Invincible padlet permalinks

The soul is not stagnant. There is no immutable core of being within us. We flow like water. Transient. Passing into and out of spaces and shapes determined by our environment and by our enemies and by our loved ones and by our history. We wake up each morning and we remember who we are, and in this sense we could not be anyone else, and in this sense, we are fundamentally one. We pass through the many phases of self, and we phase through the many selves. That which is us is timeless and perpetual.

Padlet’s new permalink system shares much in common with this conception of the human spirit. Padlet permalinks will now contain the padlet’s title, making them more informative and identifiable, and will continue to function even if you change your username or padlet’s title or location.  Like the human soul, padlet permalinks unite constant change with eternal harmony. They also almost entirely eliminate dead links.

Why we improved permalinks

We wanted padlet permalinks to contain more information and to be more resilient to change. We wanted padlet links to contain the title of the padlet and where they exist so that they are searchable and identifiable to those who see them, and we never want links to stop working just because you change your username, or you change the padlet’s title or location.

What we built

Permalinks now contain the title of the padlet and will update as you change the title without breaking old links. Links will also withstand importing padlets from your personal account to Backpack and vice versa. Here’s how we did it.

How we built invincible permalinks

A padlet permalink contains four sections. The domain, the username or location, the title and the padlet ID.

The domain is our website, the username or location is where the padlet exists, the title is what the padlet is called, and the padlet ID is how we actually identify which padlet the URL connects to.

We’ve made our links more informative and searchable by including the title and location of the padlet in the link and we’ve made our links resilient to change by indexing solely by padlet ID.

These links will improve your Padlet experience immediately because they’ll give you a better idea of the padlet you’ll find when you click a link. They also update automatically and old links won’t break when you make changes.

You are free. You are free to change your username, or change your padlet’s title, or import your padlet to a new location. Like rainfall on a mountain slope, your links will always flow to the same place.

When will improved permalinks be available?

Immediately.