Create Custom Web Addresses
You don't need to buy a domain name to get your own URL. Here we explain how to personalise web addresses to suit your needs.
Include keywords in your Bitly links
One of the best things about URL-shortening service Billy (bitly.com) is that you can include words of your choice in the shrunken links, making them easier to remember and share. To create a custom link in Bitly, copy the full URL from your address bar, click the 'Paste a link here' box in the top-right corner and press Ctrl-V, then Enter. Bitly will shorten the link to a set of random characters. Now click the pencil icon, enter the word(s) you want to use, and click Copy or Share.
Change your Facebook profile address
Back in 2009. Facebook introduced a feature called Usernames. This let you create a distinct web address for your profile that contained your real name. Most URL names were snapped up pretty quickly, but you can still change your default one to something more memorable. Either go to www.facebook.com/username or click the cog icon, choose Account Settings and click the Edit option next to Username. Select the username you want to use as your URL and click Set Usernarne. Your username must be at least five characters long and can include letters, numbers and full stops. Note that once you've set your username, you can't change it.
Create a personalised Flickr alias
Like Facebook, Flickr also lets you create a personalised web address - or 'alias' - for your photos. Either go to www.flickr.com/profile_url.gne or open your account settings and click 'Create your own memorable Flickr web address'. Enter the name, word and/or number you want to use, click Preview and if you're happy with the alias (you can't change it later), choose 'OK, lock it in'. The full address will be something like: www.flickr.com/photos/thewikiweb.
Jump to the best bits in YouTube videos
According to The Wadsworth Constant, you may as well skip the first 30 per cent of any YouTube video because it contains no worthwhile or interesting information. There's even a suffix you can attach to video URLs, &wadsworth=1, to start playing clips from the 30-per-cent mark. To jump to a specific point in the video, pause it, right-click the playback window and choose 'Copy video URL at current time'. Alternatively, add #t=, followed by the time to the end the URL; for example #t=1m27 will begin playback at one minute 27 seconds.
Bookmark your Gmail messages
Every Gmail message has a unique, permanent URL, which means you can save specific emails for quick future reference. Open the message and bookmark it as you would a normal web page, or copy and paste the address into another program. You can keep things tidy by shrinking the link using Bitty or Google's own URL shortener, Goo.gl (goo.gl). No-one else will be able to read the message without entering your login details.
Find the perfect URL for your website
Most web-hosting services let you search for and buy the site URL of your choice, but they're often limited to the same domains: '.com', 'co.uk', 'org and so on. For a more exotic selection. visit Domainr (domai.nr), which covers the "entire global namespace of domains" so you can try different variations on your desired name. For example, instead of duckie.co.uk, you could have duck.ie (based in Ireland). Domainr helpfully tells you which names are available and where you can register them, and offers apps for Android, iOS and Windows Phone, and an add-on for Chrome.
Include keywords in your Bitly links
One of the best things about URL-shortening service Billy (bitly.com) is that you can include words of your choice in the shrunken links, making them easier to remember and share. To create a custom link in Bitly, copy the full URL from your address bar, click the 'Paste a link here' box in the top-right corner and press Ctrl-V, then Enter. Bitly will shorten the link to a set of random characters. Now click the pencil icon, enter the word(s) you want to use, and click Copy or Share.
Change your Facebook profile address
Back in 2009. Facebook introduced a feature called Usernames. This let you create a distinct web address for your profile that contained your real name. Most URL names were snapped up pretty quickly, but you can still change your default one to something more memorable. Either go to www.facebook.com/username or click the cog icon, choose Account Settings and click the Edit option next to Username. Select the username you want to use as your URL and click Set Usernarne. Your username must be at least five characters long and can include letters, numbers and full stops. Note that once you've set your username, you can't change it.
Create a personalised Flickr alias
Like Facebook, Flickr also lets you create a personalised web address - or 'alias' - for your photos. Either go to www.flickr.com/profile_url.gne or open your account settings and click 'Create your own memorable Flickr web address'. Enter the name, word and/or number you want to use, click Preview and if you're happy with the alias (you can't change it later), choose 'OK, lock it in'. The full address will be something like: www.flickr.com/photos/thewikiweb.
Jump to the best bits in YouTube videos
According to The Wadsworth Constant, you may as well skip the first 30 per cent of any YouTube video because it contains no worthwhile or interesting information. There's even a suffix you can attach to video URLs, &wadsworth=1, to start playing clips from the 30-per-cent mark. To jump to a specific point in the video, pause it, right-click the playback window and choose 'Copy video URL at current time'. Alternatively, add #t=, followed by the time to the end the URL; for example #t=1m27 will begin playback at one minute 27 seconds.
Bookmark your Gmail messages
Every Gmail message has a unique, permanent URL, which means you can save specific emails for quick future reference. Open the message and bookmark it as you would a normal web page, or copy and paste the address into another program. You can keep things tidy by shrinking the link using Bitty or Google's own URL shortener, Goo.gl (goo.gl). No-one else will be able to read the message without entering your login details.
Find the perfect URL for your website
Most web-hosting services let you search for and buy the site URL of your choice, but they're often limited to the same domains: '.com', 'co.uk', 'org and so on. For a more exotic selection. visit Domainr (domai.nr), which covers the "entire global namespace of domains" so you can try different variations on your desired name. For example, instead of duckie.co.uk, you could have duck.ie (based in Ireland). Domainr helpfully tells you which names are available and where you can register them, and offers apps for Android, iOS and Windows Phone, and an add-on for Chrome.
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