Short url

[knightempire]

Issue: Implement Short URLs in Shared Emails

Description

Currently, when sharing resources via email (e.g., item links, request pages), the system sends long and verbose URLs, which are not user-friendly and clutter the email. This issue aims to replace those long URLs with short URLs for a cleaner and more professional email experience.

Goals

• Generate short URLs on the backend.
• Update the frontend to use and handle these short URLs correctly.
• Ensure full backward compatibility with existing long URLs (optional but recommended).

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Requirements

Backend

1. Check existing code that generates and sends emails containing URLs.
2. Integrate a URL shortening mechanism (either custom or third-party like Bitly, TinyURL, or a Mongo-based ID shortening).
3. Implement a method to:
   • Store mapping of short code ↔ full URL (if using custom service).
   • Redirect short URLs to their corresponding long destination.
4. Replace long URLs in the outgoing email template with the new short URLs.

Frontend

1. Identify where URLs are shared or previewed before being emailed.
2. Ensure the UI logic uses the short URL received from the backend.
3. Handle redirection properly on the client-side, if applicable.