This is a simple link shortener application written in PHP. It allows users to enter a long URL and generates a shortened version of the link. The application uses a MySQL database for storing the original and shortened links.

Before running this application, make sure you have the following installed:

• PHP (version 5.6 or higher)
• Composer (https://getcomposer.org/)
• MySQL / MariaDB
• reCAPTCHA - Google

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/wildyrando/Link-Shortener.git

2. Navigate to the project directory:

   cd Link-Shortener

3. Install the dependencies using Composer:

   composer install

4. Set up the environment variables:

Rename the .env.example file to .env. Open the .env file and set the appropriate values for the database connection (DB_HOST, DB_NAME, DB_USER, DB_PASS). and setup reCaptcha sitekey & secretkey

5. Import the database schema:

Create a new MySQL database. Import the linkshortener.sql file located in the database directory into the newly created database.

6. Start the application:

You can use a local development server to run the application, such as PHP's built-in server:

php -S localhost:8000

or you can using hosting like cpanel, directadmin, vps, replit

• Open your web browser and navigate to the application URL (e.g., http://localhost:8000).
• Enter a long URL into the input field and click the "Shorten" button.
• The application will generate a shortened link for the entered URL.
• Click on the shortened link to test it.

Contributions are welcome! If you find any issues or have suggestions for improvement, please open an issue or submit a pull request.

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.