URL Shortener

A URL Shortener web application that generates a unique short ID for long URLs. Users can use the generated short ID to redirect to the original website through the application.

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🚀 Features

• Shorten long URLs instantly
• Redirect users using generated short ID
• Track number of clicks for each URL
• Store URLs in MongoDB database
• Simple and clean user interface
• User authorization support
• Secure middleware for login and authentication

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🛠 Tech Stack

Frontend

• HTML
• Tailwind CSS
• EJS (Embedded JavaScript Templates)

Backend

• Node.js
• Express.js

Database

• MongoDB
• Mongoose

Libraries & Tools

• NanoID
• Cookie Parser
• JWT (for authentication)
• Git & GitHub

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⚙️ Installation

1. Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/your-username/url-shortener.git

2. Go to the project directory

3. Install dependencies

4. Create environment variables

Create a .env file in the root folder and add:

PORT=8000
MONGO_URL=your_mongodb_connection_string
JWT_SECRET=your_secret_key

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▶️ Run the Application

Start the server

The application will run on:

http://localhost:8000

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🔄 How It Works

1. User enters a long URL
2. Server generates a short unique ID using NanoID
3. URL and ID are stored in MongoDB
4. When the short URL is visited:
   • Server finds the original URL
   • Redirects the user
   • Increments the click count

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📊 Example

Original URL

https://www.example.com/very-long-url-example

Short URL

http://localhost:8000/abc123

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🔮 Future Improvements

• QR code generation for URLs
• Custom short URLs
• Analytics dashboard
• URL expiration feature
• Rate limiting
• User accounts and dashboards