I just stumbled across TinyURL.com (which has a HUGE URL!) and used it with no apparent side-effects. Has anyone heard of/used it, problems etc? It seemed to me it could be really good for putting URLs in quizzes and on AFT.

I recall that Tellywellies mentioned TinyURL last year. Ah, I found it, here you go.

Duh! Thanks Leau, didn't even think of checking! It's a great thing, though, nothing ruins the look of a slab of text more than one of those huge strings of numbers and (#*>WS:F!!purple_monkey_dishwasher. Can't hurt to bring it to more people's attention!

I reckon TinyURL is good. Much better than huge URLs. It seems some don't like it though. The reason being that there is no indication where a link leads to. I suppose it might be possible to follow a TinyURL link that leads to some malicious site or other but that's not any more likely than if you follow any other sort of link in my opinion. I once made quite a few posts in a computer forum before discovering that my TinyURL links weren't being trusted by small number of members. Dead hurt I was!

Anyway, since then, I use the actual URL if it's not too long, or hide the link behind some text using BBCode if it is ...like this. If you hover the mouse over this link, the actual URL shows up in the browser Status Bar.

Thanks for the feedback TW. I find it odd that people (especially 'computer' people) didn't trust the links, and I'm not surprised you were miffed! But maybe I'm just super-casual in that I hardly ever look when I click on a link or copy and paste a URL. The BBCode is good, but you can't use it in quizzes (or on AFT?), which is where I can see TinyURL coming in handy for me.

Tiny Url is a very welcome addition to the cut and paste society we inhabit these days. It has even been given the honour of a mention in a short article in today's (London) 'The Times'. So, well spotted and thanks for the tip.

Wow, 'The Times'! Now let those nay-sayers suspect the esteemed tellywellies' links!

The concern with tiny url is it could lead to thissitewillkillyourcomputerforevermore.com and no one would ever know. But alas, I realize that has been mentioned. Not-so-good people have been known to use it. In one forum I belong to it has been banned.