Using Bit.ly URL shortening API

[fwh-Robert]

Bit.ly provides a URL shortening service, which comprises of a hash of the URL you provide. This produces a nice short URL which is unique and makes sharing across social bookmarking websites such as Stumbleupon and delicious easy.

First things first, you will need to register with Bit.ly for an API access key:

bit.ly, a simple url shortener

When you have your API username and key you can use the PHP script below to shorten all of your URL's.

<?php
    // Takes a url and shortens using the Bit.ly API
    // Usage: $short = new BitlyShorten("http://www.freewhosting.com", "yourapiusername", "yourapikey");

    class BitlyShorten
    {
        public $url, $apikey, $apiuser, $bitly;
        
        public function __construct($iURL, $iApiKey, $iApiUser)
        {
            $this->url = urlencode($iURL);
            $this->apikey = $iApiKey;
            $this->apiuser = $iApiUser;
        }
        
        function GetShortenURL()
        {
            $this->bitly = 'http://api.bit.ly/shorten?version=2.0.1&longUrl='.$this->url.'&login='.$this->apiuser.'&apiKey='.$this->apikey.'&format=xml';
            $response = file_get_contents($this->bitly);
            $xml = simplexml_load_string($response);
            return urlencode('http://bit.ly/'.$xml->results->nodeKeyVal->hash);
        }
    }
?>

Happy shortening!