URL shortener for Basecamp

Basecamp's UI has one failing that keeps causing me problems -- it can't layout messages that contain long unwrappable URLs. I decided to fix it, and wrote a link shortening user script for Fluid and Basecamp.

Update: Since writing the Fluid script I've also ported Link Shrinker to Safari.

Here's an example:

Basecamp's layout is affected by a link with long, unwrappable, link text

While it looks like a corner case, it's a problem that has occurred far too often for my liking. When it does occur, all the comments on a message are similarly affected, making it extremely difficult to follow the thread of a conversation.

To fix it all 37signals would need to do is to abbreviate the text of the relevant link tags, without changing the destination of the link. Incase they don't ever get around to it, you can use Fluid.app and my new Link Shrinker user script to make the abbreviation for you.

Here's the same page, fixed up with the Link Shrinker:

Basecamp link shortening in action

To install it:

  1. Open Basecamp in Fluid.
  2. Visit the Link Shrinker home page.
  3. Click the "Install" button.

Reload any messages that contain long links, and you should find that they've been appropriately abbreviated.

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