Kelvin.Click

URL Shortener · Mobile First · Lead Developer

Personal URL Shortener and Link interface

Kelvin.Click is a personal URL Shortener and Linktree like link interface for personal uses. Kelvin.Click was built in a mobile-first environment.

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A Linktree Alternative + URL Shortener

Linktree has advertised themselves as 'The Only Link You'll Ever Need', and for many this can definitely be true. At one point, I myself even got my own linktr.ee, however Linktree limits what you can do behind a paywall. This is fair, but of course to a developer who can simply develop (hence developer) their own system of links like Linktree, I found it unfair. So, I went to create kelvin.click. It's nothing fancy, it certainly can be, however, due to my own preferences, it's like a simple Linktree template.

URL Shorteners are URLs that tend to have a domain 2-6 characters and a slug (after the / ) of 1-10 charcters. The purpose of these short URLs are for people to have an easier time typing in a url. For instance, instead of typing in "https://developers.googleblog.com/2018/03/transitioning-google-url-shortener.html" they can type in goo.gl/transition.

Some commonly known URL shorteners are Bitly (bit.ly) and Rebrandly (rebrand.ly). Both of these services take advantage of the .ly top-level domain. They all do the same thing (essentially), they take a long url and shorten them into a 5-6 character string of letters. Then, you, can share that URL with others and they can either click on the link, or type it in. This way, you can remember, or type in kelvin.click/NEXTforautism instead of https://www.nextforautism.org/current-events/color-the-spectrum/.

A System of Tracking Enabled Links

Today, when you think of tracking enabled links, you probably think of Google URLs. This is true, but it can also be enabled through Linktree, and most other similar programs or you can even create your own. While tracking the links were originally not the goal of the Kelvin.Click, it quickly became a large part of it, as it would allow me to tell who clicked a link, when they clicked it, from where, what time, and a realm of other data points. You can make this work in your favor when you're running a promotion, and you want to know whether people that are receiving the email are actually clicking on them, and if they are, how long do they stay on the page.

This is where Amplitude comes in. They have plenty of methods to connect sources for data. However, for the purposes of Kelvin.Click, a JavaScript based system worked best. The way it would work is, a user would click or enter a link, which redirects them to a page, while collecting data from their device.

The way we create links is using Amplitude's standard JavaScript SDK and change the standard amplitude.getInstance().logEvent(''); to adding the Page name for easy reference.amplitude.getInstance().logEvent('Page Name'); Of course, this is only the page logger, not the JavaScript that collects most of the data. To see that, click the button below.

You can see the process of a link that has tracking abilities. It's easy to setup and collects all vital information.