URL Shortener

A simple, fast, and lightweight URL Shortener application built with Node.js, Express, and MongoDB.

• Generate short URLs for long links.
• Stores total visit counts and timestamp analytics for generated short URLs.
• EJS server-side rendering for a simple UI.

• Node.js & Express.js: Backend framework
• MongoDB & Mongoose: Database and ODM
• EJS: View engine
• shortid: To generate unique random short IDs
• dotenv: Environment variable management

• Node.js installed
• MongoDB connection string (local or MongoDB Atlas)

1. Clone the repository and install dependencies:

   npm install

2. Environment Variables: Create a .env file in the root directory by copying the .env.example file:

   cp .env.example .env

   Open .env and configure your MONGODB_URI:

   MONGODB_URI="mongodb+srv://<username>:<password>@cluster.mongodb.net/..."
   

3. Start the application: For development (uses nodemon):

   npm run dev

   For production:

   npm start

4. Usage: Open your browser and navigate to http://localhost:8001. You can enter a long URL to get a shortened version.