Skip to main content
A Short URL field mints a short branded link for every record, such as https://go.acme.example/aB3xK9q2. When someone opens the link, they are redirected to a destination URL held by another field, and the click is recorded. See those clicks under Analytics.The link reads like bit.ly, but the slug policy is declared on the field and the destination comes from your own data, so the short link is stable while the destination can still change up to approval.

​
When to use it

  • You want a short, shareable link for every record: marketing campaigns, print collateral, social posts.
  • The destination is already a field on the taxonomy, usually a Tagged URL carrying your UTM parameters, and you want a short link in front of it.
  • You want click tracking. Every visit to the short link is recorded and shows up in Analytics.
  • You want one place to retarget without reprinting: the short link’s slug and domain are fixed once approved, but you can still edit the destination afterward.
Don’t use this when a plain URL field is enough. If you don’t need a branded short link or click tracking, you don’t need a Short URL field.

​
How it works

A short link is a domain plus a slug (the part after the slash) that redirects to a destination URL. You choose the destination with Destination URL field, and you choose how the slug is filled with Slug mode. The link is provisioned as a draft while a submission is being built, so you can preview and edit it. It goes live only when the submission is approved. From that moment on, the link’s domain, slug, and live state are frozen and can no longer change. You can still update the destination URL on a live link, so changing the destination field retargets the same short link without reprinting anything. For how each slug mode behaves in the builder and on approval, see Short URL slug modes.

​
Settings reference

The settings are in the field editor’s Short URL settings section. Required is in the field’s General section. With Auto-generated, read-only, the field is computed and Required is locked on. On top of any field-level uniqueness, Terminus Hub always enforces that each domain plus slug pair is unique, so two records can never hold the same short link.

​
Slug modes at a glance

​
Example

In the Campaign URL Builder, a short_url field sits in front of the UTM-tagged destination: Destination URL field points at the upstream Tagged URL field, so the short link redirects to the already-tagged campaign URL. With Auto-generated, editable, the builder drafts a random eight-character slug when you create the submission, and you can overwrite it before approval. For a submission with campaign_name Black Friday 2026, you might draft:
If you replace the slug with blkfri26 before approving, the approved record’s short link becomes https://go.acme.example/blkfri26. After approval that slug is frozen. Opening either link redirects to the full Tagged URL and records the click for analytics.

​
Gotchas

  • Auto-generated, editable lets people edit the slug; Auto-generated, read-only does not. That difference drives the builder: a read-only slug shows “(will be generated on save)”, while an editable one shows an input pre-filled with a generated slug. If you want “auto” to also mean “users can’t touch it,” choose Auto-generated, read-only.
  • Auto-generated slugs can change until you edit them. As long as you have not edited the slug yourself, the builder may generate a fresh random slug each time it saves, retrying if the random slug collides with an existing link on the same domain. The slug you see in the draft is not final until you type your own or approve. Once you edit it, your value sticks.
  • A short link is frozen after approval. After the submission is approved, the link’s domain, slug, and live state cannot change. To retarget an approved link, change the destination URL field, not the slug. Fixing a typo in a slug means a new link.
  • At most one Short URL field per taxonomy. A taxonomy that references two Short URL fields is rejected. If you need multiple short links per record (for example on different domains), use separate taxonomies.
  • Slug size only applies to the auto-generated modes. It controls the length of an auto-generated slug. With Entered manually, the slug length is bounded only by the character rule.
  • Slugs are URL-safe only. A slug must be present and use letters, numbers, hyphens, and underscores. Spaces, slashes, emoji, and other punctuation are rejected.
  • The destination must be an http or https URL. The redirect target comes from the linked URL or Tagged URL field and must use a supported web protocol.
  • A custom domain must be one you have added and verified. Only verified custom domains appear in Shortener domain. To serve links from a branded domain, add and verify it under Custom domains first, then pick it in Shortener domain.
  • For QR codes, point the QR field at the Short URL field, not a raw URL. A QR Code field can target any field, but scans are only tracked separately from clicks when its source is a Short URL field.