Generate Short Links in WordPress: A Complete Guide**

Are you looking to create shorter links for your WordPress blog posts or pages? Short links are a great way to share content on platforms with limited character counts, like social media and emails. In this article, we will guide you through generating short links using a plugin and reintroducing the ‘Get Shortlink’ button in the classic WordPress editor.

The Advantages of Short Links

Sharing web content on social media is crucial for user engagement and driving traffic to your website. However, long URLs can take up valuable space and limit the amount of content you can include in your posts. That’s where URL shortener services like Bitly and TinyURL can be useful. These services transform long URLs into compact and shareable short links.

For example, instead of sharing a long URL like this: https://www.example.com/long-url-with-many-words, a short link like this: https://short.link/abc123 saves space and simplifies content sharing.

Using the Pretty Links Plugin

A top URL shortener plugin for WordPress is Pretty Links. It not only shortens links within your WordPress site but also works for external links and affiliate links. Here’s how you can get started:

1. Install and activate the Pretty Links plugin.
2. Go to the Pretty Links » Add Link page in your WordPress dashboard.
3. Paste the original URL you want to share into the ‘Target URL’ field.
4. A short link will be automatically generated, but you can customize it for better readability.
5. Add a title and any necessary notes for reference.
6. Click the ‘Update’ button to activate the short link.
7. Access your list of Pretty Links and conveniently copy them for sharing on social media.

Pretty Links also provides analytics, but you can enhance your data by integrating it with Google Analytics using the MonsterInsights plugin.

Adding the Shortlink Button to the Classic Editor

If you prefer to have the ‘Get Shortlink’ button directly in the classic editor, you can try two methods:

1. Use the Bring Back the Shortlink Button plugin:
1. Install and activate the plugin.
2. Edit any post in the classic editor to see the ‘Get Shortlink’ button restored.
3. Copy the WordPress Shortlink for your post or page and share it with your audience.
2. Add a custom code snippet using WPCode:
1. Install and activate the WPCode plugin.
2. Go to the ‘Code Snippets’ menu in your WordPress admin bar.
3. Click ‘Add New’ and create a new snippet.
4. Give your snippet a title, like ‘Short Link Button’.
5. Copy and paste the provided code snippet into the ‘Code Preview’ box.
6. Choose ‘PHP Snippet’ from the drop-down list.
7. Activate the snippet and save it.
8. The Shortlink button will now appear in the classic editor when editing your published posts.

Remember, if you’re not familiar with editing theme files, we recommend using a code snippets plugin like WPCode to avoid potential errors or website crashes.

In Conclusion

Generating short links in WordPress can enhance your social media sharing and drive more traffic to your website. By using the Pretty Links plugin or reintroducing the ‘Get Shortlink’ button in the classic editor, you can easily create short links for your WordPress content. Give it a try and enjoy a more efficient way of sharing your web content!

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