Link shortener

This documentation is only visible to GBIF staff.

GBIF has a link shortener, gbif.link, similar to tinyurl.com or bitly.com. All the links from our previous link shortener at links.gbif.org continue to work, and short links work with both host names — https://gbif.link/mattblissett is the same as https://links.gbif.org/mattblissett.

  1. It complies with the GDPR, so tracking information isn’t provided to a third party.

  2. Any extra features (QR codes, statistics, link expiry) are included without additional cost.

There is a web interface for this.

  1. Go to https://app.shlink.io/

  2. Click "Add a server"

  3. Give "Name" e.g. GBIF

  4. For "URL" put https://gbif.link

  5. For "API key" use 7596422c-a07b-4363-b768-9139688c4a4d

This only needs to be done once.

You can then fill in the "Create a short URL" form. "Custom slug" is optional, and is the text of the link.

QR codes

To see the QR code for a short link, copy and paste the link but add /qr-code, for example https://gbif.link/mattblissett/qr-code. The documentation shows ways to customize the code produced, for example https://gbif.link/mattblissett/qr-code?format=png&color=75b375 (though the more contrast the better for people to read them, and keep the foreground dark and the background light).

Documentation

The system we are using is called Shlink: https://shlink.io/documentation/