Hey net-savvy friends, I want to be able to make some shortened URLs and QR codes and would appreciate some advice. The last time I did a QR code, the service I used had a hidden fee structure and my code was inactive for a short period of time -- which is never good!

Re shortened URLs - Bitly and TinyURL have free options, does anyone have any advice about pitfalls to avoid?

Re QR codes, can anyone recommend a go-to provided?

TIA!!

For QR code, try this:

https://www.the-qrcode-generator.com

Stick with "Static" QR code and it should be free and good forever.

You get charged a recurring fee for "Dynamic" QR code because some backend server needs to be maintained to provide the dynamic linkage. Unless you want to be able to change the URL the QR code points to without changing the QR code itself, there is no reason to use "Dynamic" QR code.

No URL shortener service to recommend, except to say that because the URL shortener goes through a third party that is outside of your control, I would recommend that you make your "Static" QR code points to the actual URL (not the "shortened URL"). Use the "shortened" URL only when you have strict text length restrictions (e.g., in SMS text messages or in tweets), or if your actual URL is too long for a human to type and you figure a human has a better chance of remembering/typing the shortened URL correctly than the actual URL.

Example:

If my real URL is https://wtf.coffee-room.com and my shortened URL is https://bit.ly/1x45By ... I would make my static QR code point to wtf.coffee-room.com and also use wtf.coffee-room.com in text/tweets, etc. because I believe www.coffee-room.com is shot enough and easy enough for a human to remember (compared to trying remebering bit.ly/1x45By)

But if my real URL is https://app.box.com/s/j4rgyhn72uvluemg1m6u and my shortened URL is https://bit.ly/g7h9AB ... I would make my static QR code point to https://app.box.com/s/j4rgyhn72uvluemg1m6u but use bit.ly/g7h9AB in text/tweets because bit.ly/g7h9AB is easier for a human to remember than app.box.com/s/j4rgyhn72uvluemg1m6u


Good luck!

Hey Ax, this is super helpful!! Esp this:

quote:

because the URL shortener goes through a third party that is outside of your control, I would recommend that you make your "Static" QR code points to the actual URL (not the "shortened URL").

And all the points about the third-party details. I didn't think about. I'll make it a point to use the shortened URL only on Twitter posts, well and maybe Instagram (I hate trying to post anything on Instagram other than photos)

My book, which was under contract, has now moved forward and is in production and is available for preorder. I don't know if other academic publishers do this, but the one I'm working with has a "social media guide for authors," so I'm going through it and trying to follow their instructions to PR the book.

It's really fun actually! :grin:

One more thing … after you generated a QR Code, you may want to “read it back” to verify it contains all the information you put it and does not contain “extra” information you don’t want. For that, you want to use a QR Code reader that will show you the raw text of the encoded information (as opposed to iOS’ built-in QR Code reader function that shows you only pieces of interpreted information of specific types).

On iOS, I use this https://apps.apple.com/us/app/...qr-code/id1068766238 , a nice little app called “QR Code” developed by Nakayubi Corp. (It has recently also gained the capability to turn whatever you type into a QR Code image; but I like to use different websites/apps to generate/read QR Codes so they can cross-check each other.)

quote:

you may want to “read it back” to verify it contains all the information you put it and does not contain “extra” information you don’t want.

Excellent advice, thank you!!