Modern Link Shortener

This project is a scalable and feature-rich Link Shortener built with modern technologies in .NET 8. It employs Layered Architecture to ensure maintainability, testability, and scalability. The application consists of an ASP.NET Core Web API as the backend and a Blazor WebAssembly front-end. It leverages a wide range of technologies and design patterns to offer a secure, efficient, and user-friendly experience.

🚀 Key Features

• Secure Link Shortening: Utilizes SHA-256 hashing with collision management
• Custom Link Support: Create personalized short Links (Premium Feature)
• Monetization: Generates Revenue By Advertisement.
• Supporting Both Monetized Redirection and Plain Redirection
• Real-time Statistics: Live tracking and updates via SignalR
• Batch Processing: Support for bulk Link shortening operations
• Advanced Analytics: Detailed insights including geographical info and device info based on IP Address and User Agent.
• Secure Authentication: JWT-based auth with XSS & CSRF protection.
• Rate Limiting: Intelligent request throttling based on endpoint sensitivity
• Link Management With One Click:
  • Toggle Link activation.
  • Toggle Link Monetization.
  • Custom collision handling
  • Non-numeric hash guarantees

🛡 Security Features

• HTTP-only cookie-based JWT and refresh token storage.
• CSRF protection via token forgery prevention.
• Password hashing using BCrypt.
• Rate limiting mechanisms.
• XSS attack prevention measures.
• Cloudflare Turnstile integration for pages to prevent bots.
• IP and user agent processing using external trusted services.
• User Secrets Usage of User Secrets to prevent leakage of API Keys or other vital information.
• Role-Based Authorization
• Strict Type-Safe Data Validation

💻 Technical Stack

Backend (.NET 8)

• Architecture: Layered Architecture
• API: ASP.NET Core Web API
• Authentication: JWT with secure cookie storage
• Database: PostgreSQL (Dockerized)
• Caching & Message Broker: Redis (Dockerized)
• ORM: Entity Framework Core
• Real-time Communication: SignalR
• Payment Processing: ZibalClient

Frontend (.NET 8)

• Technology: Blazor WebAssembly
• CSS Framework: Bootstrap
• Authentication Using Custom HTTP Handler to authenticate requests
• Authorization: Using .NET Authorization State Provider
• Real-time Communication: SignalR Client
• LocalStorage and Notification: Blazored
• Icons: Blazorise Font Awesome Icons
• Captcha: Blazor Turnstile

Key Packages

• SignalR: for Real-time communication
• AutoMapper for DTO mappings
• FluentValidation for request validation
• IPinfo for IP-based analytics
• Npgsql for PostgreSQL connectivity
• BCrypt.NET for password security
• Chart.js for showing Charts in Dashboard
• Blazored: for localstorage and showing notifications
• Blazorise: for ui elements like icons

🔧 Infrastructure

• Containerized PostgreSQL database
• Containerized Redis for caching and message brokering
• Background services for async operations
• Email service for authentication codes

🌟 Advanced Features

Monetization

• Advertisement: support for earning money by showing ads in redirection page by up to 8 ads.

Data Management

• Custom pagination implementation
• Transaction management for Link operations to ensure Atomicity
• Collision handling strategy
• Non-numeric hash generation

Caching System

• Generic Redis caching implementation
• Batch caching support
• Optimized performance for high-traffic scenarios
• Redis queue for background service communication

Analytics

• Detailed visitor analytics
• Device and browser detection
• Geographic location tracking
• Background processing of IP and user agent data
• Comprehensive user dashboard with customer insights:
  • Chart showing Past Month's Clicks.
  • Chart Showing in what time of day are the clicks more likely to happen.
  • Weekly Click Growth
  • Total Links Count
  • Clicks Yesterday
  • Average Clicks Per Link
  • Top Clicked Links list.
  • Top Countries the clickers are from.
  • Top devices clickers use.
  • Table showing the 5 most recent shortened Links.

Link Shortening

• Support for both Single and Batch Link Shortening
• Toggles For Both Activation and Monetization of Shortened Links
• Easy-to-use and custom Tables to manage shortened links in user profile and shortener page.

Real-time Updates

• SignalR integration for live statistics
• Instant balance and profile stats updates
• Real-time user profile synchronization