Have you seen a link to a great website that you want to pass along to others via a blog entry, newsletter, Twitter update, text message, etc., but afraid that its super-long URL may scare off some viewers? Or do you want to tell others about the URL over the phone but find the length of the URL too long to convey easily?

URL shortener services such as TinyURL can take large URLs and turn them into smaller URLs, easier to distribute. Now with an Internet Explorer 8 Accelerator, just highlight an URL you want shortened and have TinyURL create the shortened URL for you without having to manually visit the URL shortener site.

1. From Internet Explorer, visit the following URL:

http://www.ieaddons.com/en/details/bookmarks/TinyURL_Accelerator/

2. Click the "Add to Internet Explorer" button.

3. Confirm the Accelerator information is correct. If you want this to be the default Accelerator for the "Shrink Accelerator" category, click the "Make this my default provider for this Accelerator Category" box. Then click the "Add" button.

Now when you visit a webpage containing an URL you want to shorten, highlight the text with your mouse. Click the Blue accelerator button. Select "All Accelerators" if you did not make this a default Accelerator. Then click "Shrink URL".

TinyURL will open in a new tab. After you give it permission to read the clipboard, the site will provide you with a tiny URL for distribution.

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