Originally Posted by Village Idiot I just made a URL shortener with php and ajax, any critique? http://justanotherportfolio.com/url/

There are lots of things I'd like to bring up, because of that I'll be brief with each.

• XHTML Transitional?
• Usability: Put the submit button after the input field.
• Usability: Make it work without JS
• Usability: No mention of what should be entered in the input field (a valid URL?)
• Usability: No visual cue upon submitting the AJAX request -- only when response is received.
• Why use META refresh rather than appropriate HTTP headers?
• Hard-coded to 'shorten' google link, not the value input into the form.
• Why not unobtrusively apply the JavaScript rather than hard-coding it into the form opening tag? (Look into window.onload, or even better when the DOM is ready)

Sorry for so many, especially since they're all pretty minor points in the grand scheme of things.