Show HN: Catchy.link: make urls short, memorable, manageable, and temporary

Posted by brent_noorda on Thursday May 05, 2016 @02:04PM
from the show-hn dept.

I've just created the URL shortener I've always wanted: http://catchy.link

The main reason I use catchy.link is to quickly make a short, memorable, and pronounceable link I can share with people in my group, class, meeting, conference, or chat room. I appreciate that I can change the destination for a link after I've created it, or even let the link expire. And doing so without using passwords is a plus.

For example, the Show HN you're reading now is at: http://catchy.link/ShowHN/CatchyLink

A few features of interest to HN readers:

* emphasis on memorable URLS

* quick creation and URL management without creating an account

* no passwords (email is used when verification is necessary)

* links are temporary (from 1 day to 1 year) but you can extend them

* written in Go and running on Google App Engine

I hope others find catchy.link as useful as I do. Thanks, y'all, for any feedback, and for not trying to break it.

Website: http://catchy.link

Documentation: http://catchy.link/CatchyLinkManual

Source Code: https://github.com/BrentNoorda/catchy-link

This Show HN announcement: http://catchy.link/ShowHN/CatchyLink

Re:Show HN: Catchy.link: make urls short, memorable, managea... by avail on Sunday May 08, 2016 @11:52AM (#11654501)

>(email is used when verification is necessary)

This sounds really insecure, many people know my email as I have it shared everywhere (as contact form, etc.), and using just email would mean anyone would be access my catchy account.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Show HN: Catchy.link: make urls short, memorable, managea... by brent_noorda on Sunday May 08, 2016 @03:38PM (#11655393)

The link isn't actually created until you respond to an email saying "did you really create this link?" So it is as secure as your email is secure.

Re:Show HN: Catchy.link: make urls short, memorable, managea... by vdaranyi on Thursday May 05, 2016 @02:30PM (#11638612)

This looks very similar to https://sayable.co/ which requires you to remember exactly three words with no expiration.

Re:Show HN: Catchy.link: make urls short, memorable, managea... by brent_noorda on Friday May 06, 2016 @01:11AM (#11641832)

similar in the effort to make links easily pronounceable. Different in many other ways.

Say, since https://sayable.co/ uses three words to link to any web address, and http://what3words.com/ maps any geographic coordinate to a set of unique 3 words, do you suppose they could be tied together into a tool to convert any web page into a geographic coordinate? :-)