires_in_days' => 30,
]);

// Or set specific date
$link = UrlShortener::create([
    'destination_url' => 'https://example.com',
    'expires_at' => now()->addMonths(3),
]);

Click Limits

$link = UrlShortener::create([
    'destination_url' => 'https://example.com',
    'click_limit' => 100, // Stops working after 100 clicks
]);

Advanced Analytics

The package automatically tracks:

• Total clicks
• Unique visitors (by IP)
• Geographic location (country, city)
• Device types (desktop, mobile, tablet)
• Browsers and platforms
• Referrers
• UTM parameters
• Time-based statistics

Access analytics:

$link = UrlShortener::findByKey('abc123');

// Get statistics
$totalClicks = $link->clicks_count;
$uniqueClicks = $link->visits()->distinct('ip_address')->count();
$clicksToday = $link->visits()->today()->count();
$clicksByCountry = $link->visits()->selectRaw('country, COUNT(*) as clicks')
    ->groupBy('country')
    ->get();

Using with Models

The HasShortLink trait automatically creates short links for any Eloquent model with a model prefix + random code format (e.g., post-xyz1, article-abc2).

Basic Usage

use Shammaa\LaravelUrlShortener\Traits\HasShortLink;

class Post extends Model
{
    use HasShortLink;
    
    protected $fillable = ['title', 'slug', 'content'];
}

// Create short link
$post = Post::create(['title' => 'My Article']);
$post->createShortLink();

echo $post->short_url; // https://yoursite.com/s/post-xyz1
echo $post->shortLink->key; // post-xyz1

How It Works

1. Extracts model name → Post becomes post
2. Generates random code → xyz1 (4 characters by default)
3. Combines them → post-xyz1
4. Ensures uniqueness → Checks database and regenerates if needed

Key Format

The trait generates keys in format: {model-name}-{random-code}

$post->createShortLink();      // Key: "post-xyz1"
$article->createShortLink();   // Key: "article-abc2"
$product->createShortLink();   // Key: "product-def3"

Custom Prefix

You can customize the prefix using a database field or method:

Option 1: Database Field

// Migration
Schema::table('posts', function (Blueprint $table) {
    $table->string('short_link_prefix')->nullable();
});

// Usage
$post->short_link_prefix = 'blog';
$post->createShortLink();
// Key: "blog-xyz1" (instead of "post-xyz1")

Option 2: Override Method

class Post extends Model
{
    use HasShortLink;
    
    protected function getShortLinkPrefix(): string
    {
        return 'blog'; // Always use "blog" as prefix
    }
}

Priority Order:

1. Custom field: short_link_prefix
2. Custom method: getShortLinkPrefix()
3. Model name: Auto-extracted (default)

Custom Destination URL

class Post extends Model
{
    use HasShortLink;
    
    public function getShortLinkUrl(): string
    {
        return route('posts.show', $this);
    }
}

Automatic Creation

Create short links automatically when model is created:

class Post extends Model
{
    use HasShortLink;
    
    protected static function booted()
    {
        static::created(function ($post) {
            $post->createShortLink(['title' => $post->title]);
        });
    }
}

Complete Example

// Model
class Post extends Model
{
    use HasShortLink;
    protected $fillable = ['title', 'slug', 'content'];
}

// Routes
Route::get('/posts/{post}', [PostController::class, 'show'])
    ->name('posts.show');

// Controller
public function show(Post $post)
{
    return view('posts.show', ['post' => $post]);
}

// Blade Template
@if($post->hasShortLink())
    <a href="{{ $post->short_url }}" target="_blank">
        Share: {{ $post->short_url }}
    </a>
@endif

Configuration

Customize random code length:

// config/url-shortener.php
'model_key_length' => 4, // Default: 4 characters

// Or via .env
URL_SHORTENER_MODEL_KEY_LENGTH=6

API Usage

Endpoints

# Create link
POST /api/url-shortener/links
{
    "destination_url": "https://example.com",
    "title": "My Link",
    "password": "secret",
    "expires_in_days": 30,
    "click_limit": 100
}

# Get link
GET /api/url-shortener/links/{key}

# Get analytics
GET /api/url-shortener/links/{key}/analytics

# Get QR code
GET /api/url-shortener/links/{key}/qr-code

# Update link
PUT /api/url-shortener/links/{key}
{
    "is_active": false,
    "expires_at": "2024-12-31 23:59:59"
}

# Delete link
DELETE /api/url-shortener/links/{key}

Configuration

Edit config/url-shortener.php:

// Short URL prefix
'prefix' => 's', // Links will be: /s/abc123

// Key length for manually created links
'key_length' => 6,

// Model key length (for HasShortLink trait)
'model_key_length' => 4,

// QR Code settings
'qr_code' => [
    'enabled' => true,
    'size' => 200,
    'format' => 'svg', // svg or png
],

// UTM tracking
'utm' => [
    'enabled' => true,
    'hidden' => true, // Hide in URL but track internally
],

// Tracking options
'track_visits' => true,
'track_ip_address' => true,
'track_user_agent' => true,
'track_referer' => true,
'track_geo' => false, // Requires geolocation service

Performance

• Smart Caching - Links are cached for fast retrieval
• Optimized Queries - Efficient database queries with proper indexing
• Minimal Overhead - Lightweight tracking with minimal performance impact

License

MIT

Author

Shadi Shammaa

Support

For issues and feature requests, please use the GitHub issue tracker.