LINO: Links IN / Links Out

A lightweight WordPress plugin that provides Bitly-style short links using a custom endpoint /go/{slug}. Includes backend redirects, UI countdown redirects, daily statistics, admin management, and a Gutenberg block.

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📦 Features

• Custom route: /go/<slug>

• Backend redirect mode (HTTP 302)

• UI redirect mode (countdown page rendered with the active theme)

• Custom database tables:

  • wp_sl_links for link definitions
  • wp_sl_stats for daily click tracking

• Admin UI with tabbed interface (Links and Settings)

• Create, edit, enable/disable, and delete links

• Export/Import links via CSV

• Slug customization with optional auto-generation

• Simple statistics (clicks per day)

• Global countdown configuration for UI redirects

• Custom UI page support with shortcode

• Gutenberg block with link picker

• Clean and self-contained plugin, no external services

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🛠 Installation

1. Download the plugin ZIP (or create it using the build script - see below).
2. Go to WordPress Admin → Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin.
3. Upload wp-short-links.zip and activate it.

Creating the ZIP file with the build script

To create the plugin ZIP file from the source code:

1. Navigate to the build_script directory.
2. Install dependencies: npm install
3. Run the build script: npm run build
4. The ZIP file will be created in build_script/release/ directory.

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🔧 Setup & Configuration

1. Flush permalinks (required once)

The plugin registers the /go/{slug} rewrite rule. WordPress must flush rewrite rules for it to activate.

Go to: Settings → Permalinks → Save Changes (no changes required, just save)

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📁 Admin Interface

After activation, a new menu appears:

LINO → Links

Links Tab

The Links tab features a two-column layout:

• Left Column: Add/Edit Link form
• Right Column: All Links table with Export/Import functionality

Settings Tab

Configure global plugin settings:

• UI countdown seconds
• Custom UI page selection

Link fields:

Field	Description
Title	Optional, used in UI redirect page
Full URL	Required target link
Slug	Optional; if blank, auto-generates a random 6-character slug (a-z, A-Z, 0-9, _)
Description	Optional, shown on UI redirect page
Mode	backend (immediate redirect) or ui (countdown page)
Active	Toggle link availability

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🔄 Redirect Modes

Backend Mode

• Pure HTTP redirect (302)
• No UI shown
• Fastest option
• Best for campaigns, API use, etc.

UI Mode

UI mode offers two options:

Default Template (Black & White)

• Minimal, standalone page with black background and white text
• Centered layout, fully responsive
• Shows:
  • Title
  • Description
  • Countdown timer (default: 10 seconds)
  • "Skip and go now" button
• Redirects automatically when the timer reaches zero
• Works independently of your theme

Custom Page (Fully Customizable)

You can configure a custom WordPress page for UI mode redirects:

1. Create a page in WordPress (e.g., "Redirect Page")
2. Add the shortcode [wp_sl_redirect] in the page content
3. Configure in Settings: Go to LINO → Settings and select your custom page
4. Customize freely: Add your own content, images, branding, and styling around the shortcode

Shortcode: [wp_sl_redirect]

The shortcode automatically:

• Loads the correct link data
• Displays title, description, and countdown
• Handles the redirect functionality
• Updates statistics

Example page content:

Welcome! You're being redirected to our special offer.

[wp_sl_redirect]

Thank you for your patience.

You can use page builders (Gutenberg, Elementor, etc.) to fully customize the design while maintaining all plugin functionality.

Countdown duration is configurable in Settings.

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📊 Statistics (Daily Aggregation)

Stats are stored in wp_sl_stats as per-day aggregated clicks.

Recorded data:

• link_id
• stat_date
• clicks

Displayed directly in the admin link table:

• Total clicks across all days
• Last click date

Stats are incremented automatically on each visit.

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🔲 Gutenberg Block

The plugin registers a block: LINO Link (wp-sl/short-link)

Features:

• Lists all active short links
• Allows selecting a link directly from the editor
• Optional custom display label
• Server-side rendering (front-end HTML generated by PHP)

This allows editors to insert short links into posts without copy/paste.

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📥 Export / Import

Export Links

• Click Export CSV in the All Links section
• Downloads a well-formatted CSV file with all link data
• Includes: slug, target_url, title, description, mode, is_active, created_at, updated_at
• UTF-8 encoded with BOM for Excel compatibility

Import Links

• Click Import CSV to show the import form
• Upload a CSV file matching the export format
• Import modes:
  • Skip duplicates: Keep existing links, only import new ones
  • Update duplicates: Overwrite existing links with same slug
• Header row is optional
• Shows results: imported, updated, and skipped counts

CSV Format:

slug, target_url, title, description, mode, is_active, created_at, updated_at
example, https://example.com, Example Link, Description text, backend, 1, 2024-01-01 00:00:00, 2024-01-01 00:00:00

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🔌 LINO Link URL Format

All links follow the form:

https://your-domain.com/go/<slug>

Examples:

https://example.com/go/aZ3fK2
https://example.com/go/whitepaper_2024
https://example.com/go/utm_campaignX

Slugs are limited to:

[a-zA-Z0-9_]

and up to 50 characters.

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📜 Custom Database Tables

wp_sl_links

Column	Type	Description
id	bigint	Primary key
slug	varchar(50)	Unique code
target_url	text	Redirect destination
title	varchar(255)	Optional title
description	text	Optional description
mode	varchar(10)	backend or ui
is_active	tinyint(1)	Active flag
created_at	datetime	Creation timestamp
updated_at	datetime	Update timestamp
created_by	bigint	WP user ID

wp_sl_stats

Column	Type	Description
id	bigint	Primary key
link_id	bigint	Foreign key to wp_sl_links
stat_date	date	Day of click
clicks	bigint	Number of clicks for the day

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🧪 Testing Checklist

• Verify /go/{slug} loads correctly
• Test backend (302) redirects
• Test UI countdown redirects (default template)
• Test custom UI page with shortcode
• Check that stats update
• Test Export/Import CSV functionality
• Insert a "LINO Link" Gutenberg block into a post
• Disable a link and confirm it yields WP's 404 page

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♻ Uninstall

The plugin does not delete its tables automatically. If you want to manually remove data, delete:

wp_sl_links
wp_sl_stats