How to create a short URL for your publicity

The addresses your site generates are accurate but not pretty, and nobody’s typing one off a poster. A short URL gives you something memorable instead, like yourchurch.org/christmas, that sends people straight to the page you choose. Perfect for printed publicity, notice sheets and anything you read out from the front.

Setting up a short URL

1. Log in to your web office and open the ‘Settings’ area.
2. Go to the URL Configuration page.
3. Type the short word you want in the alias box. Keep it simple, lowercase and easy to say out loud: christmas, alpha, give.
4. Click ‘Set Alias Destination’ and choose where it should lead. That can be anywhere on your site, a group homepage, an article, a payment page, or even an external website.
5. Save, then test it: type your domain followed by the alias into a browser and check you land in the right place.

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Good to know

• Your group names already work as short URLs automatically. If you have a group called Contact Us, then yourchurch.org/contactus forwards to it without any setup, so an alias is only needed when you want a different word or a deeper destination.
• There’s no limit on aliases, so set one up for every campaign. It’s worth an occasional tidy of the list so old ones don’t pile up.
• Short URLs and QR codes are a natural pair: most browsers will generate a QR code for any page you’re viewing, ready to drop onto a poster next to the short address.
• If you want an old page itself to forward people somewhere new, that’s a redirect rather than an alias; see how to redirect a group to another page.