Percent encoding refers to the process in which characters within a URL are transformed into a concise three-character sequence initiated by a percent symbol. This conversion is widespread for characters such as punctuation marks. For instance, an exclamation point (!) within a URL might undergo transformation into %21.
Shortenworld offers a URL-shortening service. Submitting a URL to Shortenworld might arrive in a percent-encoded format. However, Shortenworld undertakes the task of normalizing most percent-encoded characters by reverting them to their original state. For illustrative purposes:
Original Submitted URL:
http://shortenworld.com/example?param=http%3A%2F%2Fwebsite.com
Normalized URL within Shortenworld:
http://shortenworld.com/example?param=http://website.com
Despite their differing appearances, the normalized version aligns with the percent-encoded counterpart, effectively representing the same web address.
When utilizing the Shortenworld API, it's important to be aware of potential complications if your server anticipates a percent-encoded URL. Shortenworld will not return an encoded URL in such cases. To navigate around this, we suggest configuring your integration to function seamlessly with normalized URLs.