Author Topic: QR Code Linking to EEVblog Forum Topic for PCB  (Read 1243 times)

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Offline Mr. WizardTopic starter

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QR Code Linking to EEVblog Forum Topic for PCB
« on: July 21, 2021, 02:50:04 am »
I’m designing a PCB and wanted to place a QR code on it to link to a specific topic on the EEVblog forum. Right now, the URL is fairly long, but the PCB is very small (smaller than 1 cm x 1 cm). The shorter the URL, the smaller the QR code can be, so I want as short a URL as possible.

I was wondering if anyone knows a reliable way to shorten EEVblog forum URLs—for example, perhaps taking just a message number and using that in a URL that has a shorter form. I’ve been looking through the Simple Machines Forum docs but don’t see anything obvious. I found it’s possible to omit the forum name and use /forum/index.php?topic=121gw-multimeter-battery-mod, but that ends up creating a longer URL. Perhaps there is a numeric topic ID I could uncover that could help.

I’d prefer not to use a third-party URL shortener so as to not hide that the URL goes to eevblog.com.
 

Offline cortex_m0

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Re: QR Code Linking to EEVblog Forum Topic for PCB
« Reply #1 on: July 21, 2021, 03:37:31 am »
 
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Offline Mr. WizardTopic starter

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Re: QR Code Linking to EEVblog Forum Topic for PCB
« Reply #2 on: July 21, 2021, 03:41:23 am »
Nice! Thanks! That’s perfect.

How did you find the numeric topic ID?
 

Offline cortex_m0

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Re: QR Code Linking to EEVblog Forum Topic for PCB
« Reply #3 on: July 21, 2021, 03:54:12 am »
It's embedded in the search form for "search this topic" at top right.
 
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Offline Mr. WizardTopic starter

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Re: QR Code Linking to EEVblog Forum Topic for PCB
« Reply #4 on: July 21, 2021, 04:06:18 am »
Nice. Thanks—good find! Looks like I can also leave out the .0 at the end, and (at least for now) the www. So I can get it down to https://eevblog.com/forum/?topic=267962 which gives me a significantly less dense QR code compared to the original.
 

Offline ataradov

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Re: QR Code Linking to EEVblog Forum Topic for PCB
« Reply #5 on: July 21, 2021, 04:12:31 am »
I would link to something you control, for example GitHub page or your own site, where you can update the link as needed.  Topics don't live forever, forums don't live forever. Things get moved or renamed.

There are also all sorts of URL shortening services, but I'm, not sure I'd relay on them either.
Alex
 
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Offline Mr. WizardTopic starter

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Re: QR Code Linking to EEVblog Forum Topic for PCB
« Reply #6 on: July 21, 2021, 04:38:17 am »
I would link to something you control, for example GitHub page or your own site, where you can update the link as needed.  Topics don't live forever, forums don't live forever. Things get moved or renamed.

There are also all sorts of URL shortening services, but I'm, not sure I'd relay on them either.
That’s a valid point. I was looking for the simplest solution without having to create and maintain an external site, and since this PCB is a mod board for the EEVblog 121GW multimeter I figured its utility won’t necessarily outlast this forum.

However, it may be worth creating a GitHub repository for the associated files anyway. I could link to that on the PCB, and include a link back to the forum from there. (Then I could also likely feel safe using the git.io URL shortener, making the URL absolutely tiny.)
 

Offline Mr. WizardTopic starter

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Re: QR Code Linking to EEVblog Forum Topic for PCB
« Reply #7 on: July 21, 2021, 05:27:39 am »
I created a GitHub repository. The URL is nice, https://git.io/121gwli, and the QR code (below) is far less dense than the earlier one. I’ll populate the repository with all related files once the PCB is ready. Thanks for the idea!
 


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