Add Frontend Links plugin

[nyerou]

Add Frontend Links

A link-in-bio page plugin that runs entirely within YOURLS.

Features:

• Manage sections, links, profile (name, bio, avatar) and custom icons from the YOURLS admin
• Auto mode: generates index.php + .htaccess at the document root — zero external setup
• Branded redirect interstitial with Open Graph / Twitter Card metadata for social previews
• Branded 404 page (both can be disabled via admin toggles)
• Full subdirectory support (short URLs resolve at root domain)
• CSP compliant (YOURLS 1.10+), all JS/CSS externalized
• i18n ready (French included)

Repository: https://github.com/nyerou/yourls.frontend-links

---

Why this is a true YOURLS plugin (and not a standalone frontend)

This is a fair question: why manage a link page from a URL shortener? The answer is integration.

It lives inside the YOURLS ecosystem

• Installed like any YOURLS plugin: dropped into user/plugins/, activated from "Manage Plugins", tables created automatically on activation via yourls_add_action('activated_*')
• Uses native hooks: plugins_loaded, loader_failed, redirect_shorturl, filters shorturl, yourls_link, action html_head — no hacks, only official extension points
• Shares the YOURLS database: uses yourls_get_db() (Aura.SQL/PDO), reads YOURLS_DB_TABLE_URL to resolve keywords, and creates its own tables with the standard prefix
• Respects YOURLS authentication: the admin panel is registered via yourls_register_plugin_page(), the AJAX endpoint verifies nonces with yourls_verify_nonce()
• Supports YOURLS translations: yourls_load_custom_textdomain(), all strings go through yourls__() / yourls_e()

It builds on what YOURLS already does

The plugin doesn't reinvent the wheel — it extends YOURLS:

• Page links are YOURLS short URLs: entering git in the URL field creates a link to example.com/git that goes through YOURLS resolution. Clicks are tracked, stats work out of the box
• Short URL resolution is intercepted (not replaced) via the redirect_shorturl hook to add a branded interstitial with OG metadata — the YOURLS redirect remains the underlying mechanism
• Auto mode generates a root index.php that loads YOURLS (load-yourls.php) and uses YOURLS functions to resolve keywords. It's not a separate server — it's YOURLS running from the document root
• The generated .htaccess lets YOURLS handle its own subdirectory (RewriteRule ^-/ - [L]) while routing everything else to the plugin handler

Why not a separate frontend?

A standalone frontend (Next.js, static site, etc.) consuming the YOURLS API would be:

• Decoupled: separate install, separate config, separate deployment, separate auth
• Limited: no access to YOURLS hooks, no redirect interception, no branded 404, no click tracking
• Redundant: YOURLS already serves PHP pages, already manages a database, already has an admin system with auth — why duplicate all of that?

The plugin uses YOURLS as a platform, not just an API. The link page, the redirect, the 404, the admin — everything runs through the same PHP process, the same session, the same database. One system to maintain.

[dgw]

This is pretty neat. The PR description reads like LLM output, so I skipped that and went to look at the repo instead.

Your live demo of the visitor-facing bits works fine, but it's always nice if a project's readme includes screenshots. A random visitor can't get a sense of how the plugin's admin area works before installing it themselves.

[nyerou]

It's okay, they've been added.