URL Shortener with Editable Links

What a short link does in Kuadro

A short link is an address made of a host name and a slug of four to twelve letters and digits. When someone opens it, the server answers with an HTTP 302 redirect that sends the browser to your destination. The redirect is never cached, so every visit reaches the server and can be counted as a scan.

A dynamic QR code encodes only the short address, while the destination lives in your account. Change the destination and the printed image stays the same, so there is nothing to reprint. Smart links use the same redirector without a QR image, which suits a link you share in a message, a profile or a web page.

Be clear about what the short link is and is not. It runs on the QR Replica host or on a verified domain of your own, and creating it needs a plan with dynamic codes. It is not an anonymous service that shortens any address for free. The redirect accepts only web addresses and the tel, sms, mailto, geo and facetime schemes, and it refuses anything else, such as script or data addresses.

How to set up an editable short link

1. 01

   Turn on dynamic mode in the editor

   Pick a content type that can be redirected, such as a web address, a phone number or a text message, then tick the box labelled “Dynamic QR: encode a short link and track scans”. Content that cannot be redirected, such as a vCard or WiFi details, is encoded directly and gets no short link.

2. 02

   Choose the slug and the expiry

   In the short link section, leave the slug random, which gives six letters and digits, or type your own of four to twelve letters and digits. Avoid words the app reserves for its own pages, such as billing or domains. Add an expiry date in UTC if the offer ends, and a password if only some people should reach the destination.

3. 03

   Add rules and A/B variants

   Open the redirect rules from the scans screen of the code. A rule matches a device (iPhone, Android or desktop), a country, or both, and the most specific rule wins. When no rule matches, visitors are split between the A/B variants by weight, and when there are none they reach the content you entered in the editor.

Where editable short links help

• Menus and price lists

  Print one code on a table tent, then update its link when the seasonal menu changes. The printed image stays valid, and the new menu is live on the next scan.

• Shops with iPhone and Android customers

  A device rule can send iPhone visitors to one app store listing and Android visitors to the other, while the code's own link handles everyone else. The sign in the shop window stays the same when the apps change.

• Campaigns compared by destination

  Give two landing addresses weights of 50 and 50 as A/B variants to see which one people open more. Each scan is stored with the destination it used, so the scans page of the code shows the split for each address.

• Tickets and events with an end date

  Set an expiry date on a code printed for one event. After that moment the short link answers with an expired page and the HTTP 410 status, so an old poster stops sending people to a closed offer.

• Calls, messages and map pins

  A dynamic code can open a phone call, a prefilled text message, an email draft or a map location. When the phone number or the address changes, you edit the destination and the printed code keeps working.

Tips for short links that keep working

Dynamic codes need a paid plan

The free plan keeps the dynamic option locked, so a static code cannot be switched to dynamic there. Pro and Team include dynamic codes, rules, A/B tests and analytics, and a downgrade keeps existing dynamic codes redirecting.

A landing page replaces the redirect

When a code has a landing page, its short link shows that page instead of redirecting, and destination rules are skipped for that code. Each visit still counts as a scan. Delete the landing page if you want the redirect back.

Check the destination before you print

The address is checked when you save it and again each time someone scans, and anything outside the allowed schemes is refused. Open the destination on a phone once before printing, because a page that loads slowly or not at all makes the code look broken even when the redirect works.

Expect countries only when the host sends them

Rules by country depend on the country header that Cloudflare adds to requests. Without that header the country stays empty, country rules never match, and the country list on the scans pages stays empty. Device rules work without it.

Questions about the URL shortener