slash/idk

slash/idk (Slash, I don't know) is a Django-based web app that lets you run a simple local web server, where you can shorten long URLs with the name of your choice.

By providing the desired name as a subdirectory to the server's domain name, the app redirects you to the original page mapped to this name.

Requirements

To run the web app, you primarily need the following installed on your system:

• Python 3.7+

Install

To install the web app, clone the repository in the directory of your choice and enter the project's root directory:

git clone https://github.com/mhmdkanj/slash-idk.git
cd slash-idk

It is highly recommended to deal with the app within a virtual environment. For more info regarding virtual environments, please refer to the Python docs. To create one, execute the following:

python3 -m venv ./venv
source ./venv/bin/activate  # for Unix/MacOS systems
# OR
venv\Scripts\activate.bat  # for Windows systems

Now, you can safely install the dependencies of the web app using pip:

pip install -r requirements.txt

Just for the first time, it is required to set up the database used by the web app (or at least make sure it's okay) by just running the following Django commands:

python src/manage.py makemigrations
python src/manage.py migrate

Usage

To run the server, use the following Django command:

python src/manage.py runserver

Most probably, the web server will use port 8000 (otherwise, check the output of the previous command). If that's the case, then you can open the app by inputting the following URL in your web browser: http://localhost:8000/

Shortening a URL

To add a mapping:

1. Paste your URL in the first field
2. Enter a short name in the second field
3. Just click Save!

For instance, if typing out http://google.com tires you, and you would rather use something short like ggl, you can input this info as such and then click save:

The next time you want to visit this site, you can then enter in your browser: http://localhost:8000/ggl, which redirects you to http://google.com.

You can also click on "Suggest Name" to suggest a randomly generated shortened name for the URL.

Displaying Saved URLs

Click on "My URLs" on the navigation bar to list all saved shortened URLs.

You can also choose to delete any of them by clicking on the button next to the desired entry.

Quitting the Server

To quit the server, press Ctrl+C within the terminal the server was launched from.