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Introducing ReRoute v0.0.1

Posted by Jason in January 18th 2009

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I am pleased to announce the initial release of ReRoute v0.0.1! I have been working on this application for a few weeks now, and it is at the point where I wanted to have its initial release.

So what is ReRoute you are asking?

ReRoute is an application that creates a URL on your own domain (such as pwlk.net) such that when someone directs their browser to the newly created URL, it reroutes them to a different URL, most likely not on your domain.

Let me give you an example:

No one wants to be sent a URL that looks like this:
- http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=1+infinite+ln,+cupertino,+ca&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=33.352165,68.027344&ie=UTF8&ll=37.330549,-122.029653&spn=0.016345,0.033216&z=15&iwloc=addr&layer=c&cbll=37.33171,-122.030774&panoid=LqQ5SENrd2EgqmqoC9bboQ&cbp=12,89.88619449493461,,0,-6.401493696997581
So use ReRoute to create a URL that looks like this:
- http://www.pwlk.net/rr/?r=apple

Make a little more sense now?

Two main uses for ReRoute is to create less visually-offensive URLs like in the example above where we converted a Google Maps URL to a very short and tidy Pwlk URL. Another use for ReRoute is to mask the targeted URL from users of your site when they mouse over a hyperlink. This could be very benefitial with regards to affiliate links.

I have a very simple install script that walks you through all the preferences of the application, and there is a great admin screen that will help you moderate all the URLs that are created with the application.

Please visit http://www.pwlk.net/apps/reroute for more information and instructions on how to download/install/use ReRoute.