amzn.to links expanding

Short links need to be expanded so the product can be determined. Not sure why you’d want to re-shorten them anyway? These links are mostly used on Twitter where character length matters but obviously you can’t use the script on a Twitter page. I’ve no plans to implement re-shortening as it’d be extra work for no benefit as far I can see.

Pete

I’m not sure I understand your reply: I create shortlink in my original html for ease of use for the viewer and the plug-in expands the viewable portion on the website to 100 or so characters vs. only seeing a shortlink, and that’s a good thing? That’s the whole reason behind shortlinks, to make it easier for a user to hit a website.

Your plug-in isn’t doing a viaual webpage expansion on all amzn.to shortllinks, just various ones, and I assumed the plug in would do this expansion in the background. I’ll deactivate the plug-in today.

Firstly, I’m not sure why you think ‘https://amzn.to/hskdjf’ would be ‘easier’ for the user than ‘https://www.amazon.com/Xbox-360-Wireless-Controller-Glossy-Black/dp/B003ZSP0WW’. That makes no sense to me.

Secondly, the URL of a link isn’t meant to be shown on a website. For reasons of accessibility, SEO and user experience, you are better having a link saying ‘Xbox controller‘ than ‘https://amzn.to/hskdjf‘. And besides, the script doesn’t change the link text, just the href value, which you want to make as verbose as possible to ensure you don’t disrupt user expectations.

Obviously I’ve not got time to trawl through your website to see what links aren’t being affiliated, but all the ones on the page you link to work fine. Let me know of any specific links that don’t work.

Pete

Pete-

It is easier for someone on an e-Ink Kindle to type in https://amzn.to/kddeal or https://amzn.to/amazonbfriday, or remember it is a conversation with their friends, than manually typing in https://www.amazon.com/b?node=384082011&_encoding=UTF8&tag=billybobscomp-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325

Seeing as how I have quite a population viewing this WordPress blog via an RSS feed on their e-Ink Kindles, it’s important to me to continue to show an amzn.to link so they can hit it with their computers vs. an e-Ink Kindle.

The page I linked to above may be showing up fine in the UK (I believe you are in the UK), but here in the USA rather than displaying amzn.to./amazonbfriday WordPress now displays the underlying Amazon URL of https://www.amazon.com/b?node=384082011&_encoding=UTF8&tag=billybobscomp-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325 directly on the web site.

In other words, while you say “the URL of a link isn’t meant tobe shown on a website” in the above, that is exactly what your plugin is doing on various, but not all, WordPress pages for viewers in the USA (at least on this site). The script is changing the link text, at least on this site for USA viewers.

I wasn’t asking you to “trawl” through the website, I just asked you a question. I certainly hope you have a better day today than the one you have displayed with me.

Regards,

Michael

Hi
Thanks for this great plugin.

i have just installed it on my site https://www.ukshoppingingreece.com
how can i test that it is working,i am in the UK and i have set it up for USA Germany Spain and a few others but i dont know how to test it for other countries.

Thanks

John