Shortlinks

Updated by miranda lan

  1. Navigate to the shortlinks page from your homepage.
  2. In the top right, click add shortlinks.
  3. A new window will pop up. Under Slug: type in the slug. The 'slug' is what goes after your domain in your desired shortlink – don't include the doma
    in itself or a slash. You cannot have a space in the slug. See example below:
  4. Under Destination URL: Copy and paste the full url you want your supporters to reach when they click the shortlink. See example below:
  5. Click submit.
  6. Now your new shortlink will appear in your shortlink dashboard and be available to add directly into your broadcasts.

One of the perks of having a shortlink with Switchboard is the free and automatically created QR codes. These QR codes are high quality and transparent. You can use these on your mail pieces, yard signs, sign in sheets, reshift sheets, and more! Follow along below to see how to access these QR codes:

  1. Navigate to the shortlinks page from your homepage.
  2. After you create your personalized shortlink, you will see it in the shortlink dashboard of the shortlinks page. To access your QR Code, click on the box in the QR column for the corresponding shortlink.
  3. This will open the QR code. This window will show you the corresponding shortlink + name of the slug so you can be certain you picked the correct row!
  4. You also have the option to invert the color of the QR code if you choose by toggling the button next to invert color.
  5. When you are ready to download your QR code, click download.
  6. This will be downloaded directly onto your computer for you to use as a QR code, like the example one below:

You can enable or disable shortlinks. If you disable your shortlink, it will redirect to the website you give Switchboard when you set up your account (likely your campaign website, social media page, or donate page).

You may want to disable links if they redirect to a specific event that has occurred, a link to stream the debate that has already happened, or resources for a primary election you already won, etc. You also may want to create a shortlink in advance and disable it until you are ready to announce it – like a campaign store, future event, special ActBlue refcode for specific days, etc.

Find out how to disable + enable your shortlinks below:

  1. Navigate to the shortlinks page from your homepage.
  2. After you create your personalized shortlink, you will see it in your shortlinks dashboard. To disable your shortlink, go to the rightmost column and toggle the button to be gray by clicking on it. You can see below that the "Instagram" link is disabled and the other links are enabled.
  3. You can always enable your previously disabled shortlink by toggling it back to green!

If you want to edit your shortlink or change the destination that the shortlink redirects to, you can do that with Switchboard! Follow along below to find out how:

Edit your Shortlink Slug (The Part After the Slash):

  1. Navigate to the shortlinks page from your homepage.
  2. After you create your personalized shortlink, you will see it in the shortlink dashboard. To edit your slug, click on the pencil icon next to the slug you’d like to change.
  3. This will allow you to edit the slug:
  4. After you change your slug name, click the check box under it or press enter to save!
  5. If you accidentally clicked a slug you do not actually want to edit, you can check the “x” below the slug name.
If you edit the slug of the shortlink after sending out the original version, the original version will no longer work. For example: if I originally had a shortlink called franklin4america.us/gotv and changed it to franklin4america.us/get-out-the-vote, franklin4america.us/gotv will no longer work properly.

Edit your Shortlink Destination (where the link redirects to):

  1. Navigate to the shortlinks page from your homepage.
  2. After you create your personalized shortlink, you will see it in the shortlink dashboard. To edit your destination url, click on the pencil icon next to the destination link you’d like to change.
  3. This will allow you to edit the destination link:
  4. After you change your destination link, click the check box next to it or press enter to save!
  5. If you accidentally clicked a destination you do not actually want to edit, you can check the “x” below the link.
  1. Once you navigate to Broadcasts from your homepage and are in your broadcast (new or draft), find the recent shortlinks section.
  2. Here, you will see your recent shortlinks and can also create new ones as needed.
  3. Scroll down to the Compose Message section and click Edit Broadcast Message.
  4. A new window will pop up where you can type your message and add your link directly by clicking Tracked Link.
  5. This will open up a drop-down option of all of your shortlinks
  6. Select the link you’d like to insert and it will populate into your text.
  7. This format will allow your links to be tracked down to the individual recipient. You will be able to see who clicked on your link and, if you have an ActBlue integration, you will be able to see who clicked your link but didn’t donate and who donated. This is the main benefit of adding your link this way rather than copying and pasting it.

One of the perks of having a shortlink with Switchboard is your ability to monitor the amount of traffic your shortlink gets. You can see this data in your shortlink dashboard.

  1. Navigate to the shortlinks page from your homepage.
  2. After you create your personalized shortlink, you will see it in the shortlink dashboard. You will be able to see the number of mobile and desktop visits per link in the corresponding columns in your dashboard:
Note: QR code scans will show up as mobile visits.
Passing Switchboard tracking token through a redirect

Sometimes you may want to send your recipient to a form before redirecting them to an ActBlue donation page. This would allow Switchboard to report the donations on a broadcast, even if you first bring recipients to a form. Some, but not all web form providers will allow the tracking token to be passed through.

Use this syntax below to enable the tracking.

{{ "https://putyourformurlhere.com" | sb_actblue | sb_link }}

If you omit "sb_link" then it won't convert the URL into a shortlink, in case you want to preserve the longer link in the message.

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