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Mozilla Firefox - Plugins and Extensions

Create Bit.ly URL from Toolbar, then Tweet, Facebook, Email

SUMMARY: Create a Bit.ly URL from the currently-viewed page in Firefox and place it in the clipboard, share it via Facebook, email the URL, or tweet it.

If you share many URLs via Facebook, e-mail, or Twitter, you may often visit the Bit.ly webpage to shorten URLs; in fact, you may keep it open as a Mozilla Firefox tab. However, you might find the "Shorten URL (Bit.ly)" extension more convenient, allowing for buttons in the browser toolbar to do the aforementioned and also copy the shortened URL to the clipboard.

1. Visit the following page from within Firefox:

* https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/194382/


Copy a Bit.ly shortened URL to the clipboard via a Firefox extension



2. Click the "Add to Firefox" button.

3. The "Software Installation" dialog box will eventually appear. Click "Install Now" as soon as the button is enabled.



Installing the Shorten URL (Bit.ly) extension



4. Once the add-on has installed, click the "Restart Firefox" button. Depending on your configuration, Firefox may note that it will try to restart your windows and tabs.


5.Once Firefox has restarted, add the buttons to your toolbar:


6. Select the "View" menu.

7. Select "Toolbars", then "Customize".


8. The "Customize Toolbar" dialog box appears. Drag the new shorten URL buttons to your Firefox toolbar.


Dragging new Shorten URL (Bit.ly) toolbar buttons to the Firefox toolbar



9. Close the "Customize Toolbar" dialog box.

Now just visit an URL and click the appropriate button to shorten it and also copy it to the clipboard, tweet it, share it via Facebook, or e-mail it.



This tip was written for Mozilla Firefox v3.6.10 and Shorten URL (Bit.ly) v0.53. Screenshots, instructions, and features for other versions may vary.

Return to the Mozilla Firefox - Plugins and Extensions page.

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