WordPress launches WP.me
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WordPress.com has launched a nice addition to their hosted blog installs; an automatic and free URL shortening service – WP.me.Now, it is not a general purpose URL shortener or rival to Bit.ly or (our favorite) cli.gs; it just shortens those on WordPress.com.
Some interesting facts that WordPress founder Matt Mullenweg points out regarding the launch:
WP.me Facts
- WP.me is the only two-letter .me domain the world (how cool is that!?)
- Every blog and post on WordPress.com has a WP.me URL now
- These are all exposed in the <head> using rel=shortlink
- It doesn’t work for any URL in the world, just WP.com-hosted ones
- The links are permanent, they will work as long as WordPress.com is around
- WP.me is spam-free, because we are constantly monitoring and removing spam from WP.com
The timing of this release coincides with the impending doom of tr.im (which was saved when someone stepped in and saved them); but it underscores the vulnerability of URL shortening services in that they are really are not economically viable and as such if they were to go under, it basically breaks the Internet in a way.
WP.me under cuts the need for an income based service as it simply is meant to re-direct their hosted blog service and just your wordpress.com links more Twitter friendly saving you six characters in your 140 character twitter post.
How can you use it?
There is now a “Get Shortlink” button next to your permalink when you dit or write a post, and when you click it you’ll get a popup with the beautiful link already highlighted for your copy and pasting pleasures.
If you’re logged in you can also get the shortlink for any page on WordPress.comm, there’s a link under the “Blog Info” menu in your admin bar.
Matt ends the announcement by thanking “our friends at GoDaddy and in Montenegro for help with the domain” – proving once and for all; it’s not what you know but in deed, who you know.
![WordPress 2.8.4 [security release]](/images/wordpress-releases-116x116.jpg "WordPress 2.8.4 [security release]")
Leave a Comment
August 20, 2009 at 10:15 pm
We love WP and many of the wonderful url shortening plugins already available. Having this functionality integrated is a wonderful addition to an already robust platform. Hoping you will consider making this available to those of us that self-host WP sites.