Time Safe is a free website to password protect URL. You can paste any URL in it and it will shorten that as well as password protect it. Whenever someone tries to open that URL, they will have to specify the password that you had set while password protecting it.
Apart from password protecting URL, this website comes with three another interesting features:
- It lets you set expiration date for any URL. If anyone tries to access URL after that, the URL does not work.
- It lets you even set start time for URL (like, after 1 min, after 1 hour, after 1 week, etc.). If anyone tries to access URL before that, they again get error.
- Apart from password protecting URL, you can use this website to share text as well. For text also, you can password protect the URL that is created, as well as set start time and expiration time.
Apart from this, it provides an interesting feature to check number of views for a particular URL. All of these features make it more useful than many other services that can shorten URL.
Do note that you can only shorten / password protect those URLs that start with HTTP://. URLs starting with HTTPS:// or FTP:// don’t work with this.
How To Use this website to password protect and expire URLs?
Time Safe is completely free service and also quite easy to use. It doesn’t require your email address or sign up process.
To create short URLs with start time and expiration date, all you need to do is access the homepage of this service. You can use the link I have added at the end of this review to access its homepage.
On its homepage, it provides separate boxes to generate short URL for a webpage, and to generate short URL for a custom message. Lets have a look at both of these features:
Password Protect and Add Time Limits to URL:
When you go to the website, you will see an option “Shorten and / or timelock a URL”. Using this option, you can shorten URL as as well as add start and end time to URLs. You should be careful while entering the password as it doesn’t cover password behind asterisks or bullets. Provide the original URL and password to secure it and click on “Create”. This will generate the shortened and password protected URL.
Now you can set URL activation time and expiration time for generated URL. For this, use Advanced options. Preset time intervals (1 hour, 1 day, 1 month, 1 week, and 1 year) are available to set URL expiration time and activation time. But for URL activation, you can set your own custom time as well. For example, if you want to make your URL activate after 1 minute, simply add ‘1’ at custom time box and set minutes option from drop down option.
Each time you will perform changes, a new short URL will be generated for you. Once you are done with settings, and final URL is generated for you, you can give it to any person you want. That person can access that URL by entering the correct password, and of course, only if he is trying to open the URL within the time limits you specified.
Password Protect and Set Start, Expiration Time for a Text Message:
This option is available below the URL shortening option. It is used to create a custom message and password protect its URL, and set start end time. You can write any message or paste any document’s text content at required box. After this, you can set password for your URL. Once done, click on Create button, and your URL for that message will be generated. Time limit and activation limit for message URL can also be set by you. Thus, all details that you need to fill while generating a short URL are available in this option too.
Check Number of Views For a Particular URL:
This is an interesting feature (optional) of this service using which you can check number of times your URL is visited by people. While generating your short URL, you will find a ‘counter username box‘, just below to Password box. Using this box, you can add any username of your choice. This username is used to view stats for a particular URL.
Once your username is set and URL is generated, you can use this feature. To use this feature, you need to add “counter” on your short URL. For example, if your short URL is ‘http://g2u.ca/wmabcd’. Then you need to add “counter.” after http://. It would be like: http://counter.g2u.ca/wmabcd.
After this, you need to enter that username and password, which was set by you while generating short URL. Enter those details and you will be able to check number of views for that particular URL.
This feature is also available for generating short URL for a custom message.
Conclusion:
Time Safe is quite an awesome website to password protect a URL as well as set start and end time for it. I have seen a few services that let you set expiration date for a URL, but frankly this is the first website I have come across that even lets you specify a start time for your URL.
If you want to combine several URLs into one single URL, then you should try these 4 free URL shortener services to combine multiple URL in one.
